I always loved looking at the river when I was a kid (10) and dreaming of "going somewhere on the river". I was given a wood boat at age 13 to "restore". I worked and worked but was unable to finish it. Did do lots of dreaming and sanding. I guy came along and gave me a 100.00 for it and a twin evinrude that did not run.

Fast forward to 1996.

I cut through my neighbors place to move our mower from one family yard to another. He had a 1975 Orange tri hull Cheetah with a 165 Mercruiser. He never used it and I bought it. Used it 5 years, did tons of work on it. I joke I bought it for 3 spent 3 and sold it for 3.

Been boating for 11 years now and still look forward to everytime we get to go.

I am still dreaming of "going somewhere" but the price a gas may keep it a "dream".

HAwk

At 7 years old while on a family vacation my dad hired a guide for a morning fishing trip. They strapped a life jacket on me, put a pole in my hands, and off we went catching about 8 nice walleye's in a few hours that morning. From that day forward....I was addicted. In my youth, in Minnesota, almost all the kids were fishing or duck hunting from small craft...and my first boat was a double pointed wooden duck boat that did double duty on the river for fishing when it wasn't sunk. My friends dad's had aluminum fishing boats which we borrowed for the fishing trips to the north country. Someone always had a ski boat for weekends with friends.

My first "real boat" was a new "wide" Lund 12 footer ($300 w/ oars and anchor) which I carried on the roof of my Chevelle with the green 5HP Johnson ($25.00 used) in the trunk. The motor held about 1/2 gallon of gas via an integral tank which was filled with a gas can.

Fast forward to today (and about 12 boats later) and we currently license Eight watercraft (OMG....am I that stupid?). The 222 Cobalt, a 16.5 Lund SS w/ 60 merc, two kayaks, two Aluminum canoes, a Gruman sport canoe, and an Escape Fun Ship (electric powered, complete with water cannon) for the Grandkids. At least several of those don't require gas.

When I was really young my brother (about 22 years my senior) always had some type of boat. We (my mother and I) would get to go out with him once in while and spend the day on the river. Eventually he got away from boat and into other activities.

A few years after that the father of a choldhood friend of mine bought a brand new Cheetah 166 and I got to go out with them once or twice. They were never really boaters so much as they had a boat in the garage.

I spent most of my teenage years living in a small town on the river (still live there) watching everyone else go out on the water.

I got married at 23 and the first Valentines day we were married my beautiful wife bought me a 14' aluminum v-hull with a 9.9 wizard outboard. That was quite a gift considering we didn't have two nickles to rub together when we got married, so I am not quite sure how she came up with the money, I think I got her a card. Once our daughter came along and we had two kids my lovely wife decided we needed a bigger boat. We took our tax return a bought our first "big" boat, an '87 Bayliner 1750.

Here we are now after 11 years of marriage, the V-hull, the Bayliner, The VIP, the Ebbtide, the Glasstream, and now the Tahoe (hopefully the last one for a long time) still boating. I still get all revved up to go out and still get butterflies every time we float off the trailer.

I still forget about the whole world every time I ease down the throttle and feel the river roll under my feet. I don't know whether it's the boat or the water but it's great medicine.

I was 4 years old when my Dad purchased his first boat. It twas an 18 foot Thompson. I don't remember much about the details except that I loved that boat, the speed and water. It wasn't long and my Dad moved up and got a 28 foot Carver for the family and a few other boats through my childhood.

I've never stopped Loving it and when I stopped to think about this question, I realized this has been a life long relationship. Boating and I are celebrating our 35th anniversary since that four year old appreciated that boat, the speed and all that time on the water.

Edit: I'm sitting here reflecting and counting all the boats and friends along the way and it hit me. It hit me that these are the times right now. My boy is creating his own memories with us every time we take him out. We've been taking him out since he was two months old. Perhaps one day he will be writing his own account of how he got into boating and perhaps he'll be doing it right here on BABC.

I started boating on the river at 12 or 13 using a row boat my uncle built. Had the boat until I went to the service. Someone stole it. Next boat was a 15 foot 1975 Thundercraft tri haul 40 horse power Johnson. Followed by a 17 foot Bayliner bow rider kept it for 13 years. Treaded it on a 26 foot 1975 Pacemaker sportfish in 1998. The pacemaker has a nice large cockpit and small cabin with head, galley, and birth. It works great for us.

My Uncle bought a waterfront home that came with an old rowboat. He said to me at age 7 or 8, Paint it and its yours to use on the Bay. That is what got me started.

After about two to three years of rowing, I graduated to being allowed to use a 10 Hp O/B on that skiff.

5 years ago we had a student that invited us on his '99 Sea Ray 340. We spent the whole day boating around and just relaxing. 3 months later, we bought our first boat '04 Monty We've been hooked since then.

Want to know something......I get sea sick very easily. I actually have to take Dramamine when we go out, but I DON'T CARE

Going on plane in a boat is like riding in a convertible to me. I get that funny feeling in the ocean at like 3 mph, not faster.

My folks had a boat before I was born. I have been told that my first boat ride was at 6 months of age. I remember always being on a boat. My folks had their 25 ft cabin cruiser until I was 13-14 yrs old. Dad sold her to buy himself a commerical fishing boat. Dad kept that boat until the day my mom died.
A couple of years later he gave me a 14 ft alumium boat and a 9.9 horse motor. Fished and played around in that boat for several years. Divorced hubby in 1993. Remarried in 1996, bought a 1994 Mariah 20 ft cuddy "LA Lady" back in 1998 when LLBS was 6 months old.
10 yrs later we still have "LA Lady" and many great memories of boating with her.
Boating is in my blood....

LBS

Nice, thanks.

my parents started us out on a sunfish over 30 years ago, then they bumped up to a 30' S2, had that for a few years, and for the past 20 they've had a 36' S2. The admiral and I got our first boat 27' regal in 2002, had it for three years. When we moved out to CNY bought the ebbtide to cruise the lake.

I couldn't imaging not having boat...

ps. we also have a laser in the garage, that doesn't make it out much, but fun when we haul her out!

Thanks.

I grew up in Minnesota, so I always had a fascination with lakes. Friends of our family had fishing boats (aluminum, bench-seat, mostly Lunds), but one family had a “speed boat” behind which I learned to ski at about 8 years old. When I was around 10, my dad and his friends bought an old wooden row boat that needed to be fixed-up to make it useable for duck hunting. Over the summer I sanded and sanded and sanded, and my dad and I applied fiberglass strips over the seams and on the corners. We threw some camouflage colors on it, and we used it for a couple seasons.

Later, Dad bought an aluminum 17’ extra-wide, square-end canoe. We did lots of duck hunting out of that and used it on week-end camping trips to fish out of and have fun. I was in 7th heaven when Dad bought an Aquabug for it. I believe it was 1.2 hp. It was so much better than paddling all over—not any faster; just better. Later, Dad bought a very small outboard…maybe an Evinrude…perhaps 3 hp. At age 16 I got my scuba certificate, and I added an outrigger to the canoe to make it my platform for scuba diving. My scuba diving partner got a 17’ bow rider for his high school graduation present, so we used that for lots of scuba diving and skiing.

After moving to Houston from Minnesota and living here for about a dozen years, I couldn’t take the heat any longer. So, I bought my first boat (the Sea Ray) and have been very pleased generally. At times I wish it were bigger, but overall, it works very nice for my family, our friends, and my needs. I don’t get out on it enough, but when I do, it is enjoyable.

Bud

Never considered boating, but my wife missed her childhood days on the lake and used the excuse that boating was something that would be good for family-togetherness. And then we had a boat!

My son doesn't go out much; he's picky about where and when. He doesn't like our local small/narrow crowded lake, but says yes to the more distant big uncrowded lake. My daughter says yes anytime she can find 3 friends to go along for the ride (something about girl social dynamics requires 1 friend or 3, never just 2).

Of the 90 hours on the motor, my daughter has been with me for 80 of them and my wife and son for about 30. The boat camping and meteor watching from the water trips have been real memory makers. I'm definitely greatful to my wife for giving in to this impulse purchase.