Buffett has role in new boat design
By Thom Smith, Palm Beach Post Staff Columnist
Friday, October 11, 2002

For more than half a century, Rybovich has built fishing boats. Nothing ordinary, mind you. From hull design to plush interiors, they're special. And
customers are willing to pay millions for them. Yet in the gene pool of sportfishing lurk a few chromosomes from pirates and privateers, adventurers
and explorers. So it's only fitting that a self-described pirate should be involved with the newest Rybovich, the 42-foot Express Walkaround.
"Were doing it; he's in it," Rybovich President Jim Bronstien said. The "he" is none other than Jimmy Buffett, who's been known to cast a line from time to time and for more than a year has been involved in the development of the new model.
Production will begin soon, but a mockup has been finished and, with the help of the troubadour, will be unveiled Thursday at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show.
"We've invited about 350 special guests and people from the industry to the party," Bronstien said. "We've got The Stowaways, a Buffett-endorsed cover band, shrimp, Corona and margaritas. Should be fun."
The all-composite structure will be built by United States Marine in New Orleans, and Rybovich will do the finish work. Plans call for about 10 to be
built each year at a price in the $1 million range.
Buffett is "psyched," Bronstien said. "He has a vision, and ours is somewhat similar to it."
Bronstien wouldn't be surprised if a Buffett model were to emerge. No. 1 will certainly have his mark on it. It'll be his boat, and the name is already
picked... Margaritavich.

BY RICHARD CHIN
St. Paul Pioneer Press

First up is more proof that the cordless drill is one of the best inventions since the toaster.
About 10 years ago, self-described boat bum Teo Leonard was on his 40-foot sailboat somewhere off San Diego, or maybe Mexico, he can't really remember, when a demanding passenger insisted on a blended margarita.
"We had about a quart of gas in the generator," Leonard remembers, not enough to generate electricity for the blender. But inspiration struck. Leonard used a battery-powered cordless drill to mix the drink to a sufficiently slushy consistency. The Boat Blender was born.
About eight years later, Leonard, now a Plymouth resident and the owner of a software company, used the gadget again at a golf tournament.
"Traffic stopped. People said, 'What is that? I've got to get one,' " Leonard said. Inspiration struck again.
"All these people said, 'Hey, I'll give you 30 bucks for that.' " Now they can.
Leonard's device, now called the Drillblender, is basically a plastic 32-ounce blending chamber/drink mug with a screw-on blender base. The ice-cutting blades are driven by a special bit that you can attach to your cordless drill. It's capable of mixing up a Makita margarita or a DeWalt smoothie at the football game or on the job site, provided you have a decent-quality battery-powered drill: a 12-volt or higher capable of at least 1,100 revolutions per minute.
Leonard said that, in the last year and a half, he has sold more than 5,000 of the $29 devices at boat shows and at his Internet site, www.drillblender. com. The purchasers are boaters, golfers, tailgaters, campers and Jimmy Buffett fans.
"Jimmy Buffet concerts are the biggest things," he said.
Leonard concedes that a competing device, the more powerful gasoline-engine-powered blender, does a lot better job of turning ice into slush. But those cost about $300, and he thinks his gadget is more convenient.
"This battery here is good for a liter of Cuervo," he said during a recent demonstration.