ON THE WATER -- A directory for every mariner

Paul Clinton

For the last 24 years, Jeff Overstreet has been putting crucial

information at boaters’ fingertips.

He’s the owner and publisher of the Costa Mesa-based “Marine

Directory,” the Yellow Pages of the boating world.

“It’s probably on 90% to 95% of the boats out there in Newport

Harbor,” Overstreet said. “We’ve heard it called, many times, ‘the

boater’s bible.”’

Overstreet, reclining in a leather chair in his Costa Mesa office

while he puffs away on cigarettes, talks openly and frankly about the

business he took over from his father.

A 30-year resident of Costa Mesa, the 55-year-old Overstreet is a

boater himself. His two boats in the harbor are both 27-foot power boats.

He has named one “Reel Time.” He’s still trying to come up with a name

for the other one.

It quickly becomes clear Overstreet loves the ocean.

“I’ve got to have my Big Blue on a daily basis,” Overstreet said.

Publishing the Marine Directory has been a labor of love for

Overstreet, who says he has built relationships with the same advertisers

for years because of his love of boating. The directory covers Santa

Barbara to San Diego.

“We have advertisers who have been with us for 25 years,” Overstreet

said.

His business is truly a family business. His 33-year-old son, Adam,

runs the print shop and his 32-year-old daughter, Dori, is in charge of

sales and telemarketing.

The situation certainly fits with the Marine Directory’s origins. It

was founded by his father, he said, as a way to swap ads for needed boat

parts.

It has been a work in progress the whole time. In recent years,

Overstreet has used paintings from a boating artist friend for the covers

of the book.

“The directory has absolutely evolved,” Overstreet said. “We’ve gone

from standing bent over to standing erect.”

Overstreet has also helped start directories in Seattle, San Francisco

and other areas of the country.

He receives dozens of requests for the directory from all over the

country and world. Foreign embassies ask for the book to put in their

library, Overstreet said. Several months back, he got a request from Iraq

for three copies of the directory.

“It’s the only country I’ve ever turned down,” Overstreet said. “I’d

do the same for the Taliban.”