is it time for another "Who We Are" thread

Just sayin it's been awhile, right?

So, who are you? (From one well documented.)

Max

yes I think it is time

Got a link to the last one? (Can't find it using advanced search...)

Greetings,

The Who - Who Are You (Live 1989 LA Second Set) - YouTube

RT I was thinking

markpierce said:

So, who are you? (From one well documented.)

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I am second

Ok, ok I'll start. No pilot here- and my dad wasn't a shipwright that passed down years of knowledge to me. He was a millwright. But since I was a kid I loved being ON the water. I'm 55 and my first "big" boat was a Weekender 2100 with a Cuddy cabin I purchased from a buddy. Turned out the transom had a rotten core from water intrusion- so I pulled the engine/ out drive, removed the failed plywood from the inside and talked with the pros for advice before a successful rebuild. Soon after, I got an early model handheld Magellan GPS, used my laptop to install some waypoints and afterwards we would launch this girl on the east end of lake Ponchatrain and make runs through the Rigolets to spend the day at Cat Island. About 40-50 mile run. 3 mpg's, 25 gallon tank. We would run to a Marina in Bay St Louis Mississippi for get home fuel?. A couple of years of this and the Louisiana river systems and we then moved up to a nice used 2859 Bayliner. She sank at a Marina in Bay St. Louis during Katrina- and soon after we purchased our Sundeck in Kemah Texas. Baker and crew had started Trawler Forum pretty soon after that. I got to visit with he and Keith during the time our boat was being kept in Kemah. Other influences/ advise provided by the likes of Charles Colatta and Steve Willet keep me working and dreaming of our future and the age where the Admiral and I can start putting some major nautical miles under the keel! Boat has been in Gulfport for about two years now.
I yield the floor......


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

Forkliftt said:

I yield the floor......

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Thank you.

Husband, father, artist, and being a mailman pays the bills. Came to boating only recently (two years ago) after my wife got t-boned in the drivers side door of her Honda Civic by a Dodge Ram pickup. That meant sea kayaking was no longer doable, the rules to the game of Life got changed, and to enjoy BC's north coast we had to buy a boat, which we both love.

Some of what I've been up to recently;

"Murray Minchin" - Google Search

The floor is yours...

As Bob Dylan said, "I can't help it if I'm lucky..." I grew up on th east coast and married my trophy wife 42 years ago. Times being what they were and not college material I joined the Air Force. Learned electronics in the service and after discharge made a career of it. Now I'm the international service manager for a major (scientific) instrument manufacturer. Summers during my misspent youth were spent at a cousins home in Belmar on the Jersey shore. My dad loved fishing so I spent some time around boats back then. Fast forward to 1985 we moved to the Northwest, we decided it would be a great idea to buy a San Juan 23 sailboat. (We just sold this year, btw). While living in England in 2011 we got the bug to buy a stink-pot. In 2012 we brought The Promise from SF Bay on her own bottom to Seattle. We hope to retire in the Islands somewhere north of here in a few more years. Thinking of becomming a dental floss tycoon.

Frank Zappa "Montana" (1973) - YouTube

No sea faring family here either.
Grew up in the Kootenays of western Canada exploring lakes & rivers by raft, tire tubes, home built canoes & or whatever floated.
Moved to Australia and was introduced to the ocean. I fell in love. Progressed to a 30 year old plywood fishing boat and a Hobie 16.
Back to Canada and had a trailer sailer on Kootenay Lake, then bought a half share in a 1940's 36 ft wooden hulled forestry boat. It sunk a 3 weeks later.
Back to South Australia and bought my current boat, and I've managed to keep her afloat so far.
Working a 4 weeks on / 4 weeks off rotation gives me 6 months off each year to enjoy getting out on the water & do the maintenance required with an older boat.
Life is good.

A husband and father of a 16-year old girl, a 20-year old boy and a youthful 10-year old wheaten terrier. A motor boater but built more like a sail boater (6'4", 180 lbs.). Love to play basketball - it's my second favorite activity, boating is third.

-31 year old SWM (that's single white male for those of you not into Craigslist personals)
-A byproduct of a ten year career in automotive repair and training industry
-Traveled US and Canada for a year doing construction software training
-Now starting up a Protein Superfood Nutritional Shake company (which should be on anyones vessel that is away from land longer than a day...wink wink nudge nudge www.ubsuper.com)
-Always involved in offroad motorsports, built a couple of trucks, yada yada yada
-Friend got me into sailing, after decided to buy my first boat
-Insurance company didn't like that my first boat was 34'...gotta start somewhere I guess
-I'm a 50 year old trapped in an 18 year old body that wants to live life like I'm retired

Northwest native, grew up on the water. Dad got us (5 kids) all on the water before we could walk. I'm lucky he did not have the no kids policy. Started in a 27' Youngquist Viking (built in Tacoma, I believe) then 31' Trojan, then 36' Trojan which I took over the care and feeding of. When he passed we sold it and I dabbled in smaller boats for a while, chartering bigger boats on occasion. Bought the current boat (38' OA) 8 years ago and spend most of my cruising time in the San Juans, Gulf Islands and points further North. Currently living aboard while remodeling a junker house that I will be moving my recently divorced a$$ into. 2 kids, the boy loves the water as much as his old man and Grampa did, the daughter, not so much. Been a General Contractor for 20 years or so.
Current flotilla, 38 Ocean Alex, 14' Aluminum fishing skiff with 15 hp. 13' inflatable with 40 hp, 10' Zodiac, 17' Sea Kayak I built, 12' fiberglass Columbia skiff which may or may not still be on the beach at our cabin on Whidbey after the current storms.
Long term plan is to live aboard full time after the kids are off to college. Will be something in the 55-60' range.

New to this forum but not to boating...
My dad got me started at 5 years old....Spent most every weekend and summers, for most of my life, on the Chesapeake. Boating and working in Marina's in the summer. I've owned a series of Sailboats, the most recent a Bristol 35.5 that we based out of the Mid Bay at Rock Hall. Corporate move back in '98 forced the sale (21+ Years with the Honda Motorcycle Division, 25 years in the M/C industry, a few years as a High School counselor. A Few years in the boating industry too). I've missed it and the sanity boating brings me ever since. On and off the water a bit with various small boats but Nothing in quite a few years.
Kid's grown and my Wife and I decided some retirement cruising would be a pleasant past time and get us back on the water. Wife just retired, and I've been self employed for 10 years building VW and Audi performance parts in my garage. A Small, Lower effort trawler fit the bill for us. We're 25 miles from (little) Washington on the Pamlico, so easy access North and South for future cruising. Look for us on the Chesapeake this summer... We are really looking forward to it.

Oh, Forgot...I better buy a boat! . Closing on the Cape Dory 28 tomorrow.
See you out there!

I'm another who didn't grow up in a boating family. We did have a cottage on Lake Huron where I spent my summers and that's where my boating interest started.

At age 6-7 I had a 9' rowboat that I spent many summer days in. At age 9-10 I got a 7.5hp Evinrude and thought I was king of the hill (waters???). Sailfish boats were popular around there so around age 11-12 I got an old, home built, wooden (HEAVY!) Sailfish and used that for several years.

I left home at 15 and that ended my boating for many years. I finished high school, went to college then joined the USAF in 1969 to avoid being drafted. I worked on electronics equipment but didn't really like it an didn't want it to be my career.

I got out of the USAF in 1976 and became a cop. I worked at that job for 15 years and quit to become a business manager in a corp that employed about 200 people. That was when I renewed my boating interest and bought a 20' Reinell bowrider in 1991.

I kept that boat for 11 years and in 2002 I bought a 1996 Sea Ray 330 Sundancer. It was my first "big boat" and I loved it. In 2006 I was hit one night by a BUI and my beloved 330 was totaled. I liked that boat so much I found another just like it and bought it.

In 2010 I wanted something bigger that had a flybridge. After a long search I found our Sea Ray 550 Sedan Bridge in, of all places, the Detroit area. After two trips east, two sea trials, two surveys and 3 months of negotiating I bought her and had her shipped from Detroit to Portland, OR. A boat yard in Portland reassembled her and added some additional equipment I wanted.

We picked her up on August 1, 2010 and have been enjoying her ever since. We put about 100-125 hours a year on her with much of that time spent cruising short distances to places where we spend weekends on board.

Now, as I approach my late 60's I figure I have one more long trip planned to Canadian waters and at least 10 more years of boating left in me.

I am not sure what is wrong with me that I keep coming back to this site. I do so between using and maintaining two boats my old body at a gym and trying to keep my daughter and wife from going too extreme on setting up a new house we bought. People our age should be moving into a retirement community and selling their boats. Bucking the wind and current as always.

In no order whatsoever... Film/video producer/director/writer/editor, currently employed by Boeing, formerly worked in commercial television in Honolulu (I ran the stage camera on Elvis Presley's Live from Hawaii concert way back when we were all very, very young), general aviation pilot with Commercial, Instrument, Fiight Instructor and Single Engine Sea ratings, published author (magazine articles and books), photographer, ocean fishing in Hawaii when I lived there, steelhead flyfisherman after moving here (we're finally going to buy that drift boat I've wished I had since moving here), salmon and halibut fisherman using our 17' Arima, boating the PNW and BC in the diesel cruiser we bought 16 years ago, aerial fish spotter (in Hawaii), crop duster of sorts (in Hawaii), horseback moose hunting (BC), model railroader (sort of), Dobro and Strat player, music producer, narrowboat operator (in the UK), ranch hand (Colorado), off-road driving, vintage vehicle owner (1973 Land Rover), international traveler in the course of my work (some 36 countries with more on the way apparently).

Favorite place on the planet: British Columbia.
Least favorite place on the planet: Downtown Seattle.

Likes: Floatplane flying, aviation industry, boating, fishing, writing, trains, road trips, music, watching border collies at work, horses, international travel.

Dislikes: Cooking (my idea of cooking is using a can opener, my idea of gourmet cooking is using a platinum can opener), working on the house and yard, children, and people I don't know asking me about my likes.

dhmeissner said:

Thinking of becomming a dental floss tycoon.

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Love the Zappa shout-out!

Cause I'm a picker
I'm a grinner
I'm a lover
And I'm a sinner
I play my music in the sun

I'm a joker
I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I sure don't want to hurt no one

I say I grew up in St. Petersburg ( moved there when I was 9)

Started boating when I was 8 Mississippi river and TVA lakes

our house in St pete was on a wide canal 3 houses from Tampa bay end of the dock at low tide had 9 feet of water

I was a member of the St Pete Jr yacht club and the sailing squadron

Right after High school went to the University of South Florida for 1 year

Then into the AirForce survival instructor was stationed at the jungle school in Panama

When I got out of active duty went into the Florida Air Guard at Macdill

went back to USF engineering school and went to work for a engineering firm in Clearwater

Some how along the way I got into construction and development for about 18 years

For the past 11 years my main income has been investing in small private companies that are going public

we became empty nesters a few years back and earlier this year we finally got our first larger boat

we are having a blast with it cruising and meeting some great people along the way

Grew up in a small farming/ranching town in Texas in the mid 70s. Parents were partners a very small car dealership, and I worked there after school and during the summers starting at age 11-- sweeping floors, cleaning windows, and later when I could see over the steering wheel, driving new cars to the wash bay and washing them all day long. Loved working with my dad. My parents owned a tiny one-room "bay house" about 15 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and during June and July our family lived in that little house on the bay (August was too hot-- no AC). My dad and I would get up before daylight and drive the 35 miles to the dealership to work, then rush back to the bay house after closing so we could do some sailing on his little 12' Hobe Monocat. That little Hobe got me started in boating and I haven't been able to shake the bug.

Our kids are getting ready to graduate high school now, and our plan is to use our "new to us" boat as a waterfront getaway, and do some local exploring while they are in college, and hopefully bring them along during part of the summers if they want to hang out with us. Later maybe do the loop, and even later maybe try for the Caribbean? Not sure what I can talk my wife into...

Ok this is us , Marty and Joy . We have been married all our life . No not really but a long time . We have twin daughters that are 40 years old and 4 beautiful grandkids . We started young . I was a machinist / carpenter most of my working years . Now I work for a hardwood lumber company out in the sticks of Tennessee . We have built a couple houses ourselves and are currently living in a 100 year old house that rebuilt ourselves . As far as boating goes we have had 3 sailboats and our present trawler . Nether one of us grew up with boats but somewhere along the way we got hooked . We love life, family and we like nice people . I think we like making old stuff new again and adding our personality to the things we love . Everything is cool here .

Oh, I get it now...life stories as well

After graduating high school till the age of 32 was my "early retirement" phase, where I didn't spend over a year at any one job, but also never quit and was never fired either. Lots of contract jobs, seasonal work, college, art schools, photography school, traveling, climbing, hiking, and 6 months sea kayaking the coast of BC with my wife.

At 32 I started part-time at the Post Office, got full time work after a couple years, then bought a house, then we had our daughter. I get to see my wife & daughter every morning before work, our house is on my letter carrier route so we all have lunch together, and most days I'm home before our daughter gets home from school. May not be rich as far as money goes, but in the end, time with family will always be worth more.

Five years ago I had a new darkroom about 80% finished when my wife's Honda Civic got t-boned in the drivers side door by a Dodge Ram pickup. That's why we have Badger; because the rules to the game of life got changed and she can't sea kayak anymore. The money in the darkroom budget got used for a larger, higher vehicle with air bags all around. Should be finishing the darkroom this year and I can finally develop a couple hundred sheets of 4X5 HP5!

We self represented ourselves for over a year against the insurance company, ICBC, which turned out to be great training to be an Intervenor in the Canadian National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel Hearings regarding Enbridge's Northern Gateway diluted bitumen and supertanker port proposal for my hometown of Kitimat, BC. That kept me "a tad busy" for over four years.

These days we're busy living life, our daughter is in grade 8, and we're looking towards having Badger ready to explore the wilder, more isolated areas on BC's coast when I retire in about 6 years. My wife takes awesome whale and animal photo's, and I'll be doing large format B&W stuff. We'll bring back the photo's and share them with agencies and groups working towards protecting this place we love.

I grew up on my families fishing resort near the Canadian border of the Land of 10,000 lakes. Spent 100 days a year guiding trips on boats under 20' on inland freshwater along the border. Trained as large animal veterinarian (still practice) and became a dairy farmer (hobby that got out of control). Becoming a dairy foods company as of now. Graduated from my 21'Duckworth jet sled (that I still have and use on the Columbia, Snake, and Yakima Rivers) to the 48 in the avatar just over two years ago. Big boat rookie but think it is pretty cool.

Bill...looks like you're buttering up 'ol Bessy there with some sweet talk, before donning the armpit length glove

Murray
Ssshhhhh.....apparently you know the drill.

Been there, done that a million times it seems.

klee wyck said:

Murray
Ssshhhhh.....apparently you know the drill.

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Yup, sure do. Just don't ask me how

Hi, I'm Dave. I'm 30, and I like long moonlit walks on the beach. I've always been a boat-head. I was fascinated by the Titanic and other old timey passenger liners from the age of 10, and I still am.

When I was a kid, my family got a 28' Sea Sprite cabin cruiser. I think they only built a few of them, and I've never seen one since we sold ours. She was a fine boat. I was incredibly lucky to have spent my early teenage summers on that boat, cruising the Lakes and Canals of NY State, with the occasional trip to the St. Lawrence. I loved every second of it. Eventually we had to sell her. It was awful, like a death in the family. We all cried.

I decided fairly early that I wanted to work on the water. I went to SUNY Maritime and got a 3rd Mate's license, and started sailing on Great Lakes freighters. I've been doing that for 9 years now, and just recently got my unlimited tonnage master's license.

A few years back, I bought a 12 foot kayak, and used it a ton. About a year ago I decided that my 'yak was a bit too small, so I bought a 29' Cruisers. I'm still a rookie when it comes to boat ownership, and I've had a few days when I wanted to just run the damned thing up on the rocks and say to hell with her. The other 95% of the time has been great. I'm picking up where the family left off 15 years ago, and happy to be back.

Recently I've been putting a lot of thought into selling the house, my current vessel and a bunch of crap, and moving onto a nice comfy trawler. I don't care for winter very much, I'm single, and I can keep my job no matter where I live. Why not, right? Why wait until I'm old?

But enough about me. I want to know everything about you

Hell I'm a boat nut there is saw dust and epoxy between my toes grease under my nails. What else do you have to know.

eyschulman said:

Hell I'm a boat nut there is saw dust and epoxy between my toes grease under my nails. What else do you have to know.

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We need to know how it got under between your toes and under your nails