Memories of a Memorial

Shortly after Don passed away his family and friends took to the sea to spread his ashes. The procession was attended by over 50 boats, almost all of them Blackmans. The seas were up that day, some say it was Don's way of reminding us once again, what it means to own a Blackman.....

 

Don Blackman
- Rest in Peace -

Thank you Don, for the gifts you have left us with. You were a true gentleman and it was an honor to have known you. We are proud to run your boats, boats that bear the name Blackman....

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Marlin Club loses anchor: Don Blackman dies
By Ed Zieralski, San Diego Union
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Reprinted with permission

Don Blackman built his first boat in 1952, teaming with his father to construct a 30-foot charter fishing boat in their back yard during their spare time.

Don Blackman would go to work as a foreman at Driscoll Boat Works and eventually open his own successful boat-building business, Blackman Boats, in East San Diego in 1967.

Blackman's company would build two premier dive boats, the 63-foot Bottom Scratcher, and the 65-foot Sand Dollar, plus 359 custom fishing boats. The hull of No. 360 is in the Blackman boat yard, but the man who started it all will finish the boat in spirit only.

Don Blackman, 74, died early yesterday morning, losing a courageous battle with cancer.

"We lost a great one," said past Marlin Club president Dave Verdugo. "He was a stand-up man who made deals with a handshake. He was a super guy who built great boats, and he'll be sorely missed in the community, at the Marlin Club and on the water."

Verdugo said Don Blackman and his wife, Shirley, were devoted behind-the-scenes volunteers who, through the years, donated thousands of dollars in goods, hours and hours of time and tireless energy to the Marlin Club. Don's sister, Lil Miller, is the club's present secretary. Don Blackman is one of only two people to earn the Marlin Club's Silver Special Button Award, receiving it both times for outstanding service to the club.

"Don Blackman is irreplaceable," said Marty Morris, a fellow member of the Marlin Club.

Said longtime club member Steve Williams: "Don was a great craftsman, a devoted family man and a fisherman who had great respect for the resource. It's a tremendous loss."

Talk to anyone about Don Blackman, and they immediately mention Shirley, his devoted wife and lifelong fishing partner. Don and Shirley celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2000 in Costa Rica, a gift from their children, Donna, 51, and Steve, 46 .

"You never saw Don without Shirley," said Escondido's Wayne Slahor, current president of the San Diego Marlin Club. "They were always together. And talk about sharing fishing information. Don was always giving tips or sharing information about where the fish were. He was an icon."

Shirley always carried a whistle that she tooted loudly to let her husband know she had hooked a fish while trolling.

"It was for safety, too," Steve Blackman said. "My dad was around all that machinery all his life, so his hearing wasn't the greatest."

Fellow Marlin Club members spent yesterday morning telling their favorite Don Blackman stories.

"Candy Hoffman recalled how back in the 1980s she and her husband, Phil, raced to get off work early on Friday to try to beat the Blackmans to the best halibut fishing spot off Jackass Rock at the Coronado Islands," Verdugo said.

The Blackmans set world records on their boat Retriever, a 48-foot Blackman. Shirley set six International Game Fish Association line-class world records for a mix of California halibut and tuna catches. She holds the IGFA line-class world records for a 38-pound, 8-ounce California halibut on 6-pound test line.

Shirley once had the IGFA mark for a 92.8-pound Pacific bigeye tuna, and Don said in 1994: "I believe Shirley has caught more marlin than anyone in the Marlin Club." That followed a year in which Shirley landed six marlin, including a 196-pounder, the biggest of the season in Southern California. No one contested Don's rare boast.

"If the Retriever was on the water, and there were marlin out there, they were coming in with a marlin," Verdugo said.

Don Blackman learned his boat-building skills through a correspondence school, Westlawn School of Yacht Design, based in Stamford, Conn.

Steve Blackman said his father had a saying that had a lot to do with the workmanship he expected on boats and the way he lived his life. "Perfect is good enough" is the motto inscribed on a plaque on Don Blackman's desk.

"My dad was always a perfectionist," Steve said.

Steve Blackman said his father was like a "tight-lipped football coach," but when Don Blackman did boast, it was fact.

"He told me once that he didn't know of any other boat company on the West Coast that has built more custom boats than we have," Steve Blackman said.

Steve has been building boats with his father since he was 16 and has been running the family business for the last seven months. Like his father, Steve once played shortstop in the minor leagues.

Don Blackman played a few seasons in the Dodgers' system after graduating from Point Loma High, where he was a teammate of New York Yankees great Don Larsen, a close friend.

"The saddest thing is my mom and dad have had Padres season tickets on the third base side, Row 5, since the Padres' second season," Steve Blackman said. "They still have them, and he and my mom spent all kinds of time picking out seats in the new Petco Park."

Funeral arrangements will be announced.

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Ed Zieralski: (619) 293-1225; ed.zieralski@uniontrib.com