The Dive Shop

Back in the early sixties when my family first took over the dock, my brother Dan and I both learned to scuba dive. The closest and about the only place to get tanks filled was at Theodosia Boat Dock (they were just a boat dock then, too). We were about their only customers so they sold their compressor and air bank to us. We started handling U.S. Diver equipment. It was pretty much state-of-the-art at the time.

Our old dive manual and equipment service manual.

We had to replace our original compressor sometime in the seventies and then again in the eighties. Then had to do a major overhaul on that one later in the eighties. The dive shop was NOT a high profit center. When the 1969 office (now known as "the dive shop") was replaced in 1986, I was approached by Jim Turk to set up a "real" dive shop in the old office building. He offered lessons, sold and serviced gear, and filled tanks. Many of our current customers, including my wife, Johnna, and Dave Schlicht, got certified by Jim.

As you can see from the card, Dave also became an instructor.

After a few years Jim gave up the business. We ran it as a dive shop ourselves for a short time until we were approached by Cliff Mashburn, another dive instructor, who came in and ran it as a full-service dive shop for a few years. Jabet and Caldwell took their first dive lessons under Cliff and earned their open water certifications as young teens.

Cliff Mashburn's dive shop sign.

Next was Amy Bean and Randy Graham. Amy was running a shop in Lebanon called Blue Water Divers, and Randy was going to run the shop in Pontiac. Amy and Randy's partnership did not last long. Randy took over and opened Pontiac Dive Service in our building. Randy did a great job. He moved a houseboat here and lived on it all summer while he ran the dive shop. He was open daily, offered lessons, dive trips, sales and service and had an air station.

Randy's old houseboat, Parrothead. It's mine now, and that's another story for another time. :)

Randy could teach advanced open water diving, deep diving, and other classes all the way up through Dive Master. Caldwell and Randy hit it off, and Caldwell took all the classes Randy offered and became a Dive Master. Matt and Jabet took their advanced open water class through Randy. Unfortunately, Randy gave it up after a few years, too. We have since gone back into the airfill business, and we have a few scuba accessories for sale. No lessons or equipment rental at this time. Below is a picture of our current compressor. I suppose this is our fourth or fifth, and hopefully it will last a long time.

Our current compressor.

As for the Dive Shop building? It sustained some damage in the storm of August 2013. I wanted to tear it down - or give it away - but Jabet insisted we keep it. We now use it for storage and for our summer Docktail Hours. Join us for our first Docktail Hour on Saturday, June 6.

Written By Cap'n T. Morgan

The First Houseboats

We had great success with our first houseboat, so in 1985 we purchased a second "Boatel." Many of our customers were really interested in renting houseboats, but they wanted bigger boats, air-conditioning and more amenities. I started looking into a company called Great American Houseboat Company. It sounded too good to be true. Sure enough it was. The company, Master Fabricators, was building the boats in Arkansas, selling them to investors in California, then leasing them to dock operators like me to rent for them. The company went out of business, and I lost my deposit. The boat was sitting at the factory in Arkansas. The factory was also left holding the bag so I made a deal with them to buy the boat anyway. It was a fifty-footer.

Boatel left, Master Fab right.

1985 was quite a year in Pontiac. Some of you will recall that was the year the FBI and the ATF raided the CSA camp just across the state line in Arkansas. Johnna and I drove in one evening pulling a Champion bass boat, and there was a roadblock set up at the junction of Highway W and Highway 5. I thought I would just wave at them and drive on through, but I did not see anybody I recognized in the group. They told us if we had anywhere else we could go until the standoff was over that we should go there. So, we took the new houseboat out and spent the night out on the lake. We could hear the plane watching the activities at the CSA camp flying overhead all night. Click here for more details on the CSA (Covenant, Sword and the Arm of the Lord).

After our first year with the Master Fab, I was at another boat show and I saw my first Sumerset Houseboat. It was a sixty-footer. I met with the owner of the company, Jim Sharpe, and he offered me a really good price on a rental. Mike MacPherson was with First Home Savings and Loan at the time. (Looking back, I think he was way too easy too borrow money from.) Shortly after that, our new Sumerset arrived for the 1986 season.

The first Sumerset.

Everyone wanted the bigger, nicer boats that accommodated more people. So, we sold our two Boatels and in 1987 bought our second Sumerset. One of our original Boatels is privately owned (see below) and is still at the dock today.

The Lynda Sue.

Written By Cap'n T Morgan

The Champion Dealership

After the first Champion tournament, I had a chance to sell another boat. I talked to John Storie again and this time he said: "I guess we need to set you up as a dealer if we are going to keep having the tournament there." So, in 1985 we became a Champion dealer. Boy was it fun handling those shiny new boats and motors and rigging them up. We didn't have a shop back then, so we used a hoist in my father-in-law John Luna's garage to hang the motors. We even made a hoist for the back of my pickup.

Norman and I rigged most of the first boats, but he soon became the only rigger. When I first met Norman, I wasn't sure he knew which way to turn a wrench. Next thing I knew I was turning him loose with power tools, and he was drilling holes in expensive boats. We needed a mechanic to help set up and service the boats, but Phil Petars, our mechanic at the time, didn't want any part of these high-powered rigs, so I ran an ad in the paper. I requested the responses be mailed so I could screen the applicants before meeting or talking to them. But then one day I got a call, and the guy on the other end asked if I was the one looking for a mechanic. I said I was, so we set up an interview. I didn't have to think about it long after I met him. And that's when I hired Dave Schlicht.

Dave Schlicht, the best mechanic I know.

As our sales grew, we built a shop on the hill by my mom's house, and our new business became "Pontiac Cove Marine Sales."

A couple of new Champions outside our shop (what we call "the barn" now). The sign posts are still there today.

Seeing the picture of the boats above reminds me of a story about their design. My old buddy, Quentin Moore, bought a Champion from me. Quentin was a civil engineer, and after taking delivery he called to tell me the boats weren't symmetrical. I asked him how he knew. He said he had bought a special set of numbers for the side of the boat and was going to put them at the exact same place on either side of his boat in the "arrow." Well the arrows did not match. I didn't believe him at first, but sure enough, he was right. I called Champion, and they weren't surprised. They told me that each hull mold only fit certain top molds. They concentrated on how the boats handled and let a few other details go. That was changed later as all the molds were redesigned so any top would fit any hull, and then everything was symmetrical.

The pink stripe on the boat pictured above is called the "arrow."

The boat and motor business was really fun. It was very exciting back in those days to sell something worth $15,000 and to be entrusted to custom rig it for each customer. We really wanted to get out and market our new product, but the venues for showcasing our custom rigs were few and far between. Norman and I worked the boat show at the fairgrounds in Mountain Home. One year they had a couple of Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders there, and of course, we had to have our picture taken with them.

Written by Cap'n T. Morgan