Behind the Blue Top
Boating has been a part of our lives since as long as we can remember. Our father would take us every weekend when we were young and as soon as we could hold the wheel, we would sit on his lap and steer down the intracoastal. The salty air, the cool mist on a scorching day, and the exhilaration instilled in us a love of the ocean that has only grown with each day.
When we turned sixteen, we obtained our boating licenses and looked for an old, salty beauty to restore. We were fortunate enough to find a 1988 Boston Whaler with loose railings, cracked fiberglass, and stiff steering - but her bones were solid and we were determined to restore her to her former glory. After many weekends of mixing fiberglass resin, sanding, drilling, and sweating in the afternoon sun, our baby was ready to launch. The time spent with our father was priceless. The lessons learned, immeasurable. We had not yet named her, but as it turns out she would soon name herself. One day shortly after our inaugural launch, a photographer happened to snap a picture of us heading out the inlet.
We caught a little more air than expected, and this photographer managed to capture an iconic image of our boat - airborne - with our American flag, mounted on a leftover piece of PVC, flying proudly behind us as we soared past the other boats. We had a blue bimini top on the boat, and in the photo it is billowed with air, acting as a sail. The “Blue Top Legend” was born that day, as this is what he dubbed our vessel.
