My dad was a mechanic and electrician and when I was little, he traded a car he’d fixed up for a small boat. He repaired the engine and we’d go out to Lake Washington to run around a bit on the water. A little while later, he traded that boat for another larger boat with a busted engine and he fixed that one too. Somehow, however, as with most boats, one of us always ended up hanging off the front of the boat with a rope towing us back to the dock. Even after all that, there’s no place I’d rather be than in the sunshine on a boat, just cruising and listening to music with friends and my family.
When Dave and I were newly married, Dave inherited a wood boat from his uncle. We coddled that little motor boat with love and attention and took our small girls for boat rides. Eventually, Dave sold it and we upgraded to a boat with cleaner lines and room for our growing girls. That 16” Four Winds open-bow served us well, but unfortunately, much like my dad’s disappointment in his used boat, it caused many headaches and heartache.
We’d never given up hope that someday we would be able to afford a beautiful, new and reliable boat. Dave has spent the last 2-3 years searching on Craigslist and doing research on pontoon boats. By the time we made it to the Seattle Boat Show 2 weekends ago, he knew exactly what he wanted. We are generally pretty practical people and knew that we couldn’t be talked into details and expense that we didn’t need. Our family of 5 (heavy a live-in father-in-law) needed something easy to board, easy going, and fun.
Godfrey boats, presented at the show by Puget Marine, captured our attention as being the best in the pontoon game. We’d spent an hour with one of the engineers from the plant in Elkhart, Indiana, learning about the company, the options and why Godfrey is the best pontoon choice for our needs. We looked at at least 5 other brands before making our choice, and we couldn’t be happier.
This weekend, we drove down to Puget Marine in Olympia, Washington for an opportunity to take our new boat for a ride, just to make sure it’s exactly what we wanted. If we thought we were certain at the boat show that it was what we wanted, the trip around the Sound solidified our decision. (On a side note, the storm that hit the PNW on Friday night had blown over and we were greeted with a cold but beautifully clear, sunny skies for our little Saturday morning boat ride.)
So now it’s ours!
Puget Marine is going to store it for us for the next few months while we get the parking spot prepared at our vacation home property. But come summer, we’re going to be out on the Columbia River with the rest of our friends enjoying life and everything the river has to offer.
We’ve learned a lot in the 24 years we’ve been married. We’ve saved and made mistakes and provided a better education for our kids. It feels nice to enter this new phase in our lives, and before we’re 50! =) I know, most people have been playing for years already, boats, cars, big homes, trips. We have to choose our own time and our comfort level. But this sure does feel like both!
Welcome to the family … 20' Godfrey Sweetwater Pontoon boat! We can’t wait to bring you home.
Naming suggestions welcome!!
