WORKING -- Pete Swift

-- Susan McCormack

HE IS

Building boat docks

A SELF-TAUGHT DOCKER

Pete Swift, 42, owner of the Swift Slip boat dock building company on

Placentia Avenue in Coast Mesa, didn’t learn his specialized craft from a

family member or through an apprenticeship. He says he taught himself how

to repair and create docks -- a profession which is bringing his company

more than $2 million annually.Swift, who received a business degree from

UCLA in 1981, said his first experience in construction work was building

a booth for Mardi Gras celebrations at his alma mater. He said he

happened upon dock repair after college.

“I was stumbling around ... and in debt, so I needed to get something

started,” he explained. “So, I started painting docks.”

Swift said he soon gained the confidence of customers and the Marine

Department, which guided him in the beginning.

“Now, I’m like the expert,” he said.

Swift Slip has grown to employ a staff of 12, including Swift’s brother,

Tom, 40.

FORTUNATELY, THERE’S HIGH DEMAND

One factor that has kept Swift in business, he said, is that docks only

function for about 25 years.

“People are under the assumption that there are no new docks, but they

don’t last long,” he said. “People also buy ... bigger houses and bigger

boats and need docks.”

Swift said his company creates about three new docks each week, mostly

for homeowners and marina owners. His company has built docks for

customers living anywhere from San Diego to Oxnard. The docks cost

between $10,000 and $40,000 and usually range from 150 to 200 feet in

length.

A DRIFTING KIND OF BUSINESS

Since Swift formed his business about eight years ago, his business has

changed locations three times. The first two locations were in Newport

Beach, on the bay front.

“They just keep developing it, so there’s not place for it [there],” he

said, adding that some homeowners have also driven away business with

complaints to the city about noise.

The business, too, has changed. While turnover used to take a matter of

weeks from the time a commission was made to the delivery of the actual

dock, Swift said it now takes up to three months because the Coastal

Commission must approve requests to build docks.

But he is not deterred by a few months because once it is done, he said

he has a product of which he can be proud.

“It’s really exciting ... we all pull together as a team, building

something we can get done in a week or two,” he said, “and it’s something

you can see for 25 years in the harbor.”