I grew up on boats. My father loved the ocean and fishing. When he was discharged from the service, he and his friend spent most of their time fishing and skin diving. He decided he wanted a small fishing boat. It grew from there. He and his cousin bought old 42' converted landing crafts and built decks and cabins. By the time I was born, he had been running charter trips on Saturdays to pay for fuel and slip fees. He sold that one and bought a smaller boat (26'), then a 30'. My mother wanted to do more camping, so he also bought a 17' Glasspar. That was my first trip to Havasu in the early 70's. That's where I saw my first Campbell mini daycruiser. We spent time between weekends at Catalina and all the Central and Southern California lakes. My cousin's father-in-law owned Southwind and raced for them. That's where I really got hooked on lake boats.

My wife's and my first boat was a hand-me-down from my uncle, a 1960 26' Owens. When we sold that, we were boatless (except for my 8" Naples Sabot) for years. We looked at boats on and off throughout our marriage, at one time looking at my cousin's SWTD, a rag picker, and finally the Eliminator cruiser but that wasn't until a decade ago.