As the owner of a third generation towing company, Tary Beaupre knows that towing can sometimes be, well, a pain. So after he and his wife Trenna decided to split their retirement life between a lake house in Michigan and a winter home in Florida, they quickly found that bringing their Viaggio back and forth was too much hassle. The 22-hour drive through interstates, mountain ranges, and hotel parking lots felt more like a massive headache than a relaxing retirement, even with all of Tary’s expertise in the towing business.

Beaupre’s Towing

Tary spent his life working at the family business, which was begun by his grandfather in 1932. After his dad purchased the company in 1966, Tary spent his Saturdays at the shop organizing oil cans and doing other odd jobs from the time he was eight years old. In 1995, Tary became the third generation owner when he bought the company. He worked hard to keep up with the needs of the growing business by adding storage properties, an additional building, and 75-ton trucks.

Tary grew the company to a fleet of nine tow trucks and 12 employees. With their specialized equipment, they can help those stranded with empty gas tanks, overturned 18-wheelers, or even water-logged cars stuck in a lake. They also offer long distance towing, to make sure customers can make it to their faraway destinations.

But even with all of that towing experience, once Tary retired and sold the business last year, he wanted to spend more time boating and less time towing.

Making Memories At The Marina

The couple raised their two sons in Three Rivers, Mich., and often spent time on the water. Tary said, “I’ve been boating since my teens, so we’ve always had some type of boat.” These days, they love taking their two grandsons for boat rides, though they have to work around sporting schedules.

“We go boating as a whole family, and we like to have our grandsons come a couple of times every summer without their parents,” Trenna said. They also hang out with their good friend, Scott, who has been their neighbor and boat dealer for years.

Two Friends To Neighbors Twice Over

Years ago, Tary and Trenna were cruising Fisher Lake when they met Scott Kadlec, the owner of a local Viaggio dealership called The Edge. They became fast friends, and have been doing business together for 15 years.

Started in the early 1990s, The Edge in west Michigan has been offering Viaggio pontoon boats for five years.

“One thing we really like about Viaggio is they are a family-owned company, much like our own marina, The Edge,” Scott said. “ Everyone works together for a common goal and that just works well for us.”

With a great reputation in both the inboard towboat and pontoon industries, Scott says their number one priority at The Edge is to make sure families spend as much time as possible on the water having fun. And since Scott lives only a block away from the Beaupres, they can easily hang out after work, as well.

In fact, the friendship and boat buying was working out so well that they decided to be neighbors at their winter home, too. The Beaupres have a home in Southwest Florida’s Cape Coral, where their canal can take them all the way to the gulf or out to the Atlantic. When the house next door to them came up for sale, they quickly called Scott. He landed the sale, and now the neighbors even have connected docks. “I hope we never get mad at each other!” Tary joked.

Two Is Better Than One

After they bought their winter home in Florida, the best alternative to dragging a 26-foot boat between both residences was to simply buy a second boat. This way, they can spend summers in Michigan from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and soak up the Florida sun all winter long.

Trenna said, “It’s so much easier to just leave the boat there. Especially if you get the opportunity to fly down for a weekend during the summer months, the boat’s ready to go.”

You have to really love a particular boat brand if you’re going to own two of them.

Tary said, “We stuck with other brands in the past, which were okay. But once Scott started selling Viaggios it was a very pleasant move for us. Viaggios are cutting edge because they’re new, and they’re where they need to be.”

The Beaupres own two Viaggio Diamantes: the 2022 model resides in Florida, and the newer 2023 model in Michigan. And they’re pretty much the same. With identical layouts and motors, only the color differences set them apart. And the handling and performance of the Diamante is great.

“I will say this is the smoothest triple ‘toon we’ve been on. It works very well on rough water,” Trenna said.

Tary appreciates that the Viaggios are ready straight from the factory. “For the most part, these come out of the box and they’re solid, ready to go. That was especially true with the boat we have in Florida,” he said.

Both Diamantes are outfitted with Honda 250hp motors because, Tary said, “At this point I like a little more horsepower. I’ve never had a Honda give me an ounce of trouble over 15 years. They’ve always been bulletproof.”

Plans For Cruising

In Michigan, they cruise around the 350-acre lake, stopping at friends’ houses, socializing, and just having fun out on the water. In Florida, Tary says it’s a bucket list goal to boat into the Atlantic, though for now he says, “We basically cruise down to a tiki hut bar for lunch, hang out at the beach, and come home.”

Conveniently, Scott can help them field repairs and replacements for the boats in both locations. Since there’s not a Viaggio dealership near them in Florida, Scott simply brings whatever his friends need for their boat on his next visit. Trenna said, “If we need a replacement part or we run into the dock, we just tell him what pieces we need and he brings them down to us.”

So when the Beaupres are ready to upgrade to the shiny new model of the Diamante, Scott will definitely get the sale. “Because we’re such good friends and Scott’s so easy to work with, we turn our boats over every two years,” Tary said.

The couple has their eye on the latest Diamante with the dual console. “Well, we’re not eyeing it, it’s going to happen,” Tary said. Trenna agreed and said, “That is a beautiful boat, and I love the fact it has a tower.” They may add a red stripe for flair, and it’s sure to be a fantastic boat no matter which house they decide to keep it at.