Inside SOTW Mag: Women Of Substance—Lori Lemanske

A powerboat owner since she was a teenager, Lori Lemanske is a vibrant presence, an often- boisterous, ever-gracious 58-year-old woman who inhales life and exhales joy. She and her husband, Bill, currently have a Nor-Tech 390 Sport center console—their second—and they have another new Nor-Tech center console on the way. If Lori Lemanske isn’t boating with her husband in the waters off their second home in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., during the winter

as part of a Fort Myers Offshore event, she’s likely snowmobiling near their place in Gross Isle, Mich. Or bow hunting for deer or turkey. A licensed pilot, she reserves summers for boating in Michigan. It’s a short season so she makes no exceptions.

No matter has more fun on the water—regardless of its state—than Michigan’s Lori Lemanske

YOUR PRESENCE IS SO JOYFUL. WHAT’S UP WITH THAT?

(Laughs) I don’t know. I think I’m the energizer bunny. I turn 59 in June. I’m not afraid of my age—I don’t act it and I’m not going to live by it. I saw my mother die young so I want to live every minute of life that I can.

HAVE BOATS BEEN A PART OF YOUR LIFE FOR LONG?

I grew up on boats—I grew up on an island in Michigan. I bought my first boat in 1978. My father said I couldn’t but there it was one day in the driveway when he got home from work. Since then, I’ve always had to own a boat. I had my first center console built in the late 1980s.

YOU MUST LIKE THE CENTER CONSOLE PLATFORM—YOU’VE HAD A BUNCH OF THEM.

I just love how you can be with people on the water in the open air in a center console. Bill used to have a Skater catamaran and a Regal. I was a pilot at the time with partnership in a plane. I gave that up and we bought our first Sea Ray, a 39 Sundancer. Then we went on to a 42 Sundancer. I kept telling him I wanted a center console and we ended up with a 29 Fountain and then a 34 Fountain. Our 34 Fountain was the first center console in Fort Myers Offshore, which we joined in 2009.

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