Shearwater Research Inc’s long-standing sales and service technician, Curtis ‘Curt’ McNamee, has announced his retirement, 20 years after joining founders Bruce and Lynn Partridge to grow the Canadian company into a world-leading manufacturer of scuba diving computers and CCR controllers.
McNamee began his partnership with Shearwater when the company’s first products – hand-built monitors and controllers for Closed Circuit Rebreathers (CCR) – were still being manufactured in a spare room of the Partridges’ Vancouver home.
Having heard about the new computers while instructing advanced open circuit tri-mix and CCR diving classes near Seattle, Washington, McNamee visted the new company and purchased a couple of Shearwater’s original products for his own use.
Impressed with the performance of the new controllers and monitors, he began promoting them through his classes and was subsequently tasked with developing Shearwater’s dealer base in the US, initially to incorporate the new computers KISS rebreathers.
McNamee opened the Shearwater service centre for the North American market and was the sole contact, 24/7, for sales and service for years – providing a service that is credited as the basis for Shearwater’s highly-regarded customer care service.
As word spread and Shearwater continued to grow in the recreational diving markets, McNamee would open more than 700 Authorized Shearwater Dealerships in North America during his 20-year career, and was the company’s sole representative until 2022.
‘Curt acted as an owner, sacrificing everything else and working endless hours to ensure the success of the company and he embodied the spirit of our motto, to “Really, really care about our customers”,’ said Bruce and Lynn Partridge in a statement.
‘His contributions to the company cannot be overstated and we appreciate his efforts. We wish him well as he continues his adventures and cannot thank him enough for his decades of dedicated service’.
