http://www.pdbmagazine.com Pontoon & Deck Boat July (^201723)
WILLIAM W. (BILL) BROWN
Before his time in the Marine Corps, Bill was
boating the summers away at a lake named Cold
Stream Pond, Maine, in the late ‘40s. His extended
family owned summer houses (or “camps”) along
the shoreline with just
about every type of boat
available, so Bill and the
other kids had a blast on
the water growing up.
“In the early ‘50s, my
family moved to Ohio and
I became interested in
boat racing and was building my own Ford
V8-60-powered inboard three-point hydroplane
race boat. When I turned 16 I wanted a car and my parents’
ultimatum was boat or car, not both. Since cars are a lot more
practical to get girlfriends I opted for the car. This was the
start of me being a ‘car guy.’ I purchased a Model A Ford
coupe and built my own hot rod,” Bill shares.
After graduating from high school, Bill joined the Marines
during a peaceful time in 1955, spending most of his service
going to various schools. He served in a Division Headquarters
Communication Battalion until 1958, before coming back
home to study electrical engineering.
“At that time, my boating was limited to fishing from a
canoe that I rebuilt. Many years later when our kids were
young we bought a cabin cruiser and spent many enjoyable
weekends boating here in Ohio. It
was at this time that I became
involved with the Coast Guard
Auxiliary and enjoyed teaching
safety courses and doing boat
inspections. When the kids got
old enough that their idea of fun
no longer included spending the
weekends with Mom and Dad cooped
up on a boat, the cabin cruiser was
sold,” Bill says.
Jumping ahead to 1997, the Browns
returned to Bill’s roots and bought their
own camp on Cold Stream Pond for some
boating on a vintage mahogany center-
console Boston Whaler.
“In 2015 I decided that I was old enough to long for a
flat surface boat where I could easily walk around. BOOM!
Pontoon boat!” Bill laughs. “I spent the next fall, winter and
spring learning everything I could about pontoon boats and
researched the various manufacturers. In late spring of 2016
I finally pulled the trigger and spec’d out and ordered a new
20-foot Sweetwater bow fishing model, which we enjoyed last
summer on our lake in Maine. This last fall, winter and spring
have been dedicated to researching and purchasing equipment
upgrades which will be installed this summer when I get back
to Maine.”
SHAWN
CORRILL
Shawn served
in the Army as a
31U, Signal Corp
working on battlefield
communications
equipment. He was sent
to Germany for his duty
station from 1994 to
- He also served
in the Army Reserve
for two more years after
that. During the Bosnian
Conflict, Shawn initially
served in a Topo unit, detached from an Engineer Brigade
that also happened to be the initial brigade that landed in
Croatia right after the Dayton Peace Accord. Shawn excelled
in his assignment at the Topo unit, installing new radios and
PC systems within the building. In fact, he was so effective
in his assignment, that there was a bit of a conflict between
members of the Brigade’s leadership over who would get this
communications specialist.
Shawn recalls, “My lieutenant and captain were satisfied
with the results I was giving them, so when the Brigade
Colonel called my captain to have me shipped down to Bosnia
because they needed Commo people, my captain said no.
The captain said no two more times, but lost on the third,
and I was shipped down to Bosnia.” For his services, Shawn
received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for his tour
in IFOR/SFOR in Bosnia and Croatia.
Shawn’s boating experience started, like it does for so
many, boating with his dad, where they would go fishing
together on Lake Erie. After his military service, Shawn
purchased a cuddy cabin and cruised on the lakes with his
family for a couple years before buying a three-log pontoon.
The pontoon was the best choice for him based on its space
and open floorplan.
“I find that the triple pontoon allows for more people,” he
says. “We go out on Kentucky Lake and local lakes here in
Illinois.”
There, on the water, surrounded by family and the stillness
of the air, Shawn can enjoy his own portion of the peace he
has worked to maintain, far from the buzz of communications
equipment and the frantic energy of war.