An entire generation of Americans are getting ready to retire and start living life instead of punching a time clock. The baby boomers have seen it all in their lifetime: a man on the moon, a phone that fits in your pocket and the magnificent evolution of the greatest invention of all, the pontoon boat.
Enjoying Retirement
Jim and Sharry Griswold are two boomers that know a thing or two about hard work. While Jim worked as a broker and Sharry a realtor, they raised three kids, Brian, Steven and Erin, in the town of Wichita, Kan. When they began to think of retiring, the “great recession” had set in across the country and there was nothing but glum news on the horizon.
“We won’t let the media hold us hostage,” recalled Sharry. “We worked hard for our money over the years and we deserve to spend it as we see fit.”
Truer words have never been spoken. In a time when it was easy to get distracted by negativity, the Griswolds decided to set their eyes on a new boat.
“We owned a pontoon 30 years ago,” said Jim. “We enjoyed pontooning before pontooning was cool and it was a great boat.”
But the couple had sold their latest vessel and had spent a year without owning any boat while they spent time researching and figuring out what they really wanted.
“We planned on spending a lot of time on the water, so we needed the perfect setup,” said Jim. “We narrowed down our search to PlayCraft and another manufacturer because we were impressed with the quality of both brands.”
Dealer Picking
They began working with John Odom of Marty’s Marine in Osage Beach, Mo. Marty’s Marine is not only a great service shop and dealership, it happens to be one of PlayCraft’s top dealers in the entire country.
“I can’t say enough nice things about John and Marty’s Marine,” said Jim. “We would go down and visit them once a month. They knew we were in the market for a new boat but there was no pressure. They put more value on us being happy with our purchase than anything else.”
While the Griswolds put their time into finding the right boat, one thing after another led them to PlayCraft.
“Besides John being so great to work with, PlayCraft has an unmatched performance on the water. They are the Cadillacs of boats,” said Jim. “So I picked up the phone and told John if we could put together our idea of a dream boat than I would show up to write the check.”
And that’s exactly what they did. Sharry and John went to the drawing boards and designed a custom PlayCraft that would suit their needs, their kids’ needs and their granddaughter’s needs.
“I wanted something that looked nice and gave Jim the power he wanted,” said Sharry. “I decided on a navy and yellow color scheme with a Mercury 300.”
Building The Boat
The couple also decided on an upgraded throttle, built-in nook for an ice chest, adding a third pontoon and modifying the entry gate. Once all the decisions were made and the check was signed, the couple just had to wait for the boat to be built. Luckily for them, the Dorris family, owners of PlayCraft, opened their factory doors in Richland, Mo., and let the Griswolds come down to see their boat being assembled.
“We can tell our boat was made with the best quality because we watched them put it together,” said Sharry. “They welcomed us with open arms.”
Time To Parti
There was another thing to consider when building the boat and that was how their Parti Yorki, Gypsy, would take to the water. With the exception of their granddaughter Thea, Gypsy is the cutest member of the Griswold family and, thankfully, she loves the PlayCraft too.
“Gypsy is a water dog,” said Sharry. “She loves the boat and she quickly learned how to tell us when it is time to pull up to a dock so she could do her business.”
The Ozarks
After spending an afternoon with the Griswolds on Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri, I can testify to the beauty of their boat, how extremely nice and gracious they are and the cuteness of their puppy. In fact, I had been onboard the boat for over an hour when I looked at my camera and realized that I had almost 100 pictures of Gypsy, the pontoon-loving dog, and none of Jim, Sherry or the boat. Knowing the powers that be would expect more, I was able to recover and start including the humans moving forward, but there is something about a cute dog in a mini-size life jacket that you can’t help but fall in love with.
When I first stepped foot on the boat, I told Jim and Sharry that I was super excited to see what their boat could do. Jim took that as a personal challenge to wow me throughout the afternoon. If you have spent any time on Lake of the Ozarks, you can vouch that this is quite the hub for an assortment of vessels. We would wait for much bigger boats to cruise by and then purposely cut through its wake. When a 2-pound dog can maintain her stance with no problem, you know you’re on a solid and well-built boat. The PlayCraft handled so well with the addition of the third tube, there was no jostling or being thrown about. It was smooth sailing, no matter our surroundings.
You don’t need me to tell you that a Mercury 300 is a powerful engine. But Sharry and I easily maintained a conversation while we were moving, without screaming. It was so unbelievably quiet that I had to confirm with my own eyes that it was still attached. It’s so amazing to see how far technology has come and the engineers at Mercury should be extremely proud of their work. It was so nice to spend an afternoon moving on the water and still be able to engage in small talk without continuously asking the other people onboard to repeat themselves.
Overall, the PlayCraft has turned out to be the perfect boat for the Griswolds as they enjoy their retirement and they have Marty’s Marine to thank for helping them build the boat of their dreams.
Marty’s Marine
Marty’s Marine is located in Osage Beach, Mo., and has been the top PlayCraft dealer for the last two years. The company is a family operation co-owned by Marty McGuire and Larry Shadrick. It started out as mainly a bass boat dealership because that was passion of both men.
“I quickly realized that pleasure boats sell better than bass boats,” said Marty. “If I was going to sell a pleasure boat, I wanted it to be the best so I reached out to PlayCraft.”
He’s never regretted that decision and has worked on building his business up with the help of his awesome staff, including his sales team which is led by John Odom.
“I never saw myself doing this,” said John. “Now I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. There’s nothing like seeing the enjoyment on the customers’ faces when they receive their new boat.”
One of the reasons the Griswolds enjoyed working with John so much is that he took the time to specifically nail down everything they wanted in a boat.
“When someone comes to buy a boat, I start asking the questions that will help them figure out everything they want,” said John. “I ask how many people they will want onboard, what water sports they participate in and so on. By the time they answer my questions, I know exactly where to direct them.”
It helps that Marty’s Marine has a diverse set of inventory on the lot that includes a couple of different lines of bass boats. They take pride in every aspect of their business and are extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with the Dorris family.
“I love working with everyone at PlayCraft,” said Marty. “I’m going to sell their boats until they throw dirt in my face and then I’m still going to sell PlayCraft. They are the best of the best.”
The Life
These days you can find the Griswolds out enjoying their boat on Lake of the Ozarks, visiting their granddaughter or traveling around the country.
“We spend half the year at our house in Wichita where the kids live, half the year at Lake of the Ozarks and half the year in our RV driving south,” said Jim. “When you’re retired, no one cares if you say a year has three halves. You have nothing but time on your hands and it’s the only way to live.”
There are a few people out there that could probably get used to that idea. How about you?
For More Information
PlayCraft
573-765-3265
www.playcraftboats.com
Marty’s Marine
573-346-0023
www.martysmarine.com/
Did you know?
Gypsy, the pontoon-loving dog, is a Parti Yorkie, which is a part of the Yorkshire terrier breed. Unlike regular Yorkies, Partis are tri-colored: white, black and tan.
Lake of the Ozarks has 1,375 miles of shoreline, which is longer than the entire state of California. It is the largest privately owned lake in the United States and holds 617 billion gallons of water, which is enough to supply the entire city of St. Louisfor 12 years.
The last name Griswold became infamous with the release of the National Lampoon Vacation movies. Jim has a great time introducing himself as Clarkthe first time he meets someone.
