Brett Greenlees has been part of the Maritimo team since 2006. He is now one of the senior members of the delivery crew and regarded as one of the faces of Maritimo on the waterfront, where owners come and go with their boats. Greenlees is the last of the line to make sure when a boat leaves Maritimo it meets everyone’s expectations.
Maritimo’s Outstanding Achievement Award was awarded to Greenlees 2021 ahead of around 240 employees. “Recognised as a shining light of the business”, said Kym Fleet, Maritimo’s Production Manager. Fleet went on to say “When you surround yourself with such good people things are so much easier. What he brings to the party is very important, his attention to detail is extremely high, he is always right there amongst it getting the job done, and nothing phases him. He is a qualified boat builder so his ability to cover all aspects of the build it is as good as it gets.”
Greenlees did not grow up near the water, or around boats. He moved to Australia from New Zealand in 1998 with his family when his father was employed to manage a horseracing stud on a few hundred acres in The Oaks, a small town South West of Sydney. Greenlees’ passion at that time was motorbikes and hanging out with friends. It was not until the family moved to the Gold Coast and close to the beaches that his love for the water and boats developed.
In 2003 he started a boat-building apprenticeship with Mustang Cruisers. Soon after finishing his apprenticeship with Mustang in 2006 the company was purchased by Maritimo and Greenlees was part of the crew that went across to join this team.
Greenlees has spent time in many of the departments at Maritimo including Engineering, R&D, Fit Out 1, and Fit Out 2, before going to the waterfront and joining the Pre-delivery Team at Hope Island.
The Pre-delivery crew has around six people in the team. “We launch the boat at the factory at Coomera, take it for a short run, and then bring it down to the facility at Hope Island to start the quality control process. We go through the whole boat, testing all the functions to make sure they are working correctly. The boat then goes for sea trials before delivery to the customer,” said Greenlees.
“It’s a wonderful environment, with a good bunch of people and great quality boats to work on. A fantastic team of like-minded people who share the same passion, it’s like an extended family for me and I have made many good friends,” said Greenlees.
The part of the job I enjoy most about is “after getting the boat from the factory over to our quality control process and finesse it before handing it over to an owner. We then get to see how happy the owners are when they take possession of it. That is really fulfilling.”
Away from Maritimo Greenlees is very busy with his two children, Tyler 15, and Asha 13, doing bike riding, skateboarding, driving them to boxing and cheerleading classes, respectively, as well as going to friend’s houses.
Enjoying the water is also a very important part of family life. “Basically, everything is based around the water. We love the beach, swimming and surfing. We usually go to The Spit, Narrowneck, or Burleigh Heads, but we go anywhere and everywhere along the coast, it just depends on where the wind is best,” said Greenlees.
“We also love going beach camping; the big one we do once or twice a year is at Moonee Beach near Coffs Harbour. It has a really nice headland running into a river. You can take your kayaks and just drift in the tides all the way down the river and fish. It also has a really big rope swing. It’s a great place to just hang out.”
“I have been at Maritimo for a long time now and a lot of good things have happened along the way. It has been a good adventure, a big learning curve and a really good pathway. I have learnt a lot and met lots of good people. Just good quality people and good quality boats and that is why I stay,” reflected Greenlees.
