Anderson Forbes Johnson Jr.,a Richmond area native with a degree in physics from Virginia Tech, markets an unusual line of marine hardware from his shop by the roadside at Deltaville in Middlesex County. He has taken a commonplace item, the protective plastic pilecap used atop the upright timber pilings that hold docks in place, and attached brackets to them that may be used to secure any of a great number of items in place. 
The bracket that serves as a clamp is able to withstand 1000 pounds of pressure before breaking. It is easily installed and just as easily employed as a simple adjustment releases the item mounted with it. Andy, formerly an electrical engineer working with AT&T, GE, Norfolk & Western Railroad, holds several patents for things he has designed in the course of his professional life. His design innovations were important in the development of ceramic fiber optic laser technology. He designed automated equipment used in virtually every phase of semiconductor manufacture. He designed equipment for the first non-destructive ultrasonic materials testing laboratory and was awarded a patent for a high voltage liquid rheostat while working for GE at its Roanoke facility. 

     Yet undoubtedly the pilecap bracket will be the product that most people will connect with his name because of the versatility and usefulness of the product. The bracket might also be mounted on the wooden decks that many of the newer homes in our region feature. Typically the bracket might be used to hold such items as portable lights, ladders, bells, hoses, mooring cleats, small stoves, radios, tables, detachable telephone and electrical outlets and even satellite dishes. One of the accessories I saw attached to a timber was a plastic owl with a spinning head, used to frighten away seagulls who might otherwise foul the dock with their droppings. Birdbaths and religious sculptures such as figures of St. Francis or the Virgin Mary are also available, although these items were very likely intended to be used on decks rather than docks.

     Accent Decks and Docks in Deltaville is the distribution center for Andy’s Pilekap Corporation. According to Andy, the idea for the pilecap bracket, now registered with the name Pilekap, came to him one morning in March of 1995 while standing on his dock at home, located in Middlesex County. Pilecaps prevent moisture from rotting the upright timbers at the uppermost end of the piling they are placed on. For a number of years now pilecaps have been manufactured from a special black plastic developed by the General Electric Company. This same plastic, registered under the trade name GELOY is also used on automobiles and may be seen on the outside mirror mounts attached to the vehicle. This special plastic was designed to resist the destructive effects of ultraviolet light that might otherwise cause the plastic to become brittle and break after several years. 

     On that fateful day in March Andy asked himself why a pilecap could not feature a bracket for accessories. He started his new business in 1998 after obtaining a patent. Today there are more than 90 different pilecap accessories and new ideas for other accessories are often suggested by friends, neighbors and customers. Andy says that Hank Norton, a fishing guide working in the Deltaville area, first suggested that a small fish-cleaning table might be attached to a pilecap. 

     The pilecap bracket may be used to secure a tackle box as well. The first pilecap bracket held a solar powered lamp in place. Andy’s pilecaps have been demonstrated at trade shows up and down the Atlantic coast, from New York to Miami. The Seaport Marine Corporation of Norfolk and Charleston now also distributes Andy’s product. Andy thanks Dan Mills of Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology and the management personnel of SouthTech Corporation at Tappahannock for their splendid support throughout the development of the Pilekap product line. He also thanks his friend, Jerry McMurtrie for his help in starting this venture three years ago and praises Bill Stout Boone, for introducing new items such as lift ladders, boat lifts, floating docks and coverall shelters for boats and vehicles. These new products have increased sales at the shop by 300% last year. Andy credits much of his success to the efforts of his two sons, William and Michael who have helped to establish the business. Andy also thanks Diane Hobbs, his secretary and salesclerk, for the hard work and many hours she has put in while struggling to establish this enterprise. For more information phone Andy at 804-776-0005 or contact his web site at www.accentdecksndocks.com.

© 2001 Zachary Loesch All Rights Reserved