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Love of boating drives couple’s business

By Daniel Winningham 

Palm Breeze Charters offers rides on pontoon, cigarette boatsBill and Melissa Carlson both share a love for boats. They enjoy boating so much they have chosen to earn a living in the boating industry.”My wife and I have been boating for all of our lives,” Bill Carlson said, adding that he met his wife at an amateur water ski competition in Illinois.In late 2007, the couple started Palm Breeze Charters, Inc. They also operate Boatwatch, a service that looks after and does preventative care on vessels for “owners that don’t have time to properly take care of them.” With Boatwatch, they offer storm and hurricane preparation and, if given enough time, are able to move boats to safer locations or prepare for an incoming storm.According to Melissa Carlson, they “keep the fun in boating,” by refueling, cleaning and covering boats as well.Palm Breeze offers boat rides for two to four hours on a 35-foot Cigarette Cafe Racer.Boaters leave from Cedar Bay Marina on Marco and can travel up to Naples, to The Esplanade or other restaurants in Marco or simply cruise in the Gulf waters or in the Ten Thousand Islands.”We’re going to try to accommodate them to the best of our ability,” Bill Carlson said.The Carlsons also offer four- or six-hour luxury pontoon boat trips departing from Cedar Bay or Caxambas Park. The owners go along on about 90 percent of the charters, but have two backup captains available.Originally from the Chicago area, the Carlsons have owned a condo on Marco for seven years. Bill Carlson had been visiting the area since the 1980s because his parents had a place on the island.”We just fell in love with boating down here,” he said.Boating in Southwest Florida is unique because it offers the opportunity to get out and explore nature, check the views of a property or just spend time cruising in the open water, according to Bill Carlson.”There are so many things you can do by water that make it more fun than by car,” Bill Carlson said.For more about Palm Breeze Charters or Boatwatch, call 239-206-0909.www.zwire.com

Posted In: Boating Industry on February 28, 2008 Comments (2,299)

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