Six miles off the coast of New Jersey sits Long Beach Island, an 18-mile strip of beach separated from the mainland by the vast saltmarsh that dots Barnegat Bay. Towards the south end of the island sits Beach Haven. From all the summers I spent there growing up, what has stayed with me the most is the solace of this island in winter and the power of the full-moon tide in September as it pushes its way up the bay against a stiff northeast wind. And the people. Those who worked the bay long after the vacationers were gone...right through the Fall and often straight into the bite of the winter months. It was during this part of the year, I was sixteen then, that I became intrigued by the durability of an old cotton tarp, an odd thing I admit, nonetheless the beginning of a fascination that, years later, would become the founding idea for the Atlantic Rancher Company.
For many winters, I gunned from a hand-me-down Barnegat Bay Sneak Box, one of three owned by some hunting pals in Beach Haven, NJ. Of course, the one they let me use was the one with the leakiest hull. I felt lucky just to have it to lie in and didn't much care how wet it got. At the bow, held to the deck only by a handful of brass tacks, was a canvas tarp meant to keep rain, snow and salt spray out. No matter that its purpose was defeated by the leaking hull, I was constantly amazed by the durability of that old tarp and its ability to withstand winters in the bay and summers in the musty crawl space under the house. All the while that old tarp never leaked, ripped or tore away from its makeshift anchor points. In 1983, I tracked down the original process used to make this unique fabric and have been developing, testing and perfecting its application for apparel, footwear and accessories ever since.
DryHandle®...like stainless steel marlin spikes that will not rust, nylon running lines that will not rot, rabbeted deck planks that will not split...ideas that are valued because they work...Ideas From A Lifetime At Sea.