Yacht Haven

The Yacht Haven Story

Around 1940, Glen Seaman Bailey first started renting boats to people with his Aunt Lila Seaman’s help. In 1942, Glen built a 12 x 10 building with a gas pump, fishing lures and small outboards which he rented. Glen called it The Big Dock. Soon after, he started building rowboats and rented them for $1.00 a day. Glen guided fisherman, duck hunters and deer hunters in the fall, in addition to selling beef from his herd of cows, and he and his wife, Gertrude, ran a dairy bar where they served beverages and lunch.

In 1947, three summer residents all needed boat storage so Glen made them a deal. If they paid so many years in advance, he would build a boathouse for boat storage. They agreed, and that is how the rigging shop and first boat house came to be. Glen had great insight and in the late 1940’s bought land from members of the Seaman and Bailey families to build the cottages and the marina. It was a family affair from the beginning with all five of Glen and Gert’s children, most of their grandchildren and now great-grandchildren working on the docks alongside them and now their son Denny.

Denny’s oldest sister, Jo Zeerip, recalls that the first gas pump was a hand pump and could only pump ten gallons at a time. So after each ten gallons, the kids would put a stone down to keep track of how many gallons they sold.

The business continues to be a family affair with Glen and Gert’s son, Denny, at the helm and their grandson (Denny’s nephew), Joe DePaul, as his right-hand man. Almost everyone in the family has put in their time on the docks contributing to the success and welcoming atmosphere at the Drummond Island Yacht Haven.