A Long Island family that recently dipped into the ice cream business is easing the day by hand-delivering their delicious homemade product by boat to folks out on the south shore's waters in need of a quick cool-down.
"Anyone on Long Island will tell you that we all look forward to a Long Island summer," Caitlin Mann of Mann's Homemade Ice Cream in Amityville told The Post. "So we figured, why not bring something that we love to the water?"
The recent psychology grad spends her summer weekends scooping flavors on the family's 21-foot center console craft as her longtime boating dad, Eric, cruises around with their phone number displayed for call-in orders.
They jet to coves and canals nearby, where other vessels and waterfront homeowners flag them down or call in some stern-side sweets.
"It's not a normal thing to have an ice cream truck show up in your backyard," loyal customer Sue Sklarsky said while enjoying a cup of the Mann family's popular homemade cherry vanilla on her canal-side lawn.
The duo comes around with five rotating flavors at a cost of $8 for a small and $13 for a large. Last week, the purveyors offered chocolate, mint chip, Sklarsky's favorite cherry vanilla, cookie dough, and top seller cookies & cream.
"It's amazing. It's the best ice cream I ever had on the water," first-timer Mike Iacono said from his boat anchored in Massapequa Cove, where the Manns tied a rope line to make the exchange. "I need this option every day I'm on the water."
Their boat fits 30 gallons of ice cream in a subzero fridge and usually returns to the Mann's Massapequa home dock fully empty after 20 or so stops at sea. Locals claim the Manns are the first to sell proper ice cream that isn't prepackaged popsicles on their waters.
"We've been waiting forever for somebody to have this idea," Massapequa resident Cristina Pizzichillo said as her daughter devoured their chocolate ice cream. "She approves, and so do I," Cristina said.
The nautical novelty is now such a hit that Mann's boat gets booked for birthdays, family celebrations, and graduations. Parents sometimes text Eric on a whim to swing by for their kids' pool parties.
"We're already 10 times more popular than when we started this last summer," Caitlin said. "People see us and don't even know we have a store; they just know us from the water."
The coveted Mann family blend dates back a few generations to a pair of bakeries in Queens that Eric's grandfather operated, where he used to give off-menu ice cream to regulars.
"We have some old recipes in our archives from back in those days," said Eric, who left a job in electrical construction to open the brick-and-mortar last year. "I wanted a namesake, ice cream was our calling," he said.
Eric now runs the parlor with Caitlin, his other two daughters, and his wife, Linda. It's typically Eric and Caitlin who handle the delivery service, while the rest of the family makes the ice cream and runs the business on land.
"I don't think we've had one sit-down family conversation that does not involve ice cream since the store has been open," Caitlin laughed. "We were already a close family before the store opened, and this just made us a lot stronger. We're very grateful for that."