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Cortez, FL. More than a hundredpeople showed up atthese memorials to honor hismemory.Ray moved to the TampaBay area in the ’60s as ayoung boy. After high school,he worked at various jobsincluding carpentry. He spentsome time in Texas in themid-’70s in construction andthen returned to the TampaBay area in 1978. Shortly afterthat, he started working in thesailing industry when he gota job with Larry French,owner of Johnson Sails, Inc.,in St. Petersburg. He helpedbuild the offices of JohnsonSails using his skills as a carpenter.Little by little, Raylearned sailmaking, besidesmany other aspects of the sailingbusiness.He moved up to New England for a short time buteventually returned to his base in Tampa Bay. At one point,he worked for Charley Morgan, building sailboats atMorgan’s location in Largo.Ray owned several sailboats and spent a lot of time onthe water. On of his adventures earned Ray his 15 minutesof fame. In his early days of sailing—when he was stilllearning the sport—Ray was sailing alone down near theFort Myers Gulf Coast. He got separated from his boat andended up floating in the water for six hours. The water wasvery cold, being in mid-50-degree range. When the CoastGuard found him—after almost giving up—Ray’s bodytemperature was 89 degrees. He ended up in the hospital inFort Myers but had a full recovery. After the incident, everyonesaid Ray became a very cautious sailor, although healways loved to go out as soon as he saw a storm comingthrough. He loved those conditions and became a competentsailor.Johnson Sails eventually became JSI (today it is calledNew JSI), which grew into one of the largest sailing businessesaround—selling sails, parts and services to TampaBay sailors. In the mid-’90s, JSI opened a store in thePalmetto-Bradenton area on the south side of Tampa Bay.Ray went to work for that store and eventually ran it for JSI.When JSI sold out to another company in the late ’90s, Rayworked there for a perioduntil the new owners hadbusiness problems. Ray thenopened his own business inPalmetto, calling it SunriseSails, Plus. He owned thecompany with his wife, Jo Jo,until his passing in February.Sunrise Sails, Plus, was aunique sailing company andit was all Ray. Ray was a perfectionistand demanded thateverything be done right andto the highest quality. Inrecent years, besides supplyingjust about everything oneneeded for your boat, frommaking sales to outfitting andrefurbishing, Ray acted frequentlyas a “general contractor”for boat owners whowanted to get things doneand needed somebody to runRay Glovereverything for them. Ray wasjust the person for the job, and it was always done right.Many of Ray’s friends who worked with him called him“Half-a-Day Ray”—because he would always work half aday. Half of a 24-hour day, that is.Ray had fought several battles with skin cancer in thelast several years, but in November, he found out that thecancer had spread throughout his body. He only had a shortperiod of time left, but his attitude was very strong and positive,being more concerned about the well-being of his wife,Jo Jo. When friends and former clients found out about hiscondition, they worked to put his sailboat, Rhiannan, aHorizon 26, in beautiful condition. Snead Island Boat Worksin Palmetto played the major role in contributing the work.A memorial fund has been set up to help Ray’s wife, JoJo, weather the transition from his passing. To help out, callBrian at (727) 526-7242.Sunrise Sails, Plus, Still Open for BusinessAlthough Sunrise Sails, Plus, lost its founder, the businessis still up and running with qualified riggers andyacht service personnel available. The business is locatedin Palmetto, FL, and works on boats throughoutsouthwest Florida. Call (941) 721-4471.News & Views for Southern Sailors SOUTHWINDS April 2008 31