Tom D'Antonio, President
Commanding my first vessel at the age of 10 (an 8’ marine plywood Skimmer with a 3HP Johnson Seahorse Outboard) I knew then, truly knew it, that I was hooked and destined to be a lifelong boater. I have always detested that utterly ridiculous adage about “the 2 best days of a boat owners life...” and have instead always taken great comfort in a 1918 quote from the children’s book, “The Wind In The Willows” by Kenneth Grahame, where the character “Ratty” states ever so poignantly, “There is nothing, absolutely nothing even half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”, and I have taken to this quote, more or less, as a template for my life.
Restoring my 1974 Chris Craft Tournament was another passionate endeavor that I undertook in 2003/04. I actually wound up owning, at the age of 44, the very same Chris Craft that I had taken a picture of when I was 12 years old and made the classic comment “someday, when I grow up...”. “RANGER” is now my daily driver from about May 15th through the end of October, along with my 18’ Pickerell built Lobster Skiff “LIBERTY CALL” and both serve as my commuters to and from my sometimes job as a launch operator (filling in for my son) across Northport Bay at Centerport Yacht Club. Why? Because, “there is nothing, absolutely nothing...”
“ “There is nothing, absolutely nothing even half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats””
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