Exploring Open Waters
From the Chesapeake Bay in the mid-Atlantic during the summer to the warm waters and sunny weather of South Florida, Jim and Janice Loomis love to explore the open waters on their current Horizon, an FD100 named Christine.
Jim’s love for boating started when he was 9 years old with his parents on Chesapeake Bay near Pennsylvania. “In my early years, my parents were boaters and we traveled to northeast Maryland during the summers where my love for boating started,” recalls Jim.
Jim has owned numerous vessels throughout the years and four of those vessels have been customized Horizon Yachts. Jim’s first Horizon was an E88 and he has since owned three other Horizons, including a FD85 and a FD92.
Jim excitedly shared that he was one of the first owners of the renowned FD Series with the FD85 and he enjoyed the process of building that vessel. The anticipation about how the FD Series would run on the water was an exciting part of the build. “It ran great!” he exclaimed. Jim also mentioned that his favorite features of the FD Series include the wide-open spaces, large glass windows, the on-deck master and the fully enclosed skylounge.
Jim said that because he buys and sells his boats quickly, he prefers to leave most of the design details up to the Horizon Team. He has enjoyed personalizing features like opening the skylounge to allow more space and adding a captain’s chair. “Overall, I like the Horizon Team to do what they do best,” expressed Jim.
During the summer, Jim and Janice venture north from South Florida toward the Chesapeake Bay, Newport, Montauk, Nantucket, back to Chesapeake Bay and then back to Ocean Reef in the Florida Keys, where they dock their boat behind their house during the fall, winter, and spring seasons. Their well-loved labradoodle, Annabelle, also joins them on their adventures.
Jim and Janice are frequent guests of the Horizon Yacht USA Rendezvous and Jim mentioned that his past Horizon Rendezvous in Key West, Florida was his favorite yet.
Jim is currently considering the purchase of a new FD110 and the Horizon Yacht USA Team is working on the details for the next Rendezvous so more memories and fun times are in the future for Horizon Yacht USA and Jim and Janice Loomis.
