Thirsty Turtle

My wife Judy and I spent years thinking about buying a houseboat and spent even more time looking for one to restore. During the search, we discussed what theme the boat would have. It would have to be a nautical theme, but one that fit the boat. Thinking we would have to paint the name, Green Turtle was one of the top names we liked. Since we liked turtles and the boat we purchased is a 47-foot Boatel Islander and is the slowest boat we have ever owned, "Turtle" fit really well. It can barely get 14 miles per hour on the GPS.

Since the boat did not need paint, the green idea was dropped. Once we started out, we found that at 14 miles per hour we could burn fuel almost as fast as we could pour it in so the boat had to be very thirsty. Once we had the Thirsty Turtle name, we fitted and decorated the boat with many turtle statues, pillows, pictures and lights and we now have many turtles onboard.

Steve and Judy Helfer

Starved Rock Marina, Utica, Ill.