Well I guess for me it is on the blood. My dad's a retired Coastie so I grew up along the NJ shore with boats all around me. In high school my dad and grandfather boat a 21' Grady White cuddie. I was hooked! Weekends and evenings on the boat were fantastic and I knew I wanted one of my own. Fast foward through college and 8 years in the USAF flying planes around the world, and I ended up in northeast PA, 5 miles from a lake. After a divorce, I met a fantastic woman who is now my wife and we bought our 1965 Glastron as a project for me and the boys. After the whole family worked on it for 6 1/2 months we launched it for the first time in July 2004 and have loved it ever since. The first time out brought back all the old memories and it has gotten the boys hooked also. In a few weeks they are going for the boater safety cards so they can go out by themselves and also so I can get pulled around in the tube.

As much as we love our classic...we have also gotten the dreaded foot'itis disease! I recently saw a 23' cuddy for sale and when it thaws out around here...we are going to take a look and a test drive.

I don't have a boating related reason that led my family to boating.

The story goes like this...

I was my daughters coach in fastpitch softball for a number of years. I was blessed to have coached both in high school. They both have "retired" from the game. I still coach at the high school. We would spend lots of time together in the summer with games.

Boating seems like another way to keep us together and outdoors.

Time will tell. This will be our first summer as boaters.

I grew up on the St. Croix river (MN side) and never had a boat. Move to San Diego and married into it... My wife grew up boating on the Mississippi with her family

Pictures, please--sounds great!

Learned to water ski when I was about 8 or 9 out on lake Michigan behind a buddys boat with his dad driving. That was it - I was bitten.

Spent time on several different relatives boats up until 81' when my parents bought a small cottage on a small lake in Michigan. We spent EVERY weekend there during the summer. Wake up, fish,eat,ski, ski more, eat, fish, and back to sleep only to repeat the next day all over again - loved every minute of it!

In 87' I moved out, got married, the parents sold the place, they bought a 33' Carver and put it on Lake MI.
We were broke for almost the first ten years we were married, bought a couple houses and had a couple kids. But in 91' I scraped up enough for an old 14' Jon boat and fixed it up with a 15 HP, seats, trolling motor, and a fish finder. Sold it in 97' during one of our many moves.

2001 decided we finally had some cash, kids were old enough, and we had the time, so we shopped hard and bought a 2001 Bryant 182 - LOVED that boat. 2003 traded it for a Cobalt 226 which, in 2004, we traded for a 2005 226 Big Block Cobalt. Sold the 226 fall of 2005 for a small profit and bought the current boat in my sig......to be continued............ Now WE are looking for a lake cottage Ahhh, the circle of life

Growing up in rural Maine, most of my childhood memories involve lakes & boats.
My earliest memories were with my grandparents on their early 60’s Grady White.
They had an island camp on a large lake.
I remember so many trips sitting with my grandmother, watching my grandfather sit on top of the seat with his grey hair waving in the wind as we headed out.
A couple years later, my dad bought his first boat, a 12 ft aluminum w/ 15 or 20 hp OB.
From there it is a rush of many different family members with many different boats.
The one that sticks out: My Dad’s 20 ft pontoon boat he bought when I was in my early teens. 20 years later, he still has it. No matter what boats he has owned over the years, he always kept this one.

Like many, I had a long break in boating.

After eight “boat-less” years in the AF, I punched out and settled in Tampa. Over the years the annual vacations to Maine kept the boating urge strong. The urge grew stronger every year I lived in Tampa. Sadly it was a tragedy that put me over the threshold, albeit not as close as tragedy as some here have endured. Last spring my first cousin was killed in a car accident. He was a year younger than me and there were many things he talked about doing in life – and now will never have the chance.

That was when I decided: instead of dreaming and talking about a boat… Just Do It.
Since then, nothing but great times. It is awesome seeing my daughters having the same great times on water that I had growing up.

Like most here… there is just something unexplainable about being on the water.

I guess I was about 10 years old, my family spent two weeks in Wildwood NJ every summer, and my uncle and I would rent a wooden jon boat and go fishing in the bay. I always loved those times on the water. When I was old enough to buy my own boat I bought a 17 foot glassspar runabout. The engine was seized but I didn't care I could fix anything(or so I thought). I did get it running, but it would always overheat. I wound up trading the boat for a shotgun and a compound bow, but had always wanted to get another boat. In 1999 I bought a canoe, and enjoyed fishing from it but still it wasn't a "real" boat. In March of 03 we bought our cottage at Lake Wallenpaupack and spent the summer fixing up the cottage. All summer long I could hear jetskis and boats out on the lake, it was killing me. Every weekend I would drag my family down to the marina and look at boats. Finally in April of 04 I bought my first "real" boat, a 1989 Chaparral 2100sx bowrider with a 260hp mercruiser we named "Memory Maker". Now we drive threer hours every friday night to the cottage so we can go out on the boat saturday morning. It has been the best thing to happen to our family, EVER. We have so many good memories and have had such fun on the boat I can't imagine life without her. Now, thankfully, I have boatingabc.com to get me through the long winters.

BTW, thanks to everyone for sharing their "sea stories" it really is enjoyable, reading them

I suppose I was destined to be a boat owner. My relatives all lived on one of the Finger Lakes in NYS (Waneta) and my family would visit from Pa. at least 2 or 3 times per year between the 60's and the early 70's. My uncle owned a gas station/ sporting goods store on the lake and I just loved watching the boats come into his dock for gas. As a kid I wasn't interested in waterskiing like everyone else, but I was always first to volunteer to be a spotter in the boat.
When I was about 12, I was a bit out of control (what kid isn't?) so Mom and Dad decided I would benefit from a military-style summer camp. Since I liked boats and the water they "enlisted" me into the Admiral Farragut Academy at Tom's River, NJ. I spent 2 summers there and learned disipline and a whole lot about all things nautical. By the end of the second summer I was a squad leader and had the qualifications to operate all the boats in the school (including the flagship 63 footer "AFA").
My Dad bought me a Sunfish sailboat at the Phila. boat show in 1972 and we used that thing all over the place for many years (I just sold it in 2004 and wish I hadn't). Kinda got away from boating after high school (not as much free time) but still dabbled with the Sunfish every now and then. Got married in '78 and was invited on my friend's Slickcraft a couple times. We learned to ski and had a blast. Then we bought a house in '83. After settlement we still had 3 grand in the bank, so we BOTH decided to buy a boat 'cause we'd just spend it on the house if it was sitting there! Our 15' Crestliner had a 85 Johnson outboard. Used it almost every summer weekend between '83 and '85. We discovered it was just too small for the Chesapeake, so we traded it for an almost-new 1985 Wellcraft 23 Nova XL. What a blast that boat was. We still trailered to the Finger lakes and other places, but the Chesapeake was our "home!" Kept the Wellcraft for 18 years, but around 2002 got the itch for a "real" boat with a full cabin. Sold the 23 footer in 2004 and within 6 months bought "Winter Dream" in NC. Brought her home up the ICW and had a great time. To satisfy my need for speed I bought a SeaDoo. I also got into kayaking and joined the Chesapeake Paddlers Association.
Yeah, I guess I was destined to be a boat guy!

What great stories. All of them. Keep 'em rolling.

We wanted a better way to spend family time, vacation time. A week at a rented beach house, a weekend at a mountain resort just didn't cut it anymore. We had done that alot and it was getting to be the same old thing.

When my father passed away in 2002, he had a little money set aside for his 3 sons. Not much, as he drank most of his life and was a serious alcoholic. We used the money from him for the down payment.

I had done alot of sailing in Hawaii, and on our honeymoon to Hawaii, I had the opportunity to take my bride sailing .. she loved it! Unfortunately, we were never financially capable of affording a boat payment. We had always talked about how nice a boat would be, and when we saw motorhomes with boats in tow, we drueled in envy! Well, now, we tow our little boat boat with our 31 ft motorhome!!!

Arks;

Those Silverton 34s are classics. Would like to see some photos some time, or at least what you think of it. While it has not been at the top of our current list for a larger boat, I have run across the idea of one.

The admiral thinks they have a lot of room, and methinks she is right.

For instance, here is one we like - and its sorta in our neighborhood.

Silverton 34C

I grew up with boating on a 10hp lake that splits Oh-Pa. I know this is hard to believe but we used to troll that lake with my mother rowing the boat I can barely remember that first outboard; I think it was 6hp Mercury. I bought my first boat when I was in my mid-twenties…a 17ft Galaxy bow rider with a 120hp OMC I/O. Had a lot fun with that boat!! In the late 80’s I discovered Lake Erie fishing and bought a 20’ Starcraft cuddy with outboards. Back in those days the fish were 20 miles offshore and we did a lot of running and learned are the “faces” of Lake Erie. At one point in this time frame I owned three boats at once but in the early nineties I sold the Galaxy and the big Starcraft and took a long break from boating to raise kids and put them through college. But…I did keep my 25hp tiller steer 16’ Starcraft I still have that boat. Now, having a small cruiser is really different for me but I love it and you can “fish” from any boat…right!!

Niles

We love our boat. After looking around for about a year we decided on the Silverton because of it's space, reputation, and handling. We moved up from a 23' cuddy.
These "traditional" 34C's were very popular when they were produced ('84-'88), so there's a lot of them around. If you get serious, look at the differences from year to year. We specifically liked the '84 best because of the teak interior and the larger V berth.

Here's a picture:

Its a beaut.

Quite a jump from your last boat.

The admiral prefers this over what I am thinking of (Four Winns Vista 328). I have to admit though that our current express cruiser reminds me a bit of living in a cave, and I think she likes the windows and such - and the room. Plus the rear deck being open. I think she has already picked out the deck chairs.

So we will see, I see lots of late 80's Silvertons on the for sale sites, and really a lot of boat for the money if you get one in decent shape.

We may just have to take a look at that Silverton at the link I put up on my last post.

There is actually one for sale at our marina, but we never looked at it because it looked to be in rough shape.

Now this makes about 12 boats on our list we have to think about.

Can you divulge what fuel mileage you get; anything you don't like about it as far as handling, front berth size, etc.?

As you indicated, it does seem that Silverton makes changes each year, especially in the interior layout. Does one particular year stand out more than others, or is it a matter of preference.

Thanks for your input.