What was your First Boat?

[phatdaddy]

1976 bought a 1964 13 ' whaler w/ 25 evinrude
1982 sold whaler and bought 1972 Mako 19'w/ 115 evinrude
1989 sold Mako (motor blew up) & bought a 21' Hydro-
Sport w/ 235 Evinrude. Driest and best riding center console I have ever been in,but too much vee. At anchor if you walked to the side, you felt like you were going to tip over
1990 Sold Hydro sport for $6500. and bought 83
V-20w/150 mercury for $6500 on the same day.
2005 Still got the boat but re-powered with a 150 Mariner in 95
I 've been looking for another boat for years, but the
V-20 always beats them and I already own it.

This is going to be tough

1. 12 Carter Craft mahaghony skiff with 10 hp Wizard outboard, I was 12 yrs old

2. Some kind of little green skiff with an 18 evinrude then a 25 Evinrude I was 16 or so

3. some kind of white V hull about 18 foot with a 90 johnson, late teens early 20s I guess, at the same time I had a gill net boat that was 17 foot with a 25 johnson, and also pulled shrimp nets with it

4. 16 foot Carolina Skiff it's on it's 3rd motor and second trailer, still own it and still use it constanly, got it when I was 26

5. 17 foot montgomery sail boat, 5 hp motor

6. 30 foot Columbia sailboat 12 hp diesel got it when I was 35 and still own it

7. Saving the best for last 1976 V-20 Center COnsole with a 120 hp got it a few months ago and will probably always own it

[Brian_M]

Previous

1979 Anchorcraft I/O runabout (also known as the AnchorCrap)

1979 Dufour 35' Sailboat w/ 27 hp diesel. Owned it 16 years and lived aboard for 5 years in NC and California

1989 Catalina 27 sailboat w/ 12 hp diesel

Now

1985 Carver 3207 Aft cabin, twin 5.7 MPI Mercruiser inboards installed this summer

1996 Wellcraft Eclipse (married this one)

1976 Wellcraft V20 w/ 165 hp inline 6 I/O

Happy holidays!!

[chitbob1]

let's see my first would have been make shift rafts I made as a child that would take a month to build and maybe would float a day 4 lakes behind our house
ok now the kind that float I think about age 20 I got a 12 monkey wards v-bow aluminum just a trolling motor
later put a Sears 7.5 gamefisher on it needed more power so I put an additional 7.5 GF on it to fast then just recently sold it I kept it for my pond in the yard

2. age 23 1975 westwind 17' tri hull with a one way 85hp mercury in line 6 always paddled back

3. age 26 1975 23' westwind cuddy cabin 292 chevy omc outdrive that boat was so heavy you had fits getting out of the water

4.currently 8' peddle boat in my pond
1977 17' pro-line deep vee cc that my wife learned to fiberglass on we totaly redone everything on her pride
&joy 85hp chrysler very good boat

1975 wellcraft v20 cc i/o 4.3L omc cobra bought for 1,000 have not had the privledge to take it out yet
2 other projects going hope I QUALIFY

[Skools Out]

oh yeah sounds good hey you had a 12 MW with twin 7.5 hp's? i'd like to see that that is a sight a 12 ft with twins how cool. were they both tillers?

[reelapeelin]

TWIN 7.5s....FANTASTIC...please tell me you got some pictures you can post!!!... ;D 8) 8) ;D...

After reading all the previous posts I realized that I'm an "aspiring player". All of the boats I've been on have been owned by either my father or cousin. Growing up my dad started with an 18' MFG (early 70's maybe even 60's) with an OMC I/O that seemed to be nothing but problems that he inherited after my grandfather passed. I remember many of days my grandfather and him working on it before granddad passed and many more days he worked on it afterwards. But once it was in the water it was a good little no-frills boat. Caught my first bluefish (about 14 lbs)on that boat trolling with a Cisco Kid when I was 8.
In '85 he and my mom bought a 19' galaxy bow-rider. That lasted until we got caught in some mildly rough seas (3 ft) and on the way in slighty dipped the bow through a wave or two.
So the next boat they bought was a 20 foot '86 Regal. Closed bow (dad's preference) with plenty of creature comforts (mom's preference). Very versitle boat. Not really a fishing boat, but we made due.
In '92 mom & dad went on a "bigger is better" kick and bought a 26' Bayliner. Turned out "bigger" wasn't really "better" and in '96 they bought a Wellcraft 23 Excel. A very fishable boat with just enough comfort to keep mom happy, though over the years her interest in boating has fadded a bit.
My cousin has had 3 boats over the last 15 years between 17' and 20' (his latest).
For the last few years things have come to a point in my life where I can finally have a boat of my own. I wanted a '20 boat that could handle the the lower Chesapeake Bay and the coastal waters comfortably. I'd seen plenty of V20s roaming the bay and liked the hull design as well as the open layout so I went looking for something similar to the V20. I never did see anything similar in new boats, but I did see the high prices (+30 grand for a 20' boat????) on top of not seeing a layout that I actually liked. Which led me to look for a used V20. The one I came across is now my first boat. It's the '71 V20 sitting on the side of my house waiting for me to restore it. Unfortunatly time and work space hasn't been on my side, but I'm working on fixing those issues. So until I actually splash my V20 I guess that makes me an "aspiring player". In the meantime I'll keep reading the posts here for encougement and ideas as well as putting in my two cents every now and then...
Oh, yeah I'm 33 and wanna-be-boataholic! 8)

[chitbob1]

Skools yes they were both tillers it was tough sitting in back of the boat with both hands behind you but believe me you knew when you got them in time with each other that was the trial then I built a bracket for it where you could concentrate on lookin forward with just one hand behind you quite a sight to see the men in bass boats when you pass them up

[willy]

Hey JeffXJ we are all aspiring players, it never ends, thats what keeps us young and looking forward to the next best thing or best gadget etc. Welcome and good luck with the restore ;)

[CT_V-20]

12' Snark - sailboat (12-yrs old)
14' Zuma - sailboat (14-yrs old)
20' Sea Sprite I/O - parent's (15-yrs old)
14' MFG - mine (16-yrs old)
16' Old Town Canoe - (17-yrs old; still have)
17' Hansa - sailboat (22-yrs old)
15' Key West Explorer - (24-yrs old) awesome & simple
20' Sea Ox Walkaround - 30-yrs old
Quahog - current