Digital Photograph

A photograph taken of the Owens' boys aboard their boat the Long John, taken about 1925 as they prepared to sail to Annapolis from Detroit. All three boys are posed on deck below the boom. Some of the rigging and the sail can be seen in the background as well. Pictured from left to right are Chuck, Jack, and Norman Owens.

After sending Molly to live with their aunt in England, the Owens boys and their father sailed through the Great Lakes, through the Erie Canal and all the way down to the Chesapeake. Norman Owens did state that their intended goal was to sail all the way down to the Caribbean; however, "We were in the Chesapeake about school time and he said that's where we were going to school."

Once the family arrived in Annapolis in 1925, Charles Owens began to build boats right in his backyard. His daughter Molly emphasized his commitment to keeping the family together, saying "He decided that his boys, his family should be together as a unit and build a company together and not have one boy get a job here and another one there. He did not want the family separating". This sentiment carried the family on, as the brothers would unite and continue to work for the company their father started.