A Mariner´s Tale
Lagos boatyard, Sopromar, is a real success story, but here our reporter, Sophie Sadler, finds out about a family´s struggle against the odds.
I knew that Sopromar, Lagos´s boatyard, had a long and interesting history as my Father-in-law has kept a boat there since the 1970's. I requested an interview with Pedro Pereira, the son of the founder, João and uncovered a wonderful story of a family's struggle against adversity to create a now renowned business.
João Pereira´s story starts in Angola, he like many Portuguese at that time, had moved to the Portuguese colony to seek opportunities. As a marine mechanic, he had a small business, owning a couple of fishing boats, repairs and a fuel station.
When the colony left Portuguese hands he moved to Lagos which looked very different to how it does now. Barry Sadler, my Father-in-Law remembers: “There were old workshops in an area that is now the marina, in those days I kept a catamaran on the river which had not been dredged at that time. The boats sat on the sand until the tide came up and I remember my children having to pull the boat along the river to where we moored it!”
João started to make a living repairing boats and leasing his workshop to customers who wanted work on their vessels, there was a limited amount of tourism in those days so most of the clients were fishermen.
Barry remembers, “I built a boat called Wi Maru and Joao let me use a building next to the old Doca Pesca slipway where they used to build fishing boats. With his help, I built the vessel and launched it on what was then a beach where the docks are. I recall João with a bunch of fishermen carried each hull down to the water's edge, place the planks in between, put the mast up and fixed the two tillers it must have been around 1977 or ´78.”
“João was a first class mechanic and a genuinely lovely person. His family at that time lived in a caravan on the site which is where the Lighthouse bar is now, he was incredibly generous, he would entertain me to lunch on fresh fish and give me Medronho which he made himself!”
Sadly in 1980 João passed away and his wife Maria Cedia was left on her own with three children ages 12, 13 and 14. It must have been an incredibly hard time, but Pedro remembers; “My mother up to this point had been a housewife and had no experience of business and in those days it would have been a hard business for a woman to run, but she never gave up.” The feisty matriarch kept the company going transforming herself from a stay at home Mum to a business woman and managed a staff of four.
Sandra, the eldest child, was soon to join the business to help her mother and in time her husband Hugo came on board. She has become a great role model as a local business woman and has been a driving force for the company.
The making of the company was when they acquired the hoist to lift boats in and out of the water, at that time Pedro remembers the only other hoist was in Vilamoura so they attracted more customers and bought more land. “I will always be grateful to Credit Agricular bank who believed in us and gave us the loan for our first lift. That is why we are still here today.”
Pedro started out in the business aged 18 and he has worked his way up from the bottom. “I used to lift boats out of the water,” he laughs” and wash and paint them with Hugo, those were the days and I still love to be in the workshops.”
Then the Marina came along in 1994 and the rest is history as they say! The marina was an instant hit due to its fantastic location next to the town and the train station. Any sailor wishing to travel across the Atlantic or to the Med. will pass through and often Lagos is the last stop to get repairs done before embarking on one of these voyages. Sopromar now has a working partnership with the owners of the marina, Mar Lagos.
Pedro remembers with a grin; “My sister and Hugo told me I now had to take on a Managerial role, but they had to keep dragging me away from the workshop and back to behind my desk. When I can I still like to supervise the works.” It is easy to see however why the business has prospered with Pedro in a managerial role, he has a very likeable and easy manner and you can see how he would be excellent with customer relations, he says however that he struggles with the work-life balance and finding the time to spend with his two young children.
Two years ago Sopromar implemented another dramatic expansion with the building of 3000m2 of new premises which Pedro tells me now optimises their efficiency. Each craftsman now has their own workshop, there are large modern offices, meeting rooms for training, a large shop and showroom and accommodation for boat-owners to occupy while their boats are having work done. Sopromar now employs 55 staff and around 700-800 boats pass through every year with 150-160 boats permanently in the yard. “We have more boats than the hotels have guests;” jokes Pedro. They have at their client's disposal 3 Travel Lifts with a capacity up to 35, 50 & 300 tonnes, as well as a Crane up to 25 Tonnes.
As well as undertaking just about any type of maintenance work on a boat the yard also works in partnership with a company to sell boats including “Princess” and “Williams” and they have inflatable boats in their store.
My father in law tells me that in his opinion Lagos has one of the finest Chandleries and boatyards in Iberia and it seems that others agree. The Pereira family were recently visited by the Ambassador for Argentina who wanted to meet them as he has heard about the business. That makes all their years of hard work pay off.
So if you are looking to sail off into the sunset anytime soon it would seem there could be no better place than Lagos to choose as your home port.
+351 282 763 889
http://en.sopromar.com/
