Your boating history...

[RED]

I thought I'd revive this thread
I got started in the Sea Scouts in High School in 1957. The next year, 10 of us formed a partnership and bought a 16' catamaran, which we sailed on the Columbia River for several years until it was sunk by a runaway boathouse during the Columbus Day windstorm of 1962.

When I graduated from college, I built an 18' Y-Flyer (an inland lakes scow design), and raced that for several years. Over the years I owned a succesion of sailboats - Ranger20, Ranger24, Venture23, Catalina30. Had a great time racing, particularly in the Ranger 24 fleet which was very actie at the time, so we had a level racing fleet - great competition; and chartered a business freinds sailboat in the San Juans for several years.

Finally the Admiral said the first 20 years were mine and the next were hers - she wanted to "move up out of the basement", which is what being in a sailboat felt like. So we purchased our first trawler - a MMC 36 (now marketed as the Monk 36).This was a great boat for us, and I'd still recommend one for someone looking in that size range. Learned a lot about boat handling, and docking cross current in a single screw.

Then (silly us) we thought we would get out of boating and sold the MMC (all electronically). I never met the buyer, who had a florida broker, financed in Texas, and moved the boat to the Great Lakes.

When I took early retirement, we realized we wanted (needed) to get back into boating, and bought an Ocean Alexander 486 Classico, which we ran from a base in Gig Harbor, Washington. Great times cruising the San Juans and Canada. We christened this one ICHIGO which is Japanese for 'this is the one" - I took the Admiral to look at boats in an on the water show, and she sat down in the Salon , looked at me and the broker and said "this is the one" - so much for any negotiating strategy. I decided that a boat this size was getting serious, so I took and passed a course for a 500 ton license at Northwest Maritime.

After a great 6 years, we moved back to the Portland area, and decided something smaller would fit the river better, whle still letting us make the trek north on occasion. So our current boat is an Ocean Alexander 423 Classico. This boat has a layout that makes it easy for the Admiral (who is now handicapped) to be aboard.

We plan to cruise down the Columbia this year and "turn right" up the coast for the Canadian Gulf Isalnds once again. Maybe we'll see some of you up there.

 

[Phuket]

Well done for reviving this thread, there are some great stories here and otherwise I would probably never have read it. Guess I can add my own story here too......

My first boating was not really boating but windsurfing and then after that surfing when I could not afford to replace all the broken mast, booms and sails anymore. When I left high school I went to university (Sydney, Australia) for year studying law but it did not really fit. So I took a year off to see the world and never really went back. Along the way got into boating in quite a big way. First a deck hand on a party boat (ex hamburg harbour ferry) in Cyprus then on a sixty foot ferro cement ketch that the owner was refitting to be a dive boat in the Red Sea. This was where I started to learn to fix things, I passed tools to the owner for a long time but he was never very successful at making things work that he had pulled apart. After a while I had a go and usually I had less nuts and bolts left over and often the pumps/outboards/motors etc would work again. That was a great learning time for me, spent almost two years on the boat learning to sail, dive, anchor, splice ropes and generally handle a boat in the tough waters of the Egyptian red sea with it's reefs, currents and very deep water.

After that I tried university again, but also went to college at nights and got a low level engineering ticket to work on commercial charter boats in Oz. My first job as engineer was aboard a 75 four foot converted steel prawn trawler that operated as a liveaboard dive charter boat doing four day trips on the Great barrier Reef. Another great learning experience - this time in how to do things right! After that moved up to large aluminium power cats also doing liveaboard dive trips in Queensland and then on one for a year in Papua New Guinea.

I then tried my hand on private yachts for a while. first a 100 foot aluminium sailboat and then a 125 foot power boat mostly around New Zealand and the western south pacific. At this time I was paid well and had no expenses so after a year had enough $ to take some time off and try being a boat owner. I bought a 33 foot plywood sailing cat in Fiji and spent four months fixing it up whilst living aboard and surfing a lot. I cruised it with friends and often times alone through Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and then back to Australia where my money ran out.

A freind I had met a few years before told me I would find work easily in Thailand and that he thought I would enjoy life there. So after a phone call to the company he recommended I put my cat on the hardstand and flew to Phuket to work as a skipper. Eight years later I am still here. I worked as a skipper for two years on dive charter boats - two older trimarans and a 50 foot motorsailor that was a converted Alaskan fishing boat (this boat turned me on to the benefits of slow cruising under power).

I had a bad accident - fell off the motorsailor on the hardstand in Singapore - which kind of changed my life. I decided to stop going to sea, got a job project managing a refit, got married and bought a house with the money from my cat. For a few years I worked and enjoyed living ashore, doing house and garden type things. Of course I still worked with boats every day but did not do much more than sea trials or moving the boats around in the marina.

I now have four kids, two of my own and two stepsons, and have got back into boating in a big way as they love it so much (apart from the older stepson who is happy to have the house to himself when we go out!). I bought a 14 foot runabout first, which was great but a bit small, then went halves with a friend in a 22 foot Panga with a 75 HP outboard. This has been great and we have used it every weekend except for two or three since buying it. We have been camping from it a few times but it is hard work so now am fixing up a 35 foot local fishing trawler for weekend cruising where we can stay aboard and not have to go home at the end of the day.

Cheers, Leon.

 

[Woodsong]

Well now. Isn't this a jewel of a thread! Due to my beloved Atlanta Falcons performing so terribly right now against the Green Bay Packers, I found this thread both informative and interesting, as well as a good diversion from having to cry as I watch the Falcons self destruct. How very nice though to read the stories of the folks I read posts on here pretty much every day now. I found the common threads of wilderness experience to be interesting.

In an effort to revive this thread......

We grew up in a small town outside Indianapolis on a small local reservoir. Dad had a little tri-hull run about made by Somerset. Dad probably didn't know it at the time but that little boat impacted my life pretty big. Summers were spent fishing with dad and my sisters or learning to ski or swimming. That little boat followed us down to GA where we moved when I was 9. We took her out on Lake Lanier. Dad is not a good navigator and Lanier has a lot of little islands and coves and there are some bigger cruisers there so I still remember feeling like we were continually lost (which we in fact were) and lost in the midst of heavy seas that would swamp the boat (3-4' carver wakes and stuff). Sadly, that boat died in my teen years.

Fast forward to me being newly married to my wonderful wife and us living in the Atlanta area. Mom and Dad had retired and dad decided he ought to buy another boat. I decided that sounded like fun. We bought a little 20' deck boat....put it in dry rack storage at a marina 10 minutes from our house and gave us a set of keys and just said to not return it on empty. SCORE! Did that a year and loved it. My wife didn't grow up boating though and always thought we would tip over, especially after our son was born (daughter not born yet). Mom and dad decided to take the deckboat to their place in FL and that would leave us boatless in Atlanta so it was time to buy a boat.
Long story short....thought we'd just buy another deck boat. Wife had grown to enjoy swimming, etc. but didn't like that a deck boat had minimal shade, no bathroom for the kids, etc. Went to the boat show that winter and a light went off that I could easily afford a cruiser. Almost bought a 27' brand new express but ended up buying a slightly used 2003 Cruisers 3372 express. Thought I had just bought a "fun boat" but realized after the first weekend that we really just bought a new way of life. I had no idea how much it would change our lives and who we are, what we do, and how our time is spent as a family. Played around on that boat for a year and loved it but we had our daughter born by then so 4 of us on there and we spent a LOT of time on board and wanted bigger. We did 450 miles of the TN River on that boat (shipped her up from Lake Allatoona in Atlanta to play on the river for a bit) and that got my wheels spinning with ideas of cruising. So- we bought another slightly used boat- 2005 Silverton 38 Sport Bridge. Another great boat that we loved and had a great time on. Kept that boat for 3 years and just sold her Christmas of 2009. We averaged about 120 nights a year on her while we owned her. We sold her b/c she ultimately was not the style boat we wanted long term.
I love traveling though. I also love nature and wild places. In my high school and college years, I spent a lot of my time doing extended wilderness backpacking, including hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine not once but twice from start to finish. It's hard to take young kids hiking though. Boating became the avenue for us to be in nature with our young family and enjoy sharing that with the kids. Anchoring out for a weekend on the water is as peaceful to me as any mountaintop camp site I ever had, assuming I'm not anchored in the local "cocktail cove." Thus, once we started getting into bigger boats I always had a longing for a "traveling boat" that was meant to cruise. I loved the idea of the great loop and wanted a boat that we could use as a platform to show the kids life from the water and expand their horizons. We enjoyed our much newer and "fancy" boats where everything worked perfect and spotless, etc. but they just didn't feel like "us." This old trawler we have now truly feels like a gift from God. We were boatless for 9 months this year and just about quit looking for rest of 2010 when we bought her as she was presented to us in a manner that made it clear she was meant to be with us...one of those too good to be true/coincidence of timing deals. I am (hopefully) learning a ton and in the end I know she will make me a better boater.
So dad's little bowrider has blossomed into a lifelong hobby and way of being and an outlet for our young family to bond and spend time together and create memories together. It also blossomed into a business venture for me as I have, as one of my business ventures I work in these days, worked as a yacht broker for the last 3 years and continue to have an absolute blast doing it. Most of our happiest family memories are of times aboard though. If I sold the trawler tomorrow she would have been the best boat I ever owned- my son is 8 now and has taken a special interest in helping me work on the boat and our time together this winter working one on one together has just been priceless. The look of pride he had a few weeks ago when my wife and daughter braved the winter weather to check on our work and he gave them the tour- really a special memory. It is great for me to see how much the entire family enjoys boating. Sure, we have our typical young child moments of fussiness, etc. but overall, such an amazing time together and boating has been among the best things that has happened in my earthly life, ignoring obviously the truly more important stuff like God, marriage, having children, etc. I think you know what I mean. I feel amazingly blessed to be relatively young (I turn 37 this month), a happy marriage, 2 healthy and bright children, and the time and ability to take them boating. We are hoping to be able to take a month or so off this summer to go cruise with the kids- hopefully time and money will cooperate!

Sorry for the long post. Brevity is often not my strong point.

P.S. Here are 2 boating videos I put together the last 2 summers we had our silverton:

Hopefully I'll have an equally fun video from 2011 with our trawler!! *

-- Edited by Woodsong on Saturday 15th of January 2011 11:07:16 PM

-- Edited by Woodsong on Sunday 16th of January 2011 09:46:26 AM

 

[JohnP]

Lets See,* My Grandparents had a Summer home on a small lake in North Jersey. They gave the boat house to my parents to use as for their Summer weekends.* My Mom said my Sister and I had hammocks suspended from the rafters as cradles. My Dad loved to fish and hunt.* As early as I can remember I was out in his boat on the lake.

I used to walk or hitch a ride 3+ miles to town with gas can in hand for some .25 cent gas.* Anyway by the time I was 10 years old I was pretty much hooked. Around that time I was taken to the Asbury Park Boat Show and that sealed the deal. I fell head over heels for a shiny black 1968 Morgan 34 Sloop. Of course I was pretty sure that it was never going to be in my Xmas stocking.

My Dad could not see much point in sailing but somehow I was gifted my first boat an 11' Snark Sailboat.* This started my boucing back in forth from power to Sail.

Boat #2 was bought with paper route funds.* A* 1950s 17' Dunphy runabout.
Around this time the lake properties were sold to the State because they were in an area that would be 50' underwater when the reservoir was built.* It has not happened to this day and the homes were demolished years ago.

I brought the Dunphy home and over the winter built a cabin on it as I was going to take it down the Shore and use it to stay over. I was in my* teens.
The made over boat looked great (to me) and I named her "Yankee"

My other Grandparents had a place on the Jersey Shore and we put Yankee in a Marina a few blocks from Grandma's house. The converted Yankee soon proved to small so somehow it got traded in on a Cabin cruiser my parents bought.

Being boatless I got a 16' wood Town Class sloop- very cheap price.* I moored her in a cove by our Marina.** I sailed it a lot and pumped it more. She sunk on her mooring and some how I abandoned her.

My folks bought a waterfront property accross the Bay and took their Boat with them.
I bought boat #4* a 25' wooden Rhodes Idler Sloop with an Atomic Four.( Mystic)

Than # 5** my first glass boat a 26' Pearson Commander Sloop with an outboard in a well.**I* was about twenty now*and taking on further trips with short offshore runs.
The outboard was not really what I wanted.It was*a little scary in inlets and stuff.(Katerina)

Boat 6 came in my early twentys with a full time job and a boat loan.* A two year old Catalina 27 with another Atomic Four* (Grey Eagle)

Boat 7 Was owned at the same time as 6** a 16' Hobie Cat.

I met the Admiral at College nite classes.* We took the 16' Hobie on an offshore cruise around Long Beach Island* great trip but by no means well thought out.


Boat 8 The Admiral and I bought together a 30' Owens 1966 twin V8 gassers.(Compromise)

Boat 9 After the birth of our daughter was a 34 Irwin Sloop- Another Atomic 4 (Princess)

Boat 10* Was an Eddy and Duff* 23'* Stonehorse Cutter-* our first diesel- one cylinder Westerbeke. (Mystique)

Boat 11 Was a 14'* Catalina Day sailor to use on a lake near our home.* First sailboat on a trailer.

Boat 12* Was a 1988 Albin 27 family cruiser.** Diesel aft cabin.*** (Snow Goose)

Boat 13* A 1985 Bristol 35.5 Centerboard Sloop with a Universal Diesel (Yankee)
The jury is still out but this could have been the best boat we owned.

Current Boat #14* 1983 Island Gypsy 32 with a 120 Lehman.* We still like her. ( Adagio)

 

[johnma]

Lived in Philadelphia my entire life; growing up in the 50's & early 60's we spent a lot of time at the Jersey shore. I still find it hard to believe in these days of being extremely carefull in business, but, back then we could rent flat bottom aluminum boats with an outboard and spent the days running in the back bays. (you only needed to be 12 and no parent or parents signature was required. At 19, I joined the navy and saw the world. One of the places I saw was the Caribbean in mid winter and fell in love. We have been back every year since chartering and day sailing. Bought our first boat in 1985, 27' Bayliner. Kept it 3 years and bought a 32' Bayliner.
A friend at our marina came up from the Bahama's one spring with a 41' Defever. At that point we got trawlers in our blood. It took awhile, but in 2006 we bought our 2003 Mainship 390 and sold the Bayliner (or tried to; it took 3 years). We have always kept our boats on the Delaware River for convenience sake and spend the season cruising the Delaware river, Bay and Chesapeake.
We will be flying to Aruba in about 8 weeks (have a time share there) to go sailing and fishing.
John

 

[ColonyCove]

I came, I saw, I boated.* Anyone who wants the details has to pay for the drinks.

 

[Baker]

ColonyCove wrote:

I came, I saw, I boated.* Anyone who wants the details has to pay for the drinks.

Motor your butt down to Galveston Bay and I'd be happy to!!!

 

[Pineapple Girl]

This is interesting, I have to go back and read all the prior pages.*

My family was not into boating at all.* I had some friends in college with powerboats and had a few trips out on Jordan Lake (Durham, NC) and one time out of Charleston with various friends on various boats.* Also during this time my family spent a week on Ocracoke Island and my friend and I took windsurfing lessons and one sailing lesson.* We capsized the sailboat and totally freaked until we realized the water was shallow enough to stand up in!

A few years later I had a summer job at Camp Seafarer.* I went sailing as a passenger twice that summer and just thought it was the coolest thing in the world.* Many years later I*moved (back) to California and worked briefly at West Marine's corporate offices.* During that time (2003)*I went out on both the corporate Santa Cruz 42 sailboat ("ProMotion") and a little power boat of theirs*and decided I was going to learn to sail.**I took a two weekend course (May 2003) and was hooked.* I went to a local yacht club for their wednesday night beer can races and the first night I met the man I would marry, Matt.* He had a 1980 Santana 30/30 GP sailboat he owned with is brother.* In 2005 his brother wanted to move up so we sold the Santana..* we bought a Lido 14 and soon found*that thing was a workout--too much work to tack, tack, tack across the lake!** By the end of 2005 we'd sold it and bought a 2000 32 foot Catalina sailboat.* As others have said, that changed our life and lifestyle.* From then on we have been at the boat every weekend and our lives truly center on the boat and boating!*

in 2008 my husband and some of his friends sailed to Hawaii on a Catalina 42.* I met him over there and he said I had to do it with him next time.* We got home, sold our 32 and bought a 1999 J-42 with another couple.* We and three other people sailed it to Hawaii in July 2010.* When we got back we dissolved the partnership and got our 1984 PT35 Trawler.* We really wanted our own*boat again and for the type of cruising we are*moving towards, a trawler was the right fit. *We are making plans to do the Great Loop in a few years*and never look back.

Also in this time I was*Commodore of our yacht club (2009).* If anyone would have told me even 10 years ago I'd be a Commodore of a yacht club, sail to Hawaii, plan to do the Great Loop... I'd have laughed at them.* I can't believe how lucky I am to have found this lifestyle and a great guy to live it with!

 

[bnoft]

Like a previous post, I got my start on an 8 foot wooden pram. I grew up in western VA but my grandparents had a place on the lower Potomac. Dad decided he and I would build the pram in our basement, I was about 8 or 10 so my contibution was limited. I did learn a fair amount, especially when we finished the boat and dad exclaimed "Oh sh.." when he discovered the boat would not fit out the intended door. We carried it up the steps and out the front door. (That phrase is repeated *later). I rowed that boat up and down the Potomac in front of the cottage for 4 years. Fast forward about about 20 years when I bought a one design single hand racing sailboat, my wife claims it was her anniversary present. That boat was fun but the rashes were not. I crewed on some racing sailboats out of Deltaville for a few years and tried to talk the wife into our own sailboat; each time I had her sold we had another child. I was going broke and didn't even own a boat yet. Finally ended up with a 25' cuddy cabin Grady White; not much of a cruiser but we covered the middle bay for 5 years on that boat. An engine fire dampened my wife's enthusiaim for the boat. We went thru a couple of other runabouts over the next 15 years unitil we sprung for a 28 Albin then a move up to a 34 Albin when our *granddaughter Grace told me we needed a bigger boat; she was maybe 2 months old at the time. In '07, I ran across a '91 Grand Banks hung up in an estate. I looked at it a couple of times; it clearly needed some TLC, took our son to look at it (he is now a yacht broker) and consulted with a friend in Annapolis who has a 42 GB, both agreeing it was soild but needed cosmetic work. My wife finally agreed to look at it and agreed to a "low ball offer". When that was accepted, I thought I had the name for the boat as she exclaimed "Oh sh..".( I seem to bring out the best in people.) We kept the name of the Albin, renaming the 42 Amazing Grace. Ironically, we keep her on the lower Potomac not 3 miles from where my I rowed the pram. My hope is to take her south one winter but I think I know what my wife will say.....

 

[koliver]

Lets see....
17ft wood runabout (dad's first big boat) with a 50 merc. 10 ft home built row/outboard/sailboat. both those as a kid.
Guest privileges on Dad's 37ft wood sailboat, then his brand new Columbia 26 (early 70s).
During this time I bought a 1/2 share with my sister's husband in a 16 ft runabout. After a couple of years sold that and in 74 I bought a Star (Olympic racing class, but mine was old and tired). That was lots of fun. sold in 1976 and contracted a brand new 30 ft cruising sailboat. This was after 3 summer holidays on the borrowed Columbia. Hooked by this time.
Kept the 30 for 11 yrs. All 3 kids born to boating. Held onto it through Law School, then when the $ started coming in again, moved up to a Seabird 37. Kids were crowding the 30 by this time, 1988. Kept that till Janet asked to move to power. ( I had my sailboats since 74, so by this stage it was her turn to choose). So bought the present boat in 1994. For a few years I got my sailing fix by racing in the VARC series on a couple of friends' boats. Obviously like the trawler enough to keep it. More recently bought a 19 ft with an outdrive, for the cottage, but got rid of it after a few years. Get my speed fixes now in the new to me fast dinghy. Carry two kayaks aboard, keep another at the cottage, along with the Laser, canoe, rowboat. I get aboard lots of boats, sail and power, helping with annual CCGA Courtesy Inspections. I get lots of ideas, see how others use and maintain their boats.

 

[Gulf Comanche]

My Dad was not big into boats, but my Grandfather was. In 1955 he built a camp on Highland Bayou, sort of near Alvin, Texas. My first boat was a wooden skiff that had sunk into the mud in a neighbor's slip; I dug it out and re-floated it and the guy gave it to me. An uncle gave me a 5hp Elgin. Reverse was turning the motor 180 degrees but be careful of the exposed sparkplug, it would hurt and get your attention pretty quick. Then on to a Sunfish that I bought at a garage sale, not really as fun as the skiff. Next was a hand-me-down from my Grandfather, 16 ft fiberglass, 35 hp Johnson. It died when my partner/best friend sprayed carb cleaner into the carb because it needed cleaning. Then a new 18 ft aluminum skiff w/ 50hp Johnson. Same partner but w/ strict instructions not to do anything mechanical to the engine, I handled that. Next was a 19ft Robalo center console, 135hp* Johnson. Same partner, same instructions, great boat. The Robalo finally died in 1986, engine seized and the foam in the boat was waterlogged anyway. Sold it to a guy in Pass Christian, Mississippi. This was about the time I got married and started raising kids. They are pretty much grown and out of the house now, I'm single, so boat time again. Two years ago I found what I wanted on Yacht World, in Annapolis, MD. Went to see it, had it surveyed, and bought it. Renamed her "Old School"; I'm thinking this is my last boat, but never say never.
Mike
Baton Rouge

 

[Max Simmons]

Thought I'd ressurect this thread in honor of my father who just passed away at 88. He is who started my boating passion. Practially born on a boat and spend many summers cruising Puget Sound.
In picking out some pictures I ran across this pic of my little sister and I on the dock. Locals will immediately recognize it. This was, near as I can figure 43 years ago. Hard to believe we had any fun. We had a wood boat (oh no!) no chart plotter, no flat screen surround sound or high powered dink. We actually learned to row. And no PFD's on the dock. Used a chart and compass. There were 7 of us on the boat, all in sleeping bags. That's our 31' Trojan in the background with the towel on the rail. With 5 kids, there was always a towel on the rail.
I guess waht this made me realize is that when reading threads from folks just starting out, is that even without the lastest gizmos you can still have an awful lot of fun. I know I did.

 

[Cyclone]

Greetings to all. What a wonderful photo. It a shame that the young families do not have the financial resources or time to enjoy the wonders of boating. I have three girls and in the early days, 1973, we had wood 1960 24 ft Chris Cavalier, one berth. We soved the problem by buying a Formosa inflatable and a tent. The cheepest aft cabin on the market. I would recce a suitable site,then before supper would point to selected location and tell the girls that is where they would spend the night. Off they would go,set up camp, return for dinner,then set off for the night. Never a problem. Ages 5, 8,9. They loved it and boated with us through University and still do to so many years later. I could tell you other kid stories. Called for dinner Bill

 

[Ben]

My dad started me off young.

1. That's my sister holding me. 1952 Colonial in the background.
2. That's my dad. Flybridge of 1964 Pacemaker. Spa Creek, Annapolis.

After that, I was kind of hooked.

 

[markpierce]

...
Shortly after collage I met up with a couple who had a very nice old Marconi rigged ketch and started sailing with them around the lower reaches of the Gulf of Georgia and Gulf Islands. ...

Caught this gaff-rigged ketch on Mare Island Strait today. Classy!

 

[AusCan]

I grew up on the banks of the Kootenay River in BC where my dad had a little fibreglass fishing boat used for fishing for rainbows and sturgeon (back before they were protected).
We moved to Alberta for a while, and built rafts out of logs and scrap plywood to float down the Bow River with my brothers. Often they broke up when we hit the rapids, but we all lived to tell the tale.

Back to BC and I had a couple of small trailer sailers on Kootenay Lake. With every one, we turtled it at some point, when a strong gust would come off the mountains when we didn't have the main sheet in hand to release the sail. Next my brother and I then bought an old 40ft wooden 1940's forestry boat for cheap, and found out why soon after when it sank at its mooring in Kootenay Lake A learning experience.

Moving to Australia was a game changer - the Ocean -Wow- Let me at it!
I bought an 18 ft plywood runabout with an 80hp outboard and started to learn about the sea. I pushed that little boat to the limits, taking on rougher water than some would venture with a boat twice the size. It served me well for about 10 years. I wasn't game to cross the gulf although often hauled it out to KI on the ferry.

Finally I bought something that allows me to explore the area further. The adventure continues......

 

[Art]

1952 - mid 70's. NY to Maine, many times! Virtually born on a boat... LI, NY South Shore. Eventually lived on the Penobscot in Camden, ME. Too many great tales to tell... Here's a few stories (wish I had the picts, they're stached someplace in brother's barn... Maine):

- Real young, learned to swim with old, puffy orange life preserver on and our dog's leash hooked to its rear. Mom walked each of us three boys around gunnels of the 23’ 1948 Chris Craft Express giving instructions on what to do with arms and feet till we figured out how to swim. Didn’t take very long for instructions to take hold in our minds and body actions.

- 1959 age 7... I proudly purchased a brand new gold colored 1.7 hp Neptune Mighty Mite o/b for $77 with my own earned dollars from helping dad work on our Chris Craft. Pop had already bought a light weight 6’6” fiberglass “Pixie” brand dink that I’d rowed for a year. The 1.7 hp Mighty Mite was a perfect match for that dink... used em for a few years till I out grew the pair.

- At 13 yrs age by working on boats I’d saved close to $700 and purchased a 1961 13’3” Boston Whaler with same year 18 hp Johnson o/b. Soon I bought a new 20 horse Johnson. 1st owned year it was stolen (along with other marine products by “Ed Warnicke Boat Yard’s fuel attendant). It was insured under dad’s policy... so, I replaced it a real nice used 1964 40 hp Johnson. Loved that boat and engine! Eventually cruised it all the way from NY to Penobscot Bay Maine and back with full dodger, SS railing, 4 6gal gas tanks and provisions aboard in a cooler as well as its front seat compartment and a storage box I built and screwed onto the steering station. Each year I’d varnish all its clear mahogany wood work, paint its bottom, and wax all fiberglass surfaces.

Once that much “Boat Love” and adventure get’s non-stop/continually thrust inside your heart, mind, and soul at young age - - > IT SIMPLY NEVER LEAVES!!

 

[dwhatty]

Once that much “Boat Love” and adventure get’s non-stop/continually thrust inside your heart, mind, and soul at young age - - > IT SIMPLY NEVER LEAVES!!

Ayuh, Cappy!