Behind the Shot
The year was 1968, and teenager Marshall “Duffy” Duffield was experimenting in his hometown of Newport Beach, California. He wanted to invent a quieter, gentler way to cruise the bay with friends and family. He placed an old golf cart motor in a broken-down dayboat, and voilà! The Duffy boat was born. Little did the teen know that his dinghy would represent a luxury lifestyle more than half a century later.
Strolling through Newport Beach’s posh Lido Marina Village in 2023, photographer Sharon Williams stumbled upon an array of the colorful seacraft clustered together. “It was as if they were asking to be taken out for an adventure,” she says. “The colors, textures and composition of the Duffy boats drew me to this shot.”
Sharon lived near Newport during the early years of her childhood and has fond memories of spending time there at the beach. “The boats and marina remind me of summer and young, innocent adventures,” she shares.
Whether you own or rent one, Duffy boats ferry you into nirvana as you leisurely drift through the harbor. Imagine this print on your wall, evoking the sensation of gliding across the water without a care in the world.