The Boat That Waited Too Long Finds Its Next Steward

A successful R4R fundraising story!

In early August, a fantastic opportunity came our way out of the blue — the kind of thing that happens through good connections, and we love it.

Dean May of North Fork Ranch in Shawnee first fell for Adirondack guide boats while in college in the Adirondacks — that classic, low, graceful hull that rowers and guides across the Northeast have used for generations. Years later, once the ranch was up and running, he could finally afford one and had it shipped in from Vermont. “It was a dream come true,” Dean says.

Then life happened — the ranch, a family, a business — and the boat waited. Now, at retirement age, Dean finally had time to get it on the water, only to find his body couldn't keep up with the dream. “My knees and body can no longer accommodate this dream,” he says.

Rather than quietly list it and watch it disappear into the internet, Dean wanted the sale to mean something, so he asked us to help. R4R teamed up with Small Craft Sales, whose owner Tim Romano tells the full story in “The Boat That Waited Too Long” (worth five minutes), to auction the boat with every dollar going to the Rocky Mountain Rett Clinic at Children's Hospital Colorado.

This boat, built by Adirondack Guide Boat Company, is a modern take on the historic guide boats once used by Northeast woodsmen and fishing guides — light, strong composite construction with all the elegance and quiet-water grace of the originals. Stable, easy to row, and surprisingly capacious, it's equally at home as a fishing boat, a hunting boat, or a sunrise cruise for two.

Tim and the R4R team ran the auction in early August and we congratulate the lucky winner - see picture! 

Every dollar raised goes straight to the Rett Clinic at Children's Hospital Colorado. Since 2014, R4R has raised more than $1,000,000 for the clinic — now one of the leading Rett programs in the country, serving more families than ever, thanks in large part to auctions like this one.

Thank you to everyone who bid, shared the listing, or rooted for it from the sidelines — and especially to Dean and the team at North Fork Ranch, and to Tim at Small Craft Sales, for giving this boat the send-off it deserved.

The Risers 4 Rett team