Sad Day In Woodyboaterville – Randy Streblow Passes Away!
Fellow Woody Boater Sean Slats just reported in, we don’t have many of the details, only that Randy had been ill for some time and passed away yesterday.. To say that the passion of classic boating will miss Randy is a massive understatement. Streblow Boats is one of the very few companies still making speedboats the way the gods intended them to be made.. From wood and by hand with quality and passion in each and every craft they made. To see a Streblow boat in person is to see how and why the company is still making masterpieces.. Photo’s don’t do these boats justice. There is no web site for Streblow Boats, Randy was old school.. So chances are he was not even aware of Woody Boater, but we were very aware of him. He made a difference…. for sure… So today we take a pause from facebook, tweeting, and fly our burgees at half mast.. Thanks Randy for keeping the dream going strong. The best place to see more Streblow Boats is at the Streblow Boat Owners site here. There is also a fantastic article on the family here.
There is a nice tribute to Randy at http://www.streblowboatowners.com You will not meet a guy that is more passionate about wooden boats than Randy was. He will be missed….
It is a sad day… Too many of the classic boating pioneers are leaving us… I feel honored to have met so many of them over the years… I had not met Mr Streblow…
“Uncle Randy” will truely be missed by the Streblow boat Owner’s family. He was like an uncle to me as time spent with Randy was like time spent with real family. He was always in tune with your family and what each family enjoyed. I hope everyone who had the chance to interact with Randy reflects on that moment and says a prayer
I knew Randy from Don Taylor taking me to the Streblow shop to do an article for the ACBS Sunnyland Chapter’svSheerline Magazine so I did not have an opportunity to interface much with him. But I found him to be a very open and honest person, someone who I respected greatly after I digested exactly just what he had accomplished in his life along with his interest in people as human beings. He will be missed, not only by the Streblow boat owners but also by the boating community as a whole. I feel privileged to have met him and also having the opportunity to do the article on Streblow Custom Boats.
Randy is from a generation “where issues regarding human beings mattered”! He will be missed!
Every Streblow owner is feeling the same today on learning of Randy’s passing. We’ve lost an old friend with whom we shared the joy of owning one of his works of art (knowing full well that we were actually only borrowing them) and the marking of the summer seasons on Lake Geneva. He was one of a kind and will be greatly missed.
http://vimeo.com/31432931
The loss of Randy not only leaves a big hole in the boating world but also in all of the hearts that knew him, whether for a day for a decade! He truly was a Gentle Man, always interested in what you were doing, never complained or had a bad word to say about anyone.
When you own a Streblow, you are part of his family. I never met anyone that took so much pride in their creations. He never rushed, they all were perfect and it was an understanding. No boat would leave the shop until it was perfect. If we wanted to do something to ‘our’ boat, of course we had to talk to Randy about it, get his approval or suggestion. He had to oversee everything you did to be sure it was done right! Everyone knows you don’t really own one; Randy is always there to be sure his boats are properly taken care of.
The times we spent with Randy were some of the best times we’ve had. We feel privileged and blessed to have called him our friend.
His spirit will forever live on in all of us, for as long as his creations roar down the lake. There will never be another Randy Streblow.
Nancy & Mark
Randy was certainly a legend among his boat owners and their families and friends. My father-in-law, Fred Edelston, owned a record seven Steblows, including the second one on Geneva Lake. I remember getting the 7am calls from Fred, to meet at the dock so we could be out skiing before the lake got busy, and while the water was like glass. We’d swim as a family off the boat while it drifted in the middle of the lake. Then we’d head to the Abbey for breakfast. Randy kept each boat like new, from season to season, and would appear whenever he was needed. When Randy built you a Streblow, he came along with the boat.