All In The Same Boat
The Stafford family has been boating on Jordan Lake since 2003. Just 10 minutes from their home, the”Hot Now” houseboat provides a mini-vacation every time they leave the dock.
Photography by Briana Brough
ABOVE: Cas Stafford, (right, with friend Kirsten Moore) says that Jordan Lake is her happy place. “My favorite part of the lake is just that it’s timeless. There are friends I won’t have spoken to in years who will text me out of the blue to hang out because they haven’t seen the lake since the last time they were out with me. When they come, it’s always as if nothing has changed. We get to be little kids again, jumping off the top, splashing [around], dancing to music on the top deck, tubing and wakeboarding. … It is very much a place where you can be distracted from stress and have a good time no matter what.”
Paula Stafford calls their house boat “a double-wide on the water. We upgraded to the house boat in 2008. With my husband and two children now more than 6 feet tall, a larger boat was critical.” Paula loves the spacious living quarters as well as using the top of the boat and their various water vessels – kayaks, tubes and a paddle boat.
Greg and Paula Stafford have been boating and entertaining on Jordan Lake since 2003. They’ve lost phones, earrings and chairs over the side and even broken bones. Once, another boat crashed into theirs. But they’ve also made wonderful memories with friends and family and say their boat has provided endless enjoyment.
The Staffords love to entertain on their boat and often host friends and family. They’ve also taken aboard corporate boards, fundraisers and private parties.
Greg Stafford captains the boat back to dock after a dinner cruise with friends. Greg says that his favorite thing about the boat is the countless opportunities to spend time with his family. He also really likes the unfair advantage it affords in catfishing tournaments.
Jeff Denny, a family friend, flips from the back of “Hot Now” while anchored in Jordan Lake.
The sun sets on Jordan Lake at the end of a late spring dinner cruise.
Cas and Paula Stafford watch a local rowing team finish practice on Jordan Lake as they set out
for a sunset cruise.
The Staffords named their boat “Hot Now” because, according to Cas, “Mom loves Krispy Kreme more than anything, and our family has followed suit. We can be late for a wedding or a flight or a birth … it matters not. If the ‘Hot Now’ sign is on, we stop. She was in labor with my little brother and what did they do when they saw the ‘Hot Now’ sign? They bought hot glazed donuts. As such, we had no other option. The boat had to be ‘Hot Now.'”
Kirsten and Cas enjoy the sunset as the boat docks at the end of an evening out on Jordan Lake. CM
Read the original article from the June/July 2018 Issue:
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