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"My family lives in the small town of Waveland, MS on the Gulf Coast, right about where the eye of Hurricane Katrina came ashore in August 2005 destroying our home, nearly all of our possessions, and the majority of our hometown. After more than two years of hard work clearing mounds of debris, replacing our home and a lifetime of lost possessions, we just took delivery of a new DLV 258 two weeks ago. Much remains to be done rebuilding our town and lives and that's where the boat comes in, helping us to get back a little bit of the good life we enjoyed before Katrina. The boat will be used for fishing the nearby marshes and offshore areas, camping trips out to the barrier islands, and days on the river barbequing, skiing, watching 4th of July fireworks and all the other good things we will all enjoy doing together again. In short, we will use the boat to rebuild something more meaningful than a house or possessions; we'll use it to rebuild our good times together. The 258 is big enough to carry whatever we might want to take with us, including lots of friends, gear, toys and even File', the family dog, out for a day on the water. I've been around all kinds of boats all of my life and I think this one will truly be a keeper, definitely one of the most versatile I've owned."

-Terry Duvieilh, Waveland,

"My Carolina Skiff has been a real "do-it-all" boat for me: We've skied, knee boarded, drifted the flats, even headed 25 miles offshore in it on calm days. For a 19' flat bottom, it's seen much more action than most boats twice its size and price. It has been the greatest boat a person could ever ask for and I will purchase another one in the future! Thanks for such a great product!"

-Steve Hamm, New Braunfels, TX

"My wife and I had a date down the Chicago River for dinner-on a small-craft advisory day nonetheless. We left Montrose Harbor in our 2002 J16 and headed out onto Lake Michigan. Once we cleared the breakwaters, we were immersed in very high winds and huge rolling waves. We pushed on, our 30 hp, 4-Stroke outboard doing its job beautifully. It was slow going and we reached a point where we were frightened enough to put on lifejackets, but declined to turn back. Riding so low in a J16, I had to avoid hitting any of the immense waves head on, and basically surfed the waves all the way to the downtown breakwaters. For a flat-bottom boat in rough seas, "Miss Claire" performed beyond expectations. As a matter of fact, there was even a news chopper hovering above us until we made it downtown. Now, we don't know for sure if we made it on live TV, but our story has always been that we were probably going to be on the evening news as a rogue wave overtook us. We made it, however. Once we made it through the locks, both the wind and waves were gone and we had an amazing evening . thanks to our Carolina Skiff!"

-Clark Hamilton, Burns Harbor, IN