During the summer 1977, 22-year-old Steve Zimmerman took a job as a deck hand aboard ROSA II, a ketch out of New York headed DownEast. Steve had just finished college and was planning to attend law school in the fall. While in Maine, however, Steve visited the boatyard of Paul Luke, builder of the ROSA II. This visit changed his life. Steve took a one-year extension on his law school admission to work for Paul at his boatyard.

The allure of lofting, joinery, spar making, launching and sea trials overshadowed Steve’s original desire to become a lawyer, and it soon became clear he was headed down the “road less travelled.”

Zimmerman Marine (ZMI) opened its doors on July 23, 1981, in Mathews County, VA, on a beautiful spot just off the East River in Mobjack Bay. Builder Tom Colvin had set up shop in this spot years before and agreed to lease the facility to Steve (just 26 years old at the time), with the option to buy. Steve’s University of Virginia degree, apprenticeship with Paul Luke and about $800 in cash were the total of his assets. He persuaded ROSA II’s owner, Lester Rosenblatt, to invest in the venture and to become ZMI’s first customer.

The first few years were a bit of a struggle as Steve began to build a customer base at the new yard and establish a foothold in the industry. In the spring of 1983 ZMI landed a major restoration project for an 84-foot Trumpy, ENTICER. That restoration led to a large refit job on the former Presidential Yacht, SEQUOIA, which spent the next winter at the ZMI yard undergoing refit work. News of that project spread and was covered by several local newspapers before being picked up by wire services and appearing in articles across the country. ZMI was on the map!

ZMI built its first boat in 1984, TARTAR, a 27-foot Phil Bolger-designed powerboat for yachtsman and artist Stanley Woodward. Photos of TARTAR appeared in Nautical Quarterly, further expanding ZMI’s growing reputation. Steve was eventually able to buy out his partner, Lester Rosenblatt; ROSA II, however, continues to be a customer to this day.

In 1992 ZMI started building CHANTY, a spectacular 56-foot, cold-molded ketch designed by Bruce King. CHANTY was launched in 1994 and graced the cover of Yachting magazine and also appeared in WoodenBoat, Sailing and Yacht.

In 1995 ZMI built the first Zimmerman 36 (Z36), based on a working DownEast lobster boat design–a hull form that has evolved through a hundred years of commercial fishing off the coast of Maine. A total of 8 more Z36 followed in the next 10 years as well as a Z31, Z46 and Z38.

In July of 2008, ZMI opened a second boatyard in Deltaville, VA. Opportunity called again in November 2011, and ZMI opened a third location at Herrington Harbor. Listening to customers wanting a yard farther to the south, ZMI opened its fourth yard in August 2013 in Southport, NC, on the ICW.

From humble beginnings to four yards in three states, ZMI continues to grow over three and one-half decades later. ZMI is definitely one to watch.