Don Margraf
Sailor, rigger, mechanic, electrician, California yacht broker. Don Margraf got an early start knocking almonds and picking fruit with Braceros. He hauled interstate with the Teamsters. He built Mustangs for Ford. He tore down warehouses, rebuilt Victorians, played guitar at the Palomino and the Fillmore, shook hands with Dolly Parton and Lech Walecza, produced an album for a Grammy singer, ran the gamut, dodged a bullet and went the extra mile. His first boat was a 14-man woodie on the Tippecanoe River. He then sailed Rebels and Lightnings on a lake and was hooked. He sailed a couple hundred thousand ocean miles. He studied and worked with a great naval architect and consulted for boat builders on 3 continents. He raced sailboats and delivered yachts across oceans. He wrote magazine stories and marketing plans. And he swears the rhythm of the sea is heard best when Professor Longhair plays "Tipitina."
