Aug 2, 2023 by Dorie Cox
Longtime boaters Vicki Abernathy and her husband Gary moved their 34-foot trawler from Washington DC to Key Largo, Florida in 1998. The couple knew little about hurricanes, but improvised protection for their boat by tying inflatable cushions around it during the bad weather. The ‘fenders’ worked and nearby boaters asked where to buy them.
Those inflatable cushions grew to be AERÉ Marine Group, a company now celebrating 25 years in business.
“We figured out to make a little fender,” Vicki Abernathy said. She said the company started “totally by accident”.
A quarter of a century later, AERÉ Docking Solutions product lines include products such as AERÉ Inflatable Fenders, Fenda-Sox Fender Covers and AERÉ Inflatable Docks. With 40 sizes and types from 9-by-22 inches to an 8- by 10-foot version (sold to the United States Navy), the company continues to innovate.
“Our son is in the business, we are continuing growth, and we are doing more custom work,” Abernathy said.
“We are the only company that makes that many sizes.”
Initially founded in 1998 as PRAKTEK (short for “practical technology,”) the manufacturer is headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida.
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