Annapolis was formally established in the early 1700s and ever since then, both the town and the reliance on and significance of boating have grown. Most of us now deem boating sheer enjoyment rather than a means of travel and making a living. Regardless of activities conducted on the open water, the need for trusty equipment and support from the sailing community of Annapolis must be present. This is where the long-established manufacturing company called Weems & Plath comes into play. This company founded by a Naval Academy instructor some eighty years ago provides instruments and all sorts of boating materials to the community. Boaters certainly know Weems & Plath and now, it’s time for you to meet this historical, green-minded, locally owned manufacturing company that affects Annapolis in such a big way.
As stated above, Weems & Plath was founded over eighty years ago by a Navy man, Captain Philip Van Horn Weems. Weems was in the U.S. Navy and taught at the Naval Academy in the 1920s and, during these years, discovered the need for better navigation tools. Cathie Trogdon, Senior Communications Editor and wife to Weems & Plath’s president, explained that Captain Weems taught Charles Lindbergh how to navigate and wanted to also teach Amelia Earhart, but time constraints prohibited it. If this feat isn’t impressive enough, Weems also worked collaboratively to develop navigation instruments in the 30s that make boating safer today. During his time improving navigation, Weems developed a relationship with a well-known sextant (also a navigation tool) company in Germany named after it’s founder, Carl Plath. Thus, Weems & Plath emerged.
Based on the company history, you can imagine the products Weems & Plath manufactures and sells: clocks, binoculars, compasses, charts, scopes, and various navigation tools. However, the company also purchased a home and garden company called Conant, adding temperature gauges and thermometers to the inventory. Engraving wood, metal, and other materials can also be done on site. It’s important to stress that the products assembled at Weems & Plath on Eastern Avenue in Eastport are high quality. Trogdon also made a point to say that the Weems & Plath customers are lifelong ones thanks to the lifetime quality on the products and the fact that customer service is integral to the company. In fact, providing excellent customer service and quality products is one way Weems & Plath gives back to the community: “It starts in your own thinking: ‘How can I take care of the people I’m working with and the products I’m working with?’” Trogdon said. In addition, Weems & Plath benefits the local community by donating to Save the Bay, the Annapolis Maritime Museum, and various local organizations. Karen Morris, Marketing Director, added, “We feel like it’s our responsibility
The company also gives back by providing free lectures and seminars on safe boating practices, like using multiple methods for tracking progress on the water. An equally important safe boating practice is to make sure the person you sail with, perhaps a significant other, is on board (excuse the pun) with you. Trogdon teaches a class like this latter one entitled “Couples Cruising” and her husband teaches classes on the former subject.
Aside from doing good for customers, Weems & Plath also focuses on doing good for the environment. When the Trogdons bought the company in 1997, they initiated a very green attitude. “The first thing I did when I started working here was to try to figure out what we could do to be more green,” Trogdon said. She explained she and her husband are from the Northwest where being environmentally friendly is vastly important, but when they moved to Annapolis in the late 90s, they found going green hadn’t quite taken off yet. “For me, it’s more of a mindful thing–wanting to be more mindful of how we take care of our environment,” she told me.
As a manufacturer , it’s quite a big thing to say the company produces little waste. This is true for Weems & Plath thanks to simple ideas like reusing packing materials, using biodegradable packing peanuts (pictured above), and providing a recycling cannister and trash can for each employee’s desk. Trogdon explained that repurposing Weems & Plath parts is another green means. Instead of getting rid of miscellaneous parts, the employees create new products and sell them at a big discount at the annual tent sale at the Annapolis Boating Shows. Morris chimed in here: “It’s pervasive [recycling]; it’s throughout everything we do.” She added that fixing and repurposing are part of the company philosophy: “I’ve seen Peter take a clock from a restaurant that doesn’t work, fix it, and then bring it back.”
So what can Weems & Plath do for you? If you are a boater, the answer is obvious, unless you want to get lost at sea, use questionable instruments, and not learn about safe boating practices. For the non-boaters in the audience, keep in mind that the company serves a huge net of people–from the crew on a boat that hauls in crabs for your next crab feast to the Naval Academy students who use Weems & Plath materials to learn navigation. In addition, sailing schools in the area teach with Weems & Plath products. This translates to a whole bunch of people you rely on one way or another using Weems & Plath. The fact is this: you may not use Weems & Plath products, but it’s safe to say the boats you like to sail on, observe, and get your seafood from do use the company’s products. They have a strong presence here and, as Morris pointed out, internationally via their navigational tools.
It’s just a fact that the product dictates the audience reached, so for Weems & Plath, those in navigation and boating are the people most heavily influenced. Considering Weems & Plath is located in Annapolis and overlooks the lovely Chesapeake Bay, this is convenient and makes sense. Even if you’re not a boater though, I hope you can see the value Weems & Plath has. As a company in boating, it provides safety, knowledge, and trustworthy materials to the people on the water in this area. It supplies the Plebes with tools to begin their learning experience in navigation. In fact, Weems & Plath were putting together packages with charts and tools for I-Day when I was there.
In closing, it is interesting to see and hear about a different side of boating than the general public knows. Now, you know a thing or two about the importance of precise navigation and the history made right here in Annapolis from which it stems.
To learn more about Weems & Plath, head to their site: www.weems-plath.com.
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