Marine Core : At the heart of Milton and Bill Shedd’s Bluewater Wear is a love of the sea. That, they say, helps their Irvine-based company make prints that are true to life.

Interest in the ocean runs deep at AFTCO Bluewater Wear, an Irvine-based sportswear company.

Owner Milton Shedd is the co-founder of Sea World in San Diego. His son, Bill, inherited his father’s love of the sea and serves as Bluewater Wear’s president.

Father and son have expressed their interest in the ocean through their clothing line. Bluewater Wear makes camp shirts, shorts and other sportswear with marine-themed prints.

“Dad has spent thousands of days on the ocean--fishing, diving and doing research,” says Bill Shedd, 43.

The walls of the company’s headquarters are covered with photographs of the Shedd family on their many sea-faring adventures. Many shots show a smiling Milton and Bill Shedd posing by fish caught by the father.

Milton Shedd, 72, believes that people have an innate curiosity about the ocean, and it is this belief that prompted the Shedds to start Bluewater Wear in 1989, even though neither Milton or Bill had any prior experience in fashion.

“We were the Forrest Gumps of the clothing industry,” Milton Shedd quips.

The pair were running AFTCO, a 35-year-old manufacturer of fishing rod parts and other marine-related products that Milton Shedd acquired in 1973.

“We were already making marine products, so we asked ourselves what other marine-related things we could make,” Bill Shedd says.

They began by making fishing shorts, and now produce woven shirts in more than 40 different prints as well as cotton pique knit tops and walk and volley shorts. Pants and jackets will be added to the line in spring 1996. Bluewater Wear is carried at 400 clothing and specialty marine stores nationwide.

“There are guys in Ohio who have as much interest in this line as guys who live on the ocean,” Bill Shedd says.

In Orange County, Bluewater Wear can be found at Gary’s Island/Dick’s Last Resort in Fashion Island Newport Beach, Top Brass in Dana Point, Kayaks in Newport Beach and Bob’s Men’s Shop at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park.

Bluewater Wear creates its own prints for the line, making sure depictions of marine life are accurate. Tuna, swordfish, ballyhoo and shark tooth are faithfully represented on fabric, making the line especially popular with fishermen.

“We understand the ocean--it’s who we are and what we do. It gives our product an authenticity. When a fish is drawn, it’s exact,” Bill Shedd says. “The real enthusiast knows the difference.”

The Shedds credit production manager Roberta Aley, a member of Bluewater’s design committee, with helping to make the shirts look good through her fashion sense and knowledge of color.

“She gets the fish put on a shirt in a way so it works artistically,” Bill Shedd says. “It’s not enough to be technically accurate. People have got to want to wear the shirts.”

In addition to fish, the latest collection features prints of schooners, antique fishing lures, scenes of Cabo San Lucas--a popular fishing destination--and even a fish taco print. The camp shirts sell for from $47 to $55.

Milton Shedd’s wife, Peggie, is the chief financial officer for AFTCO.

“It’s fun working and creating together,” he says.

“You hear stories of families who work together in business fighting. We’re unique,” Bill Shedd says. “It comes from mutual respect.”

Bill Shedd never intended to go into the family business.

“Working at Sea World was never an option. I was going to interview at IBM when I got out of college,” Bill Shedd recalls. “But the day my mom and dad bought the tackle business [AFTCO], Dad got sick.” Milton Shedd had open heart surgery in 1973. Bill Shedd came on board AFTCO to provide short-term help.

“That was 23 years ago,” he says.

When he’s not helping his father mind the company, Bill Shedd often joins him on the ocean--fishing, collecting specimens and conducting research.

“We were just out on Dad’s boat to collect white sea bass for a hatchery in Carlsbad,” he says.

Both father and son say they are motivated by concern about the ocean and preservation of dwindling populations of marine life.

“Human population and technology [have] put incredible pressure on marine resources,” Milton Shedd says. He cites pollution and commercial fishing techniques as threats to the survival of both marine life and humans.

“People aren’t aware that the oceans produce more than 50% of the Earth’s oxygen, and that if you destroy the rain forests, the ocean becomes that much more important,” he says.

“Our company is about developing this awareness. The ocean is something we live and breathe.”