When Nick Hake, a graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering, decided that he'd had enough midwestern winters, he moved to Florida. Despite his epicurean proclivities, he decided that he liked building boats more than being the head chef at an upscale restaurant in Coconut Grove.

"I always wanted to be self-employed," he recalled.

Between 1974 and 1982, Hake built roughly 2,000 dinghies before introducing a 17-footer called the 'Slipper,' which ultimately became an 18-footer that was marketed as the Fox. With the introduction of a 22-footer in 1979, he formed Seaward Yachts, but now markets Seaward models under the Hake Yachts brand.…