What was your First Boat?

[TheTinMan]

A 1959 Fiberglass tri-hull, what a tank! Came with a 1968 40hp that had a burnt cylinder. A friend of mine, get bthis, had a 1959 (same year as boat) 35hp Johnson Super Quiet for $100.

I had to install new cable steering, got it all hooked up, all excited towed it to the ramp, launched it, took off and turned right.....and the boat went left! duh

Gees, the name of the hull was Glass*****, may have been Glasstron or Glasspar. :o

[Franco]

AN EARLY 80"S 20' SEAOX CENTERCONSOLE WITH A 115 'RUDE 30 YEARS OLD

THAN A 13' BOSTON WHALER SUPER SPORT WITH A 35 HP SUMPTHIN 35 YEARS OLD

83 WELLCRAFY V20 CUDDY WITH A VOLVO PENTA 225 HP I/O 42 YEARS OLD

2005 MCKEE CRAFT 196 MARATHON CC 150 YAMAHA F150 FOUR STROKE 49 YEARS OLD

[captbent]

WELL MY FIRST BOAT WAS MY FATHERS A 1964 CRIS CRAFT, THAT IS WHERE I STARTED AS A YOUNG BOY, IN MY TEENS I SOON BECAME THE PILOT BUT NEVER THE CAPT, HAD THAT BOAT TILL I WAS IN MY EARLY 20S, THEN MY FIRST BOAT WAS A 1967'28'LUHRS SPORT FISHERMAN THAT I HAVE A PIC OF ON THE SITE LOVED THAT BOAT HAD THAT IN MY LATE 20S, THEN IN MY 30S I WENT SMALL A 17' BRIG WITCH I STILL HAVE, THEN HAD A 37' SILVERTON CONVERT FOR 5 YEARS, THEN I GOT A 17 'MIRROWCRAFT THAT I USE FOR FISHING ALL THE TIME, AND NOW A V20 THAT I GOT FOR FREE THAT I AM REBUILDING AND IM 47 NOW

1976: My first boat was a 1974 V20 with an OMC 165HP, bought by my dad when I was 12.
1978: Dad traded it in for a 1978 Century 27' (big mistake) with a single Mercruiser 260: poorly built but we got a slip on Lake Michigan in Chicago.
1980: Dad bought a 1978 Trojan Express Cuiser 30' with twin 225 Crusaders. Dad wanted twins for Lake Michigan. Starboard engine never worked right despite a rebuild.
1982: Dad traded the Trojan for a 30' Sea Ray weekender with twin 400HP mercs which went 45MPH.
1986: Mom had a stroke and ended our boating days
1990: Dad died of cancer
2004: I started the whole process over by buying a 1986 V20 with a 225 Johnson.

[rb437]

Late 60's - early 70's: Spent summers as a kid in NJ sailing a Sunfish with my best friend.
77-78: Spent 18 months aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal.
80's & 90's: owned a few small boats, Sunfish, O'Day Widgeon, Jon boat.
1999: Bought a 1992 17' Bayliner Capri with a 70hp Force. The boat was in great shape and ran well for me, but I quickly discovered how small this boat was. It was good for playing around in the river, but you had to keep a very close eye on the winds and avoid any days over 15 knots if you didn't want to beat yourself half to death. After learning the shortcomings of the Bayliner the decision to move up to a larger boat was easy. That decision was confirmed the day I was pulling one of the kids on a tube and I turned back into my own wake and took water over the bow.
2001: Bought 1989 v20 and have been very happy with it from the first day. Sold the Bayliner for $400.00 more than I paid for it.

I don't know if that qualifies me a player, but to quote MJ "who cares." I love my boat.

a 12 foot aluminum skiff with an ancient evinrude.

a 16 foot glasspar with a 40 evinrude.

an 18 foot silverline tri hull with a 115 evinrude.

a 24 foot performer with a 350 chevy.

a 22 foot sea ray with a ford i/o and later with a 225 evinrude on a bracket.

a 24 foot bayliner ciera with a 350 chevy.

a 1986 wellcraft v 20 with a 350 chevy and a brand new hardtop.

* * * * * * * * <*{{{>( and im 42.

[willy]

Hey Rick, you brought back memories with the USS Forrestal my Dad who passed when I was 16 was a marine engineer and installed the engines on that carrier, I have pictures somewhere of walking around on the deck when I was a little boot. First carrier with nuke propulsion.

[Blue_Runner]

You a playa in my book if you got a V20 (or V21)... ;)

[C YENSEN]

bought my first boat this year. 1984 v20 with a 470 merc. nothing to compare it to but i love it

[chumbucket]

Hmmm, don't know how old I was when I got my first boat. My dad gave me a wooden rowboat that was kept at our camp in Maine and provided many years of fishing fun on that lake. We threw a small 2hp motor on it after a couple years. I bought my first boat myself in 1973. A 14' Mirrocraft side console with a 25hp Johnson at the Boston Boat Show. Boat, motor and trailer for $800. Had it up until about 7-8 years ago and sold it for about 2X what I paid. 8)
My first "real" boat (if you want to call it that) was a '78 20' Glastron Cuddy Cabin with a 115 Merc inline six (God, I hated that motor). That boat was very solid and lots of freeboard with a decent layout for fishing.
A 24' Century powered by a Merc 260 I/O. That I/O gave me so much trouble. Seemed I was always working on it more that out fishing. I sold that one after 1 1/2 seasons and beat it like a rented mule at the end.
Next came a 26' Stamas Pilot house similar to the layout of the Parkers. This one was also powered with a Merc 260 I/O. You would think I'd have learned my lesson from the previous boat. Found out after several misadventures that the previous owner installed a motor donated by one of his trucks and never changed the camshaft or anything else. That motor gulp water while trolling at 3 knots and that was all she wrote on that motor. I threw a big block in it with a Bravo outdrive and the power was so much better. I loved this boat to fish from but it was an absolute PIG on gas with either motor. I think the boat tipped the scales at close to 10,000lbs. We liked to make the run across Cape Cod Bay to fish the Provincetown Race and it cost a fortune in gas even at $.99/gallon. Hated to do it, but got rid of that boat.
Then came probably the best boat I've owned. '87 Grady-White 22' Walkaround powered by an Evinrude 225 on a bracket. Yamaha 4 stroke 9.9 kicker motor with electric start. Nice full enclosure for the helm and a huge cockpit for fishing. This one was "The Boat" for me. It had everything I wanted. Then a few years later, my daughter was pregnant with my grandson. After he was born, I made the difficult decision to sell the Grady to help put a down payment on the house right next door to mine. So now I get to see my little buddy everyday, so that's not a bad thing right? ;D 8)As pre-arrainged, I made it known that when the Grady got sold, I would be buying something else for a lot less $$.
This is where the Wellcraft came into the picture. After extensive searching, I found the V20 Center Console the boat for me. I loved fishing this boat and the mobility it provided me. I really shouldn't have sold it, but the guy wore me down with an offer that I couldn't refuse. So, I sold it for considerably more than I paid.
The search has been on for a while now for a replacement but between working lots of hours and some other priorities on the homefront, I haven't seemed to be able to make a connection on anything. I've made a few offers on boats. There's a 17' tin boat sitting in the driveway that I've been using. Powered by a 60hp Evinrude, it's actually not a bad Striper fishing boat, but I want something a little more than that.
I'm 50 years old now, so maybe I'll settle down and keep whatever I get this next time around. I'm really not looking for a project boat. Too many other priorities to get saddled with a project. I've attempted a couple of those and just never found the time to complete them, so they were sold as is. I still have a bracket from one project. If I find the right boat, maybe I'll sell the bracket to get those thoughts out of my head. Whenever I see the bracket, I start thinking of taking something on to apply that bracket to.
Oh well, the search continues, but this is a tough time of year in the Northeast to do any real looking, so we'll see what pops up come springtime.