Welcome to The Office. Suit, tie and briefcase? Don’t need them. Michael Scott storming your cubicle to berate you for something ridiculous? No chance. Sunshine, fresh air and lake views in every direction? Guaranteed.
Despite what one may think from its name, this office is not some workplace sitcom or four-walled business building, but a pontoon boat shared by friends Dave Faller and Shane Zaring. They landed on the name The Office partly because their kids requested it, but also because in the summer months, Dave and Shane have the option of donning swim suits and sunglasses and making Lake Coeur d’Alene their office. This is one of the perks they enjoy as real estate agents, that as long as they have their laptops and a stable internet connection, much of their job can be done almost anywhere.
An outing on The Office begins at the Hagadone Marine Group on Blackwell Island, where the boat is stored. To get the boat out of storage and to the water, Dave submits a launch time request in advance through the BoatCloud Launch Reservation App, which is used to facilitate all quick launch services. Shortly before launch time, an 80,000-pound forklift retrieves the
pontoon from its dry slip in the storage facility, which features five stories of indoor storage with custom racking. Their boat is then fueled up if requested, docked at one of the temporary water slips and ready to head out as soon as they arrive.
Some days, the pontoon’s seats are filled with friends and family, but other days it’s just Dave, his wife Renee, son Carson, and daughter Selah. Once all members of the voyage are loaded up, Dave backs The Office out of the slip and navigates slowly along Blackwell Slough towards Lake Coeur d’Alene. The water is perfectly glassy, disturbed only by lazy ripples pulsing outward from its wake and bumping gently against the wooden docks. The low mutter of its motor is inaudible above the feel-good country music playing over the speakers, setting the tone for the Fallers’ time out on the water.
The benefit of sharing The Office with another family, Dave says, is they’re able to split the cost of everything and the boat gets used more often. Dave and his family prefer to go out on weekdays because the lake is much less crowded. The quick launch services make this easy and also offer them the flexibility to work around his son’s fluid football schedule and coordinate days with the Zarings.
The two families decided to go in on a pontoon boat versus a ski boat because they’re less expensive to maintain and offer a greater versatility of uses, which is exactly what they were looking for. They have the option of entertaining up to 14 people comfortably while puttering around the lake, or can turn up the speed with a smaller group for rafting and other water sports. Unlike with ski boats, weight distribution isn’t as important on pontoons
largely due to the floatation tubes along the length of the underside. This means they’re stable enough that family and friends of all ages can comfortably enjoy going out.
After about five minutes of weaving through Blackwell Slough, the docks fall away and the lake opens up before them, its numerous bays and beaches along the shores waiting to be explored. The water ahead is a bit choppy, stirred up by the breeze and other boats’ wakes. Dave does a quick check for traffic, waits for a boat to pass and then they’re off.
The wind quickly becomes a roar, whipping hair and snatching at loose towels. They cut across the lake to Blue Creek Bay, their first destination and a favorite spot. From the water, many familiar Coeur d’Alene landmarks seem to take on a new perspective. Cougar Bay and the shorelines along North Idaho College and City Park are mere blinks in the rearview mirror. Downtown Coeur d’Alene seems even more quaint; the Resort rising above it proud and stately. And Tubbs Hill sits contentedly at the edge of it all, watching boats come and go quietly.
Dave brings their speed down to a bobbing coast as they near the green bridge guarding Blue Creek Bay, and they glide beneath the bridge’s broad beams and architecture, traffic from I-90 rumbling past overhead. Dave parks the boat a little ways out from the shore, and it’s all passengers overboard for anyone who wants a chance at the rope swing.
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Eager for the jump, Carson is the first to scramble out of the water and up the rocks. The ground around the base of the tree requires some care to navigate, but he does so easily and takes the rope while
looking out past the rocky slope to the deep water below the tree’s bough. He inhales, tightens his hold on the rope, commits and swings out from the safety of land to plop into the water with a glittering spray of sunlit droplets.
Once they’ve had their fill of the rope swing, it’s time for one of Selah’s favorite boating events: rafting. Dave gets the ropes hooked up and drops the raft into the water while Carson pulls on a lifejacket and Selah grabs an orange flag in case her brother ends up taking a swim. There are some wakes just outside the bay from other boats, but otherwise the water on this end of the lake is relatively smooth. Carson gets settled on the raft and Dave smiles. He won’t be getting off that easily.
They take off from the safety of the bay, the rope goes taught and the game begins. Dave cuts back and forth, looking for wakes or creating his own. Carson hangs on tightly, skidding back and forth over The Office’s wake as gravity and his dad’s driving dictate. The raft hits a good one and pops into the air, all eyes watching to see if Carson will hang on, and the raft lands with its passenger tousled but still aboard. Dave starts to carve turns tighter and faster, grinning ear to ear. After a worthy battle, Carson is unseated and Selah quickly throws up the flag. They loop back around to pick him up and he goes another couple rounds before his tired arms call it good.
Renee decides she’d like a turn on the raft and gives her husband a look that teasingly reminds him he better not try too hard to knock her off or he’ll be sleeping on the couch that night. Dave replies mischievously and can’t resist finding a couple good wakes to toss her around a bit. She’s able to stay on the raft, though, so Dave is in the clear, this time.
They make their way gradually toward Echo Bay while rafting and then coast the rest of the way over, fish plopping occasionally on either side of the boat. On a non-work day for Dave, one thing they enjoy doing as a family is parking in a quiet bay
to eat a meal together, perhaps play some card games, and just hang out.
Being able to prioritize this kind of family time was one of the main reasons Dave got into real estate in 2021. He’d previously spent 15 years as a firefighter in California and then a couple years as a police officer in Coeur d’Alene before deciding the first responder schedule wasn’t what he wanted for his family. He says getting a pontoon boat has not only radically changed their summers but also provided a fun new way for their family to spend time together.
After enjoying the takeout meal they packed and laughing over a few rounds of cards, they start to take notice of the dropping temperatures and that the blazing gold of the setting sun is touching the mountains surrounding the lake. The passengers don sweatshirts or wrap themselves up in mostly dry towels, and then The Office blasts out of the bay to try to beat the sunset.
These kinds of evenings are exactly what Dave loves about having a pontoon boat. Some days when they go out, he’ll do some work while Renee and Selah sunbathe and Carson swims. Other days, they’ll entertain up to a dozen friends and family members, which is something he and Renee have always loved doing. Renee says the quality time they’re able to have with specific people without having to worry about beaches crowded with strangers is something she has loved about having a boat.
The Office moves along so quickly that it starts to plane a bit, the noisy chop of the water seeming to magically fade away. The wind is suddenly cold as the sunlight blinks out and Lake Coeur d’Alene settles in for the night. Dave turns on the muted neon lights winding around The Office’s interior and switches up the tunes, coalescing into a pleasant, end-of-the-day mood.
Back at the Hagadone Marine Group docks, they pull into a slip and The Office clocks out for the day. From bigger social outings to intimate family rides, the Fallers feel blessed to co-own a pontoon boat. This is only the first season since they and the Zarings purchased The Office, but already their minds are filled with new ideas and places to visit. Dave is looking forward to going fishing once the weather cools off, and talks of a boat access-only campsite they’re planning to visit towards the end of summer. Work or play, sunshine or clouds, The Office will be waiting for the next adventure. N
Story by Abby Owens
Photography by Joel Riner