Ok, here’s a little background
So why’d we start this business in the first place? I mean, not to be rude, but have you even been tubing in Missoula? Sure it’s fun, but the whole dog and pony show of shuttling cars, finding parking, and wrangling tubes is downright exhausting. (I need a nap just thinking about it.) Plus, people love to imbibe while floating, and while we agree there’s nothing better than an ice cold brewchacho on a hot summer day, we worry about inebriated drivers on the roads in our beloved city. So enter THE CLARK FORK YACHT CLUB! Our aim is to provide tubers with a superior floating experience, all the while keeping themselves (and others) as safe as possible. Our vision statement for the business is “Everything you need to have the best day of your summer.” We sure do hope you agree after you’ve given us a try. See ya on the riv!
Get to know us!
Aimee McQuilkin always dreamed of being Julie from the Love Boat (assigning people to activities, wearing a blazer, life on the water) so being a co-commodore of CFYC is a no brainer. When she’s not running the show at Betty’s Divine (which she founded in 2005), she likes to participate in sports that involve outfits and beer (creator of Le Kickball Missoula). So her partnership in Clark Fork Yacht Club was truly a match made in heaven. Plus she likes turning hair-brained ideas into reality with her BFF Miranda Hickox (co-founder of Divine Trash Vintage), so once again the stars have aligned. While she may not self-identify as a hardcore tuber, she enjoys captaining large vehicles, such as those in the fleet of vans owned by CFYC. But most importantly, Aimee loves Missoula with all her heart.
Miranda Hickox hails from the East Coast, where she gained a love of all things nautical. Although she’s terrible at sailing (despite years of lessons), she greatly enjoys navigating the waters of the Clark Fork River in a tube on a summer day that’s hot AF. When she’s not cruising down the Clark Fork River laughing maniacally, you can find her solving complex problems with creative solutions at her dayjob in the AdTech industry. Miranda sees this new business venture as yet another creative solution -- this time to the current hassle of tubing in Missoula.
Combined, Miranda and Aimee make an equally unhinged pair that somehow make business magic together. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ They both look forward to hosting you and helping you to enjoy a Missoula summer to its fullest!
What are we driving?
We are the proud owners of two gorgeous vans, designed by local artists. Our first lovechild was Vanna White, she seats 12 people and hauls all of our tubes. Her incredible paint job was done by our pals Daphne Sweet & Charlie Apple (of Promdate88). We bow before her beauty, and we are most certainly not worthy! While she prefers to blast her occupants with Yacht Rock, she occasionally likes to bump some Top 40 hot jams as well.
Vanna’s little brother is a heavy metal cutie named Eddy. Eddy is too good for tube haulin’ (or so he thinks) but he’s happy to seat 11 people at a time. His cherry red exterior is decorated with unique graphics such as our alternative logo and leopard print ‘mingos. The design for this van was pieced together by Amber Flaherty (who also designed our original logo) and Carl (“too cool for a last name”) of Garage Tees.
Vanna is available to run shuttles 12-7, while Eddy only runs 4-7. This means that we can accommodate 12 people on our 12-3 shuttles, and 23 folks from 4-7!