Mark Ghilgieri's Love Affair With the Ocean
Listening to Mark Ghiglieri talk about his current flame in high performance boats, a 42" Reggie Fountain called "Shenanigans" with 2200 HP that moves at 100 miles per hour and holds 11 passengers comfortably, it's difficult to imagine that his first boat was a 12 foot Zodiac with a 9 point Mercury outboard engine.
Even though Shenanigans is used primarily for business purposes, he has come a long way since his little Zodiac, and he still remembers all of those boats he has loved in between.
Some of his fondest memories come from the summers of 1982 and 1983 when he captained a 17 foot "unsinkable" Boston Whaler. He was hired by the Rustic Motel on the Campbell River in British Columbia for 8 weeks of work each summer as a fishing guide. He was paid only $3,000 for the 8 weeks each year, but he would have done it for free for the experience alone.
The Rustic rests near the famed Seymour Narrows; a stretch of water so treacherous, even seasoned boaters will not brave it unnecessarily. The entier area however, of the Campbell River, and in particular where Seymour Narrows dumps into the river; the area teems with salmon and sturgeon.
Loving the Boston Whaler so much, Mark decided to captain two more in succession; first an 18 foot, then a 22 foot. He also drove a 12 year old Robert Jarvis Spectra before owning his first high performance power boat; a 22 foot Checkmate supercharged 454.
The long list of successors to that first gem include a 33 foot Reggie Fountain Executioner, a 42 foot Fountain Lightning with two Pratt and Whitney jet turbines (this boat incidentally threw 40 foot fireballs), a 46 foot Rough Rider Cigarette with twin Mercury 1000's and an American flag on the side of it (Mark says that this boat "roared"), and of course the current business use only 42 foot Fountain with 2200 horsepower called Shenanigans. According to Mark, this boat will throw a rooster tail of a quarter mile, and can cruise at 100 miles per hour while 11 clients sip champagne comfortably.
Although the boats in the past have been primarily used for fun, relaxation and entertainment, Shenanigans is used for the entertainment of clients to the art gallery that Mark Ghiglieri founded, owns, and operates, Masterpiece Investments, in Naples, Florida. The boat allows him to completely immerse his clients in the luxury of owning a work of art. Patrons of the gallery, and investors, are picked up by helicopter from the airport and immediately taken to the dock, given a glass of champagne, and placed on the 42 foot Fountain for a leisurely cruise around the Gulf.
Mark muses that someday he might own another boat for his own personal use, but for now, he is happy that he has the opportunity to enjoy the boat, while sharing the experience and thrill of riding in it with his clients and investors as well.
