In 1967 Ray began his career in the boating industry working as a marine mechanic in Clearwater, Florida. Over the years, he has had opportunities to work with a variety of boats as a licensed Coast Guard Captain and Yacht Broker. He has sailed from Wisconsin to Nova Scotia down the Eastern Seaboard, throughout the Caribbean, the Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, and extensively in Florida on boats ranging up to 100-feet in length.