Coming back to Ft. Lauderdale means easing back into comfortable humidity, riding down those recognizable routes and bumping into lots of familiar faces.

This month, for the third year, we bring our networking event to Kemplon Marine Engineering at 3200 S. Andrews Avenue, Suite 103. The team at Kemplon is breaking out the barbecue to help us kick off the boat show season with great networking.

Former yacht engineer Jeff Kemp and former stewardess Collette O’Hanlon have accomplished what too few small businesses can – they have survived the first three years. Now in their fourth year of providing engineering services and consulting to megayachts, Kemplon has added even more services.

Come talk to them yourself from 6-8 p.m. on the first Wednesday in October (that’s Oct. 1). In the meantime, find out a little here from Kemp.

Q: Kemplon Marine Engineering has been in business now for several years. How’s it going?

We’ve been in business for four years now and it’s going really well. Owning and running a business certainly doesn’t come without is own unique set of challenges but all the hard work is definitely worth it.

Q: And remind us what kind of services you provide.

Our services include a machine shop, welding and fabrication, hydraulic repair, plumbing and pipefitting, mechanical, heavy rigging, and laser alignment services. In the past year we have broadened our horizons by working with brokers and surveyors to assist with pre- and post-survey repairs and with project managers and management companies to assist with bringing yachts into class.

Q: You spent a lot of time working on yachts. Do you miss it yet? Do you think you ever will?

I spent six years as a chief engineer on yachts and I do miss certain aspects of yachting, such as the travel, the people you meet and having limited personal expenses. On the other hand, though, it’s really nice to be able come home at night and to see my daughter every day.

Q: I understand you have become a distributor for some new equipment or service. Tell us more about that.

Yes, we recently became an authorized distributor for Atlas Copco [a manufacturer of compressors and construction equipment] and we also service these compressors. Several of our customers informed us that they couldn’t find anyone in Ft. Lauderdale to service these units, so we contacted Atlas Copco directly and became a distributor. We’re always looking for new ways to meet the needs of our industry.

Q: You mentioned that you help bring yachts into commercial compliance. How did that come about?

It’s not exactly a new service, just that we have had more demand for it this year. I think the reason is that more and more people are becoming aware that we install copper-nickel weldless piping. This piping is approved by all the classification societies and has the added benefit of saving money on labor as there is no welding involved.

The process of joining the piping and the fittings together takes seconds verses hours. This particular product also has a pretty impressive 50-year manufacturer warranty.

Q: What do you have planned for the party on Oct. 1?

We plan to have a laid-back event with plenty of cold beer and a barbecue. We also have some giveaways, one of which is a round of golf for four, so we’ll be collecting business cards and picking a lucky winner for that. We really have enjoyed hosting these Triton events in the past, so we are all looking forward to it.

Q: We’ve heard more than one person refer to you as Jeff Kemplon. It’s cool that you are so tightly associated with your business. But to set the record straight, where does the name Kemplon come from?

My last name is Kemp and my partner is Collette O’Hanlon.