Clear Water Harbor turns 50

WAUPACA – At 16 years old, a young boat captain from Appleton whose parents had a cottage on Round Lake, started working at a small boat livery on Taylor Lake. With that job he grew to love the beauty of the Chain O’Lakes.
Little did this young captain know that one day the very boat livery he worked for would soon be his own and in 2025 he would be celebrating 50 years of ownership with his growing family.
At first Pat Meighan leased the boat livery and then eventually bought it with Joe Leean in 1975. They changed the name to Clear Water Harbor.
After a couple years, Pat said he bought out Leean’s interest in the business and Leean later went on to serve as a state senator in 1984 which began his career in state-level public service.
For Pat, the start of his ownership journey began with the Chief Waupaca, which was originally stuck in the ice in Lake Butte des Morts in Oshkosh.

The Chief was built in 1963 for the Chief Oshkosh Brewery. It was used as a marketing tool for their centennial celebration to deliver beer up and down the Fox River, Pat said.
Eventually the vessel was given to the Kiwanis Club in Oshkosh who also lost interest in maintaining the boat.
With the Chief, Pat saw potential and he dropped out of his senior year of college to chip the Chief out of the ice on Lake Butte des Morts and bring the Chief to its new home in Waupaca, where it is still operational today.
Pat continued the business of boat tours out on the Chain and the Crystal River for about four years, and he also soon began dating and marrying Mimi, who worked selling tickets for tours.
Mimi mentioned that a day didn’t go by without someone asking for a sandwich or a beer, so in 1979, Clear Water Harbor was not only a place to tour the Chain by boat, it became a restaurant and bar.
Of course, the property itself went through a lot of changes, with buildings torn down, bars built and re-built, the kitchen moved from the bar to the back, decks and docks added to accommodate the boats of customers as well as the Chief Waupaca and Lady of the Lakes, and now the Northstar. The property was given a complete makeover to what customers see today.
Pat and Mimi had three children, Maureen, Caitlin and Ryan, who have taken over the ownership of the business, running all of the day-to-day operations.
Of the accomplishment of owning Clear Water Harbor for 50 years, he said it makes him feel good to know that he has created a legacy he can pass to the next generation.
“I get to work with my children everyday … they had to buy into the lifestyle of working your butt off six, seven days a week but then having a chunk of time off in the winters,” Pat said.
The property at Taylor Lake has seen a few transformations and businesses, but it has always been a place with boats and access for the public to see the Chain.
The property that Clear Water Harbor sits on was originally owned by Hobart “Hobie” Edmunds who built the livery and docks. It was called Edmunds’ Park, Dock and Picnic Grounds, said Tracy Behrendt, the Director at the Waupaca Historical Society.
Pat said it was also a location for a steam-powered passenger boat in 1871 and it was also a boat showroom for a while as well as marina.
“My love of the lakes and love of this place goes way back,” Pat said. “The main thing was always boating in the lakes.”