Going Custom
Donnie Caison never intended to become a custom boatbuilder; he just didn’t want to sink a bunch of money into a project to make an old boat new again. He and a buddy were discussing going in on a classic 31 Bertram and rehabbing it with new motors, paint and interior, giving the boat the full treatment.
“I started crunching the numbers, and I told him we’re going to have $100,000 in a 35-year-old boat that we couldn’t sell for more than $50,000 if it was perfect,” Caison says. “I said ‘I bet I could build a boat for $150,000.’ He didn’t think I could do it, and I said ‘Just watch me.’”
Caison, who never studied naval architecture, decided to
