Since 2022, Josie Maher-Eastman has been the General Manager of her family’s businesses: Edencraft International, Edencraft Marine and Edencraft Creative.
Based in Geelong, Victoria, Edencraft International manufactures worldclass fibreglass, offshore fishing boats ranging from 6 to 7.77-metres that can be further customised to meet the needs of recreational and commercial anglers. Linked by brand, Edencraft Marine operates as service centre for the wider Geelong community.
An authorised Mercury and Mercruiser dealership and boating retail store with the ability to service all major boat brands and outboards. Founded in November 2023, the Maher family embraced their desire for innovation and established Edencraft Creative, manufacturing plugs and moulds for boat builders and various other industries in-house with their state of the art 5-axis CNC machine.
Edencraft International was established 35 years ago, originally specialising in racing power boats and offshore fishing vessels, with a strong following for its renowned 233 Formula hull. Josie’s parents bought the business in 2016 and immediately replaced timber with composites. Since then, they invested in a CMS Poseidon, one of the largest high-speed 5-axis CNC milling machine in Australia.
“While I was at uni, they asked me to take a look at the bookwork and I stayed!” Josie says of her entry into the group. “As the businesses have grown and evolved, so has my job.”
At 28 years old, Josie has a pivotal role in the group, overseeing the operations of all three businesses. “The business managers of finance and production report to me and we recently appointed a Business Development Manager to assist with our marketing and sales, which takes some of the pressure off.”
In eight years, the businesses have grown from two people to 45 employees. Along with investment in the latest equipment, materials and design, key to their expansion is marketing the brand values of a company with a contemporary image and outlook, and genuine customer support.
“We have a great product – and it always has been. We’ve refined the product aesthetically to give it a nice finish. Through social media, mostly organic, and word of mouth, the brand has grown. We’ve only recently started using paid advertising and increasing our presence at boat shows.”
At the 2024 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show in May, Edencraft International launched their largest model to date, the 255 Formula, which Josie says enjoyed “an incredible response”.
“At 7.77m, that model is our new flagship, and it has been successful in bringing new people to the brand as well; people seeking a boat with more luxuries that you wouldn’t usually find in a high performing offshore fishing boat”.
The move to composites was also crucial.
“Because we’re not from the marine industry, we were dumbfounded that people still use timber when products out there don’t rot and require less maintenance. We brought fresh eyes and a new approach. We offer a 10-year structural hull warranty, so using a high density composite board or solid fibreglass made more sense.”
Expanding into B2B manufacturing with Edencraft Creative, initially to supply its boat building business, Josie contacted ATL Composites to explore their products in the TECHNIREZ and DURATEC ranges.
“For the plugs, we sampled products from three different Australian suppliers,” explains Josie. “ATL’s product machined to the nicest finish, and they were able to make a custom blue colour for us. We love the blue! It looks great in photos and suits our branding.”
TECHNIREZ R2576 is a high performance tooling paste with excellent machining properties. The epoxy shell is CNC machined to produce a durable tooling surface which will hold vacuum and stand up to numerous pulls.
R2576 exhibits low exotherm and shrinkage when applied at thicknesses up to 40mm and is machinable after 1 day.
DURATEC 707-061 EZ Sanding Primer is also used in the plug preparation at Eden Creative. A favourite across the composites industry, the primer is an exceptionally easy-to-sand product that can be sprayed to a high build to eliminate defects and then sanded and polished to a smooth, porosity-free surface.
Since November 2023, Edencraft Creative has secured high profile clients in the pool industry, working with Summertime Pools, and Australia’s largest boat builder, Riviera Motor Yachts.
“We are ambitious,” Josie acknowledges. “We aim to be number one in large format composite plug making. As boat builders ourselves, we are experts, and the perfect partners for manufacturers in diverse industries. Our next step is export. The Australian dollar makes us very cost competitive with markets like the US.”
Working across all the businesses – Edencraft International, Edencraft Marine and Edencraft Creative – Josie is enjoying the new aspect of dealing with businesses, rather than boat owners.
“For boat owners, buying their boat is a highlight of their life – and that’s always
wonderful. But I am learning so much from B2B, about how other companies work and it’s extremely satisfying to play a part in their manufacturing.”
Josie’s zeal and business flair has not gone unnoticed. In 2023, Josie travelled to Amsterdam to receive the Rising Star Award at METSTRADE, an international accolade recognising those aged 35 or under making an impact in the marine business.
At the 2024 Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show, she was guest speaker at the inaugural Young Professionals’ Lunch, speaking to her peers about her experiences dealing with the challenges in manufacturing and the marine industry.
“In our line of work, there are a lot of more experienced people and it’s important to learn from them, but it was great to meet other young people from all over Australia and different parts of the marine industry and hear from them too.”
Looking ahead, Edencraft has an exciting array of innovations on the horizon, including centre console models. In terms of Edencraft Creative, Josie says they are looking forward to undertaking “more plug work for different industries, pools, boats for us and others, caravans and motor homes, trains and trucks, rockets, infrastructure and architecture, and eventually, government and defence contracts. There’s a world of opportunity out there.
