“The Walking Man” Follows Lifelong Dream with Solo - Grady

Coming to the Northeast!
Grady Fest V
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t h e g ra dy - w h i t e o w n e r s ’ n e ws l e t t e r
IN THIS ISSUE: Grady Fest V | South Seas Captiva Island Rendezvous | Owners’ Club News | Letters & Photos | Grady Buddies
Great Grady Adventurer
“The Walking Man” Follows Lifelong
Dream with Solo Voyages
Jeff Rudisill remembers vacationing with his family as a kid in Myrtle Beach, SC, where
he saw boats travelling on “this narrow waterway” that is the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).
He dreamed of the day when he could do so himself. It would be 2000 before he had the
time to begin to fulfill his dream. He started with a small lake boat and soon realized that he
needed a better one for coastal waters. “A buddy was always talking about Grady-White, so
in 2005 I went to Mid-Carolina Marine in West Columbia, SC, and bought a Tournament 205
with a 150 HP Yamaha.” He began a series of solo trips up and down the ICW, around Florida
and even crossing the Gulf of Mexico, now to be continued on his new Freedom 225.
Jeff is no stranger to adventure. Known as “The Walking Man,” at age 69 and
inspired by a National Geographic magazine article, he walked cross-country
from Dana Point, CA, to Emerald Isle, NC, beginning in August 2010 and
completing the near 2,800 miles in January 2011. At age 72 he also walked the
entire Blue Ridge Parkway from Waynesboro, VA, to Cherokee, NC–a distance
of 469 miles. “I love being outdoors, meeting new people and seeing
new places. I tell folks, I am comfortable with being alone. I like to
watch the world go by, and enjoy the beauty of things you can
JEFF RUDISILL , “The Walking Man”
see only on the go.” (You can read about Jeff’s walk across the USA on his blog:
walkingman2011.blogspot.com.)
He learned to handle a boat by doing. “I wasn’t a good boater, but the Grady
was a better boat than I was a captain. It kept my passengers and me safe. I’ve
had folks aboard who were afraid of deep water but felt very secure on the Grady.
I learned respect for the power of water, and became aware of tides and depths–
more demanding than lake boating. And I found out that the ICW wasn’t just
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Jeff Rudisill and his late wife, Rita, exploring
Shackleford Island near Morehead City, NC.
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Great Grady Adventurer
Continued from page 1
the straight cut I thought it was, the first time I
crossed the Charleston Harbor! There are large
bays and rivers, too.” And crab pots. “The first
time I crossed the Albemarle Sound there were
crab pots everywhere.”
Rudisill recalls the first time he went through a
lock. ”I tied up too tightly, and made a lot of mistakes but my Grady protected me and forgave my
lack of knowledge.” He has gained a lot of knowledge over ten years and many trips between
Emerald Isle, NC, and Fernandina Beach, FL.
“One of my favorites along this route is between
Myrtle Beach and Georgetown, SC, along the
Waccamaw River. It is sparsely populated and
reminds me of being deep in the jungle.”
Three of the longer trips he’s taken are a 500mile round trip voyage from Emerald Isle to
Norfolk, VA, crossing the Albemarle twice, and
on the return route taking the Great Dismal
Swamp Canal with a stop over in Elizabeth City,
NC; a near 1,000-mile adventure from St. Augustine
to Long Key, up the west coast of Florida to Sanibel
Island, then across the state via the Okeechobee to
St. Lucie and back to St. Augustine; and more
recently, two eight-hour crossings of the Gulf of
Mexico from Tarpon Springs to Apalachicola in
2015. “The 80-gallon fuel capacity was important
here. Hurricane Patricia kept me from going all the
way to Brownsville, TX as I had planned.”
Rudisill does most of his lake boating at Smith
Mountain Lake near his home in Virginia. For
coastal trips he trailers his Grady to the starting
points, and thinks nothing of sleeping on deck
although in convenient places like port towns he
welcomes a marina or hotel after a 100- to 125-mile
day. He does have companions aboard on occasion,
and misses boating with his wife, Rita, who passed
away in 2012. “I already have three trips planned
GETTING READY TO CAMP on an island north of Isle of Palms, SC,
with friend Ed Bixler
for the 225: finish the trip to Brownsville, go to the
Dry Tortugas, and cruise to the Abacos.” So now
The Walking Man has become The Boating Man,
and you might just see him in these southern
waters. He’ll have a great story to tell!
Save the Date: August 20, 2016
Grady Fest V Moves to the
Boston Area, at Hingham Shipyard!
CHA
NGE I
N LATITUD
E
GRADY LIFE
U
ATTIT
DE
Join us for the greatest gathering of Grady-White owners in the Northeast, hosted in partnership
by Baert Marine, Bayside Marine, Cataumet Boats and the Northeastern Grady-White Clubs!
Grady Fest is a fantastic snapshot of the Grady Life at its finest. From Friday night
docktails, light refreshments and live entertainment for early arrivals, to Saturday’s
cooking demos, safety and maintenance sessions, “Gearing Up” with Grady gurus,
and boating life tips, there are entertaining events happening all day. Vendors for
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all your boating needs will be on hand, and a catered lunch is included with your
registration. And, there’ll be dancing!
Visit www.gradyfest.com for registration details, and make plans now to attend.
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Grady-White Wins Best of Boat Show Displays
in New York and Miami
Exceptional attention to detail gets more recognition! Grady-White is
pleased and honored to have been selected as Best in Show among
manufacturer boat displays at both the New York and Miami shows this
winter. With detailed planning and focus, Grady-White Boats and its participating dealerships always aim to make the boat show experience a
friendly, welcoming one for customers, prospects and enthusiasts, while
showcasing our products’ value and benefits. Shows provide a great opportunity for developing and renewing relationships, and demonstrating many
of the advantages of the Grady Life ownership experience. Grady-White is
very proud of our team’s hard work that resulted in these honors!
Our guests tell us it takes real creativity to stand out in the crowd of
companies, especially in the biggest and most important boat shows in the
world. They note that the Grady booth is a great place to congregate in
classic, relaxed elegance with inviting color schemes, warm lighting, stylized palm trees, handmade hickory booth perimeters for that dockside feel,
and easy access to the boats along with clear product information. Friendly
seating areas with photographs and flatscreens showing videos provided a
“Grady living room” feel, and set the perfect mood for meeting with attendees. The highlight, of course, is the boats themselves, and we unveiled two
fantastic new models for 2016 and incorporated many exceptional changes
across the 27-model lineup. We look forward to showing you more about
our attention to detail at the remaining boat shows this spring and fall, and
every day at the Grady-White factory and our dealerships around the world!
Confidence-Building, Breakthrough
Digital Boat Systems and Operations Guide,
Captain Grady,, Now Available for iPad;
Coming This Spring for iPhone
Say hello to Captain Grady, our digital iPad application that is an audio-visual
systems and operations guide and more, with videos and step-by-step instructions
so clear and simple to understand, it makes a Grady-White the easiest boat of
its kind to safely and expertly enjoy, no matter the skill level or experience of the
operator. An iPhone version is available this spring. Far from being a run-of-the-mill
electronic owner’s manual, the exclusive Captain Grady application is visually
detailed, friendly to use, and model specific for each new 2014, 2015 and 2016 model
year Grady-White boat.
Captain Grady covers everything technical including startup, shutdown,
trouble shooting, emergency procedures, alarms, manuals and boating systems
including electrical, generator, load management and others depending on the
model. Captain Grady has been in development over four years and is proprietary
to Grady-White. Ask your dealer!
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Three’s a Charm
South Seas Resort Captiva Island Rendezvous
By Bill Hayes, Gulfstream 232, Starship
Friday morning the 23rd of October
dawned just like any other day in southwest Florida. The sun rose, illuminating
a partly cloudy sky, and the prevailing
northeast winds made up early. Sea
birds circled above Pine Island Sound
searching for their morning breakfast,
and the staff of South Seas Resort
arrived, their morning Starbucks in
hand, readying themselves for another
day at work. But there was nothing normal about this day.
From the north, south and east came
multiple Grady-White boats numbering 20 strong on their way to converge
at the South Seas Resort on Captiva
Island for one of the largest GradyWhite Owners’ Club events held outside of Grady Fest. The Tampa Bay,
Tarpon Coast and Cannons Crew
Grady-White clubs had hosted a great
gathering in Sarasota last April. They
then followed a basic premise in life
that we all can subscribe to: When
something fun happens, don’t just
reminisce; do it again!
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South Seas was certainly the perfect
location; it is without question one of
the finest destinations on Florida’s Gulf
Coast. Restaurants, golf, three pools
plus beach access, combined with stateof-the-art landscaping and a marina
that held all our Gradys with ease,
made everyone feel they had disembarked directly into Paradise.
The weather was ideal for the Friday
night welcoming party. With trays
of food everywhere, warm breezes
rustling the palm trees in the background, and the moon poking thru the
passing cumulus clouds, it was hard to
imagine being anywhere else. GradyWhite, as usual, provided really cool
gift items for the event, solidifying how
dedicated they are to their customers
and to providing an exceptional ownership experience.
One of the most rewarding aspects of
these gatherings is the camaraderie that
goes on between attendees. They will
gather on this boat or that boat, swapping stories about storms, trips, or the
big one that got away. This is a simple
thing that happens organically, and
builds bonds that last for years to come,
born of a common love of the water.
Saturday was no exception. After
more dockside stories and lunch, everyone gathered for a group picture, then
went off to dinner at Doc Fords on the
southern end of the resort campus.
Thanks go to Norm Englert and the
Hargretts for the use of their vehicles to
help shuttle the rockstar-size crowd of
close to 55 people.
Most of the group departed on
Sunday morning, making way safely
back to various homeports thanks to
the continuing stable weather.
Remaining members of the Tampa Bay
club took a ferry to Cabbage Key and
Useppa Island for a true “Margaritaville”
experience–funky eateries, trees covered in Spanish moss, and old-time
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architecture. Schools of dolphin seen
in the wake of the tour boat and a dose
of history by the tour guide made for
a great day.
Thanks to our great club sponsors
Ingman Marine in Placida/Port
Charlotte, Cannons Marina of
Longboat Key, and Quality Boats
of Clearwater!
Author’s Note: Bill Hayes sends a shoutout to Al Howarth and family, and Roger
Raether, of the former Twin Cities Marine,
Two Rivers, WI, that made his purchase of
his Gulfstream 232 a pleasant, smooth
and incident-free experience back in 2007.
Al is now retired (the dealership was purchased by Beacon Marine of Sister Bay),
but the Howarth daughters are still
involved. Bill retired to Florida in 2012,
and remains appreciative of Howarth’s
service–a real testimony to the long-term
relationship between Grady-White boat
owners and their dealers.
The Grady Life: Owners’ Clubs
Here are highlights from recent Grady Owners’ Clubs events and outings. If you have Grady club information to share or are interested
in information about Grady clubs in your area, email [email protected]. Go to www.gradywhite.com for links to club websites.
his Chesapeake 290; Norm Englert, 38"
aboard Paul Hargrett’s Release 283; and
Marlin 300 owner Bob Clancy, 36.50".
Bruce Rosene and Jim Thobe each measured in a 34" catch. Thanks go to tournament sponsors Quality Marine of
Clearwater (also the club sponsor), and
Cannon’s Marina, Longboat Key. The
Tampa Bay crew wrapped up the year
with their annual holiday party and
cookie exchange, hosted by Judy and
Bill Eckerle.
FISH TALE GRADY CLUB MEMBERS enjoyed a smooth lunch cruise to Rumrunners Restaurant in Cape Coral, FL, in February.
The Fish Tale Grady Club takes advantage
of Florida’s latitude to enjoy a series of lunch
cruises over the winter. In early December,
Tom Towers led nine boats and 31 folks to
the Green Flash Restaurant on Captiva
Island, and then an equal number of Gradys
and guests to Rumrunners on Cape Coral in
early February. Tom Ashford led seven boats
joined by four cars with 38 diners at the
Lighthouse in Fort Myers later that month.
Stay tuned for an Anchorline feature on Fish
Tale’s big two-night cruise to Sarasota, and
their anniversary party at Doc Ford’s. FishTale Sales and Service, Fort Myers Beach, FL,
sponsors this club.
The Lake Erie Grady-White Club members
heard tournament walleye fisherman Travis
Hartman and guide Dave Spangler discuss
water quality and the health of the lake’s
fishery during their November meeting. The
lake is a constantly evolving resource, and
the effort is ongoing to quickly address problems such as algae bloom. Lake Erie ranks in
the top ten bodies of freshwater in the world
for recreational fishing harvest and number
of charter captains, and the 2015 walleye
spawn could be the best of the last 28 years.
The group heard several secrets for fishing
success, but they aren’t necessarily sharing!
South Shore Marine, Huron, OH, club sponsor, welcomed around 500 guests on
December 5 for a holiday customer
appreciation party.
The Southeastern Mariners GradyWhite Club continued a successful
boating and social season in November
with its first wine tasting event, during
which members were treated to an
excellent exhibition of viniculture and
fine wine tasting by semi-pro sommeliers, Peggy and John Montgomery, at
their Ware River, VA, riverfront home.
As the evening progressed the wine
became better tasting and the fishing
stories more exaggerated. By nightfall it
appeared that everyone had caught at
least one 50-pound cobia during the
season. For obvious reasons this event
is likely to become an annual event.
Mid-December presented the annual
nighttime Deltaville Community
Association hayride to, and boat cruise
along, Jackson Creek in Deltaville,
where Mariners enjoyed the riverfront
homes and boats lavishly decorated and
illuminated for Christmas. Thanks to
members Gail and Bev Butler, this
event has become a special end to a full
year of club activities. Special thanks to
sponsors, Fran and Buzz Brown of
Southeastern Marine, Richmond, VA,
for their continuing strong support.
The Tampa Bay Grady-White Club congratulates the prize winners of the Fall
2015 Kingfish Tournament, who performed at the top of the ten Grady
crews entered, and shared a total prize
of $1375. Express 330 owner Bill Eckerle
and son George won first with a 40.25"
fish, followed by Steve White, 39.25" on
The Tarpon Coast Grady-White Club
gathered at the home of Rose and Bill
Rissel for its annual Christmas party
combined with a 10th anniversary celebration–for which Grady-White made a
special coaster set for all attendees.
Along with wonderful food including a
sundae bar, the group enjoyed a lighted
boat parade and a Yankee gift swap. For
the second year, the group collected
and contributed non-perishable food
for the Charlotte County Homeless
Coalition. And, more than $500 were
raised with raffle tickets, matched by
Burt and Eileen Wahlburg for a total of
over $1000 being donated to AMI Kids,
an organization that assists boys transitioning from foster care into independent living.
LAKE ERIE TOURNAMENT WALLEYE FISHERMAN TRAVIS HARTMAN shares data on the strength of the fishery with the Lake Erie Grady-White Club.
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Letters & Photos
What’s happening? Have an interesting story or photo? Email us at [email protected] or
write to Anchorline, P.O. Box 1527, Greenville, NC 27835.
ANNE AND SAM EUBANKS were treated to quite a show by this huge humpback off Cape Henry, VA.
BETT Y CLARKE BROUGHT IN A BIG COD from the waters off Exploits Island, Newfoundland, fishing her and husband
Ross’s 258, Buchaneer.
Whale of a Show
Bay of Exploits
Dear Anchorline:
We were cruising the beach enjoying
the unusually mild December weather
here on our part of the Chesapeake Bay
when a huge whale decided to give us a
show. He must have breached 20-30
times in an hour. We took some incredible photos, and another boater took
this one with our 2008 Express 330 in
the background. We see whales often,
Dear Anchorline:
We are the proud owners of a 2010
Journey 258, and we are very pleased
with the performance of this craft in the
waters of the North Atlantic. Our two
grandsons from Ontario visited us one
July here in Exploits Island off
Lewisporte, Newfoundland, and
enjoyed the boat and the icebergs.
Dylan, 13, had the time of his life on
but never this spectacularly.
We wanted to share this with the
Grady-White factory folks who are
the culprits responsible for our
20-plus years of Grady experiences!
Anne and Sam Eubanks
Cape Henry, VA
DYL AN CL ARKE SKIS AMID THE BERGS, and his brother
NOL AN CL ARKE REL A XES IN HIS TOW FLOAT in the Bay of
Exploits off the coast of northeast Newfoundland, from their
grandparents’ Journey 258. The water temperature here in July
would be 40-45 degrees!
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water skis, while Nolan, 11, relaxed on
his float. The water temperature was
40-45 degrees. We also enjoy cod and
mackerel fishing, and mussel picking.
Ross and Betty Clarke
Lewisporte, Newfoundland
Who’s Your Grady Buddy?
To share a photo of your furry Grady friends, email us at [email protected]
or write to Anchorline, P.O. Box 1527, Greenville, NC 27835.
MINIATURE POODLES BUDDY AND RESCUED MICA are shipmates of Pat Brown and Dee Watkins on Barnegat
Bay in New Jersey, aboard a 1995 Gulfstream 232. These two carry on a special tradition: Pat and Dee’s first mini
poodle, LUCK Y, was featured in the September 2003 Anchorline, and appeared again with BUDDY in the
December 2008 issue. A true Grady Buddy family!
BRENDAN SULLIVAN HAD A GRE AT DAY STRIPER FISHING off Plymouth, MA, aboard his uncle
Michael Sullivan’s 1992 Seafarer 228, Lizmae III.
DOT TIE PACHARIS caught one of the larger king mackerel she and husband George have come across in the
Gulf off west coast Florida on their Marlin 300. She was using light tackle with a 20# leader, and the 47”, 36-lb.
fish nearly spooled her 300 yards of line and took 25 minutes to land.
2001 MARLIN 300 OWNERS CAROLINE AND JOHN SHERWOOD share a few fishing highlights from 2015, all caught
within 10 miles from their home port of Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, San Pedro, CA. Caroline shows a 37" halibut and
John a 35" yellow tail.
IT WAS THE DAWN OF A GRE AT GR ADY DAY for Scott McLeod on December 27 in Banks Channel, behind
Topsail Beach, NC, aboard his 2014 Fisherman 209.
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Anchorline
t h e g ra dy - w h i t e o w n e r s ’ n e w s l e t t e r
252-752-2111 www.gradywhite.com
Grady-White Boats, P.O. Box 1527, Greenville, NC 27835
Scott Yetman catches Chinook
salmon off San Juan Island, WA,
on his Fisherman 180.
Dear Grady-White Owners and Enthusiasts:
Wow, did we ever enjoy greeting boat show attendees this
winter! Our Grady factory representatives and dealers
welcomed enthusiastic customers who shook off the frigid
weather with visions of boating season in mind, and in Miami
there were throngs who came by water taxi and shuttle to that
show’s new venue on Virginia Key. Thanks to our boat owners,
old and new, who came to see (and buy!) our latest models.
We have a very special event to look forward to this year, one
EDDIE SMITH AND KRIS CARROLL
where we can enjoy the company of many Grady owners and
club members: Grady Fest V, at the Hingham Shipyard Marinas, a fantastic locale within easy reach of
Boston. The first four now-legendary Grady Fests took place in Florida, and this year there’s a change in
latitude but with the same festive Grady Life attitude. Make plans to be there this August, and be on the
lookout for registration information here in the Anchorline and also online at gradyfest.com.
Another of our favorite opportunities to meet our owners and interested customers is during tours of
the plant here in Greenville, NC. You are invited to come see the precision craftsmanship and attention
to detail that go into every step of creating a Grady-White. Call us at 252-752-2111 or register online
under The Grady Experience at gradywhite.com to plan your own tour!
Happy Boating!
Kris Carroll, president
Eddie Smith, Jr., chairman, ceo
JEFF RUDISILL, CENTER , who is featured on the cover of this Anchorline, and friends Joe
Benavides (l) and Wayne Mowery (r), toured the factory in February.