Mosley’s Cafe, BAE Boats, Hot Tub Boats and Two Mary’s Mercantile were celebrated in a joint ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 17, at Grand Marina. The festivities were hosted by the Alameda Chamber and Economic Alliance.
The marina, located at 2099 Grand Street, was packed with live music, charcuterie boards, and free boat rides as Alameda welcomed the businesses to the island, even though some had been open for a few years.
“You can spend the whole day at Grand Marina,” said Robyn Taylor, founder of BAE Boats. “You can go shopping at Two Mary’s Mercantile, eat at Mosley’s, rent out one of our boats with charcuterie from Mosley’s, then end the evening with a hot tub boat.”
BAE boats opened their doors four-and-a-half years ago in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, along with Mosley’s Cafe, which was already doing business by then. The COVID opening was intentional for BAE as they hoped to provide an outlet for people who were looking for joy and a safe place to get out of the house.
BAE has three fully electric self-captained boats. Each is equipped with a picnic table, plenty of seating, and Bluetooth speakers. The company often collaborates with surrounding businesses by lending specialties and promoting each other.
“With these partnerships, all of our ethos and all of our visions align,” Taylor said. “They’re really good people, and it’s just a natural fit for all of us to be collaborative. When we first opened, it was just us and Mosley’s, which was incredible, but it’s grown into this larger community.”
Hot Tub Boats is one of the newer additions to the Grand Marina, bringing self-manufactured boats down from Seattle. The company provides an array of different Epsom salts that can be sprinkled in the tub and newly installed showers for after the trip.
Before Hot Tub Boats had a location in the marina, owners Adam Karpenske and Bow Grumman rented from BAE boats to survey the area for an expansion of their hot tub company, which Karpenske attributes to their partnerships.
“That sparked us becoming friends and colleagues in an industry that’s similar yet different,” Karpenske said. “We’re not fighting for the same customers because there’s a different appeal having people come down and get in a boat wearing swim attire as opposed to riding with their grandparents.”
As newcomers to the Grand Marina, Hot Tub Boats has been embraced with open arms. That has been a highlight for Karpenske, who said the company never got the kind of appreciation from the city of Seattle that Alameda has given them. This is their first ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Today is all about community,” Karpenske said. “Where we come from, in Seattle, we’re a big part of that community because we’ve been there for 20-plus years, and here we’ve realized that this is a little big town and are part of this community, too.”
During Mosley’s ribbon-cutting, owner Scott Cordle revealed that the beloved cafe will be going under extensive refurbishment but will remain open. Mosley’s cafe will soon have an indoor seating area with a kitchen as well as a bar in the soon-to-be-renovated outdoor area.
City Councilmembers Michele Pryor, Tracy Jensen, and Greg Boller also joined in on the festivities by expressing their congratulations and encouraging the revival of Alameda’s maritime businesses. Boller was inspired by the culmination of businesses in the marina, noting that their innovations are consistent with his vision for the future of Alameda.
“We want to be welcoming to new businesses down here,” Boller said. “We have so much to develop with Alameda Point, not just our business districts, and we want to address everything that Alamedans are concerned about, making sure we have good places to visit here.”
Giuliana Means is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected].
