Community Highlights: Meet Sebastian Mazuera of Black Dog Sail Loft

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sebastian Mazuera.

Hi Sebastian, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
I went through my apprenticeship in St Augustine (STA) Fl. 

we were working our way down the eastern seaboard on our sailboat when we made it to St Augustine. Immediately falling in love with the town we decided to stay and find some work for a while. Where I was about to utilized the marine canvas experience that I had to land an apprenticeship with a local loft in STA. 

immediately something clicked for me. The math just mathed, and a passion was developed. After learning all that I could from my mentors in STA and lofting a new set of sails for our own boat, we decided to test ourselves and loft them the old way, without any CAD software, broad seaming the 3d shape into our sails. Eventually using those sails to carry us through the rest of our journey thus far. 

I continued to handle repairs and build custom canvas pieces for other cruisers while we continued to explore the eastern seaboard, Fl keys through to the dry tortugas, and eventually back to our home port in calabash NC. (Had to skip the Bahamas, thanks covid. LOL) 

After coming back home, I immediately went into putting the business plan that I had spent 7-8 years to develop into a brick-and-mortar full-service sail loft. Lofting new sales for our clients using our CAD software through the design and development stages. (We are one of a small handful of sail lofts that actually handle all aspects of production in-house. the big names in the industry handle 95% of their product overseas.) 

So, we officially opened our brick-and-mortar business location in Jan of ’22, after arriving back home in Oct of ’21. since then, we have focused premium craftsmanship for all of our sail and canvas projects as well meeting other sailing-related needs for our local clients. such as keeping a stock of running rigging and deck hardware pieces in stock and providing rigging services for our local boats in the area as well. 

We currently service sails for boats both near and far. Shipping our new sails all over the US and Caribbean to help our clients achieve their sailing dreams. 

“Our passion is your sailing dream” – BDSL 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Absolutely not. I never thought running a business would be easy, but there are constant struggles with juggling schedules, maintaining employees, balancing out the administrative work as well as production (Im very much hands-on with production for quality control) 

We’ve been impressed with Black Dog Sail Loft, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our brand is about 9 years old now. 

We specialize in sail production, utilizing our CAD software for development and plotting out our panels digitally. 

We are known for our custom sails and marine canvas 

We strive for our excellent craftsmanship, customer service, which also sets us apart from our competition. 

I’m proud to know we are one of a very small handful of lofts in the USA that handle all stages of production in-house. And not sourcing overseas labor for production. 

All of our products are 100% made in the USA, we build, and ship sails both domestical and internationally. 

We offer the following services: 

Sail cleaning and repairs 

New sails 

Running rigging 

Deck hardware 

Standing rigging 

Marine canvas ** 

Marine upholstery ** 

(** locally only) 

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Raleigh’s street Murals and culture 

Contact Info:

• Website: blackdogsailloft.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackdogsailloft/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackdogsailloft
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/black-dog-sail-loft-calabash?osq=black+dog+sail+loft

Image Credits
Randy Strunk