A group of Shell Point friends and family enjoyed one of Turban resident Rick Marton’s water excursions aboard the Red Lightning.
LifeQuest Adventure
A Hero on the Water B
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After Rick retired from United “Captain” Rick Marton (Turban) is a man who just can’t stay away from Airlines in 1997, he moved to Lake Lanier, the water, whether it’s a lake or the sea. Georgia, where he earned a 100-ton masHe moved to Shell Point largely because ter captain license. As a commercial boat it was situated along the waterfront, and skipper, he held several jobs, including his favorite with TowBoatUS, rescuing dishe can see it from his apartment. Rick was born and raised in Grand tressed boaters in trouble on the lake. “Rick Marton truly went beyond the Haven, in western Michigan, in a home on a small lake next to the bigger waters call of duty one night,” one satisfied customer commented. of Lake Michigan, and boating “He followed us was his favorite activity as a boy. back in the middle After school, he spent four years of a nasty thunderin the U.S. Air Force as a nuclear storm after having weapons specialist, then worked charged our boat for United Airlines in customer battery. He retrieved service. But even while working our boat fender that in the airline industry, Rick still blew away, not once couldn’t ignore the water. Rick and Jane Marton but twice, then had In 1989, he joined the U.S. us stay on his friend’s Coast Guard Auxiliary, where he taught boating safety classes, conducted covered boat dock to weather the storm. boat safety checks, and is still a coxswain He really was a knight in shining armor (or holding safety patrols on lakes and rivers. should I say bright red boat)!” Rick was also captain on a 100-foot Since coming to Shell Point in March 2015, Rick has maintained membership in triple-deck group boat for four years, and the Auxiliary at a local flotilla, contribut- for 16 years, he took school children on field trips on a 40-foot catamaran giving ing 27 years of service. 16
Shell Point Life | October 2016
lessons in ecology. For fun and as a volunteer in the community, Rick used his 30-foot tug built in the 1930s, attaching a barge he built to pick up trash along the lake once a month. Little Toot had a steam whistle that could be heard all over the lake, and together with volunteers, reclaimed an average of nine tons a year. During the years when the lake’s water level would drop, Rick helped the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by putting out danger buoys in shallow areas. After purchasing a 20-foot jet boat, he used it as the only fire boat on the lake that was able to pump 250 gallons per minute, shooting out 190 feet. At Shell Point, Rick owns Red Lightning, a 26-foot motorized whaleboat, sometimes known as a liberty boat (which took crew to shore on liberty from a Navy vessel). Now he uses it to give boat rides to anyone wanting to get out on the water. “Just give me 10 minutes’ notice – no charge,” he said. It’s just his excuse to be out on the water that he loves to share with others.