Keith Nelder started his boating career at the Point Yacht Club in Durban, South Africa, A keen dinghy racer, Keith started building cruising boats in 1970, and sailed his own 40' yacht to the Caribbean in 1979. After 10 years in the Caribbean marine business on the island of St Maarten, Keith established Big Pond Boat Shop in Nova Scotia. Keith is an ABYC Master Technician and is ABYC Standards Accredited. A trained engineering draughtsman, Keith is skilled at designing boat interiors and superstructures to client needs.

Pat Nelder has been around boats since she was born, and after finishing an art degree in Montreal, took off for the sunny south aboard a sailing boat. After working for boat manufacturing companies and sailing as part of delivery crews for several years on the eastern seaboard of the USA, she sailed to St Maarten in the Caribbean. She moved with Keith to Nova Scotia in 1989. Pat is the Executive Director of the Atlantic Marine Trades Association, the official association of the recreational marine industry in Maritime Canada, and the co-chair of the Maritimes Recreational Advisory Council to the Office of Boating Safety