ALWAYS SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THEIR V-41 emarkably, Dan Clarkson never went boating in his youth, and recalls that he bought his first boat (a small Wellcraft) when moving his family into their waterfront home in the early 2000s. He then became a partial owner in a number of vessels, including a 33’ Donzi and a 58’ Viking with his partners. But he never developed a deep or daily desire to go boating until his kids began showing an interest in fishing and running the family boat. Clarkson is CEO of a highly successful marketing company which counts Viking Yachts among their distinguished roster of branded merchandise customers. Through the years, the Clarksons went through a series of runabouts and center consoles, including a large Jupiter. He recalls a day at work when he first overheard one of his salespeople and close friends, Tuffy Samuels, raving about Viking’s new center console brand, Valhalla Boatworks, “That was how I first found out about Valhalla… through Tuffy.” Turns out Tuffy also went way back with the Halls, the founding family of Bluewater Yacht Sales, and the local Viking/ Valhalla dealer. After enough ear ringing from Tuffy, and enthusiasm from his children, Clarkson was eventually on the hook and reeling in a newValhalla V-41, with Bluewater’s Connor Hall overseeing the process. LEARNING WHAT YOU’VE GOT “My daughter was at college in Philadelphia, so I got to go visit her and we went to New Jersey together to see the hull under construction. She is really into boats, which is great. We toured both the Valhalla and Viking factories with Earle and Connor. Tuffy was there with us too,” he says of his late friend. “I’ve bought a lot of things in my life, and have been very fortunate. Typically, when you buy something new—like a watch, car, Visiting the Valhalla under construction 48 BLUEWATER
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