Tucked away in a quiet section off the banks of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River is a remote campground in Winfield, Pa. The Old Sawmill is a seasonal RV campground where you can set up a permanent camp for six months out of the year. From April to October, you’ll typically find Al Razzis and his fiancée, Laura Goodman-Jenkins, here, especially now that Al is retired. Their RV trailer and campsite overlook this stretch of the river that meanders through the Pennsylvania Wilds Lumber Heritage Region, offering a scenic journey and rich ecological diversity.

Recently, the couple traded in their old pontoon for a higher-end model. When upgrading your pontoon there are jumps, but what they did is considered a monumental leap. They traded in their old two-logged pontoon with a 60hp engine for a brand-new Godfrey Monaco 235 triple-logged pontoon with a Yamaha 300hp outboard on the back.

“With our previous pontoon, if we had a lot of people on it when we were out cruising and you came to a stop, it would take on water,” says Al. “No matter what I did, it would always nosedive, but with the Godfrey, it’s not even a problem.”

Camping and enjoying the great outdoors in Pennsylvania is more of a passion than just a hobby for this couple, but they admit that since upgrading to a nicer boat, their perspective has changed.

“Camping is fun, but camping with a boat is on a totally different level; there really is no comparison,” states Al. “The more research we did on Godfrey, the more we learned about the high-end pontoon company that has been around a long time. The boat wasn’t cheap, but I would definitely do it again because of the quality.”

Highway Marine

The Monaco pontoon was purchased through Highway Marine, which has served the Quakertown, Pa., area for nearly 50 years. The family-owned business, founded by Gary and Sally Wimmer in 1977, has grown into a 16-acre facility with a 30,000-square-foot building. In 2017, the Wimmer’s son Dustin and his wife Jessica became the new owners, keeping the thriving boat dealership in the family. As impressive as the massive campus is, Al and Laura are quick to credit Sales Manager Andy Paradysz for helping them with the upgrade.

“He’s really the reason why we bought the boat,” explains Al. “We had bought a WaveRunner there two years earlier and Andy took care of us. When we were considering upgrading our pontoon, we looked at several places, but Andy is the reason we went with Highway Marine. We saw several pontoons that we liked, but we wanted to go back to Andy and see what he had.”

On the showroom floor was a 2024 Monaco 235 that the dealer was motivated to sell to make room for next year’s model boats. When Al and Laura first saw it, they instantly connected.

“We fell in love with the pontoon,” admits Laura. “In the end, we were just comfortable with Andy and the service. We knew right then that this pontoon needed to be at our campground and in our slip.”

The couple put a down payment on the 2024 Godfrey in the fall, with a plan to come back in the spring and pay it off in time for the 2025 boating season. In the meantime, they went to the local boat show and looked at other boats, yet came back even more confident with their decision.

“I saw them at the Philadelphia Boat Show and they saw the newer version of their boat,” recalls Andy. “I was wondering if they might like something else after visiting the show, but they came back and said they really liked the Monaco and so we moved forward.”

Bella (left) is a rescue dog that is a regular crew member when the Godfrey Monaco goes out. Polly (right) is the other rescue dog that is just as comfortable on the water as on land.

Right At Home

After taking delivery, the pontoon is right at home at the Old Sawmill campground where the couple enjoys poker runs, tie-ups and other fun activities with other boaters in the area.

“We refer to our group of friends as the West Branch Wackos,” says Laura. “We do poker runs and other fun events; it’s very much social. We’ll go find a shallow part of the river and all tie off together and everyone gets in the water.”

Weekends for this group of friends often lead to some epic adventures, but during the week can be fun too. When their friends go back to work and the stretch of the river gets quiet again, that’s when the fishing poles come out. The more the couple uses the boat, the more they appreciate having it.

“You can tell when you walk on it and when you walk on another boat, there’s just a different feeling to this Godfrey,” says Al. “It’s solid and the stitching in the seats is really nice. And the layout itself is versatile and we just love it.”

Laura is especially grateful for the double Bimini top, something she referred to as her “have-to-have” feature, but Al was surprised by how much he enjoys it as well. If they get caught in a rainstorm, as long as there isn’t any lightning, they love to stay out on the water because with the double Bimini, they don’t get wet.

Another Must-Have

For Laura, the double Bimini was a must-have, but Al needed a good boarding ladder.

“The only thing I requested be added was the LilliPad boarding ladder,” says Al. “Our boat didn’t come with one, but they added it. It makes it so easy to get out of the water. We boat with older people that we hang around with and when we’re tied together, they’ll use our ladder to get back on their own boats.”

Andy admits he’s seen a jump in customers also requesting the LilliPad ladder.

“When Al brought it to my attention, I had to really take a look,” admits the sales manager. “Being a big guy myself, I looked it up and boy that ladder is nice. It has wider, flatter steps that are much easier to use with a higher weight capacity. Now we’re ordering boats with their ladders.”

Plenty Of Power

Going from a 60hp outboard to a massive Yamaha 300hp outboard was something Al and Andy went back and forth on when deciding how much horsepower was really needed.

“The section of river we boat on isn’t really that big and the water depth gets down to 2 feet,” says Al. “So having a 300 Yamaha on there, I was concerned I might do damage. Also, I don’t really need a 300hp engine up here, but I found I really like having it! When we have the grandkids up, we put them on the tube and pull them around. Or when we have our poker run, we’ll have 12 people on board and with that 300 you can’t even tell we have that many people on the boat.”

Building Relationships

Andy strongly believes in building lasting relationships with his customers. He’s been doing this long enough to have seen families come in and buy a boat, and years later, their children return to buy their own. That’s not the only generation change he’s experienced. When he started in 1990, he never thought he’d be working for the Wimmer’s son Dustin one day.

“When I started their son was about knee-high and now he’s signing our checks,” says Andy with a laugh. “Dustin and Jessica are running the show now and their two young boys are the ones running around. I don’t think I’ll be here long enough, however, to where those boys will be signing my checks.”

For at least 20 years, Highway Marine has been selling Godfrey brands and the dealer specifically carries its Xperience, Sweetwater, Monaco and AquaPatio lines. It also carries the Indiana-based manufacturer’s fiberglass deck boat line as well, Hurricane boats.

“Number one is the brand; the brand has been around forever and people know Godfrey for having high-quality boats,” states Andy. “A very close second, just like customers gravitating to dealers, we have a relationship with the manufacturer and our representatives. They’re absolutely wonderful to work with. They get us the boats quickly and that’s fantastic.”

Another Great Pairing

Al and Laura have been together for many years after meeting during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We met during the ‘rona after one of my friends insisted that we meet,” recalls Laura. “I’m a widow and after he messaged me I thought, ‘This is just another one,’ but I said he should stop by the bar that I own sometime.”

The Old Buckhorn Cafe in Saint Clair is one of the oldest bars in Schuylkill County. It’s been in the family for 36 years after Laura’s late husband had purchased it with his mother and father from the previous owners.

“For better or worse, the bar is mine,” says Laura with a smile.

Al took her up on her invitation to stop by, but he happened to pick a day when she was out working in the yard.

“I was out working in my garden when one of my bartenders called and told me, “Some guy is here and he said he’s supposed to meet you,’” says Laura. “I was all dirty and sweaty, my hair was a wreck, and I probably even had dirt under my fingernails, but I figured it would be better to just scare him off now, yet here we are.”

For 32 years, Al worked for UFP Industries, which started in the mid-50s, supplying lumber products for factory-manufactured housing. Today, the company has evolved to meet the market demands in the building materials, packaging and construction sectors.

“I worked as a regional engineer for the lumber manufacturer and they were really good to me,” says Al. “Before doing the engineering, I was a plant manager for them.”

Season Starter

Al and Laura set up their campsite at the end of April this spring and admit the first part of the season is always a little chilly. But now with the prime summer months ahead of them, they’re as excited as ever to enjoy their second year on the water aboard their Monaco. Camping is fun, but having their Godfrey has been a game-changer for this couple and has enhanced their passion for the outdoors.