As both a General Manager for a major healthcare insurance firm in New York City, and a married father of two, Mark Miller is a busy man who seriously values quality downtime with his family.
When he wants to unwind and escape the business of the city, Mark hits the waters in and around Long Island Sound, on his brand new Pursuit Boats OS 355 Offshore Series. With enough space for his family and friends to join for the ride, his OS 355 is by far his favorite boat of the many that he has owned over the years. We sat down with Mark to talk about boating with his family and about his ownership history of Pursuit Boats.
Mark and his family live in Darion, Connecticut on the Long Island Sound. For two to three days per week, he commutes into New York City for work, but during the other four days, whenever he can make the time, he goes down to his boat. "I work too much so I don't have any interesting hobbies, but I love my boat, it's my favorite thing!" he exclaimed. "I love everything about it, I even love cleaning it. I hang out on it; I do work on it. I haven't worked on it in the middle of the ocean yet. But I plan to do that! We just love spending lots of family time together on it."
Mark's children - Reece (11) and Bennett (16) - are always eager for an opportunity to go out on the boat with mom and dad. "Bennett has autism and is non-verbal. He's always hitting the horn for the boat! He loves going on rides on the boat, it's one of his favorite things to do, along with car rides!" Mark revealed.
Mark highlighted the OS 355's generous onboard space, big power, and luxurious specifications as particular highlights for the family. "This boat just seems huge!" he said. "Everybody wants a bigger boat, but I bought it so that we could take more people on it and go more places.
"It has triple Yamaha 350hp engines - they're awesome - the boat easily goes 55 mph. Plus, it has the new Yamaha Helm Master EX. The generator is fantastic, too, I love having a generator, that's been a big deal for us to be able to run the generator and the air conditioner. I can turn on the heat any time I need it.
Everything about the boat is great. The stereo is amazing and the lighting is awesome!"
One of Mark and his family's favorite features on their OS 355 is its air conditioning system. "I love the air conditioning, I use it all the time, it helps a lot. The air conditioning in the cabin is also great for Bennett, he can go down there when he needs to. He loves it."
He also highlighted the boat's color scheme. "Its color is awesome; it is Neptune gray, and I have sea salt light grey seats. It looks so good together!"
For his occasional night boating trips, Mark also opted for a FLIR night vision camera.
Finally, Mark highlighted the boat's quality as something he especially appreciates. "The boat has the looks and the quality I expect. It truly is built like a superyacht. Everything is made so well! I open up the rear hatch and everything is clearly laid out. This level of quality is a big deal for me because I'm very fastidious; I like quality and I like stuff to be orderly!"
The Miller family's OS 355 is proudly named 'Miller Time'. This name has some gravitas for him because it is the sixth such boat to carry this name within the greater Miller family, and the third that Mark has owned personally.
A veteran boat owner, Mark has been boating since he was sixteen years old. Waiting until becoming a father, he finally took the plunge and bought his own boat in 2016. And he chose wisely, opting for one of our popular Dual Console models with twin Yamaha outboards. When he took delivery of his current OS 355, it became his third Pursuit boat.
"I've always had smaller boats on the Connecticut River, but this is my third from Pursuit Boats and I am so happy with it. I first owned a DC 265 Dual Console, then we bought a DC 325 Dual Console, and now of course we have the OS 355 Offshore Series."
Mark bought all three of his Pursuit Boats from All Seasons Marine Works in Connecticut and praised them for their service. "All Seasons takes good care of me and the boat. With boats, stuff can happen and when it does, it needs to be fixed quickly. These guys take amazing care of me and of our boat."
Owning his third Pursuit means that Mark is in a unique position to compare his experience with his OS 355 to his previous two. "Pursuit Boats has been consistent in terms of the engines, the onboard electronics and the navigation they use as well as various hardware products. That means that when you get on board a new model, everything is familiar from other Pursuits, so it is simply easier to use. You find that the distribution board panel is the same as the models I previously owned, the windlass is the same model, and the Helm Master is still there (although my current one is the EX, so it's way better). The Garmin MFDs are bigger but they are a version of what I had before. Besides that, everything is consistently really, really nice and made SO well!"
The Miller family head out into Long Island sound almost every weekend for day trips to places like Huntington Sound, North Port and Port Jefferson, and stopping for lunch at spots like Scott Cove and Ziegler's Cove. The family recently cruised into New York City itself, enjoying seeing landmarks like the Throgs Neck Bridge from the unusual perspective offered by the water, and the general congestion of the marine traffic around the city. "Having the boat and being able to see the bridges and the city from the water is such a privilege. The boat handles bigger seas beautifully, it is so stable."
Having had such a great experience thus far with his OS 355, Mark is confident that his next boat will also be one from the Pursuit Boats lineup. "I'm 55 years old now so I'll possibly buy another boat in the next three to five years. I might get the new version of the OS 325, but either way I want a boat with a cabin, so it will be something similar."
In closing, Mark offered some advice for other boat buyers. "Ask lots of questions, and buy the boat from a dealer that values relationships because your relationship with the dealer is very important. And finally, get a big enough boat that is still within your means. Pursuit Boats handle the water very well, so definitely consider them!"
Starting your own dealer relationship with a Pursuit Boats dealer is as easy as a couple of clicks on our website. Simply visit our Dealer Locator, tell it your location, and we will do the rest.
Your first of many Pursuit Boats is ready to meet you at the dealer, and we can't wait to hear YOUR story, just like Mark's!