About Us

Approved Marine is one of a long line of boating traditions in the Carman family. Dating back to the 1930’s, Wes Carman, Sr. (Wesley’s grandfather) was a boat racer, racing in the 1935 Albany to New York Marathon down the Hudson River. He finished 5th driving a Lyman outboard runabout. Wes Carman, Jr. (Wes’s father) following in his father’s footsteps and became a boat racer himself, racing the Expediter. He founded Wes Carman’s Marine in the late 60’s. He later launched the HydroHoist Dealership in 1978 when Douglas Carman (his son) helped Harold Rutter, a relative of the founder of HydroHoist, assemble a boatlift for a friend. When the process was finalized he proceeded to build a second boatlift for his own personal boat. This led to an interesting and successful venture with HydroHoist.

In 1980, Wes Carman III and his brother Douglas Carman took over the family business and created W.D. Marine. In that time they were named Dealer of the Year for HydroHoist in 1986, and were placed as the Top Three Dealership in 1987, 88, and 89.

It wasn’t until 1995 that Approved Marine Inc. was created, still a dealership of HydroHoist but as a separate company. As a family, Wesley Carman III, his wife Becky Carman, and his brother Douglas have been serving the boating community in Freeport as well as providing HydroHoists and HydroPorts to the Northeast region of the US.

Wesley Douglas Carman are very experienced in HydroHoist/HydroPort installations. With 40 years experience in the industry they have been able to be a part of some very high profile installations. They had the wonderful opportunity to put in a HydroHoist for former President George H.W. Bush.  You can see the photos of the former President in our picture gallery.