Hand-finished marine detailing at Mud Island Marina, Memphis Yacht Club, Harbor Town, and the slips along the Wolf River Harbor and McKellar Lake. Three tiers, by the foot. No subscriptions, no shortcuts.
We started Brightwork & Co. because the river deserved better than a pressure-washer and a checklist. Mid-South boats — houseboats at Mud Island, sport-fishers at Memphis Yacht Club, weekenders moored at Harbor Town — sit in water that carries silt from a thousand miles of farmland. They need finishing the way an antique writing-desk does: by hand, by the same hands, season after season.
Every vessel that comes through the practice receives the same opening: a quiet, slow inspection from waterline to flybridge. Then the work is matched to the boat — never the other way around. We restore teak. We pull oxidation out of fifteen-year-old gelcoat. We polish stainless until it warms in your hand. And when the work is done, we leave a printed report card in the salon.
The studio is owner-operated and intentionally small. We accept a handful of vessels each week so that nothing on your boat is ever rushed.
Every job begins with a walk-around and a fixed quote. Prices below are by linear foot; the calculator below adds vessel condition and any add-ons.
A quick-turn cleaning between outings. The boat goes back in the water the same afternoon.
The full hand-detail — what most owners book twice a year. Inside, outside, and everything between.
Concours-grade restoration for the boat you intend to keep. We bring the gelcoat back, the brightwork back, the brass back.
Slide your boat's overall length, pick a tier and a condition, and the calculator gives you a transparent estimate. It is exactly the number we'd quote on the dock — there is no second pricing sheet.
Our home harbor. The studio's house slip is on B-dock; we know nearly every boat on the water by name. Same-day Refresh service is standard here.
Members come to us for Heritage-tier work — sport-fishers, classic woodies, and the occasional cabin cruiser that's been in the family for three generations.
A short walk from the Bluff. We keep a mobile rig there on weekends through the spring and summer for between-outing Refresh visits.
The South Memphis bass-boat and ski-boat fleet. We run a Saturday detail circuit here from April through October.
Houseboats and live-aboards on the Wolf — where the silt is heaviest. We're set up for the deep-stain hull work this water demands.
Commercial and private vessels south of Downtown. We work here by appointment, usually for Detail-tier and above.
An hour south. We'll cross the state line for Heritage-tier bookings — bring the truck, bring the polisher, bring a second hand.
A weekend destination. We caravan there twice a season for owners who keep boats at Mud Island and Pickwick both.
We meet at the slip and look the boat over together. No clipboard. We talk through what the boat needs, what it wants, and what it can wait on.
You'll have a written estimate on the same visit. A 25% deposit holds a slot; the balance is due when we hand the keys back.
We do the actual detailing dockside at your slip — Mud Island, MYC, Harbor Town, or wherever the boat lives. No tow, no hauling, no surprises.
We hand the boat back with a printed report card — what we did, what we used, and what to look at again next season.
The hull came back the color it was the day I bought the boat in 2007. I didn't know that was possible.R. Holloway · 52-ft Carver Voyager · Mud Island
They treat the brightwork the way I'd treat a piece of furniture I inherited from my grandfather. Which is what it is.D. & J. Cantrell · 1968 Chris-Craft Constellation · Memphis Yacht Club
I keep a houseboat on the Wolf, which is essentially a hobby of fighting silt. They are the only people I've trusted with it.M. Adair · 50-ft Gibson · Wolf River Harbor
Twice a year, on the dot. The boat looks better in its eighth season than it did in its first.S. Vaughn · 34-ft Boston Whaler · Harbor Town
A note to the studio. We answer the same day, every weekday, and most Saturdays in season.
Brightwork & Co. is owner-operated from a small workshop on Mud Island. We do not subcontract. We do not list on bulletin boards. We answer our own phone.