Boats- A love affair

[martyb]

You da man! I can relate.

I guess I should mention that at the moment, I'm boatless!

I sold my last one when I moved up to Wisconsin, and now that I'm back down south, almost for sure going to retire in NW Louisiana in a matter of months, not years...I'm starting to get the itch to begin boat shopping again. Yep, it's about that time!

I don't see how anybody could live in Louisiana or Texas and not be a fisherman!

 

[Midpack]

I guess I should mention that at the moment, I'm boatless!

I sold my last one when I moved up to Wisconsin, and now that I'm back down south, almost for sure going to retire in NW Louisiana in a matter of months, not years...I'm starting to get the itch to begin boat shopping again. Yep, it's about that time!

Me too, sold my last one Dec 2010, been having second thoughts lately. A real LBYM dilemma/dilemna...with an answer that's unique for every individual.

 

[PatSea]

I got started in boating as a child when my parents took the family on our yearly vacation to a lake in southern Michigan. My dad had a 10Hp outboard motor that we used on a small aluminum boat that came with the cottage. I can still remember the thrill and excitement when my dad allowed me to take this boat out on the lake by myself the first time at about age eight or nine.
My dad then bought a small wooden outboard boat which we used for water skiing.
Once married we owned two 18' open bow run-abouts before we bought a 32' cruiser about 12 years ago. We still have this boat on Lake Erie. For me boating is much more than just cruising across the water. It's a lifestyle. I enjoy the comraderie of the other boaters at our marina and all that goes with being around water and boats.
I am now a member of the United States Power Squadron which is an organization dedicated to promoting boating safety. I am a certified Vessel Examiner and really enjoy spending 4 or 5 hours at the boat ramp on a Saturday morning examaining boats to be sure they have all the required safety gear. It's a way for me to give back to a recreational activity that I have throughly enjoyed my entire life.

 

[Midpack]

I am now a member of the United States Power Squadron which is an organization dedicated to promoting boating safety. I am a certified Vessel Examiner and really enjoy spending 4 or 5 hours at the boat ramp on a Saturday morning examaining boats to be sure they have all the required safety gear. It's a way for me to give back to a recreational activity that I have throughly enjoyed my entire life.

As a near lifelong boater, thanks for helping keep us all safer on the water...

 

[freebird5825]

Boat (n.): A hole in the water into which you pour money.

BOAT (acronym) : Break Out Another Thousand



I was going to sell this baby this year, but I decided I would give it "one more year". The cost to store, moor, maintain and use it is still less than the loss I would take by selling it in a high pump price/gallon environment.

I have been a boater for 25+ years, have taken all sorts of safety and specialized courses (weather, navigation, marine electronics) with the US Power Squadron. I get a nice 25% discount on my boat insurance for having taken all of that coursew*rk.

2005 Starcraft 18' CSTAR with 190 hp I/O

 

[imoldernu]

Did you ever find out what happened to the guys on the rock?

When we got down to Warrensburg, we did find out... They were "pro's", or as pro as ya get in canoeing... thus the beavertail paddles. It was a wood/canvas OldTown canoe... and quite old. I didn't know much about them back then, but a new classic can cost more than $10,000, tho not back in those days, I don't think. The place where they wrecked was the "big drop", which has been the end of many canoe trips... When the river is really wild, an aluminum canoe can easily get bent in half... Saw that on the
Green river in Mass. when the Yankee Power company released the cooling pond back up.

Everyone who has ever done any boating has at least one death defying experience.

 

[EllisWyatt]

I've only owned one boat, and I still consider it to have been the perfect boat - a 17' Cape Horn center console. Stable, safe, quick, shallow draft. And what made it absolutely the perfect boat, when I decied to sell it after 4 years of ownership, I sold it back to the guy I bought it from for the same price I bought it.

Can't get much better than that!

 

[CarlK]

Unlike many of you, I got into boating later in life -- just 4 years ago. We got a 22 ft. pontoon boat with a 90 hp Mercury. One of the best purchases we have ever made (notice I didn't say investment!). We, and our friends and family, have had a lot of pleasure cruising the inland lakes and Rideau Canal system in Southeastern Ontario.

 

[Trawler]

Here is our baby. She is our only child. Leaving next summer for long cruise to the North Channel fron Lake erie.

 

[Trawler]

Away we go!

 

[Sarah in SC]

Wait, trawler...that isn't a trawler! That's a sailboat!
Here's a trawler!

 

[Trawler]

Wait, trawler...that isn't a trawler! That's a sailboat!
Here's a trawler!

Yes it is. Our next boat will be a trawler if I can ever give up the sailing. We do use the engine quite a bit a mere formality. Nice Trawler you have there. Enjoy.

 

[HFWR]

I had a bowrider back when, but my next boat, should I decide to get another, will be, as Sarah puts it, a drinking platform...

 

[Sarah in SC]

Here you go, HFWR, this is my ideal drinking platform!
Little Big Town - Pontoon - YouTube