Maybe Paul Crammond (MBA '86) has done the impossible -- which is to make a life as well as a living. Somehow he's combined a passion for history, and restoring antique boats, with his love of Ontario's near north, and his own profession as a real estate agent.

    Crammond often gets clients into the cottage buying mood by taking them for a cruise in one of his restored runabouts. "I love restoring these boats," he says. "They're a part of Muskoka history. And, let's face it, they're a great marketing strategy."

    He stumbled on his part-time hobby (and business) when still an MBA student at York. Partly, it was out of necessity. Although he lived in Thornhill, he loved his family's Muskoka property, but didn't have a boat to get around. So he bought an 18-foot, 1955 "Resorter" for $1,000 because "nobody else was interested at the time. And fewer wanted to restore these boats," he says.

    His interest gradually blossomed into a business called Classic Legends, which crafts replica boats. "They're kind of like having the best of both worlds," says Crammond. "Old world styling with new world materials, like low-maintenance fibreglass hulls but with traditional mahogany decks." Crammond sells his boats mostly to the high-end market, not the traditional cottager. "Our 27-footer is in the $90-95K range," he says.

    The time and money needed to make antique Muskoka craft lakeworthy is considerable. It isn't uncommon to pour thousands of hours and dollars into a basic restoration. On his first boat, Crammond invested more than 1,000 hours and used three gallons of paint stripper and "15 coats of varnish." Bigger boats (over 40 feet) often cost upwards of $100,000 and involve several years of work.

    "These boats were unique to Muskoka history," Crammond points out. "People would use them for water skiing, touring or just cruising around. They were designed for pleasure -- most don't have roofs or cabins." Crammond now owns three boats: an antique 55-foot Resorter; a 1922 canoe built by the Rice Lake Canoe Company; and a rowing skiff built by a local Port Carling craftsman and based on a 1930s design.

    Says Crammond: "My career is selling houses, which means I should have a practical boat, but I just can't bear to buy one."