Greg Troy is using his love of building and traveling to raise funds for an organization that provides dreams for terminally ill children.
Troy, 50, a Grand Rapids, Mich., native, parked his boat-mobile Monday and today at the Warsaw Wal-Mart parking lot.
He stopped in Warsaw to give tours and hand out photos of the boat-mobile before continuing his journey to the Florida Keys.He created his boat-mobile from a halved 1995 GMC van and an 18-foot tri-hull speed boat.
The vehicle is registered as an art car, and is complete with an electric horn, air horn and boarding ladder.
He said as he travels, he hopes to find businesses who would be interested in him building a boat-mobile to promote their businesses.
He hopes to build 10 of the boat mobiles and distribute them nationwide to promote people's businesses and do fundraising efforts for Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The foundation provides wishes for children 2-1/2 to 18 years old who have life-threatening medical conditions.
During the course of his travels he has met inventors and artists, he said.
He has taken the boat-mobile all around the country and Canada.
Troy said he decided to build the boat-mobile after he got out of the Navy.
He has shown the boat-mobile off in parades in Michigan, New Mexico, Texas and California.
"I love to entertain people. I climb on the surfboard that is in the boat-mobile and take pictures with people who take tours of it," Troy said.
He said, in 1997, he first started off on an adventure with his boat-mobile, only making it to Ann Harbor, Mich., before he had mechanical problems.
Troy said he sleeps in the boat-mobile on a bed and has 10 quilts.
He does odd jobs for people he meets along the way while traveling in his boat-mobile to earn money.
"I can do carpentry, painting, tree work and landscaping," Troy said.
He said, at some point, he hopes to write a book about his adventures.
He travels year-round and makes stops three months out of the year in Michigan to visit family and friends.
Troy said one of the challenges he faces is battling weather as he does not have a roof for the boat-mobile. He only covers it with a tarp at night.
"I keep my eyes on the weather forecast and make sure I have one to two days of good weather before I travel," Troy said.
Troy has a MySpace at www.myspace.com/themagicboat
