Remembering Captain Gray

Boatman Charles Hoffman had a passion for city history and could talk on end about Canandaigua Lake. That includes the fake serpent monster painted on a breakwater on the eastern shore.

He knew all about the scorched-earth campaign of Gen. John Sullivan against the Iroquois in 1779. He knew about the depths of the lake bottoms - down as far as 280 feet in some spots. And he spoke of both with the same bellowing voice, always deeply in awe of the Chosen Spot.

Born to a Main Street dry cleaner and wed to the waters of Canandaigua Lake, Mr. Hoffman died Sunday at his home. He was 81 years old.

Known to most as Captain Gray of Captain Gray's Boat Tours, Mr. Hoffman picked up a rickety wooden floater called the Sandra Lee from Mac McGuire back in 1973, the year he said goodbye to dry cleaning and hello to the lively world of boat tours. He ran those tours out of Roseland Park, and the Sandra Lee never was out for more than a half-hour, a novelty ride, really.

Jane Stickler had known Mr. Hoffman "forever," she said. She even remembers when he and his father ran Hoffman Dry Cleaners on Main Street. And if you couldn't make it down to pick up your laundry, well, they would bring it to you.

"He was just a wonderful, wonderful person," said Stickler. "He is going to be sorely missed by a lot of people in Canandaigua."

For a while after her retirement from the Canandaigua Chamber of Commerce, Stickler worked the ticket booth for the Hoffman family. And every now and then, she got a free ride.

"He could tell you stories of almost half the houses on the lake and the people that lived in them," said Stickler. "He was a book of knowledge."

After some success with the little Sandra Lee, the Hoffmans purchased a second boat in 1980, the Jennifer Mac. She was so named after Mr. Hoffman's daughter Jennifer, who died in a car wreck in 1973 and after Mac McGuire who sold him his first boat in that same year. A bittersweet homage.

Jennifer Mac ran out of the Inn on the Lake. She had seats for 38 people, though there were times when plenty more climbed aboard to hear Mr. Hoffman's tales of the little saltless sea.

Sal Pietropaolo remembers Mr. Hoffman as a story-teller, a deep-voiced, colorful fellow who engaged his audience, whether it was one, two or 50 people.

"He was such a presence," said Pietropaolo, director of the downtown Business Improvement District. "Just listening to the stories that this guy knew. He loved to share, he loved Canandaigua."

Contact Philip Anselmo at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 322, or at panselmo@mpnewspapers.com.