MICHIGAN, USA — Sit along the Kalamazoo River, just off Lake Michigan in Saugatuck, and you just may do a serious double-take. Cruising down the channel at any given time are any number of boats from pontoons to cabin cruisers...but look closely and you will step back in time to a brief, but eclectic, era of vessels from 1958 to 1965. That's when fashionable and exciting styles of small boats were produced. These boats looked more like floating Ford Thunderbirds and Cadillacs than fishing vessels. They illicit jaw-dropping looks from folks on the banks and vacationers who want to see what it is like to captain one of these boats. They can do so thanks to Lauren Stanton and her husband who operate Retro Boat Rentals, an attraction right along the waterfront.
"Many people will say to us, 'My dad or my grandparents had a boat like this.' They are all original from the late '50s to early '60s because that was the sweet spots for gorgeous boats," Lauren said. "After the mid-'60s, boats started to get boring again. You know, they have the really cool windshields and all of the fun. It's like the cars of that time, they're just gorgeous with different colors, and they're very unique."
The boats are for rent, but don't expect a loud noise as they cruise down the waterway. Though they definitely have the look and the spirit of the 50s, these boats have Johnson outboard motors strictly for the look...they all are electric...clean and very quiet. Lauren says that is all by design because they have to operate in a no-wake zone.
"They are super quiet and nice for conversations. They are not the old polluting motors and that sort of thing. They are better for the environment," Lauren said.
Lauren is a former television news anchor who lived in this tiny town along Lake Michigan and decided, with her husband, to try something new. The retro boat rental is part of a larger business that includes a restaurant, bar and gift shop. For her, the business continues the legacy of Saugatuck being a destination for vacationers, especially in the summer. Even in this season, when the population swells from 900 to 10,000, the spirit of peacefulness never leaves.
"I hear from people all the time that come from the bigger cities like Chicago, 'It is just so quiet here,'" Lauren said. "So it's the calm of the water and just the enjoyment and just feeling like, 'I've made it, I'm on vacation!'"
Chuck's Big Adventure: Retro Boat Rentals
Keeping with the tradition of naming boats after women, the Retro Boats folks have added a twist. Many of the boats have names after classic TV female lead characters or names common in the '50s and '60s. Lauren loves the responsibility of naming the boats.
"One of my favorite things to do is name the boats. Because she is a glass slipper, we have Gladys, the glass slipper. We have Ruby, our red boat out there, and there is Laverne, because she is out of Milwaukee." (A nod to the series "Laverne and Shirley.")
Lauren and her husband have made sure each boat is as authentic as possible with upholstery, chrome and fabrication as identical to the original as possible. In the offseason, they are updating and repairing these beautiful boats, but they are also looking for more retro boats to add to the fleet.
There are other places to ride boats in this destination village...from the one-of-a-kind Chain Ferry to a several-hundred-passenger paddle boarder. Retro boats, though, give you a step back in time, when Ike was president, "Leave It To Beaver" ruled the airwaves and boat design made traveling down the Kalamazoo as much of a fashion statement as a ride!