A big, brown lab greets me in the parking lot of a nondescript industrial park in rural Lakeville, Massachusetts. From the outside you wouldn’t know this was the home of one of the most highly regarded boat restorers in the business. Stepping inside the small showroom, however, and laying eyes on an impeccably restored 1979 Formula Sportsman that was completely rebuilt—stringers and all—by the crew at Metan Marine, you start to understand what all the fuss is about.
The lab, named Angelo—though he looks more like a Gus—lays down in his bed near the door as I meet Metan Founder and Owner Mike Borrelli, 58. A whirlwind of enthusiasm, charisma and passion, he greets me like a long-lost cousin. Both native New Yorkers, we spend at least 10 minutes talking about shared stomping grounds. We grab a seat at his conference room table for a brief conversation about his business’s origin story before taking a tour of his facility. I expect we’ll chat for 15- to 20-minutes. But before I know it, over two hours have flown by, in which time I meet Mike’s father who stopped by the shop, his son—and heir apparent to Metan—and an assortment of other characters who make up Borrelli’s motley crew. That’s the Mike Borrelli
