EDITORIAL
Ride Dry, Drive Dry
At the sound of the text alert, I grabbed my phone. It was from Sue Whitney, our managing editor. She’d sent me some images from a photo shoot we’d organized for the towables roundup feature in this issue (page 90).
I thumbed, scrolled and stopped cold—but only for a microsecond. Then I cracked a smile.
I need you to understand something about photo shoots. It sometimes happens that the boat that shows up for one of our photo shoots is emblazoned with some message or another. I don’t mean the boatbuilder’s logo. I’m talking about a floating billboard. When this happens, I simply task our art director, Ryan Swanson, to use his skills with Photoshop and make the message disappear.
So, when I scrolled through Whitney’s text and saw the boat with a message on its hull, why did I smile instead of speed-dialing Swanson?
Because the Nautique that showed up to tow our test crew so we could evaluate the latest crop of inflatable tow toys was from Ride Dry, Drive Dry (ridedrydrivedry.com).
This 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization was founded in tragedy—in short, by a competitive skier and Florida boat dealer, who, in 2006, went boating while drinking, which resulted in multiple injuries and the death of a young girl. That boater was Mark Watts, who went to prison. Upon his release, he founded Ride Dry, Drive Dry with his wife, Teressa. You may remember Watts for the heartfelt 2014 video, produced by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators, in which he implores people not to run a boat while consuming alcohol.
Today, Mark’s passion for watersports endures. He is dedicated to making fundamental changes in how people enjoy boating by utilizing his own experience, industry knowledge and business relationships to advance the sober boating cause. Mark says: “I believe this campaign can change the mindset about drinking and boating, and promote social responsibility within the watersports culture. I am living proof.”
Ride Dry, Drive Dry boasts many professional watersports athletes who support the cause: Meagan Ethell, Danny Harf, Steele Lafferty and Ashley Kidd, to name some. Support also comes from luminaries in the wider world of boating and fishing: Capt. George Poveromo, Darcizzle, Capt. Benny Blanco and Capt. Rick Murphy.
We support Ride Dry, Drive Dry. We ask that you support it too.
Enjoy the issue.
So, when I scrolled through Whitney’s text and saw the boat with a message on its hull, why did I smile instead of speed-dialing Swanson?
Kevin Falvey, Editor-in-Chief editor@boatingmag.com