BREAKING: Child drowned in Terrebonne
May 17, 2015
Jingles is more than just a pet
May 20, 2015
Lin-Bar Marine, a family owned and operated business in Bourg, has an inventory of six crew boats and a two-story executive houseboat complete with white picket fence. Owner, Angela Belanger, built the business alongside husband, Barry, but their children – Julie Authement, Sarena Bonvillain, Jacob Belanger and Alex Belanger – run it now.
“This family is from Chauvin and has been in the boat business for years” Angela said. “My grandfather was building boats back when you had to use wooden pegs to secure boards. My father, Lindsay Chauvin, built a boat in the parking lot of Cajun Landing, a dance hall (now Southern Event). He never had any plans or blueprints. It just came out of his head. Barry’s family was the same way.”
Lindsay encouraged his daughter to get into the crew boat business back in 1987.
“He had his own crew boat business, but times were hard back then so I wasn’t too gung ho about it” Angela said. Barry, on the other hand, jumped at the opportunity. “He worked for Texaco six months straight. He was never home. Before he got paid, however, Texaco went bankrupt. After that, he ran the boat for several companies until we paid it off.”
In 1991, Lindsay and Barry decided to merge their two businesses and created Lin-Bar Marine LLC.
When Lindsay wanted to retire in 1997, Barry and Angela bought his share of the company with the idea of expanding and acquiring bigger boats. It was such a success that in 2008 they had to move to a bigger location in Bourg with more space for offices and equipment.
Personal tragedy hit hard in 2010 when Barry was killed in a car accident. Then Angela had a stroke in 2011 and Alex went into renal failure in 2012 requiring a kidney and pancreas transplant. Though Angela and Alex recovered, company salesman and close family friend, Bob Britt, died from cancer in 2013. Now the children are there to run the business and they each bring something special to the table.
Julie is now vice president. She has worked part-time in the family business, like all the siblings, since she was a teenager, even while she was getting a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Nicholls. She started working full-time in 1999.
Sarena came back to the business in 2007 to help Julie. She had been working for other oilfield companies for 15 years, primarily in the areas of safety and inspection, and easily carved out her own niche in the company.
Jacob came on board in 2014. He graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale with a bachelor’s in marine and yacht design. He was working for Thoma-Sea, designing and building OSVs (offshore supply vessels), prior to joining the family business. He is in charge of sales and operations.
Alex was Lin-Bar’s port captain for 10 years prior to his health problems, “but still continues to support us in an advisory capacity” Angela said.
“We take pride in our business,” Julie added. “Honesty and integrity are the basis of our good reputation. Our vessels are clean, well-cared for and safe. They are a reflection of our company.”
“There aren’t a lot of companies that have our size of vessels. A lot of crew boats go work in deepwater, but our boats do shelf work,” Sarena said.
Julie is proud that the company “recently got certified for being a woman-owned and operated business. Not too many of those around in the marine industry,” she said.
And while the industry has seen its share of changes over the years, Julie said few could prepare them for the current market adjustments.
“It’s about penny-pinching right now with the drop in oil,” she explained. “We have three boats tied up. It’s affecting everyone in some way.”
“You used to be able to charge a half- or day rate. Now, it’s by the hour.” Jacob observed.
“In the past, oil companies used to hire the crew boats. Now it’s all brokers,” Sarena added.
“You can’t just walk into the main office of a company and make a deal. They won’t talk to you,” Jacob added.
In spite of a rapidly changing industry and great personal loss, Lin-Bar isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “I don’t care if it’s hurricanes or low oil prices or new rules, we are always open for business,” Julie chimed.
Sarena Bonvillain, Angela Belanger, Jacob Belanger and Julie Authement in front of Lin-Bar Marine in Bourg. Angela built the business with her husband Barry. Serena, Jacob and Julie now run the operation.
