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About Capn Bob |
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| On April 1, 2001, I retired from
Badger Railing and sold the business to Tom Mulhaney. He
had worked at Badger for almost 20 years with me and helped make it a very
successful company.
So the moment arrived to live the dream.... I cast off from Milwaukee before the frost hit and headed south.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Eventually, graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, went on to Purdue University to graduate in Civil Engineering and then an MBA at California State University at Fullerton. Worked for several companies around the country and finally got fired from my job in Milwaukee... something about my attitude I guess. Well I didn't like them either! So at least I realized that company politics were not my strong suit and that it was time to go it on my own. Bought a company called Badger Railing because that was the only thing that I could afford. Thought that I would leverage it into a multi-divisional corporation. Wrong again. Got bogged down in the details but never the less, did OK. |
Started my boating career on the
Chesapeake Bay in Maryland at about 10 years old. Had one of the first fiberglass
constructed runabouts with a 25 hp Johnson electric starting engine... the biggest
outboard made at the time. Also we had a pair of the first fiberglass water skis. Spent practically
every summer day as a kid fishing and skiing...until I broke my neck water
skiing in 1959 at 15 years old.
So at 17, I put an ad in "Yachting Magazine" and got a job on a 42 ft power boat in Rhode Island. The guys that I worked for were 26 and 28 years old. I was their little brother. I grew up fast. Graduated from high school in February,1962, skipped the graduation and headed for Ft Lauderdale. Although I am probably protected by the statue of limitations, I will skip the details of this phase of my life. Except that I ended up skippering their boat back up the inter coastal waterway to Rhode Island from Ft Lauderdale.... quite an adventure for a 18 year old kid. Off to college at Purdue... but no boats! I did manage to hitch hike some 20 thousand miles all over the country while in school. Don't remember anything about what I learned in college, but could tell you stories for hours about my hitch hiking adventures. After college, jobs in Boston, LA, Chicago and Milwaukee. Got married, raised two kids... and now have three grand kids. Started sailing with a used 14 ft Flying Dutchman Jr., next a 15 ft Mutineer. Then I started racing 20 ft C Scows for about 7 years with my wife. That was exciting, go fast sailing. But my back went out and I headed for big boat stuff on Lake Michigan. I was planning to race big boats, but soon realized that I couldn't afford it. Besides I didn't like the idea of organizing a bunch of people for fun. So we bought a used 26 ft San Juan sloop and cruised all over Lake Michigan. Joined the Power Squadron and got a full certificate.... ask me what I think of celestial navigation! PADI certified scuba diver and ham radio technician class license (KB9VWN). Have owned the Slocum 43 for about 12 years. So here we are.... 60 years old, divorced and out of work. |
