Boating & Your Significant Others

rlb2252

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 23, 2009
Messages
110
Has boating helped or hurt your relationship with your significant other?

What about with your children?

Your friends?

I haven't bought my first one yet. But the boating life I envision defintely involves the little lady as my first mate. I'm a loner in many aspects of my life and am content with this fact.

Boating, it strikes me, is an activity I'd most enjoy in the company of others.
 

Knightgang

Lieutenant
Joined
Oct 6, 2003
Messages
1,428
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

You will be surprised at how much you can enjoy it by yourself. Especially if you like to fish.

However, I like to envolve my whole family. I grew up boating, my wife did not. Therefore it is a little more of a chore to ask her to get up on a saturday to get out early and enjoy the most of a day off. She would prefer to sleep. My boys love to go and are getting to the age where it woudl be easier to take them and they are liking fishing more and more. Need to get my boat back in the water and teach...
 

cgd7777777

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 30, 2009
Messages
325
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

I just bought my boat this last spring, i bought it to sell and make a lil money. But after my wife and i went out a few times she won't let me sell it!
We have a great time with just us and good times when others are along.
The kids love it too! but they are still young 1 and 3
Boating is our fun now. best thing i ever bought for us
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
16,313
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

My wife gets seasick so she doesn't really enjoy boating. She goes once or twice a season but that's about it. She would rather be at home riding her horses.

My teenage daughters go now and then but would rather stay home and hang out around the pool.

The neighbors are game to go fishing until they find out we have to leave the house at 4 am and typically don't get back until after dark.

With the wife and 2 teenage daughters at home the boat doubles as the floating Man Cave. :D
 

ShaneCarroll

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 10, 2009
Messages
639
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

I had to fight tooth and nail to convince the "boss" to let me buy a boat. Since we bought it, she loves it. Well, I guess everyone loves a boat when they get to ride, and then watch you as you sweat your butt off cleaning it once you get home. I like it better that way though, if someone else cleaned it, I would probably clean it again right behind them.

I like going out by myself also, but the boat has definitely brought the family closer. The 5 year old and 6 year old love the boat. That's all they talk about. We picked them up from day care one day with the boat hooked up and man, I didn't even see the kids run out and jump in the car and buckle up. It seems like I blinked, and there they were, "Let's go on the boat! Can we go fishing? Did you bring my bathing suit? Come on, it will be dark soon!" I thought they may be scared of choppy water at first, but every time I hit a wave or someone's wake, the smiles grow bigger on their faces.
 

kmk_7110

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
259
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

My girlfriend is afraid of water and i was the first person to convince her to go out on the water and she has gotten so comfortable as to want to learn to drive it and stands up in it with no life preserver on when we are stopped. Its definatly made our relationship stronger. A+ for a boat here
 

Al Bee

Cadet
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
29
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

I bought our boat with one of it's sole purposes to join the family together more. My wife was/is a newbee, and is doing very well. Her skills at driving are coming along quite nicely, She challenged herself to get up on the wakeboard if it killed her. Sadly, she never got fully up, but came really close several times. I thought she enjoyed this past season (her first) quite alot, and the kids too have challenged each other and themselves to the point of grins and smiles daily.

P.S. It took me about 7 years of constant begging and persuasion, to get my wife to agree to buy a boat. I wouldn't have bought it without her interest tho.
 

dave11

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
1,195
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

The Admiral liked the first one so much, she let me buy another bigger boat.
 

dan t.

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Feb 28, 2008
Messages
1,137
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

in the 25 years my wife and I have been together we have done a lot of outdoor things together ,4 wheeling ,camping, stock car racing,and fishing and boating , of them all the fishing and boating has been the best:)
 

JimKW

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jul 10, 2009
Messages
397
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

When my kids were small (6, 10 and 12) we had a boat and only the youngest went out all that ofen. We probably had it about four years. The entire family enjoyed it every time we went out though. My brother in law and my youngest went out with me more than anybody though.

This year I started shopping for a two seater sports car and my wife actually suggested we get a boat instead. We now have five grandchildren the oldest is three years old and the youngest ia turning one on 10/1. Seems like my kids enjoy this boat more than the last cause they are taking their kids out with us.

My wife and I enjoy going out when it's just the two of us also, and I really liked it the one time I went out by myself. Probably end up doing quite a bit more of that since the ramp is only 15 minutes from the house. The first boat was an hour each way to the nearest water so every time we went out it was for the whole day.

We lived near DC with the first boat and now live near Columbus, OH. We really liked getting into the Potomac in Dumfries, VA and crusing up to Georgetown for lunch then back down the Potomac. Really neat to see DC from the river going past all the monuments, Watergate and the Kennedy Center along with Fort Belvoir and Mount Vernon.
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

we were raised with a boat, most fun was watching each other fall of skis, disc, tube. we use to try to kill each other taking turns driving, and towing the others.

we now have our families, all of us have boats, and the kids are now buying boats and PWC's.
 

Woodnaut

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 4, 2007
Messages
634
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

Our boat has been a big source of family fun. My wife gets motion sickness easily, but really likes to cruise around when the weather is nice. However, my daughter has the same genetic defect as me. If someone mentions the word "offshore" or "bay", the two of us start squirming around like a couple of dogs just before feeding time. ;)
 

Chiliando

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
Messages
120
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

The biggest justification I have for the expense and work involved in owning our boat is all the family time we have on it. It is definetly something that keeps us a strong family unit.

Buying a boat $_________________

Maintaining a boat $_________________

Seeing my son catch his 1st dolphin $ PRICELESS
 

srkelly

Cadet
Joined
May 1, 2009
Messages
18
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

Boating, it strikes me, is an activity I'd most enjoy in the company of others.[/QUOTE]

Not at all, The "Better half and I" love to get away just her and I. We usally find a secluded cove, drop anchor and tie off, fire up the grill and break out the Margaritas (only when we spend the night though) put in our favorite burned cd's and just enjoy the sun then the stars and whip-r-wills and owls serenida. Forgive me for saying but it rejuvinates my soul! Dang I wish Summer was longer!!!! If you haven't bought yet, consider a Cuddy. We sleep better in "Dixie Belle" than we do in our bedroom, must be the waves...
 

bj2455

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Jul 20, 2009
Messages
38
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

I'm with srkelly on this one. Wife and I bought our first boat together this year and spent nearly every weekend on it. 24' SeaRay Cuddy with 5.7L Alpha One. Although I usually spent the week days preping for our outings, the weekend results were every bit worth the effort. Spent many of them on extended 3-4 day journeys up the Michigan coastline. Drop anchor in one of the many coves enroute, fire up the grill, mix a few drinks and enjoy the beautiful sunsets on Lake Michigan. Usually needed to find a secluded area so we 'wouldn't wake the neighbors' when we were finally ready to retire for the night. Gentle rocking of the boat was some of the best sleep we got all summer.
 

nitsuj

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 22, 2003
Messages
483
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

When I was a kid, we had a camp on the river and my parents always had a boat. When I got older, the parents sold the camp, but kept the boat and I took it out every chance I got with my friends. My wife was never a boater until she met me. Over the last few years, I moved away from boating. But I always kept in touch with the used market, knowing I'd have another one day. Last month, I found a neat old boat that needed some restoring. I like neat old stuff and the price was right, so I bought it. I got it running good and got the interior squared away. The wife has been out on it 3 times now.

Last night, we put in a few miles up from the Three Rivers section of Pittsburgh. We floated down to the point, moved down the Ohio a few miles. Turned around and headed back to the point. After the Pitt game in Heinz Field, they launched a nice fireworks display off a barge in the river. We anchored and watched the fireworks over the water. It was pretty neat.

After the fireworks, we headed up the Monongahela river to Station Square. We docked in the marina there and walked up to a nice Italian place for a late dinner. After dinner we made out way back to the ramp to haul the boat out. My wife, who usually hates the fact that I always want to buy bigger and better everything, remarked that I should start looking for a cabin cruiser that we could spend the night on.

It was a great way to spend the evening, and thankfully the wife is now as excited about the hobby as I am. So yes, the significant other enjoys it with me, and I'm glad she does.

RLB, you need to quit asking all these questions and just get a boat already. ;)
 

rbh

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Mar 21, 2009
Messages
7,939
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

It has given us something we can do together, but with our boat it is a two person job to launch and retrieve.
So if your patience level is low, and you have to reliy on her to help, and she has no idea, "take a deep breath" and put together a game plan before you even get the boat in the water.:):)
rob
 

srkelly

Cadet
Joined
May 1, 2009
Messages
18
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

Yeah that is a real pain for us too. I do like bj2455 does and plan ahead and get the misses involved, what to cook out, what to drink, activities during the daylight hours (nights seem to take care of themselves he he), we even go as far as getting on google earth and looking for unexplored coves and islands. Lauching is not too bad as we live on the lake and the ramp a 1/4mile away. BTW Nice boat bj2455, my fellow SR Brethren...
 

redone4x4

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Feb 28, 2009
Messages
1,548
Re: Boating & Your Significant Others

my girflriend and I have a 2 and a 6 yr old. My gf wasnt crazy about boating and stuff, but the kids love it. Now, she is getting more and more used to it, and its our best quality family time. Everyone looks forward to it. we just got back from 2 days at the lake, and it went great. Plus, my daughter acts a little different when we are out there. Ive been taking her since she was 7 months old, and now we have a special bond on the water. Absolutely the best thing our family does.
 
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