What was your first boat.

[Barlow]

Re: What was your first boat.

probably going to think I'm full of it but, I bought a MasterCraft Tri-Star 190 (used) when I was 16. <br />No - 'mommy and daddy' didn't pay for it.. worked my arse off as a kid. <br /><br />Bought it as an insurance salvage. Coors Light Ski Team boat that got swamped in a storm.. drunken fools tied to a pier with the stern facing out into the waves.. rest is history.<br /><br />With a little time and some elbow grease and alot of advice from my fathers friend that owned a Corvette shop.. I got 'er back on the water the following spring.<br /><br />Paid just under $8K and sold it for twice that 5 years later.<br /><br />Looking back I kick myself for selling it.

 

[merc03]

Re: What was your first boat.

My first boat was a 12 ft, 1969 Springbok aluminum fishing boat with a Mercury 7.5 HP outboard. I still own both and they are still working. I will admit, the boat could really use a paint job; it has many battle scars!

 

[RatFish]

Re: What was your first boat.

16' rotted mahogany, 18 HP Evinrude (50's vintage). Lucky I'm still alive.

 

[tcube]

Re: What was your first boat.

12' X 36" Sears Jon boat with a small Minn Kota. OK for a small lake until one of us got excited about a catch - then things got kinda dicey.

 

[Chinewalker]

Re: What was your first boat.

First boat I bought with my own money was a home-built 8-foot Popular Mechanics hydroplane that a neighbor had sitting under his porch. Paid $50.00 for it. I put another $50.00 into with a sheet of plywood (replaced bottom), brass screws and paint. I was about 14 at the time and ran a 7.5hp Merc Rocket on it - twice. It was too slow for my tastes and about the same time my Dad rediscovered one of his old racing hulls - it went MUCH faster, and that's what I preferred. I sold the hydro for $150 and kept the Quincy Visu-Matic deadman throttle it came with.<br /><br />First "real" boat I ever bought was a 14-foot Lone Star Monteray, c. 1959. I ran the tar out of that boat with various motors. The last motor on it was a 1961 Merc 400 45hp. Ran that boat well into my 20s. Followed that with a '57 Thompson 15-footer, and kept the Merc 400 for a bit. Upgraded that to a '67 Merc 350 - went almost as fast, was considerably quieter, and drank much less fuel.<br /><br />- Scott

 

[Triton II]

Re: What was your first boat.

My first boat was a Moth sailing dinghy (scow not skiff)... possibly the World's most ridiculous sailing boat? My Dad bought it for me on condition I'd give up pestering him for lifts to the beach to go surfing. I used to sail it on Pittwater 35 years ago but soon discovered the joys of the spinnaker in a VJ. The other benefit was the VJ didn't try to emulate a submarine when running square.

 

[Jeff_HD]

Re: What was your first boat.

My first boat was a wooden john boat that my brothers and cousin found stuck on a sand bar. It was full of holes and the transom was busted. We dragged it a mile back to the house (my cousin was the oldest and he was 10)and patched the holes with PA cans. We fixed the transom, painted it and named it "JADE", using the first letters from our names.<br /><br />We drug it back to the river and played with it for two years. My brother used it yo run his trap line.<br /><br />The water came up one spring and washed it away.

 

[jsfinn]

Re: What was your first boat.

My first boat which I still have and use is a 1963 Starcraft Aluminum boat powered by a 15HP 'rude and a 30# MK. I even put some Automatic trim tabs on it (I'm a big guy so the bow used to get so high I'd have trouble seeing where I was going).<br /><br />I'm in the process of restoring my 2nd boat - a 1956 16 foot Chris Craft plywood kit boat which will be powered by at 1956 30HP Johnson. It has a small berth that sleeps 2 tightly or, what will more likely be the case, 1 with plenty of room since my fiance has already let me know that there will be no way that she's spending the night on that "thing!". <br /><br />The 12 footer is called "The Fearless Guppy". I haven't decided on a name for the 16 footer yet but it's starting to look like "The Finnow" (my last name is Finn). <br /><br />Great thread!

 

[carrotsnapper]

Re: What was your first boat.

My first boat was a 16 ft canoe. My brother and I wrapped it around a trestle bridge in the Provo river. Had to winch it out. The pressure of the river pouring in sunk it in 3 ft of water. We were sure green. We brought it home and banged it back into shape, patched the holes with fiberglass patch and took it down the Green river. We hit some rapids and it sunk under us. I could feel it with my feet as I floated (with a pfd) through those rapids. It was way down there. It was never the same after that. Not sure where it is now. I now have a 19ft Cobalt (1980) w/260 Mercruiser. What a sweet ride.

 

[artburr]

Re: What was your first boat.

My first boat was (as I recall) a 13 foot Dillabaugh runabout,plywood with covered bow, steering and a 10 horse Johnson. It was light and fast. I ruined it by fiberglassing it and adding a tall windshield after which the wind blew it all over the place. All of this was some time in the late 1950's. Kind of dates me doesn't it? I sold it and bought a 13 foot Klamath, then a 14 foot Gregor and then a 16.5 ft. Alumacraft. I liked the Gregor the best.

 

[aspeck]

Re: What was your first boat.

First boat was a 12 foot aluminum jon boat that I inherited when my Grandfather passed away. It had an old merc 3.9 on it. Boat started to leak like a sieve. That was when I sold her to a friend and used the money for a downpayment on a 15 foot Ouachita bass boat. (I was 15 at the time).

 

[JasonB]

Re: What was your first boat.

1976 Glastron T-166 with 85hp Johnson. Still have it. Converted it to a bass boat and rebuilt it from the stringers up a couple years ago. Great boat.

 

[Stumpknocker]

Re: What was your first boat.

First boat was a 12 foot fiberglass jonboat. Weighed somewhere around 8500 lbs dry and would actually float if you didn't get in. It was 1961 Ford blue and cost around $200 in 1962. Max rated horsepower was 2 and that had to be coal fired. Poor boat was stolen by a gang of thieves working over our lake one spring. They all drowned in 2 feet of water. Boat sank on them. Too bad.

 

[renegadescarab]

Re: What was your first boat.

First boat I bought was a 28' sloop. washington company called Sunyacht. Don't see too many in Cali. My girlfriend and I bought it , a repo, stripped, but with a Yanmar diesel, for $5000. Cleaned it up, put $2000 in equipment on it, lived on it for six months until she decided it wasn't as romantic as she had envisioned, listed it for $10,500 and sold it within two weeks. It was a helluva nice, well built boat-way better than a Catalina 27. Now I have a 12' catboat, Kite class dinghy. Built by Newport boats in 1964, two years older than me, and restored to loving perfection. Almost as fast as a Laser with room for two and a cooler. Can't wait for summer..and another girlfriend.

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: What was your first boat.

My first boat was a 1975 Forester 1600 16' boat. I put a lot of time and money into that rig getting it set up for barefooting. It came with a 125 Force, that I soon found out had a cracked water jacket. Upgraded to a '91 Evi 120 and was tickled pink. Installed a boom, new seats, new stereo, rewired the whole boat, got a new trailer, repainted the bottom, and did a lot of experimenting with props. I had the boat for seven years and sold it for most of what I had in it. Not bad IMO. I really hated to see it go actually. It was kind of part of the family after putting that much work into it.

 

[Twidget]

Re: What was your first boat.

When my Dad went to Viet Nam, he bought a 10' joh boat, electric motor and 2 batteries for me. I had a blast on the lake with it.<br /><br />First boat I bought was a '67 Glastron hull/trailer, no motor. My Dads boat had been sunk, he bought a new boat and put the motor from the sunken boat on it. I bought the 65 horse Johnson from him and put it on the Glastron. I think that is actually the boat I had the most fun with.

 

[llfish]

Re: What was your first boat.

Not sure of the brand but was a 14' g3 hull with a 90 Merc. Traded for a Horizon with a 454 go fast.

 

[EliT13]

Re: What was your first boat.

My first boat is a 1998 700LX Nitro (Bass boat) with a 90hp force motor that I bought used two years ago. I love the boat but I never realized that there was so much to learn about owning a boat.

 

[Buttanic]

Re: What was your first boat.

Bought my first boat in 1967, 18' Seabird with 120 OMC.<br /><br />Buttanic.

 

[JackG]

Re: What was your first boat.

1973 Mark Twain tri-hull 160T. 120hp Mercruiser. Great solid boat, should have kept her but don't have room for 2.