Who says you can't go home again? Bob Taggart grew up on Lake Shelbyville
in Illinois
and has always enjoyed life on the water. That love was passed on to his family
when he managed the Lithia Springs Marina for over 20 years, starting when it
first opened in 1973. With the support of his bride Pam of 42 years, each of
their three children has worked at the marina at some point during his time as
manager.
In 1995, Bob left the area to work as a financial advisor,
but after his recent retirement he and his wife have once again returned to the
Shelbyville area-well, sort of.
Now part-owner of the Lithia Springs Marina, Bob still
officially calls Texas his home, but when he
purchased a houseboat from Sunstar Houseboats, he of course had it delivered to
his favorite destination spot-Lake
Shelbyville.
His new Sunstar is 17 feet wide and 74 feet long, similar to
his previous houseboat, which was also called Tag-a-Long.
"The Tag-a-Long
name actually started with my parents with their first boats and it's been the
name of our houseboats since the very first one," explains Bob. "I considered Bob-a-Long, but it got vetoed
immediately."
New And Improved
When comparing the new Sunstar to his previous houseboat,
the two are very similar in many ways. Both are the same size with a similar
design, but the biggest difference is the fourth state room that was added. Instead
of having extra storage under the master bed, a second cuddy was created that
now gives the boat two more beds below.
When it came time to have the custom houseboat built, Bob
was willing to listen to his family because he wanted a boat they could all
enjoy.
"Everybody was able to give design input on the boat, but I
won," says Bob with a smile. He may have had the final say, but it was his
children and their spouses who helped create the ultimate houseboat that
everyone in the family could be proud of. For example, it was his daughter
Marney Oligschlaeger who came up with the idea to move the air conditioning
unit to the top deck so there would be more deck space in the stern.
"When the kids are swimming and going off the slide, we felt
we could use more room to watch the kids," says Marney. "Plus we have all kinds
of room upstairs and now it's not as noisy so you can have a nice conversation
back there."
"The fourth room was a big improvement," says Bob's other daughter
Jill Milnes. "With the second cuddy below, we feel we get more value out of the
boat."
"For us we also wanted gates on the stairs for the top deck
so we could sit up there and not worry about the kids," adds Jill's husband
Mark. "We also had them put a side gate up top that faces away from the dock so
we could jump off the top while the boat was still at the dock."
The Crew
Mark and Jill, who live in Springville, Ill.,
have two small children of their own, Lucas who is five and Kailyn who is
three, and relaxing on the houseboat is where they prefer to spend their
vacation time. Marney and her husband Dave, along with their two children,
Allison who is nine and their five-year-old Emily, are from Shelbyville and
being so close allows them to spend a lot of time onboard as well. But the list
of the family members is not just limited to Bob and Pam's two daughters.
The couple's son Mark and his wife Melissa, along with their
three children, all take turns as well, plus Bob's two brothers and their families
all use the boat too.
"I come as often as my kids will allow me to come up," jokes
Bob. "Now that my wife and I are retired we're coming up a lot more than we did
before."
The Sunstar is kept on a schedule and it has become a
Christmas tradition to sit down together during that time of year and reserve
the boat for specific weeks throughout the year. And of course they also like
to try and plan a time for everyone in the family to get together on the houseboat.
"We tried this year in July to get everyone together but
it's hard," says Jill. "When my brother comes to town we try to all get
together since he's coming from Vegas."
Adds Bob, "We're combining three states when we all come
together-Texas, Illinois
and Nevada."
Why Sunstar
Lithia Springs Marina
rents out several different types of boats including four Sunstar houseboats. Working
closely with Sunstar has really helped make the decision of which builder to go
with an easy one.
"The company has such a good rapport with the marina in
general because of all the rental boats," says Bob. "They've been buying rental
boats from Sunstar for such a long time. As for our personal boat, we really
enjoy working with [owner] George Roberts, Bobby [Gehring] and Paul [Decker].
The guys from Sunstar have treated us very very well."
Bob trusted those at Sunstar to include those little finishing
touches like the beautiful trim accents, rope lighting and high-quality
cabinetry work that he's come to expect from the Kentucky manufacturer. But when it came to
decorating, there was only one person he trusted.
"We loved working with Patty Roberts; as far as the interior
design she was very helpful. We needed an eye for that," says Bob. "We were
able to customize the boat to our taste and Sunstar was very easy to work with.
We took pictures to them to give Patty a sense of what our tastes are and she
did a great job."
Other Improvements
Besides the second lower cuddy, some additional changes were
made that might not be as noticeable unless you were looking for them. The
stairs leading up to the top deck were widened. And the ceiling accent with the
fan in the front salon was moved forward to give the boat a longer look and
feel.
"It's the little touches like the wider shower stalls and
the lighted closets that Sunstar has done to this boat that make a big
difference," says Bob. "Plus the trim work on this boat is magnificent."
Tag-a-Long is powered by twin 4.3L MerCruisers and Bob
feels he now has the ultimate houseboat that custom fits his personal needs and
he couldn't be happier. His new Sunstar keeps him and his wife closer to their
family, including their seven grandchildren, and really that's what being
retired is all about.
Will there be another Sunstar in this family's future? Only
time will tell, but they're extremely pleased with their current boat with no
immediate plans to do it again. But two things are probable if the Taggarts
ever do decide to build another custom houseboat: it will most likely be a
Sunstar and chances are very good the name of it will be Tag-a-Long unless Bob successfully lobbies for Bob-a-Long.
Lithia Springs Marina
On Lake
Shelbyville
www.lithiamarina.com
800 447 4121
Sunstar Houseboats
www.sunstarhouseboats.com
606-348-6648