Where We Started

The year was 1970. My father, Dennis Thomassen, was working for a boat dealer in the Seattle area selling Winner Boats. As a true boat aficionado, he soon fell for his own sales pitch and brought one home for himself, just beating out my arrival to the family. My early years revolved almost exclusively around this boat. I learned at a tender age how to properly care for her, washing (that’s me at age three in the above photo) and waxing the exterior, maintaining the motor, even learning to drive her before I could reach the pedals on my tricycle. The Winner was a family member and I cared for her with all the diligence of an over-involved older sibling.

The day came when my father took an out-of-state job with Outboard Marine Corporation and the sacrificial decision was made to sell the boat to my uncle. I never officially broke ties with the Winner, however, begging my uncle to take me out whenever we came back to visit.

Eventually we moved back to the blustery gray of the PNW and I was able to talk my dad into purchasing the boat back from my uncle. By then she was due for a refit after years of heavy use around Puget Sound and Hood Canal. My dad took this opportunity to teach me all the ins and outs of rebuilding the outboard, re-outfitting the interior, installing a new windshield, resurfacing the hull, and refurbishing the trailer. I also took advantage of my high school welding shop class by designing and building an aluminum water ski pilon to up my water ski game. What followed was another seven years of non-stop boating, fishing the lower Columbia River, towing skiers and kneeboarders at Cullaby Lake and Hood Canal, jumping ferry wakes on the Puget Sound, and generally chasing that inherent and reckless teenage need for speed, all the while reeking of two stroke and Coppertone. Life was good.