If there were prizes for time spent on board their Pursuit boat as a family, we are sure that the Marino Family from Auburn, Alabama, would be in contention for first place! The Marino family consists of mom and dad, Kelly and Stephen, and their three beautiful daughters Zoe, Sam, and Hannah. The five love nothing more than spending time together on their boat.
Today, we are excited to share the story about who they are, how they got into boating, and how they use their Pursuit boat.
Stephen and Kelly are high school sweethearts whose relationship of twenty years - of which they have been married for sixteen - included boating from early on. "Our passion has always been boating. No matter what we've done, even in college, we scraped together some money and bought a boat," Stephen recalled. The couple attributed their love for boating to their parents, with Kelly sharing some particularly fond memories. "I've been boating since I was young; my parents had a lake house where we enjoyed many beautiful summers."
After marrying, Stephen and Kelly soon started a family, at which point Kelly left her job in biotech to care for newly-arrived twins, Zoe and Sam. Stephen, meanwhile, was busy taking over responsibility for his father's insurance company. "My dad started the company in 1990; he was a true entrepreneur. I have been with the company for 21 years now. When my dad left, he told me: "Good luck, call me if you need me." I've had wonderful people supporting my vision for the company since then," Stephen recalled.
Later, the couple welcomed their third child, Hannah, into the family. While she keeps a close eye on Hannah, Kelly has since joined the family's insurance firm too. But none of that has gotten in the way of the family's boating fun. "We've always boated; for example tubing and skiing on the lake, or going on a speedboat and doing poker runs with the family. About three and half years ago we got into fishing, too, which led us to buy a series of Pursuit boats," she explained.
The family's current boat is our flagship center console model, a 2024 Pursuit Boats S 428 Sport. Stephen bought the boat remotely, without actually seeing it in person. "We bought it in November 2023 at the Fort Lauderdale boat show... but not really. I was at home, working on our property, and bought it virtually, on a phone. It was only later that day that I got the courage to tell Kelly I had bought another boat," he admitted.
Kelly, however, was a more receptive audience than he expected. "He wasn't in the dog house for long; This is typical for him!" she revealed. "I have a running joke that I tell everyone: The only thing consistent in Stephen's life is me, the kids, and the fact that he's buying a new boat every year or at least every other year!".
The family's Pursuit S 428 is not their first Pursuit. "We've had several other big center console Pursuit boats before this, including an S 288, an S 328, and the last one which was an S 378," said Stephen. "As soon as we bought it, we were already thinking about buying the next one. The S 378 had the Yamaha 425s and I knew that Yamaha was coming out with new 450s. I had already decided that the first chance I had to get a boat with the 450s, I was buying one!"
"The new engines on the new boat were my get-out-of-jail-free card with Kelly!" Stephen added.
The family's S 428, with its 43'9" length, has a charmingly paradoxical name: Little Blue.
"The boat is named Little Blue. Our twins' favorite color is blue and Hannah loves the animated show Bluey. So even though the boat is all white and not at all little, it's called Little Blue," Kelly explained.
Since getting into fishing a few years ago, the Marino family has been putting their Pursuit Boats - and their S 428 in particular - to the test in all kinds of sea conditions thanks to their enthusiastic, almost daily fishing activities. From their second home in Destin, Florida, the family regularly goes fishing deep offshore, even as far as the rigs in the Gulf. Regardless of the sea conditions, they report that their boat has consistently performed at the highest level. "The most important thing that makes this boat so amazing is that it's big and it does everything. It allows you to fish from any position and it allows you to bring your family plus another couple and never step on anybody's toes," Stephen explained.
"The ride is also spectacular," he continued. "I don't know how Pursuit did it but the boat is so perfectly centered and predictable. It has an unbelievably balanced and confident ride. You can look three waves out and know what this Pursuit is going to do; it just does everything so well. We unexpectedly got into some terrible seas about a month ago. It was really bad and really scary. For the sake of the kids, Kelly and I didn't say much to one another but internally, we were afraid of what we had gotten ourselves into. But the boat still confidently got us home. It did exactly what it should have done. I'd love to shake the hand of the engineer who designed it and say, 'You did it on this one, it's nice!'."
The family highlighted various other features on their boat, including the Seakeeper gyro, the large livewells, the fish storage boxes, and the generally comprehensive amount of storage on board as being standout aspects of their boat. But ultimately, their favorite aspect of the boat is the memories that they have made together as a family on board Little Blue. "The thing that we most look forward to about being on the water together as a family, is the memories we are making," said Stephen. "Every story we tell amongst ourselves or even to others is not about the dinner we had or what account we managed to secure in the business. It's about that time we were on the boat. A guy told me a long time ago that a family that does things together stays together."
Stephen readily shared a funny story about how the family loves the boat so much that on a recent day on which the weather was not conducive to boating, they still found a way to spend time on the boat. "We went and had lunch together on Little Blue while she remained on our boat lift, but we lowered her enough so that her hull was just touching the water. That way we could say that we were technically still boating because the boat was in the water, even though we never left the boat lift!"
In closing, Stephen reflected on what it means to be part of the Pursuit Boats community. "We’re thankful to be part of the Pursuit family; We’re thankful to be on a Pursuit. It allows us to do what we do. It’s the boat we chose to do boating and fishing on. It would be weird to pull up to a tournament on something else. When you arrive at the tournament dock in a Pursuit with your outriggers in the air and a baby in the cockpit, people are amazed; they can’t believe that we’re getting 1st or 2nd place in the tournament. That’s us."
Pursuit Boats provide a safe, comfortable, and luxurious platform for families and friends to spend time together, creating unforgettable memories full of cherished moments on the water. If you are ready to find out for yourself what the Marino family loves so much about Pursuit boats, head over to our Dealer Locator and we'll put you in touch with your nearest authorized Pursuit Boats dealer. To discover more about the S 428 visit the model page.