Don McGarva has made his way doing a number of different things, including teacher, construction worker, boat owner/captain, motel proprietor, and owner of a B & B in historic Williamsburg, Virginia.  Born in Miami, Florida, Don was introduced to the State of Maine at the age of four when his grandfather built a motel there in 1948.  He spent most of the next fifteen summers there developing a love of construction and the hospitality business. 

He graduated from Florida State University, earning a degree in Education with a minor in Industrial Arts, then spent a year doing graduate study at State University College at Oswego, New York, and taught school for a year in the same area.  Realizing that teaching was not his calling, Don moved back to Miami, and spent the next 10 years working in construction, learning to fly, and  boating and skin/Scuba diving in the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.  

But Maine was always in his thoughts and in 1980, he moved there and built a motel, running it with his wife, Janet, for the next ten years.  Selling the motel in 1990, they moved back to Florida, purchased an old wood boat, and began doing extended charters to the Bahamas.  In between a second Scuba charter boat which was based in the Florida Keys, Mr. & Mrs. McGarva spent five years in Williamsburg, Virginia, refurbishing a beautiful old house and turning it into a bed & breakfast close to the Historic District.  Amanda's Boat is a direct outgrowth of those travels and experiences.  Don currently lives with his wife, Janet, and their assorted dogs and cats, splitting their time between Maine and Port St. Lucie, Florida, where they run a mobile Pet Grooming service.  Don can be reached at don8144@gmail.com if you would like to contact him directly.