Houseboating Adventures - Issue 20 - (Page 44)

Gillette and worked at a lumber yard and started raising kids. Then I got into the oil fields, the oil business, which is where I’ve been for about 42 years. HBA: And you Keith, after Vietnam, what did you do? KM: I went back to Gillette and I too got into the oil business, been there about 40 years. We weren’t working for the same company, Allan ended up being one of my customers. HBA: So, after being in the oil business, and then retiring, how did you get into boating? KM: Brother is retiring at the end of this month; I’m still kind of doing some business over the Internet, and over the telephone. Left top: Left to Right: Allen, photos are of AM: He’s been semi-retired for their 59’ DreaManor that was Carol, Maryann, Keith Mc Gee. Other Expo. There’s a on display at the Louisville Houseboat quite awhile. lot of room to move around on the 59’ Gibson as demonstrated by the crew above. HBA: How did you get into boating in Wyoming? AM: What happened was that in 1995, the company that I worked for, was sold out of the Rocky Mountains and in order to stay with the company I transferred to Youngsville, Louisiana. After we’d been here about 6 months, I told my wife that everybody here has a boat, so I decided that we need a boat to drag along, too. So, my wife Carol went shopping one day and bought the boat. We spent quite a bit of time learning to get around in the bayous and the canals down there in Louisiana. HBA: What kind of boat was it? AM: Eighteen and a half foot center console Cajun. It’s a bay boat. We’ve enjoyed it a lot and have done quite a bit of fishing and have made good friends by having one. We enjoy getting out. It’s nice sometimes to get away from the rat race and get out where it’s a little quieter. My wife loves to fish, and that’s been a good pastime for us. KM: I had moved out of Wyoming before he did. I moved several places with the company that I worked for. Lived in the L.A. basin since 1998. Didn’t do any boating there though. HBA: How did you jump from one of you boating, and the other not, to a 59 foot Gibson? AM: Keith’s always the dreamer and he likes to research on the internet, and he got the notion that a houseboat would be a lot of entertainment so he )6B@" A05("%C&5AB9&@ started researching back in about 2000. He started with the various manufactures and the designs of houseboats and looking at the kind of travel that was in mind. Wanting to travel the waterways at a pretty good rate and yet have a nice place to stay when you’re tied up or anchored. He had done the research, had talked to the owners of Gibson. In about 2003 he convinced me that we ought to rent a houseboat. We went together and rented a houseboat up in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We had a family gathering and we spent several days out there on the water and thoroughly enjoyed it. And at that time we decided to join forces on this project. He being the Internet nut did the research and we just gradually built from there until we got what we wanted. We’ve traveled together for years and years, we and our wives, and have spent a lot of vacation time together. We both owned airplanes for several years and we would fly in and get together – a lot of traveling together in various ways. HBA: When you rented the houseboat, what kind of boat was it? KM: It was a regular old houseboat on pontoons. HBA: The majority of the manufacturers out there produce a non-cruising style houseboat, a more conventional box style houseboat. A Gibson is somewhat a departure from that because of it’s cruising capability and it’s overall look and it’s overall function. What drew you to

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Houseboating Adventures - Issue 20

Houseboating Adventures - Issue 20 Editor's Desk Info Houseboating Accessories Guide to Brokers & Dealers Job PROfile - State Dock's Sheila Helm World News New Zealand Launches New Houseboat Industry Job PROfile - Sumerset's Dave Corbin DreamBoats - Stardust's "Toy Garage", Sumerset's Wild at Heart II, Gibson's DreaManner Adventure Guide

Houseboating Adventures - Issue 20

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