Your boating history...

I had this idea for awhile but Charles motivated me with the post in the other section with my name in the title.* It makes it easy for me because I am just going to cut and paste and edit from that thread.*** This was written 6 years*ago so realize some time references are no longer relevant.* Thanks to Charles for posting that.

So, tell us your boating history and how you got to the present point in your boating life.* I am still relatively young(I keep telling myslef that) so my history is relatively short but I did evolve from sailing....just a little quicker than most.

ANyway, what's your story?....here's mine.

"My name is John Baker.* I got into
sailing when I was about 21(36 now).* Some friends got me into the racing
scene so the curve was steep.* Did that for a while but learned that a more
relaxing pace was more suitable to me.* I chartered sailboats with friends
for a while before buying my first....aptly a First 285 Beneteau.* I enjoyed
it thoroughly for about 3 years but I accepted a promotion in my career (in
the flyin' business you almost always take a pay cut to move up...pretty
crazy) and figured I would sell it and go without a boat for the duration of
my probationary year.......yeah right!!!!!* That lasted about six weeks as I
had rationalized my way into owning a beautiful little Alberg designed Cape
Dory 25.* What a looker!* But as lookers of most species go, she required a
lot of maintenance (read brightwork) and didn't provide too much comfort.*
After my girlfriend and I survived some pretty good weather on the bay, she
said, "....we are gonna come back one more time to this boat and that is to
put a "For Sale" sign on it!"* I really couldn't disagree with her.* So Sold
her and bought a Catalina 270.* What a great boat.* Roomy as hell...huge
cockpit...decent lines...could practically hose the interior down...no
exterior wood (hardly any interior wood either)...and not a bad sailer.* I
honestly do not know how they packed it all into 27ft without looking like a
Buccaneer.* A buddy of mine(Doug) saw a little look in my eye and thought that that
was the time to pounce.* He slid me Beebe's Voyaging Under Power under the
table right in front of all my sailing friends.* I liked the premise of the
book and thought I would give it a try.* I got into trawlering about*8 years
ago.* I attended the Clear Lake Tfest and surmised I am probably one of the younger trawler crawlers out
there.* I did go through the sailboat evolution(above) and still enjoy
sailing but I just like a boat that can offer all weather comfort all year
long (around here anyway).* I began living aboard as a temporary/transient
condition and will probably live aboard longer than planned.* The girlfriend
went away, so I figured I would live aboard and lighten up all of my credit
obligations.* I have done that.* But just as soon as you think you are
getting ahead, a few idiots have to ruin it for the rest of us.* I are an
airline pilot at one of the major airlines (a very junior one) and will be
embarking on my last trip (12/02) before being furloughed. (Will be bumped back to turboprops at our commuter).* So living
aboard will be a little more necessary now to keep the expenses down.* I love
boats and am one of those guys that consumes everything he can get his hands
on that has to do with boats.* I like the operational discussions (will chime
in on the docking thread shortly) and have a tendency to lurk on the finer
technicalities* I like
the challenge of boat handling.* I do use my boat very often.* I did*250
hours last year and am on par for that again this year in a day/weekender
application.* My stronger point of maintenance would probably be the diesel
and weakest would be electrical...I will plead ignorance on wiring and such.
**** I admire the saltier romantic names for all of the previous boats owned
by you saltier fellows.* Maybe someday I will look back on the Beneteaus and
Catalinas and even Cape Dorys with the same romance and saltiness that y'all
look back to in your early days of boating."



That was written 6 years ago and not too much has changed.* The girlfriend is back and the Prairie 29 has been sold(it was a financial decision).* We live on land now but still talk about selling the house and moving back aboard.* After the Prairie was sold, we were gonna go boatless(sound familiar) for awhile to get our finances in order* Well, I was poking around the internet and came across a guy fire selling the Mainship we currently own.* He had his new bigger one on order and arriving in 3 weeks.* He was trying to successfully do an "in and out" with the dealer to keep taxes down and also didn't want to own 2 boats thru the winter in the NE. I tried to walk away on many occassions and he kept dropping the price and sweetening the deal.* ANyway, blah blah blah.* We have* a Mainship Pilot 30 that is a really neat boat.* Just not enough room to do what we enjoy doing and that is spending time overnight on a boat.* So at some point in the near future, we will be selling the Mainship and getting a bigger and most likely slower boat.* We like the roominess of a sundeck but still love the one level of a sedan.* So your guess is as good as mine as to what we will get.*There you have it!

Trawler on,
John

Ah, the memories of the moment way back when...My wife was hot-to-trot for a cottage property. WE had to have a cottage for weekend get away's. We had done the canoe camping and tenting route for 3 or 4 years, the renting a cottage route for another 3 or 4 years and now it was time to get our very own weekend retreat. At that time I was somewhat of a woodsman. I could identify the tracks of most local forest animals, bird calls carried on the wind and knew where every liquor store was within a 40 mile radius. We spent every summer weekend over 2 years with real estate agents driving over hill and dale looking at what was on the market within 3 hours driving time of our house in the city. The "bargains" we looked at were either really nice buildings on bad lots or very bad buildings on nice lots. After one particularily marathonic weekend I was unwinding and reflecting while sitting in my chair at the office when a co-worker (Doug Reid-bless his heart) happened to come in and ask me what I had done for the week-end. I gave him the low down of the latest adventure. In response to my question of him regarding his where-a-bouts on the weekend past he replied that he and his wife had gone boating. Now I knew that Doug had a boat, I'd seen the pictures (a 1968 32' Chris Craft) but for some reason, boating had not entered into my thought processes as a leisure activity-in hindsite-DUH!!!
I experienced an epiphany! Moses was on the banks of the Red Sea and the waters parted, a ray of inspiration from above (or below) struck me like falling off a dock into ice cold water, it was akin to sitting down on the toilet and realising at the last moment that the seat was up-A BOAT!!! That was the answer to my dear wife's desires for a nice beach-A BOAT!!! We could have any beach she wanted-A BOAT!!! But not just ANY boat...With the budget we had set aside for a cottage we could buy the mother of all boats.
I feverously dialed my wife's number hardly able to contain my enthusiasm, shaking almost uncontrollably I waited on tenterhooks while the call went through...she answered!
I was almost speechless as I hurridly outlined my plan..."and we can go here and there and sleep in a bedroom and swim and play and....." As I stopped to catch my breath, she spoke the four words that I had never anticipated..."What a stupid idea"...
I was crushed! Never in the field of human endeavor had such words struck such a blow.
More to follow....
Rufus

Well.... the highlights are: was trained (sort of) to be a canoe instructor at a summer camp on Lake Michigan in the mid-60s. Learned to sail there, too, in a small boat called a "Snipe."

Did a fair amount of canoeing in Alaska and the Yukon on vacation trips with a friend.

In Hawaii, got into open-ocean sport and commercial fishing with a friend in the 1970's who owned the flying school where I got all my ratings (except SES).

Did a bit of inter-island sailing with a co-worker who had a trimaran, also another co-worker who had a 36' Islander.

Moved to Washington State in '79 and got my SES rating and started flying floatplanes. They're boats, at least a little bit of the time. Wrote a book on how to fly them, then wrote another book about the company whose planes I flew.

In the early '80 was part of a racing crew put toghether by a co-worker who with his wife decided to race their 28' sailboat.* My position on the crew was main and spinnaker trim, and I did this for two seasons.

Got married in the mid-80s, wife and I bought a 17' Arima for salmon and halibut fishing. We still have this boat and use it occasionally this purpose.

Starting in 1990 my wife and I began taking regular trips to the UK where we rent a narrowboat (canalboat) for two to three weeks and then a Land Rover for a week or two. Not much of a navigation challenge--- hard to get off course when you're cruising in a ditch--- but learned a lot about handling big (60') heavy single-engine boats.

Spent a bit of time directing filiming on board a couple of aircraft carriers, the USS Constellation and the USS Peleliu (an assault ship more than a carrier).

After flying a Beaver up and down the Inside Passage a bunch of times my wife and I began to think how neat it would be to have a boat we could use to explore all the bays and inlets we'd been flying over. A friend suggested we charter a boat to see if we like it. Another friend recommended a charter outfit in Bellingham who had a large fleet of Grand Banks. Chartered a '91 model with a single engine and bow thruster.

We decided we liked this trawler thing, and even though there are other boat designs we prefer from an aesthetic standpoint, we ended up buying one of the first fiberglass GB36s.

So here we are......

-- Edited by Marin at 14:30, 2008-01-02

Reading the posts above got me to thinking...here goes.

I grew up along the NC Outer Banks clamming, fishing, goofing of around boats of all sorts. I remember watching boats steam south in the fall, wondering where they were going.

Later in years I bought a 22 ft. center console boat with a 175 Mercury Outboard. My buddies and I would take her fishing every Saturday to the Gulf Stream (about 15 miles from shore) and catch all the fish we could handle. Several hundred pounds in a day was typical. Back then you could sell them.* Those were the days without Loran-Cs; we just used a depthsounder and charts and your wrist watch on where to find the fish.* I still have those old charts with lines drawn with azsmiths and time-to-go noted for targets.

A few years later, I moved up to a 30 foot Sportfisherman and kept her on the Albermarle Sound. Soon after I moved back to Florida, my home state.

Ofshore fishing was the thing to do again in Florida and I fished from the Keys to Georgia. I caught almost every fish out there except a Marlin. Soon afterwards, trips offshore began to produce less fish and my interest wained. The last year we owned the fishing boat, we didn't take her fishing a single time, we just crusined around enjoying ourselves.

One day, my Admiral says that really liked the looks of those trawlers heading south. One thing led to another, and I found just the right one and we've been cruising and living aboard ever since.*

MT

-- Edited by marinetrader at 05:09, 2008-01-03

-- Edited by marinetrader at 05:09, 2008-01-03

Now we are cooking!!

These stories are "<u>great</u>" and give all of us an insight to the author. I hope to see alot more of this in the future.

Walt

SeaHorse II wrote:

Now we are cooking!!

These stories are "<u>great</u>" and give all of us an insight to the author. I hope to see alot more of this in the future.

Walt

Click to expand...

Walt, you are not immune from your history....???....

Ok, its my turn. I bought my first boat in 1979, a 17 foot ski boat. In 1981 after having both knees cut on, the Dr. explained that if I kept water skiing like I was and working on cars, which was how I paid the rent, I would be getting replacement knees before the age of 50.
In August of that year I quit skiing and bought a 27 foot Fairliner express cruiser. A single 327 with a Velvet Drive transmission. Economical, sturdy, and dependable. For 11 years we took it anywhere and everywhere with virtually no problems. Not being content with a good thing, I sold the Fairliner and spent a really long year with a 27 foot Owens powered by twin Hercules flatheads.

I also quit working on cars and went to work full time for the Fire Department. Still not great for the knees, but I made it past 50 and I'm still on the original set.

A 36 foot Chris Craft then caught my eye. Twin 327s, with Paragon gears this time. Way more room and very comfortable. Easy to travel with my friends at 8 knots even though the boat was built to plane. Many cruises in the next 14 years with friends and their trawlers, the ones with 36 and 42 foot GBs were most memorable.

Eventually I knew I was going to get a GB of my very own. I had been aboard and cruised with enough of them to know thats what I wanted. Except for those tiny doors, spray on the windshield, and narrow cabins they are the perfect boat. But I could live with those things.

My boat house was built to its maximum size for my space at the Yacht Club and I had built the well for the CC. Now as I started looking for the perfect retirement boat, a 42 GB, it was clear that it was not going to fit without some fairly extensive modification. It was just a foot too long, but a foot was too much. So maybe I could live with a 36, after all, Ive been living with a 36 foot boat for 14 years.

I started looking. Have you tried to find a well kept 36 GB with a single Lehman? I looked at everything I could for over a year. I looked for one without major problems, but the number of single engined 36 GBs is limited and apparently there are too many people that want those. So I reluctantly expanded my search to include the TTs.

There are any number of single engined TTs out there, many more than similar size GBs. While the joinery is not quite as perfect, some are very good. As many of you already know, each boat is a semi custom build and no two are exactly alike. So with an expanded group to look at, I spent another year searching for the right boat and eventually found a 40 TT that has the right combination of good joinery, solid decks, fuel tanks that are dry and clean on top and bottom, single Lehman, bow thruster, two doors out of the salon, a dry windshield, fits in my boathouse and was reasonably well maintained.

Interestingly the former owner was a pilot! He did his maintenance with a check book. Mechanically he was very meticulous. Cosmetically he was somewhat more laid back. So I bought a boat that runs well but needed buffing, cleaning and the wood refinished. Items which I enjoy doing and add good value to the boat with little cash outlay. With the boat living in a boathouse, it allows me to refinish the wood during less than ideal weather and maintain security during the process when leaving doors and hatches ajar.

My wife retires in 14 months, and I will retire in just under 3 years. At that time we will spend 3-4 summer months in Canadian waters and SE Alaska. Then well come home and spend a couple of months at the house before leaving for the 75 degree temperature line down south. When the weather starts to warm up back at home well come back and spend a few months at the house and head out on the boat again.

At least thats the plan. As always things may change.

Ken Buck

Walt probably needs a few days to compose his boating history.... 8 boats in 15 years (?) is a lot to write about! Let's hear it Walt!

With my new boat running well behind schedule and (hopefully) ready for delivery next week, I don't want to publish my own history prematurely! It's been a tough enough experience thus far, I don't wanna jinx things now!

More anon,
Mark

-- Edited by boogiediver at 01:30, 2008-01-04

Mark & John....OK..OK! Here it is and it's probably no different from a lot of other guys on this forum.

At 9 years old I took a canoe course on the Allegheny River, near Oil City PA, which taught me how to empty the water when the canoe overturns, how to get back in it and most importantly, how to paddle from either side without switching the paddle back and forth. For the next few years, I paddled the river and shot Copperhead snakes on the railroad tracks for 5 cents a piece. (A 22 with rat shot was the gun of choice)

I then learned to sail, with my friend's dad, on a "Sea Gull" and raced occaisionally on Presque Isle Bay in Erie, PA. (<u>My</u> dad died when I was 7) This was my initial introduction to boats.

After a 4 year stint in the Navy and flying as a rescue crewman in a helicopter from the decks of the USS Enterprise, I signed on for an apprentice program at my brother's tool shop. He had boats during this period and my skills at handling small runabouts and IO's were honed. During this period I also earned my Commercial Pilot's license, Multi Engine & Instrument Ratings. (something that has served me well in boating....almost all the rules of flying are related to boating.)

Arriving in San Diego many years later, I bought my first big boat, a 48' Offshore Yachtfisher (Hull #1) and cruised her throughout Southern Cal and Northern Baja. Imagining all the time that I was really getting ready for some serious long range cruising and sportfishing tournaments, I bought a 54' Sportfisher and chased the Tuna off of san Diego for about two years.

Since that time I have had several more boats ie: 42' Ocean Alex Sedan, 38' Mediterranean Sportfisher, 35' Tiara Open, 30' Mainship Pilot, etc....still trying to pin down my true mission.

Several years ago I started reading about the trawler lifestyle and decided that this type of boat would meet my mission demands, meaning that I could be on the water more, drown some worms once in awhile, take friends for bay cruises, escape to Catalina Island twice a year and most importantly, tell my wife I am going to the marina to solve some small problems on the boat. (While really watching the football games.) I have since added an innerspring mattress and with a great TV, icemaker, and galley, I now have what is the perfect boat for Me! A 2005 Halvorsen Gourmet Cruiser 32.

The story of my (boating) life:

I was born in a log cabin that I built with my own two hands.... (no, wait, that was Abraham Lincoln...)

Anyway - I grew up in the Southern California desert. When I was about 10, my folks bought a 36' Tollycraft tri-cabin that they kept on Shelter Island in San Diego. It was the "summer place" to escape the desert heat.

I absolutely lived and breathed for that boat. At age 11, I had pretty much read Chapman's cover-to-cover, devoured every issue of Sea and Motor Boating that showed up. But as university time approached for me, my dad sold the boat (mother absolutely HATED it and he wasn't going to use it alone).

The next 30 years were on and off crewing on sailboats and doing some bareboat charters in San Diego. I've lived the last 25 years on the central California coast, but the boating here is lousy (IMO) - go out of the harbor, get your butt kicked from seas and wind, and turn around and come back. So I flew instead, owning a Grumman-American Yankee and Tiger (2 and 4 seat low-wing) until recently. As Sea Horse said, there's a lot in common between flying and boating.

About 4 years ago, I decided to do a bareboat charter in the PNW - two weeks on a Nordic Tugs 32 in the San Juans and Gulf Islands. Absolutely completely and totally hooked. Decided that after 28 years in high-tech, it was a time to make a life change, so we bought some property in Burlington, WA (about a half mile from the Nordic Tugs factory, in fact). Yes, more eeeevil Kalifornians coming to buy up Washington. (Please close the border now that we're in).

We're getting ready to start building on the property this spring. I'm going to go up next summer to finish off a small house on the property, so I needed a place to live... which is how I managed to justify buying the Rawson. I mean, for about the same amount of $$$ per month, I could either live in an apartment or make payments and moorage fees on the boat - and the neighbors are typically a whole lot nicer at the marina than in a cheap apartment.

And as 2 Bucks said, "At least that's the plan"...

Guess I'm the town newbie. No boating experience growing up in suburban D.C., except the occasional day on friends' boats. Moved to Miami (from N.O.) seven years ago and decided the water was too pretty and too accessible to miss, so my wife and I joined a boat club.

Pretty sweet deal while it lasted. We signed up for the 21' category. You just called to reserve a boat, showed up, and off you went. Came back and left it to the staff to clean up. They went out of business so about a year ago we decided to buy our own boat -- a Glacier Bay 2240SX.

I can't remember exactly how I got the trawler bug, but it's taken over my central nervous system. Looking at all the boat's at last year's Miami Boat Show Trawlerport really set the infection in high gear. We did a bareback charter of a Great Harbour n37 in the Abacos this past June and we absolutely loved it.

Have been doing intensive research towards purchasing a 36 - __' boat for a planned 1-year sabbatical that could lead to a) divorce, b) longer term liveaboard, c) nothing. Going to PMU and Trawlerfest in a few weeks in Stuart, which will hopefully get things moving faster.

Spent the first 32 years of my life in New York City (Queens.) Never owned a boat there as I could not see making payments on a boat I could only use 4 months of the year. Fished both shores of Long Island. Got married, moved to southern California. A millwright by trade, I started working for L.A. County for 24 years. and have been retired for 16 years. Bought our first boat a 19 foot trailerable cathedral hull with an outdrive. Found out I am too damn lazy to trailer a boat and bought a 26 foot Tollycraft. Moved up to a 30 foot Tollycraft and in 1999 retired, moved to San Diego county, and purchased a 36 foot twin diesel Nova sundeck trawler. With an 8.5 knot cruising speed it takes a while to get to Catalina, but the fuel burn ain't bad. The keel keeps the boat running in a straight line which is a big help running predicted log contests, a monthly event. I do the figuring and my wife does the piloting as she can hold a course better than I can. With log racing, yacht club raft-ups, Coast Guard Auxiliary patrols, and coastal cruising we have a full boating plate.

Chris said " Yes, more eeeevil Kalifornians coming to buy up Washington. (Please close the border now that we're in)."

Sounds like the weather in northern California's doing that for us.

Oh man, the 36ft Nova Sundeck(Heritage East) is definitely on my short list....

Sounds like the weather in northern California's doing that for us.

It's a good juicy day down here - don't know if it's really that bad or if people have just forgotten the winters of '82 and '95.* 8 inches plus*of rain in the last 24 in the mountains - but in '82, places got over 20 inches in 24 hours.

My wife and I have been privileged to enjoy hundreds of days surrounded by the beauty of the PNW coast, making our way in our little boat.* We werent lifelong boaters, and have never lived on the coast.* We were tent campers who enjoyed fishing, and we liked being near the water.
While camping around on Vancouver Island one summer, we decided to go for a day with a salmon fishing guide.* It was a day to remember:* beautiful, exciting, and good fishing too all in a 16-foot open boat.*
Months later, in 1991, we wandered into a boat show in Utah, thinking that we could probably afford a small fishing boat.* We looked at quite a few, but none really knocked us out.* Then we set eyes on a little cabin boat that really stood out from the crowd.* It was a 22-foot C-Dory cruiser, not too much bigger than the fishing boats we were considering, but with a huge difference:* it was built for camping on the water.* We spent several hours checking out every aspect of the C-Dory, and talking with the dealer.* After lots of discussion and two more days at the boat show, we decided to go for it.
That little boat turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made - a perfect choice for beginning cruisers.* She was seaworthy as can be, built with quality, and very cleverly laid out to make the most of her 22 feet.* Her cabin sheltered us from the weather.* She had good cooking, eating, and sleeping facilities.* With a 90hp outboard, she could cruise at 18-20 knots (roughly 21-23 mph), and travel 170 nautical miles (195 miles) on a tank of gas.*
Our boats have taken us for many a lazy week poking around LakePowell in southern Utah, and for weeks or whole summers exploring the Inside Passage.* The Inside Passage is about 1000 miles (in a straight line) heading northwest, from southern Puget Sound to Skagway in Southeast Alaska.* Its waters are protected by countless islands and channels, often as wide as 100 miles from the western edge of the outer islands to the eastern end of the mainland inlets.* Roads reach only a small part of this wild, out-there place.* Its some of the finest cruising anywhere.

I had done a fair amount of rowing on lakes, and a little charter sailing in the Bahamas.* Cindy and I had done some canoeing, but we knew little about power boats. *We worked up our boating and cruising skills over time, step by step.*
Before we took delivery of our C-Dory, we attended the Coast Guard Auxiliarys Boating Skills and Seamanship course.* It cost us only a few dollars, and couple of hours each of six weeks very well worth it.*
For two years we were lake cruisers.* At first it was just a few days at a time, then we worked up to a couple of weeks.* LakePowell was a low-risk place to develop our boating skills, and drop-dead gorgeous red rock canyon country as well.* There we learned what we needed to take along, how to load the boat, how to tow, launch, dock, anchor, drive the boat in different conditions, and many aspects of living successfully aboard a small boat. *We were hooked.
Our little C-Dory was a simple boat, outboard-powered, and without a lot of complicated systems.* This was great for getting us started we could concentrate on boating skills, and not on stuff that didnt work, or we didnt understand.* Seven years later, we switched to our present boat, a 26-footer with a diesel engine and stern drive, and a lot more creature comforts.* The new boat had a number of systems that made it more complex, and we had quite the learning curve operating and maintaining those systems.* Were really glad we did not have to deal with that much complexity as beginners.*


*
In our third summer of boating, friends in Seattle suggested that we tow up to Washington, and meet them for a couple of weeks on the ocean, in the San Juan Islands and parts further north in British Columbia.* What an opportunity - a guided trip, where we could expand our envelope of skills and experience.* For this first ocean cruise, we had to prepare for new things:* tougher weather, bigger waves, tides, rain, fog, charts, navigation skills, and more and different kinds of fishing.* We did our homework, and the cruise was a great success.*
It was very convenient having our boating buddies to lead the way, but with a cruising guide and some common sense wed have been OK in the San Juans.* We did plan ahead, and we paid attention to what we were doing and how well it was working.* As we ventured further north, we found greater challenge with waves, weather, and distance.* We took it one step at a time, learning as we went, rather than making great leaps beyond our abilities. *
Over the next two summers, we spent five or six weeks cruising southern B.C.* We had built our skills up to a pretty solid level, while both of us still held down demanding corporate jobs.* Then came an opportunity to seriously expand our envelope - both of our employers were flexible enough to let us take extended leave.* We thought about it for a while, and decided to go for it - a summers cruise in Southeast Alaska.* It was incredibly wonderful - the experience of a lifetime.*
*
Since then weve spent much more time on the PNW coast.* Weve been as far north as Glacier Bay, floating right in front of the great tidal glaciers.* Weve been surrounded by humpback whales, Orcas, porpoises, eagles, seals, sea lions, and sea otters, and weve been entertained by bears doing their thing along the shore.* Weve dined on our catch of Dungeness crab, spot prawns, salmon, and halibut.* For the last three whole summers Ive been really into it, single-handing, with guests from time to time, up on the coast of BC and SE Alaska.*

I was disappointed and pissed that the bank and/or insurance company let us buy and operate with out restrictions the Eagle.* They were my last reason for not buying the Eagle as I did not want to by the Eagle.* My wife bought it, but I still love her, but it has changed our lives.* (-;* **

*
Mnay of you know and have read my post on PMM for years, so to make a long story short we had about 20 years of smaller power boating, 19 ft and a 30 ft in the PNW, but mostly lake and rivers with an occasion Puget Sound.* I figured there was no way they were going to let us buy a big old ugly trawler, but they did.* Dam!**I really did not wnat to buy the Eagle.

I grew up in North Mississippi using a row boat on the Tombigbee River before they straightened it out and turned it into the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Back then, it was a typical slow, winding, muddy river.

Took a long break from boating (first marriage) but was then incrediably lucky to meet my current wife. Pam grew up in Boston with a summer home in Maine on Brandy Pond, one of the great ponds. She, her mother, and her sister went up the day after school was out and stayed all summer. She got her very own boat, a 13' rowboat with a 6hp Merc, at age 9. Since it was over 50 miles from the south end of Sebago Lake, up the Songo River, through Brandy Pond, and up Long Lake, she had a whole world to explore.

After we got married, she introduced me to that world. Our kids likewise spent considerable time on the water there, learning to swim and boat in the same row boat. I spent hundreds of hours trowling for landlock salmon and lake trout. During that time, I learned how to handle that little boat in all kinds of weather, including three foot waves on Sebago.

After the kids grew up and left home, we discussed a number of options for a summer home. At about the same time, a friend invited us to spend a day on their boat, a mid-30 foot cruiser type, on the Chesapeake Bay. After a great day on the water and dinner at the Marina, we talked about how much fun it had been on the ride home. Pam, out of the blue, said, "We could do that. We could buy a boat. Let's get something big enough to spend days at a time on." She didn't have to say it twice.

Over the next three years, we looked, took a slew of boating courses, chartered several times, and changed the direction of our thinking from a fast cruiser to a trawler. When we found the boat we wanted, it took 18 months to get her built. But it was well worth the wait.

Cloud IX was splashed last spring and we cruised her on the Chesapeake Bay over the summer, mostly in Virginia waters. Last fall, we brought her up the Potomac River to Washington, DC, where she is now at the Capital Yacht Club. I spend a great deal of time on her while Pam travels back and forth between DC and Vero Beach. Can't wait for the warmer weather, when we will again take her back into the Bay and continue the learning experience before heading South.

*Great story Donnie! This is the kinda stuff that many of us can relate to and others can only dream of.

Chapter 2:
I had the idea, now I needed a plan. The wife was dead set on a cottage as I mentioned earlier. I thought a boat was a great idea. While she was looking for cottages, I was looking for boats. I finally found (after she VERY reluctantly agreed) a "classic".
1951, wood and after a purchase and survey-yup, I surveyed AFTER the purchase, we were the proud owners of a vessel which as noted in the survey "this vessel should not be launced prior to extensive repairs to..." needed a "bit" of work. Thus began my continuing education in the care and handling of a floating termite house and fungus farm.
We scaped, painted, caulked, patched, bent, wired, screwed, hammered, adjusted, sealed, cussed and prayed but after 5 weeks of hard work we launched. I should have had some inkiling of impending disaster when the evening before launch, I accidently dropped a handful of change inside the boat and 45 cents ended up on the ground underneath the boat. Yah, that grass was green that I could see through the cracks.
When I returned the next morning, the boat was heavy in the slings and there was water up to the starter motors and a lot of stuff floating around in the cabin. "she'll take a bit of soaking" the yard owner suggested. She did pump out and tighten up and we were off for our first adventure.
There was a weekend festival down the river and we were going by boat. I had never driven anything larger than a 14' aluminum boat and this one was 35'. Charged with adrenilin and determined to not allow the wife to say "I told you so" we headed off complete with 12 friends (none of which were boaters) into the channel. Onlookers from shore would note that we all had our life jackets on and everyone was holding on to something. Boat hooks, mops, ropes, buckets, and the anchor-all had someone attached.
Having taken a power squadron safe boating course I was able to compute the collision course of every boat we met and take evasive action. Our arrival at our destination was heralded by whoops and hollers of the passengers and we were able to sidle up to the dock after only three attempts. Ah, the Boy Scouts would have been proud. We were firmly attached by reef knots, granny knots, clove hitches, double and triple dopplegangers, sheet bends and bowlines. There were so many lines we could have sat out a force 10 gale in comfort. I think each guest tried to outdo the other in the sheer number and complexity of the fastenings.
More to follow...

Thanks.* BTW, the flybridge photo has President Washington's home, Mt. Vernon, in the background.

Hey RTF,

I have always said, "If you can't tie a knot, tie a LOT!!!".

I'll start my tale. It's amazing how many of us had early canoe experience. My first boating was building rafts from wood on the beach of Camano Is. I was 10 or 11. All I needed was a can of rusty and bent nails and a hammer. I'd drag the wood from beheind the logs to half tide level where I would begin my craft. By the time the rising tide floated my craft I was at least half done.The rest of the building was completed afloat with the rest of the pieces one end on the raft and the other end floating. Power was from the longest pole I could find. I probably made about 15 of these unsofisticated craft. My next marine endevor was academic. I rode my bycycle to the University Library ( in Seattle ) and devoured the boating books there. I remember well reading many by William Atkin so I knew what a boat should be like at 11. A block down the street was Seattle Sporting Goods and they always had several new 8' prams out front for $49. At about 12
I bought a kit kayak for $19.95. It was a box of canvas, spruce sticks, thousands of copper tacks and a can of aircraft dope. I built the flimsy thing ( 28 lbs and 12' long ) and paddled it a lot off the beach of Camano Is. Many of us dudes in the Seattle area began courting girls in canoes rented from the U of W in the Aboretum. We frequently came in very late ( after dark ) and in the darkness we learned new boating skills and other new skills. Clark tipped his canoe over and I still think he did it on purpose to demonstrate the high level of new skills he had achieved. At that time in life I spent my spare time ( and a lot of the rest ) on cars and all that goes with them, including more girl skills. Did'nt get far.... no not the girls... the history. Later
Eric Henning
30 Willard
Thorne Bay AK

Grew up in Memphis and got interested in sailing through a "pond yacht" (about a 30 inch sail boat) that I used to take out to a lake in the then outskirts of town.* Fast forward to New Orleans in 1968 and a chance to sail on a race boat in Lake Ponchartrain.* 40 some odd years later, having sailed about 18,000 miles offshore and at least that much more around the marks and progressing from main trimmer to jib trimmer to foredeck to navigator to celestial navigator and return skipper, I've finally decided to come over to the "dark side" and join the sybarites.*

I've sailed on boats from 22 to 65 feet (bigger is better) and have owned a total of eight sailboats from 14 to 25 feet.* Being on the water is what's important and being able to do it "inside", out of the weather, and being able to go directly toward my destination with little or no concern of wind direction while being comfortable has won me over.

I'm looking (hard) for a boat of from 36 to 44 feet.*

Dark Side,

Bigger is better? I think there is a size thats perfect for all of us but I know many of us don't have that size boat. Boats take a huge amount of energy, money and time not to mention marriages, jobs and other side effects. I have a 30' boat and I'm scared to even think of bigger. Maby thats a strong indication I've got a boat thats too big. Big boats are just too much trouble. Much of the time I wish I had my 25' Albin back. I have rowboats, canoes, kayaks and a 19' OB. After I've had my Willard a few more years I'll have to reflect on how much I accomplished with each and the most important question, the bottom line, how much fun I had with each. There's only one person on this site that has given strong indication that he has the perfect boat.

Eric Henning
30 Willard
Thorne Bay AK

And <u>I</u> am that person!!!

I believe, however, that my post said "the perfect boat for us." I was refering to the boat's size, speed, etc and how it relates to the "mission." Not the dream mission or the unrealistic mission but the honest to God, genuine, Alabama mission. You know, the one we actually do but we don't tell others about!* Yeah, that one!

Now that I've become totally honest with myself, I do, indeed, have the "perfect boat." (For us, that is.) "The smaller the boat--the more time on the water."

Walt

Walt,

You indeed were the one I was thinking about. I wondered if you'd respond.

Eric

I stand properly chastened.* I still say that bigger is better -- but only to a point.* The 60 footer I was racing on was paid for by the owner and I was just along for the ride and to sing for my supper.* The 60 had a race crew of 19, a 20 foot beam, 13-6 draft and a masthead 105 feet off the water.* The 60, however, was MUCH more comfortable in a seaway than a 35 or 40, even if paying for it was not.

As far as ease of handling and comfort in terms of sea keeping along with affordability, 35 to 45 feet works for me.* I've single handedly raced a 34 and didn't have any problems.* It just takes experience and planing in terms of what to do next.* I certainly wouldn't use them as a good example, but there are some nuts out there that race 70 footers single handedly around the world.*

Frankly, I suspect that handling a power boat in close quarters is at least as demanding as any sailing I"VE ever done.* I'm looking forward to a new education.

DS*

Eric:

I knew you were referring to me and that's why I responded in kind. One of these days I'm going to show up in Thorne bay for a face to face. I'll even buy!

I'm on the "hard" right now getting some bottom paint, transducer and Prop Speed. last bottom job was 10/2004 and it still looks passable.

Walt

Walt,

I have no idea what you plan to buy but I'll go for the nose to nose part. Cheers

Eric