Darby recalled childhood boat rides on the Susquehanna River, summer vacations on the Chesapeake Bay, excursions to boat builders' shops with his father, and his early attempts to build a boat while in middle school. At age 14, after spending more time learning about boat building, he constructed his first working boat. I wanted to explore. I couldn't drive, but I could ride a bike and I could row a boat. Darby encouraged the students in the audience to try their hand at inventing.
Kids invent things in their bedrooms.
Darby's middle school adventures were the beginning of a boat building career that continues to this day. Although he is a commercial artist by trade, Darby's passion is designing and sailing boats. As an adult, he invented a new kind of personal watercraft, a shallow draft motorboat that could hydroplane. In the 1980s, Darby received a design patent for a one-person sailboat, the Darby 8 SS sidestep hull. But one of the most exciting moments in Darby's invention career was that summer day on Wyoming Mountain with Naomi.