MEMORIAL DAY 2012

Hargrave wishes to say “Thank you “to all who serve in our military and to take a moment of silence for those who served and gave their all for our freedom.

Memorial Day is a special day for Hargrave CEO Mike Joyce, shown here in a Bordentown Military Institute class reunion photo with Denver Bronco Hall of Fame running back Floyd Little.

“So many of our classmates were killed in Vietnam that it is hard not to remember every day how fortunate our country is to be served by such outstanding men and women even to this day.” Mr. Joyce said.

This October will be the 50th reunion for Mike and his classmates.

 

“Why on earth would I buy a new Hargrave?”

“I don’t even have time to use the boat I have now!”

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that remark from a prospect at a boat show I could retire right now! I always make a point to ask what they mean by that statement and they proceed to describe their career, and all the pressures and responsibilities that are part of their world, and then say with a sad face “I’d really love a new boat Mike but I would never be able to use it.”

If you’re in boating you know just the guy I am talking about. You see some boats that are going out week after week loaded with family and friends having fun on the water while other boats just rock gently in their slips as neighbors’ remark, “Gee I hope everything is ok with Fred, he hasn’t been here in more than a month.”

Why is it that some people see to be able to enjoy fully all that they have accomplished in life while others seem to be trapped by their success, circling the globe, piling up money, but somehow, never smiling, never stopping long enough to catch their breath? I used to be one of those busy people, turning down offers to cruise Europe, South America, and Asia, because I could not leave my business for a second. And then it happened, someone stopped long enough to tell me “The Secret” and my life has never been the same since. Maybe this story will help you.

The Secret by Mike Joyce

I used to own a boatyard in the 1,000 Islands in the 60’s and 70’s and had some of the best times in my life back then. I was sad when I finally sold the business after ten years and went to work for Jack Hargrave in Palm Beach. For the next five years I worked really hard to establish myself and never even made it back for a visit, and then in later years I would go for a long weekend over the 4th of July and Labor Day weekends.

That was my pattern until one day in August of 1992 when I ran into Bob Cox who was our mayor here in Ft. Lauderdale and also owned the Lauderdale Marina. But I really knew Bob the best as one of those “rich summer people” who came to the 1000 Islands in early summer and stayed until fall. I have to be honest, when I lived up there I was really jealous of those “rich summer people”, they all just seemed so happy and gay, I felt like I was watching a scene out of the Great Gatsby movie with Robert Redford.

All of that changed that fateful day in August when I was standing outside the Antique Boat Museum dressed in a sport coat and tie getting ready to go to the Syracuse airport and Bob Cox came out of the Museum and asked what I was doing. I said I was flying back to work in Ft. Lauderdale and he asked in all seriousness “Why?”

I said because I didn’t know his “secret”, how he could own a business in Florida and yet spend his summers in the 1000 Islands. Bob looked at me with that big smile of his and asked, “Mike would really you like to know my secret?” I assured him I would and he took me over to a bench where we sat down and he looked me right in the eyes and then asked, “If I tell you the secret will you listen?” I assured him I would!

At that moment Bob leaned in close, lowered his voice, and then almost whispered, “Here’s the secret – there’s never a good time to leave your business Mike – ever!” In that flash of a second I understood exactly what he meant.

Bob told me that back in the 1950’s he made up his mind that he would spend each summer on the St. Lawrence River with his wife and children, and whatever the price of that decision was, he was prepared to pay it. For sixty years now he has done that. He told me in great detail about the early years when every time he went to pack up the car there was always some crisis, some emergency that tried to hold him back, but every summer he went.

As he got up to walk away Bob looked back and said, “Mike, there’s never a good time to leave for the River, one day you just make up your mind you’re going to go, and you go.” For 19 years now Jan and I have spent every summer on the River with family and friends, and just as Bob promised, many summers were filled with emergencies, crises, and problems that tried to hold me back but failed because I now had the magic secret. Success is a journey not a destination and our happiness only comes in those moments when we stop long enough to enjoy the blessings we have. Thank you Bob Cox!!

Michael Joyce, CEO
mikejoyce@hargrave.org

For additional information and photos of the Thousand Islands check out my friend, Ian Coristine’s, One in a Thousand Interactive eBook

 

“WHERE’S THE FIRE BUDDY??”

It was a beautiful evening in Kingston, Ontario on Thursday when Hargrave CEO Mike Joyce and Bob Banister of 1^st Performance Marine in Ft. Lauderdale were invited to attend a VIP press sea trial of Metal Craft Marine’s latest launch, a 70’ APV (all purpose vessel) which will be delivered to the City of Boston, MA at the end of the month. The craft is designed to handle fires, security, and rescue work in the Boston harbor.

Weighing 50 ton and topping 38 knot the vessel is “built like a battleship” according to Mike Joyce and pumps 12,000 gallons a minute out of five high pressure nozzles, some reaching a distance of 435’ in the air. “I’ve been following Metal Craft ever since I first talked with them a decade ago about building some specialty projects for Hargrave. To see the growth of this company and the degree of sophisticated projects they have subsequently developed is really exciting to watch” said Joyce. “To experience the performance and handling of this boat was nothing less than impressive, and I was truly excited to learn about their new affiliation with Brunswick that will allow them to go global with their unique commercial designs and high quality Canadian manufacturing.”

Photos from the VIP press sea trial of Metal Craft Marine’s latest launch, a 70’ All Purpose Vessel

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE?

Everybody wants their boat for summer, but when you see a builder actually deliver four supper yachts for summer it really makes you take your hat off and salute that accomplishment. When we read in Boat International that Heesen had delivered four superyachts this summer and seven in the last twelve months it really made us sit up and take notice. The yachts shown in the article are so big, so complicated, and yet so delicate on the inside that delivering even one yacht for summer is a feat and four is truly amazing.

Mike Joyce