Boats- A love affair

[imoldernu]

Nothing more emotional for a "boat person", than to tell about their boats and associated adventures.
For starters... "Boats I and family have owned":

First... triangle shaped boat three boards, plywood bottom, moss to make leakproof. Age 7.
Tech Dinghy (learned to sail)
Sailfish
Sunfish
Inflatable Kayak
Grumman 18' aluminum canoe
28' Chris Craft
1979 ABS Plastic 18' canoe
17'Thompson
25' Mastercraft
17' Larsen
20' Starcraft runabout
*1972 Sears 15' sailing canoe...
*1973 Kayot aluminum pontoon paddle boat
*1974 12' Sears Ted Williams Fisherman

*my current boats

Dreamboat... Old Town OTCA, Adirondak Guideboat

Also sail(ed) on Lightnings, Force 5, Star, and most racing classes that were in the vogue in the 50's 60's and 70's.

Narraganset Bay, Casco Bay, (sailing and cruising)... Boundary Waters, and all major lakes and streams in the Adirondaks (canoeing).

Your boat(s)... and maybe a dreamboat? Where do/did you boat?

 

[Chuckanut]

Yes. My little catamaran is such fun!

 

[braumeister]

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

Rather than own a boat, I've always felt the ideal situation is to have a friend with a boat.

That said, I have to admit the 16 ft runabout with 40hp Evinrude that we had when I was a teenager was more fun than I can even describe. Fishing, water skiing, and making for uninhabited islands for picnics.

 

[Midpack]

Agreed, though it's the sailing and not the boat.

There may be no place I'd rather be than on the water in a boat (daysailing with DW, or racing with my mates) no matter what the conditions, but even after almost 40 years sailing, I still couldn't tell you exactly why! And I may never know.

"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing, as simply messing about in boats....or with boats."

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, 1908

Great topic BTW.

 

[imoldernu]

Yes. My little catamaran is such fun!

OH YEAH!!!! Nothing in the world like a Hobie UP on one hull...

 

[braumeister]

You guys have way too much fun!
This is the only boat I've owned for the last 20 years:

It's a folding kayak that breaks down into two canvas bags that I toss in the trunk of the car.

 

[marko]

Imoldernu, I also raced Lightnings back in the 60's. Nice solid boat with a strong weather helm! My favorite of all time.

Now I'm bulked up with a 32 footer......comfy (we don't have to pee in a bottle) but not as much fun!

North Shore of Boston

Best of times!

 

[Texas Proud]

My wife was insisting on a boat... lucky for me she only wanted a small one...

So, bought an 18.5 ft. one on Ebay with a 135 HP stern drive... this is our first year and we have had to sink some money into it... new tires for the trailer, a tune up, and then a broken impeller where I thought I had blown the engine...

But, we have had a lot of fun with it and hope to get out one last time this year...

 

[rodi]

Growing up my dad had a Pacific Cat (the predecessor to the Hobie). He used to race that P-cat all over San Diego harbor, out past Pt. Loma... I have fond memories of being out on the trapeze, up on one hull.

Took my first sailing lessons at age 7, in a Sabot at the Pt. Loma Yacht club.
Took more sailing lessons through Mission Bay Aquatic Center in middle school and high school. Sailed bigger boats (catalinas?), as well as sabots, and hobies.

In college, at San Diego State, you could take the required PE courses (needed 2 to graduate) at Mission Bay aquatic center. I got college credit for Hobie cat sailing 3 afternoons a week. Best courses in college!!! I'd show up at my late afternoon engineering class and make a point of dumping the sand out of my keds in front of a classmate. LOL. Nothing like a sunburn nose, windblown hair, and sand in your shoes to make classmates who'd spent their afternoons in an engineering lab jealous.

When I met my husband he owned a Bayliner Capri. I was back east by then. We'd take it on the Delaware river, over to the Jersey shore, etc. Had a great weekend when we were dating - going down to Baltimore through the C&D canal.

No boats currently - but my kids did a summer camp program where they learned to sail Hobies. So they're starting about the age I started.

We've talked about buying a used Hobie when my husband retires in 2014. Boys will be old enough to really have fun.

 

[boatfishandnature]

I could not imagine ER without my boat ( or, at least, some boat )...

 

[Avalon]

17' Boston Whaler during my saltwater days. 12' jon boat now for easing around the local bass lakes.

 

[Midpack]

I could not imagine ER without my boat ( or, at least, some boat )...

I sold my boat in Dec 2010, but I'm having second thoughts. Fortunately, I have been out on OPB almost weekly during the season...

 

[Midpack]

OH YEAH!!!! Nothing in the world like a Hobie UP on one hull...

Until you pitch pole like Oracle Racing's AC72...ouch, that's expensive (an $8-10M cat). This really happened yesterday.

 

[pb4uski]

I bought a little Trac 14 cat last summer and have had a blast with it - best $500 that I have ever spent!!!! Still have yet to capsize or pitchpole it but I have been on one hull a number of times - what fun!!

I also currently have an O'Day Day Sailor (17'), and 18' Larson I/O bowrider and a Honda AquaTrax jet ski (which ironically has more hp than my Larson - 165hp vs 130hp).

I remember when I first got the Honda I floored it and it was almost scary - but within a couple weeks it was old hat.

CBS news had an item on these new America's Cup cats and I guess that these are the starter fleet and the boats they will actually use in the America's Cup are twice as big and almost twice as fast - something like that anyway.

 

[pb4uski]

Imoldernu, I also raced Lightnings back in the 60's. Nice solid boat with a strong weather helm! My favorite of all time.

Now I'm bulked up with a 32 footer......comfy (we don't have to pee in a bottle) but not as much fun!

North Shore of Boston

Best of times!

I owned and raced a Lightning as well. Great little boat. I recall I was in one race with two colleagues from work who were not sailors and we were hiking out and all of a sudden I saw my feet in front of my face - my hiking strap had broke and I flipped backwards over the side while still holding on to the tiller for dear life which turned us across the wind and the boat heeled - the guy next to me grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back into the boat in one fell swoop! Pretty exciting.

 

[pb4uski]

Agreed, though it's the sailing and not the boat.

There may be no place I'd rather be than on the water in a boat (daysailing with DW, or racing with my mates) no matter what the conditions, but even after almost 40 years sailing, I still couldn't tell you exactly why! And I may never know.

"There is nothing, absolutely nothing, half so much worth doing, as simply messing about in boats....or with boats."

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, 1908

Great topic BTW.

I am still amazed to this day the amount of power that a sail can capture from a gentle breeze and the speed that you can obtain only from the wind. I don't know if you've watched any video of those America's Cup cats, but they are amazing.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Some of my favorite days were spent on the little (600 acres) lake in Michigan, either in a 14ft fishing boat or on ouur 19 ft Sea Ray. This was used for water skiing and when we moved to FL in 1990, I took that Sea Ray with me. Son used it down in Naples mostly but then the salt water got to it and that was that. From there he went into Donzi's. He likes fast. Just bought another one out of Minnisota and picked it up last week. Now starts the work.

 

[marko]

I owned and raced a Lightning as well. Great little boat. I recall I was in one race with two colleagues from work who were not sailors and we were hiking out and all of a sudden I saw my feet in front of my face - my hiking strap had broke and I flipped backwards over the side while still holding on to the tiller for dear life which turned us across the wind and the boat heeled - the guy next to me grabbed me by the collar and hauled me back into the boat in one fell swoop! Pretty exciting.

Oh, the stories! This was my dad's boat and he let me take it on my own from the time I was about 9 (ok, questionable parenting here) as long as I "stayed in the harbor".

Got into all kinds of trouble (sailing/technical and social) with that little boat but, oh boy, what a hoot...and learned a whole lot too! Tore up the harbor for about 10 years with that thing.

 

[dessert]

I am a "boat person" for sure. I have always had a boat since the age of 10. I wrote them all down on a spreadsheet once just to see if I could remember them all. I have owned 13 boats including the one I currently have, and it may be for sale soon so I can get # 14.
Fishing is a passion of mine and owning a boat is a huge part of that.
I have never paid a note on any of my boats. All were cash purchases.
All but 3 of them were purchased new.

We have a running joke here in cajun land and it goes like this:
When a guy dies, there is a standard obituary that simply says" Joe died...boat for sale".

 

[pb4uski]

I'm a piker by comparison - I've only owned 9 - sold one to an outsider (the Lightning seemed a bit too agile for a young family, hence the Day Sailor that replaced it) - sold one runabout to my mother when I traded up and currently have 7 (includes 2 kayaks, 3 sailboats, bowrider and jet ski).

 

[dessert]

I'm a piker by comparison - I've only owned 9 - sold one to an outsider (the Lightning seemed a bit too agile for a young family, hence the Day Sailor that replaced it) - sold one runabout to my mother when I traded up and currently have 7 (includes 2 kayaks, 3 sailboats, bowrider and jet ski).

You must live on the lake right? That's a lot of toys!

 

[imoldernu]

Loved the O'Day Sailer...

BIL had an 18' Herreshoff Catboat... "America" Gaff rigged. Worst sailing boat ever... impossible to sail into the wind... Got caught on changing tide in the middle of the Cape cod Canal... Tacking, tacking , tacking... going nowhere fast. Not bad enough, but a submarine was coming through... Accompanying Coast Guard boat threatened to sink us.. we were helpless!. in 1973 or '74...

 

[pb4uski]

You must live on the lake right? That's a lot of toys!

Yes, the "front" door out the walkout basement is about 20 feet from the lake. Yes, a lot of toys accumulated over the years. It is funny how when I was a kid the boat was wide open throttle all the time and now I spend the most of my time putting around the lake at ~5 mph and enjoy it immensely.

 

[pb4uski]

Check out the video at the bottom of this page:

The World’s Fastest Boats / America’s Cup

And the pitchpole about 1:35 into the video. Wild!

 

[dessert]

Yes, the "front" door out the walkout basement is about 20 feet from the lake. Yes, a lot of toys accumulated over the years. It is funny how when I was a kid the boat was wide open throttle all the time and now I spend the most of my time putting around the lake at ~5 mph and enjoy it immensely.

I also own a home on the Lake. My back porch is about 75' from the water. My boat is up on the lift right now waiting for me to return to the Lake on Monday. Gotta get back because the fish are biting.