"The business concept was to offer guests the opportunity to
experience a houseboat vacation on an upscale luxury house-
boat with a captain and crew," Gary explains.
The Odyssey offered meals prepared by onboard chefs
and served in a fine-dining atmosphere. The cruises
were very popular, and lasted around three hours,
concluding as the sun set over the marina.
In 2004, Gary had built up a sizeable clientele,
and was running a profitable business. At this
time, he recognized that houseboat trends were
changing, and in order to stay relevant, he
would need to create a new and larger boat.
Unfortunately, the cost of building a new boat
had increased substantially in the preceding
years, and he was unable to justify the deci-
sion.
With that, he sold The Odyssey and began
planning for a new one.
Sharpe Enters the Story
After Gary met Jeri, they started searching for
a manufacturer to build a new houseboat.
feature
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Houseboatmagazine.com
