What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

[waterwezl]

This may not be the place for this, but I notice people from all over the country and different walks of life posting on this forum. All with they're own unique views and opinions, drawn together by one common thread....BOATS!

There are fishing boats, pleasure boats, sail boats, and general purpose boat boats. Boats as unique as the people restoring (and sometimes lengthening) them. I think it would be neat to hear just what attracts each person to their boat. What about it makes it worth saving, how it came to be yours and the trails overcome in finding the right boat for YOU.

Again, this may not be the right place for this, but of all the other forum subjects I've read through, this one has the most diverse array of people and boats. Though it might be fun.

Jason

 

[North Beach]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

OK I?ll bite. I was born in 57 in the mountains of Virginia. In 1967 my family moved to a resort town on the Chesapeake Bay. What a change. I was awestruck by the area and the lifestyle most folks enjoyed living by the water. As a young pre-teen and teen I worked many water and boating related part time jobs-everything from unloading oyster boats in the winter to being first mate on charter fishing boats and culling crabs on crab boats. Off time was spent hanging out on the beach or cruising around in one of our friend?s family boats.

After leaving the army and moving back to the mountains to be near immediate family, I met a girl and got married. Her father purchased the 66 Starcraft in the early seventies and wow! I fell in love with the boat. It looked like something right out of the memories of my youth on the bay! And it?s 22 ft so it should handle the bay just fine.

Thirty something years later the boat became available and I scooped it up. We live a couple of hours from the bay again. Now we?re working on bringing it back to life and most of my family is involved in one way or the other. Our plan is to spend some time together enjoying the boating life and the slower pace near the water. We?ve rented a waterfront place on Smith Mountain Lake for a couple of weeks in the summer and the kids (now grown and making their living) can take some time off and we?ll ski, tube, fish or just boat over to a nice restaurant and enjoy ourselves. And the rest of the year, me and my buds can Slam Those Stripers down in the bay!!!!!!!!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

for as long as i can remember we have had a boat. 50's,60's,70's boats came in to being, designs changed, power plants. thru life i have had as many as 8 boats at one time. there is not one perfect boat for all uses. the closest i have come to, is the new style deck boats.
presently i have a 14 foot Gheenoe, a 14 foot open run about strictly for fishing. and a 20 ft Pontoon, set up for cruising and fishing.

i have taken many old FUGLY girls, that had beautiful lines, were great boats in their time. i have made the structurally sound, put in a new dress, and make up, and brought back many a pretty, and useful boats.

it is NOT a money maker, it is a love for the boating world.

 

[ziggy]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

i grew up subjected to grandads summer cabin in mn. every summer. introduced to wood row boats w/small o/b's on them at a young age. dad ended up with the cabin in 68. he had several boats over my teen years. we had so much fun with watersports of all kinds over the years. how could i possibly not like boats.

i've not had many boats of my own really. i only discovered about ten years ago that i could have fun boating in nebraska. i did jetskis at first, but then inherited dads last boat after he passed away. i tried to save it, but havn't yet done so. i still have it in the back yard for a possible restore...... someday....

the boat i have now i just got onto accidentally. my gf actually picked it out off a iboats ad in the classifieds. what drew me to this boat initially was that it had the same engine package as the boat in the back yard. 165hp L6 mercruiser, 1 drive. all parts from the 72 trisonic in the back yard fit my 75 aristocraft. being somewhat familiar with this package was the first thing that drew me to my boat. second was all fiberglass construction. no wood. that was a big plus in my mind as the rotten wood is what started the fast downhill slide of the trisonic.

now that i've had my nineteen for a couple of years i find that there are many pluses for having a sliding hardtop boat. i love it. it keeps me cool in the dead of summer, and warm in the cool of spring and fall. i hardly ever go to the lake w/o someone commenting on how cool the aristocraft is. that's obviously a ego booster for sure. i also ended up with a rare color for my boat. lime green was low production in 75 and 79 the way i get it from talking with the oem. so that's cool. i find this boat most versital too. ya can fish, ski or tube, pleasure cruise or camp out on the boat, even in rain as it can be fully covered from helm to stern.

just a guess, but i would think that i'll have this boat for a long time, assuming i can keep it up as i find no other boats that fills so many niches as this boat does.. i think it's a keeper...

 

[Fu-Inator]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

I didn?t have much exposure to boats but the little I had made a big impression. When I was a kid, we would spend a week on a lake each summer. A small fishing boat came with the cottage we rented and the owners of the property had a pontoon boat we would ride on. My uncle had a ski type boat and I tried to ski a couple of time, never that good though. The thing I member the most it was always fun. Also, the diversity of boating; from fishing to skiing to cruising to exploring the lake to hang?n on a remote beach.

Fast forward many years later, after I retired from the military. I always wanted a boat but in my military life it just never worked out. Three years ago we were visiting some friends and planned to hit the Tennessee River. Our friend?s parents also had a boat and we spent the day on the river. WE HAD A BLAST and there was something for all the kids to do.

Last year I finally took the plunge (pun intended) and purchased a used boat. I went for the sport/ski type of boat because it seemed to fit more to our needs. I have a blended family, so our kids range 23, 16, 7, 6 and it has worked out great! I?m hooked and I talk boating around the office where I work all the time?. lol.

I?m still a newbie and have learned a lot on iboats. This is a great community here!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

Growing up I spent many weekends going to my uncles cabin on the Susquehanna a river and crusing around in a beat up tinny with a 4HP motor. He also had a ski boat that I was able to drive when I got older. I begged my dad for years to get a boat but we never did. After high school I got away from it for a while and didn't make it down to the cabin very often. I still always wanted a boat though. My wife and I never had much extra cash and she didn't have any experience with boats so I knew she'd never agree to drop a couple grand on a boat. Fortunately 5 years ago a friend of mine at work told me about a boat that his son had that he had bought on eBay to fix up and had never gotten around to it. He was going through a divorce and needed to get rid of it. I went and looked at it with him over lunch one day and although it was gutted and dirty, the fact that it was aluminum and had a big 'ol 85 horse motor on it made me very interested. I ended up only paying $200 for it. For that kind of money no spousal approval was necessary. I just told her I bought a boat. I had a friend with a truck tow it to my dad's house for me. We were able to get the motor to fire so we took it to an outboard mechanic to get fixed up. My dad paid for that bill (it was pretty steep: carbs, coils, powerpack, etc. etc.) and I paid for all the interior restoration materials: wood, carpet, seats and did the work. This will be it's 5th season and I can't wait to pull it out or storage for the year. I'll probably invest in a better trailer this year.

 

[magillacuddy]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

$$$$$$$ is my determining factor, which is why I tow an 18' 4-banger behind my wife's minivan. Someday I hope to have more choices and upgrade, (Its tight on an 18'-er with a family of 5) but at least we are on the water.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

my Old man had a 1957 Johnson 10HP he would take with when we stayed at a resort somwhere. Most places let you use one of those 14' tinnys and he would clamp his old outboard on the back and we had a fishing boat for the weekend.

I got back in to fishing about 5 years ago and just last summer decided I wanted my own boat. Sure enough a 14' tinny with an old Johhny on the back fell in to my lap.

 

[jasper60103]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

Shizzy,
you have share with me some of your favorite fishing spots. I'm fairly new to Minnesota and breaking in a new to me tinny boat this year. Feel free to PM if you like. thanks,
jasper

edit: Oops, regarding the boat. I was looking for a fishing boat. I found a good trade on a 16' tinny, open in the middle, light weight and easy to trailer.

 

[mthieme]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

When I get a boat, I'm usually looking for something specific.
e.g. Right now I need something to me in very shallow mud flats so I can softcrab. The ideal craft would be an 8' dinghy, fiberglass, wide, flat bottom.
Opportunity and available plays in there too.
I had been looking for a 13' Whaler for my grandson to grow into for the past couple years. Saftey and stability were key issues. A 14' McKee Craft presented itself for cheap....close enough.
If something happens to come along that tickles my fancy, well, it doesn't take much. I have yet to pass up on a hydroplane or jet boat.

 

[joe09]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

my wife said,if i buy a boat with a cabin and a bath room, she will come out with me.thats why i bought a center console.you should ask your self,what are you going to use it for.i do 100% fishing in the bays and a few miles off shore in good weather.my boat is a 20 ft.cc angler 204fx,and is very good on gas.

 

[idrownworms]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

Spent most of my youth at the lake. The first boat they let me drive was an aluminum row boat with a 7 and a half johnson untold numbers of bluegill and crappie met their demise in that boat. When I was 15 or so they started letting drive the speedboat a 14 foot runabout with a 35 horse johnson, followed by a 17 foot bass boat with a 150 merc.
With gas prices the way they were not to long ago I went small again with a 16 foot starcraft runabout with a 55 horse evinrude, the back is wide open so i have room to fish and it still has enough power to pull a skier.
although the boats that make me drool are 45 foot sloops
jamie

 

[eaglejim]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

Growing up in Miami we had ocean and lakes, I have owned sailboats,john boat with a 7.5 Chrysler on it, but a couple of years ago I found a boat that was like the one my Dad took me out to the bay in 15ft tri-hull even though he did not own it was a lot of great memories of fishing and island hoping. So I picked up a sportcraft tri-hull with a 60 rude for 300.00 put about 1000.00 in it and last summer met the parents at the lake house had a great weekend and on that Saturday morning knowing how Dad loves his paper told him lets go get a paper he starts to head towards the car and I say lets take the boat to town he had the biggest smile on his face and that was my new best day on the water with my Dad. I did try to give the boat to him but he said thanks anyway because he is a camper and could not tow too things.

 

[redfury]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

My dad always had fishing boats, and lake time was spent fishing. If I was outside the boat, it was because I fell out Dad had one old tri hull. It was a Thunderbird Bass boat. I hardly remember that boat other than the pictures we have from the lake. Everything else was aluminum. He hated all of his boats for one reason or another, but the one thing that always stayed the same...his 50hp Merc.

In my case though, certain permissions had to be acquired ( the wife ), so I found the glastron I'm working on. I liked the look of it, the jump seats in the back made the wife happy, and I instantly had designs for it. I paid too much for it, and haven't gotten nearly as much done to it as I should have by now, but I hope to get the family out on it before the family has grown up .

My dad gave me his 14ft 25hp aluminum boat to fish with, but it's just too small for 4 people and gear.

Jasper, where in MN are you?

 

[mthieme]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

my wife said,if i buy a boat with a cabin and a bath room, she will come out with me.thats why i bought a center console.you should ask your self,what are you going to use it for.i do 100% fishing in the bays and a few miles off shore in good weather.my boat is a 20 ft.cc angler 204fx,and is very good on gas.

LOL.
My wife said the same thing.
She's scared to death of the skiff I got last season!

 

[xxturbowesxx]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

growing up my dad was a pro bass fisherman and that was his job so i grew up around bass boats/fishing. He eventually got a speed bug and had a few race boats a couple would run well over 100mph so i got my speed bug from there. Then he bought a ski boat and I love watersports. I got my love for saltwater fishing from when I lived in naples,fl and had friends with center consoles.

so now i have a 18' fish n ski/bass boat hull with a 175hp. it has plenty of power for watersports, seats 7 max, 4 comfortable,2 for fishing, i use it alot for fishing and its no slow poke.

 

[jasper60103]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

Jasper, where in MN are you?

redfury,
I'm south of the metro, in the Lakeville area just off I-35.
I have a coworker in your neck of the woods.
You're probably 1.5 hours north of me.

 

[phwrd]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

Joined the Navy young, first time ever on saltwater was in a USMC 9 man rubber boat learning how to capsize and turn it back over, wanted to stay out all day. And even though I grew up in the Midwest, fell in love with the water.

Bought a v-hull center console so that I can fish inside Tampa Bay, the rivers and on a good day, go out a couple of miles offshore. But small enough that I can handle it myself on a lazy day.

 

[azlakes]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

... its one of the few things that drew the whole family growing up. sure was a little boat back then. a beat up ol starcraft tinny.

... moved away, years passed then made a new friend in my 20's. did some boating for a few years on a Seaswirl bow rider. great times!

... she moved away. years passd and i picked up a canoe, then a raft, then an ol Bayliner BR. and here i am , re-living my youth price drove my BR plus I knew the seller well.

great post!

 

[Shizzy]

Re: What draws you to your particular choice in boats?

Shizzy,
you have share with me some of your favorite fishing spots. I'm fairly new to Minnesota and breaking in a new to me tinny boat this year. Feel free to PM if you like. thanks,
jasper

edit: Oops, regarding the boat. I was looking for a fishing boat. I found a good trade on a 16' tinny, open in the middle, light weight and easy to trailer.

this is only my second year with a boat so I havent found all the spots. I do have one honey hole, but I havent told anyone where that is....