Reasons We Boat

Shot this today. Enough said.

Sanity - Nuff Said!

Son and grandson - Florida bound out of Gulfport - great trip! One of quite a few. And one reason out of quite a few.

Sbu, what's the story on those gear and throttle levers?

Looks like a Glendenning synch where you only use one lever


Or it's heck-a-va turn....

The most important thing in that pic is the young man wearing a PFD. Bravo.

The Glendenning sync needs the passive throttle slightly engaged - maybe it is.

Memories. Been on the water a good portion of my life, now 62. Started working on my dads tugs about age 10, first trip to Alaska from Seattle at 12 on an old wood tug with a heavy duty Atlas of 200HP. Spent the whole summer working in and around Sitka, towing logs, logging camp floats, barges, what have you. Who could forget that? Had boats of my own and taken the kids on trips to the San Juans on an old Monk cruiser, the navy whaleboat and hope to soon with the 34 CHB just bought. I once threatened to leave the area and move to Montana. Neighbor lady said ha, no way, you got too much salt water in your veins. I poo poohed that, but she was right.

78puget-trawler said:

Memories. Been on the water a good portion of my life, now 62. Started working on my dads tugs about age 10, first trip to Alaska from Seattle at 12 on an old wood tug with a heavy duty Atlas of 200HP. Spent the whole summer working in and around Sitka, towing logs, logging camp floats, barges, what have you. Who could forget that? Had boats of my own and taken the kids on trips to the San Juans on an old Monk cruiser, the navy whaleboat and hope to soon with the 34 CHB just bought. I once threatened to leave the area and move to Montana. Neighbor lady said ha, no way, you got too much salt water in your veins. I poo poohed that, but she was right.

Click to expand...

She was right... that's for sure. In my mid 20's to early 30's I left San Diego and spent 9 + years in upper Sierra Nevada Mountains. Made money, had great time. Left the Sierras in 1983 for SF Bay Area waters. Never intend to leave!

Good eye, gents. Glendenning engaged. Thanks, Howard -his father is stringent about pfds - not for himself, of course.

Jim
Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

Future boater

Because it's fun...

Fun, Fun, Fun


Note: As you might be able to tell... LOL


In bottom photo Cooper was a bit pissed... cause, the current had taken him some 100's of feet from our Tolly. We hollered to him that if he wanted to get back he'd better learn real quick how to row correctly. At first he was all over the map... with us yelling explanations on how to row. When he got back he knew how to row; but, at first was madder than a wet hen!! I call that a speed learning row course. He mellowed out and was soon laughing about his adventure!

Gathering spot for very busy and dispersed families........
Three generations aboard this weekend in honor of Mother's Day which has become a little tradition.
Priceless.

Because the Great Lakes are cool....versus Texas in the summer.

Nuff said.

Badger is our Base Camp to Adventure in our corner of BC's north coast, where almost all the islands and mainland bays are uninhabited, there's virtually no private land or docks in anchorages, miles of beaches without footprints, forests & mountains with only game trails, and where you can go days without seeing another boat

(Zain, casting a glance back towards Badger at anchor in McMicking Inlet, Campania Island)

When I was working I used to say that being on the boat was my chance to escape the insanity of work and go to the peaceful quiet of the boat.


Now that I'm retired I just say "because I can".


IMHO there's no greater way to spend a day than goofing off on the boat with one or more of the grandkids. Doesn't matter if we're on our SeaRay or on the Whaler. Being out there with a 5 year old with wide eyes and an eagerness to learn just makes my whole day.

As a child, it was my safe place. It was like all the kids on television who have a cave or a secret clubhouse. It was my place to escape everything else. The one place in the world that just felt good.

I guess until this thread I didn't fully think about this. I always thought of myself in my working days, before meeting my wife, and it being my one and only fun activity, my escape. But just now this made me realize it was that long before my work days.

Thankfully, my wife instantly fell in love with it. I think anything I loved, she would have loved and does. It's like friends, where if your spouse has a friend, out of love for your spouse, they become your friend, even if otherwise they wouldn't have. However, boating took her back to one bright day in her childhood when she sneaked off to a church outing.

It became our escape together and our favorite recreation. Then when we saw we could retire, it was easy. We just knew we must be on the water and must have a boat. We started listing all the places we want to go by water. It's a lifetime ahead.

We love our home. However, we've talked about the people who live on the water but have no boat. Or those who only boat in the ICW. Maybe wanderlust, but we can't imagine not wanting to get out and see what's there. I laughed when I read her comment on locking and wanting to see what's on the other side. To me, every day is an adventure. We see something new in the world, even places we've been before. Wherever we are today, we're enjoying it, but also looking forward to where we'll be tomorrow or the next day. Adventure to some involves danger and risk or some great physical undertaking. It may lead them up a mountain or deep into a forest. To us, it's the next destination. People say, "I can't imagine there's anything to do there." There is always something. Always some history or something the local residents are proud of. Then to the next. Before today I'd never caught a Walleye. Before this week, I'd never been to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Tomorrow is a new day and we'll be living it fully, on the water, the incredible water of the world that can take you to millions of different places. I'd have never had the nerve of Columbus to discover new lands, even if someone else beat him there. But I do discover them now.

It was my safe place. Now it's just a very happy place and still safe.

One of those postcard perfect days. Stopped for the afternoon in Buccaneer Bay off Thormanby Island on the way back from Desolation Sound. I really should take my sandals off more often.
My wife and I both grew up on boats so much of it is tradition for us. Its also a great way for us to really connect with our kids with them being removed from all of today's electronic distractions.

Boydster said:

My wife and I both grew up on boats so much of it is tradition for us. Its also a great way for us to really connect with our kids with them being removed from all of today's electronic distractions.

Click to expand...

One thing I've noticed too is how when cruising we really get to know so much more about those we're with. When you're moving from point A to point B and it's 10 hours, you have a lot of time to talk in a relaxed atmosphere. You feel even closer to them than you already did.

Then sometimes it becomes very serious conversation. Mother's day certainly was. It's different for every person. One feeling a bit sad she's not with her mother on the day, another hating the holiday because it's always reminded her that she never had a real mother. She does think of her grandmother though.

I think people open up more in the boat atmosphere. You're more relaxed and you have time. I think a cruising boat would make the perfect counseling office. It's almost like what California Psychiatrists were trying to achieve with Ecstasy. Yes, it was a legal prescription drug at one time. It made people more comfortable communicating their feelings. Sometimes both patient and doctor took one. Well, I think a boat does that.

Sanity says it all. I lived aboard for about 15 years. I always told people who asked what it was like, that going on board at night, you are tethered to that crazy world by a few strands of line and a power cord and can be severed from that in a matter of minutes. Just knowing that, you are a million miles from it all even on days when you don't leave the dock.

The beautiful sunrises and sunsets!

Memories...

Because We Can!!

Blame it on Buffett!!!!!

It is kind of odd-when I head to downtown Seattle to a client's office, it is exactly the same every time-same I-5, same traffic, same scenery, same big freakin' mountain in the background. I am almost comatose on the short drive because of the sameness.

Yet, we get on the boat, set the same course we often do, see the same Olympic Mountains in the west, see the same skyline, see the same big freakin' mountain to the southeast, and every single time it is different. I am alert, perhaps even alive.

Can't explain why, don't know why, but on the water it is just different every single day.