Our story

Built by boat owners who got tired of guessing.

Every boat owner knows the feeling — you're at the dock, something sounds off, and you're not sure if it's serious or just the way it's always been. You dig through a stack of manuals, search a forum, and end up more confused than when you started. First Mate exists because that shouldn't be the experience.

Our mission

Make boat ownership less stressful and more confident.

We believe every boat owner deserves access to the same quality of knowledge that a seasoned marine mechanic carries in their head — organized, authoritative, and specific to your boat. First Mate is our attempt to put that knowledge in your pocket.

Authorized marine publications

3,000+

Service intervals indexed

AI that admits when it doesn't know

How we think about it

Honest answers over confident guesses.

There's a lot of bad advice on the internet. We built First Mate around a different principle: every answer should be traceable to a source, and if we're not sure, we say so. That's why every response from Finn comes with a citation and a confidence score. We'd rather tell you we don't know than steer you wrong on something that matters.

Authoritative, not algorithmic

Finn reasons from a closed library of verified marine publications — not the open web. No forum posts, no guesswork.

Your boat, specifically

Generic advice is a starting point. First Mate cross-references every answer with your actual equipment manuals so the guidance fits your boat.

Transparent about uncertainty

Every answer includes a confidence score. If Finn can't give you a reliable answer, he tells you — and suggests where to look next.

The log is the asset

A well-kept maintenance record isn't just good practice — it's a financial asset. We designed the log to be something you'd actually want to hand to a buyer.

The founders

Built by people who've been there.

TJ Sherrill

Technical Co-founder, Sea Strong Technologies

TJ is a decisive, results-focused engineering leader with nearly two decades of experience delivering complex digital products for some of the most demanding clients in the world — Amazon, Microsoft, Blue Origin, Eddie Bauer, and MOD Pizza among them. As founder of Ravenna, a Seattle-based web development shop he built from the ground up, TJ has led the delivery of hundreds of web and mobile applications on time and within budget. He is a full-stack certified Laravel and PHP developer with deep expertise in JavaScript, AWS, and API integrations. At Sea Strong Technologies, TJ leads the technical architecture and engineering behind First Mate — bringing the same rigor he applied to enterprise software to a problem he knows firsthand as a boat owner.

Spencer Chambless

Co-founder, Sea Strong Technologies

Spencer is a former U.S. Navy SEAL who served on active duty from 2015 to 2023, holding roles as Team Leader, Military Freefall Jumpmaster, Special Operations Combat Medic, and Dive Supervisor. A boat owner himself, he grew tired of wading through contradictory forum debates and AI tools that confidently hallucinated answers — and decided to build something better. After leaving active duty he founded Sea Strong Marine, a professional marine-services company delivering hull cleaning, zinc replacement, running-gear maintenance, and vessel inspections — built around a core belief that boat owners deserve transparency, accountability, and reliable communication from the people working on their vessels. That same belief drives First Mate. As co-founder of Sea Strong Technologies, Spencer leads company vision, product strategy, business development, and go-to-market execution. He is responsible for translating the real-world challenges faced by boat owners, technicians, marinas, and service companies into the product you're using.

The company

Sea Strong Technologies, LLC.

First Mate is built by Sea Strong Technologies, a small team of sailors and engineers who believe the best tools are the ones that stay out of your way and work when you need them. We're in early access and building in close partnership with the boat owners who join us first.

Be one of the first aboard.

We're opening First Mate to a limited group of boat owners. Join the waitlist and help shape what it becomes.

Get early access

Free to join. Free to use.