Platt Monfort passed away in 2005 and while I never got a chance to meet him, I got to know his widow, Bette, quite well after starting my boat building career in 2011. Bette had been running the Geodesic Airolite Boats business for several years as Platt moved on to other endeavors (a result of what Bette referred to as his “short attention span”).
Bette enjoyed the business, buying supplies and filling orders from her home in Maine, but really didn’t understand the boats or the building process. Over time, she began sending technical questions from boat builders to me so I became her unpaid tech support. And loved it.
Around 2015, she began to talk about getting out of the business (she was 91 at the time) and I asked her that when she made her final decision to give me a chance to buy it. Finally, in November 2017, just after her 93rd birthday, she was ready to let go. After getting the approval of other family members I became the proud owner of Geodesic Airolite Boats.
We stayed in touch for several years and would often talk on the phone for an hour at a time. She moved to Leesburg, Florida a couple years ago and, sadly, passed away in 2023 at the ripe age of 99. But it easy to remember her driving around Maine in her little red convertible well into her 90’s.
I’ve spoken to hundreds of builders since owning the company and many of you have commented about how happy you are that the company is still in business. Our hope here at Geodesic Airolite Boats is that we can continue the tradition of innovation and customer service that have driven the company since 1982.
Larry LaLonde, owner
Geodesic Airolite Boats