About Us Longshore Boats

Longshore Boats is a Charleston, South Carolina-based dealership that has been in business for over 30 years and is actively owned and operated by Chris Meredith. The mission of Longshore Boats is simple - to deliver an exceptional boating experience!

Driven by a passion for the boating lifestyle, we want to pioneer a new standard of boat ownership and help customers escape, recreate and share a love of boating with family and friends. Our dealership is built for an affordable and quality-based, boat buying experience with a newly redesigned showroom and a service lot for large vessels.

Longshore Boats carries Robalo, Chaparral and EdgeWater Power Boats, along with Yamaha Outboards, Mercury Outboards, Volvo Penta and MerCruiser Stern Drive.

The history of Longshore Boats began in 1991, when original owners, Paul Kammerer and Drew Lanzettea, decided to leave their positions at the nuclear power plant. At the time, Kammerer and Lanzettea co-owned a Matthew's boat together and were unhappy with the previous work that had been completed on it. They saw this as an opportunity to open a boat repair shop and do it their way. That year, they stumbled upon Longshore Marine, a pre-existing boat repair shop on the corner of Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant and bought out its original owner. In July of 1992, Longshore Marine moved locations down Coleman Boulevard to house a larger retail section and promote their first boat line, Steiger Craft. 

In 1993, Tim Clark was hired to be in charge of retail and consignment boats, while Chris Meredith was hired in 1994 to work in the yard. The following year in 1995, both Clark and Meredith became partners of the dealership, buying out Lanzettea. In 1997, the dealership became the first EdgeWater Power Boats dealer in South Carolina, while also becoming one of the first Mercury dealers.

Kammerer, Clark and Meredith all assumed their roles that they were fit and comfortable with; Kammerer as service manager, Clark as sales manager and Meredith as general manager. With this powerhouse team, the dealership quickly outgrew its second location, prompting a move out to a deserted, but up-and-coming Clements Ferry Road off Daniel Island in December 2000, where the dealership remains today. They built the dealership from the ground up in order to create their vision. In July 2001, that vision was complete and became Longshore Boats. In the new facility, the boat displays, service area and retail shop are all housed under one roof.

With the expansion, came opportunity for more boat lines such as Chaparral Boats in 2009 and Robalo Boats in 2011. After multiple boat lines, staff members and boat shows, it's been over 25 years since Kammerer, Clark and Meredith became partners. In November of 2021, Paul Kammerer and Tim Clark retired making Chris Meredith the sole owner of Longshore Boats. 

Longshore Boats was named one of the fastest-growing companies by the Charleston Regional Business Journal and was awarded the MassMutual Financial Group and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Blue Chip Award recognizing businesses demonstrating the ability to succeed in the face of adversity. Other awards include Post & Courier's Charleston's Choice winner for best place for Boat Repair/Maintenance, several Robalo/Chaparral Top Ten Dealer, Robalo/Chaparral Top Thirty Dealer, EdgeWater Market Share Growth Excellence, Robalo/Chaparral Sales Achievement, EdgeWater Customer Service Excellence, Robalo/Chaparral Excellence in Customer Satisfaction and more.

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Certifed

Marine Industry Consumer Commitment

Marine Industry Certified Dealership

The Marine Five Star Dealer Certification Program is designed to ensure that your buying, maintaining and boat ownership are all pleasant and enjoyable experiences. Longshore Boats strongly believes in this program and is proud to have been the first certified dealer after the initial pilot program.

Contact us

Longshore Boats is conveniently located near the areas of Wadmalaw Island, Johns Island, Summerville, and Mt Pleasant.