Roy and I were sitting in the Bayonne Jewish Community Center lounge after playing basketball, watching television and talking. It was the middle of winter and Roy was an electrician’s apprentice wiring houses with no heat. Roy said he was fed up with it. I said would you like to come to Florida and learn how to take care of and run a boat?
Roy asked to think about it and he would let me know. The next day Roy called and said yes. One week later we both flew to Miami and went to Coconut Grove on Biscayne Bay where I kept the boat, a 43’ Gulf Star Trawler used mainly for cruising.
This is when Roy’s love of boating and the ocean began, the winter of 1974.
Fortunately, we were docked next to a sailboat whose family lived on it. The father worked for Florida Power & Light and befriended Roy. He started teaching Roy all about boat maintenance in the engine room and on the outside.
On a trip to Chub Cay in the Bahamas, Roy and I tried sport fishing for sailfish and hooked a double header. We were captivated by the sport of fishing.
In 1975, I sold the Gulf Star Trawler and ordered a new 42’ Post Sportfishing boat. We relocated to the Sailfish Marina on Singer Island. Roy became a charter boat Captain, studied and got licensed. The Sailfish Marina was a center for charters and Captains and Mates. It wasn’t long before Roy, who was a quick learner, was very much into the whole sport fishing scene. We started fishing in tournaments that year but both of us had much to learn.
In 1983, I sold the Post and bought a 48’ Whiticar and we were on our way to bigger and better things. From Florida to Cape Cod and back several times. Fishing the Outer Banks for giant blue fin tuna as well as in Cape Cod Bay and Montauk. The experiences of a lifetime in the Bahamas at least 25 times from Walker’s Cay in the north to San Salvador in the south. While in Bimini, we witnessed Queen Elizabeth grant the Bahamas their independence.
Roy became one of the premier boat and sport fishing captains on the east coast. He made friends with everyone with his easy-going manner and his ability to help at the drop of a hat. From Barnstable, Massachusetts to Montauk, New York and south Florida everyone knew and respected Roy. Roy’s fishing records reflect how successful a sport fishing Captain he became.
Roy possessed the ability to fix anything. If he didn’t know how he figured it out with the help of his iPad and Google. This allowed Roy to always have the boat ready and in pristine condition.
Roy was not only an excellent Captain and fisherman but also my close friend and like family to me. I will miss him always but have thousands of fond and exciting memories.
– David Lipman, Founder of The Forum