How did it all start for you? Please let us know.

[jimmyb]

I would love to read about how all you ol' salts got started sailing. I hate watching TV but I love a good story so I would be much abliged if you would spin a yarn or two for all of us. My story goes like this..........

I was always amazed with the beauty and filled with the wonder of sailboats.

I traveled pretty extensively with my parents when younger. As a teacher with summers off my father took us from Ma. to the west coast numerous times and up to Canada on occasion. Always spending quite a bit of time on either coast. We would bum around ports up and down the coasts like people beach comb. Still to this day I cant pass one without wanting to stop and check it out. Dad spent a bit of time in the belly of aircraft carriers in engine rooms so he was a seaman at heart. I loved walking the docks in amazement of all those high masted boats with so many lines it was hard to believe anyone would know what to do with them all.

Quite a few trips to the Virgin Isands starring out at all the lovely boats under sail. God what a beautiful sight, their stark white sails against the most heavenly water I had ever laid eyes on. I cant take my eyes off of them. We should go sailing I said to my wife year after year. Why we didnt I will never know. Last trip to the islands I was dead set on getting out over the water. Im never sure if I will ever make it back so its now or never. We picked a little half day sail on a Hobie cat around the small islands off St John purposefully with the intent on seeing if my darling would like the idea of small boat sailing. I talked the young skippers ear off and he encouraged me to get on with sailing immediately. He suggested a small boat and some good lessons to start.

Back to the mess of winter on the mainland and off to the Boston boat show to talk with Black Rock sailing. The owner operator Brenton is such an excellent individual. He spent all the time in the world with us. I was now on my way.

Some very dark days followed dealing with the long term difficulties of a degenerative disease I was blessed with put me down so low I was just short of cancelling all my future plans including my lessons after canceling a deal I had on a larger boat. My wife convinced me to take the time for myself and not let the desire to sail slip through my hands one more time.

Had the time of my life - bought my little Precision 15, gave her some loving care restoring her to her glory days and the rest is a future filled with the amazment and wonder of sailing my own sailboat(s).

If your lurking out there without a boat wondering if I should do it now. Tell yourself its now or never, encourage yourself to do it immediately and well be glad to give ya a shove off the dock.

God Bless, jimmyb

 

[Ray Bowles]

JimmyB, I too was tipped over medically at 51. I worked in a metal production plant and farmed. My hobby was building hot rods, every part, every weld. We had to sell the farm and moved closer to town and tried to fill the void. My wife wasn't into welding or motor building so we sold the cars that the kids didn't want and the question was now what?
We decided to try sailing as that was something we could do together and it wasn't overly physical. We bought a 1995 Hunter 26 in the fall of 2000.
I put it as deep in the shop as possible, tarped over the mast tent style and we read every book and manual we could find about sailing. Then we spent most nights outside in our "iceboat" making sailing noises and pretending we were pulling the right lines. We stalked this web site and asked many good questions. Looking back on it now there were one hell of a lot of stupid questions that a little more research in those manuals would have answered.
The spring and summer of 2001 we sailed 5 to 6 days a week. Sometimes the bottom was down but mostly we perfected the "round up". In late August Maria actually said "If we sell the house (our new to us 1 year old house) we could do this full time as live aboards." We used the winter to finish the needed areas of the house, packed up what we needed and gave away what we didn't need. We sold the Hunter and the house in July of 01, loaded our little Nissan 4dr, took the little dog and drove from Washington State to Georgia and started looking at boats. We drove down the coast to the Keys and started up the west coast of Florida. When we got to Mobile Alabama we found the most beautiful 1990 Island Packet 38 you could wish for. This kind of boat was truly out of our price bracket but because of a few circumstances and the fact that it need no repairs or other gear we were able to buy it.
I was lucky enough to have a 2 1/2 year remission and we sailed the Gulf Coast, Keys and lower East coast. It was OUTRAGIOUS!
We were truly fortunate that as I was having to finally admit that I wasn't strong enough to continue to sail a boat that large a person approached us and asked if we were interested in selling our boat. A week later after the survey we sold her for more than we had invested in our adventure.
We returned to NE Washington State and continue to sail a 23 foot San Juan. Our grandkids (7) are all young adults and love sailing as much as we do so we get out at least twice a week if not more.
Every morning when I wake up I thank my wife for every day we have spent together. 46 years and 6 sailboats later were still excited about every new day.
I heard a very good bit of advice years ago and it goes like this:
"When you have your grandchild sitting on your knee make sure you have a story to tell."
Ray

 

[jimmyb]

Now thats what im talkin about!

Ray, you certainly did have some stories to tell those grandchildern of yours. Man what a great journey and here's wishing you many more years and many more adventures. :dance:

God Bless, jimmyb

 

[Tim R.]

I don't think I am an old fart yet, although my wife does accuse me of being a grumpy old man. I have been sailing since 1974 when my father and I built a sailboat together. I have been in love with wind power ever since. When I was a kid I would rig a pole and a sheet to anything that floated, rolled or slid across ice. As a teenager I needed speed so I started windsurfing. Then the hobie cats and daysailers and eventually cruising boats. I do still windsurf though.

My wife and I just put a new boat under contract that we will live on. We have sold or given away most of our worldly possessions and will be moving aboard in a couple of weeks.

 

[Roger Long]

 

[cephius (Dave)]

Youth sailing programs in Long Beach, CA. 1960.

Not much of a story. I lived a few miles from Los Alamitos Bay. The City of Long Beach spent its oil money on tide water improvements, parks and recreation.

My family was not into boats. We did a great deal of camping. When it came to sailing, I was on my own. Grab a bus to the bay and go sailing in a Naples Sabot.

In Jr. High and High School I was in the Sea Scouts, the SES Malolo. We had a 40' Ketch, plus the small day sail boats at the base. On weekends, the Malolo would head out to Catalina Island.

The Sea Scout program was very skills orientated. I learned many things that are not taught anywhere else any more. Boxing a compass, Marlinespike Seamanship, Semaphore, Breeches Buoy drill. I even learned how to blow a Bosun's Pipe.

I also learned skills still of use, Navigation, Ground Tackle, handling 40' boats under power in close quarters. By the time I rated Able at the age of 16 I had quite a rich set of skills with a great deal of time on the water.

 

[Mulf]

Right place right time

After college I got a job in my wife's hometown in NH. Wife's best friend's father had a house on a large lake. He was a serious racer in the weekly "yacht club" race (15 to 20 14' to 16' boats; javelins, finns, etc). Yacht club rules required a crew and his kids had also grown up and were not available. I showed up, and weighing only 130 lbs. was immediately drafted. Later in that season yacht club dropped crew requirement so I started racing his sunfish against him in the Javelin and the rest of the yacht club. Took first place in the end of season cup race and have been hooked ever since.

30 years later traced my family tree back to two brothers who left Devonshire England in 1649 and got into the whaling trade out of Easthampton Long Island. I guess it was in my genes and just needed the opportunity to reawaken.

 

[fifedog]

Never gave a thought to sailing my first 4 decades. Brought up on the Chesapeake on Chris-Craft inboard-outboard, had first wooden rowboat at 10, and then a jonboat for bass fishing.

Then, went to a convention in Burlington, VT (of all places) several years ago. Burlington is situated on the east bank of Lake Champlain, with the mountains of New York on the western shore. It's a beautiful body of water. My wife and I were walking the waterfront, and saw a beautiful wooden sloop sailing past the lighthouse. For the first time, I was transfixed on a sailboat. We found out where that sloop was docked, and it so happened to be the FRIENDSHIP. A call to the Captain that night, and we set up a charter that weekend. AFter an afternoon on our first sailboat ride together, my wife stated,"It was certainly nice to see you smile constantly for 3 hours."

The very next spring, we bought our '79 Hunter 27.

 

[kloudie1]

Grew up with power boats in family, outboards and a steel cabin cruiser .. Flew sailplanes in early college.. One of the guys in the club had a beautiful wooden Lightning class sailboat.. One day when the wind was a bit much for playing with the sailplanes, we went out on the lake and sailed the Lightning.. I was hooked instantly.. Sailed a bit with a good friend while in Memphis doing Navy electronics school.. We sailed his Cougar class catamaran, an exciting boat to work with! (He still makes sails in Memphis) It was a while before I finished with Navy and back to college and a job.. but after my first substantial raise at work, in ’78, I bought a brand new Spirit 23.. Sailed her around Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi Gulf Islands.. Great boat.. Bought the Hunter 34 in ’91.. Having more fun now that I have more time to sail..

 

[woodster]

when i was a 9 year old ...my parents were into boating (power boats)...so i started out in a Yellow Jacket with a 35 Johnson OB....moved on to a 1956 22" Chris Craft for a few years....then as a young teen with the help of my dad built a poontoon boat that we powered with a salvaged Volvo stearn drive ...then added a 17" run about to the collection for the place on the lake in the Ozark mtns...all the while refinishing wooden boats in the back yard...including a 16 ft Higgins inboard run about and a 30 ft Owens salt water fishing boat .....then as i became older and more on my own spent a lot of time on the water around Memphis water skiing and running up and down the river .....then on to Georgia where i took up more power boating on Clarks Hill lake and the Savannah river ....making 30 or more river trips from Augusta to Savannah and back again ...had a long break up untill about 20 months ago when i saw a Choy Lee.....and the bug bit me ......for the last 15 months i have been helping a friend of mine refit an Allmand 35....and looking for one of my own untill about 11 months ago when i found this S2- 9.2a.....now the beat is going on ....i have never sail except for one short day back in 1964 on a wooden 14' Dory style up in the Ozarks .....now i am in the process of fitting the s2 to go to the salt water ......i have been told by some that there are 3 kinds of sailors...the kind that sail...the kind that like to work on sail boats ..and the kind that love to talk about sailing ....so at this point i am still trying to figuer out how much of each is in me but i have no doubt that it is all there ....because there is nothing that makes me feel any better than being around boats and water ....

regards

woody

 

[Mario G]

I was 15 yrs old and working as a Boy Scout camp counsoler on the water front and when they needed someone to teach the sailing class I was the only one willing. It was with sunfish on a small lake. A seed was planted then but took 30 yrs to sprout. I've had to teach myself both times...lol

 

[cb32863]

Always had wanted to sail but as my family really were not "boat people", they liked to walk around with everything on our backs and drive everywhere, I never got the chance. So after a couple kids, a divorce, a win of the custody trauma, etc etc... last September it finally hit me and I found a school and I took my ASA 101. I joined the boat club which at the level I am at lets me use their boats as much as I want, when available of course. Sailied almost every week this season, which goes from Mid to late April to Mid October up here in MN. I took ASA 105 over last winter and I am going up to the Apostles at the end of August fro my ASA103/104 and then again the first weekend in October for a boat club flotila trip. That will end my season, too soon for me as I truely wish I would have done this sooner in life. But I am doing it now, my kids enjoy it and that means we get to do things together as they are nearly old enough to leave the nest. Still weighing buying my own boat or re-uping in the boat club for next year but, I have found my "thing" and I am a lifer.

 

[jimmyb]

These are all great stories. Keep em coming.

 

[Dave Meissner]

I grew in NJ. My dad was a avid fisherman, so we'd go out in his or his buddies boat and catch blues or flounder. He never got in to sailing, but I was always fascinated by sailboats. Fast forward.....(1970's) I was in the AF stationed at McGuire in NJ. I was living in a house in a place called Country Lakes that had a shallow lake. Somewhere I found a little 12 or 14 foot Sea Witch sailboat and began figuring out how it worked. Pretty simple thing, just a plastic board really with a dagger board, main and jib.

Fast forward again.....like 20+ years....
We are the 3rd owners of Pondweed, Suzie and I purchased her from Fred Miller a friend of ours that I knew through my work. At the time I was working as a field service engineer for Packard Instrument Company. In my travels I was taken to Washington State University quite often, where I met Fred who worked in the Radiation Safety Dept. Fred is an avid sailor and often our conversation would turn to boats and sailing. One time, Fred offered to take Suzie and I for a sail on Pondweed, that was all it took, we purchased her from Fred later that year, if I recall correctly it was 1999. The original owner was a biologist at WSU named Ed Brock. Ed purchased and outfitted our San Juan 23 to do research on the Columbia River system, concentrating on algae, pondweeds and zooplankton. We had considered changing Pondweed's name over the years. Besides the fact that it's bad luck unless the correct ceremony is performed we now feel that since she was a former research vessel Pondweed deserves to keep her name........ and it makes a good story.

We still have Pondweed. We sailed her on Lake Pend' Oreille for a few years. Four years ago we moved to Seattle and now we sail her here.

Dave

 

[Vision36]

I have been on the water all my life. Living in the bayous and fishing and commercial shrimping, then running tug boats on the louisiana coast. At the age of 23 started in the oil industry and have been offshore most of it.

One day I was sitting on my brother-in-laws wharf and watching the sailboats on the lake. I thought to myself that I have been on the water for 50 years and never been on a sailboat. I went to the yacht club and talked to a man working on his sailboat. I asked if he knew any boats for sale. He told me he had a 25' oday that he was wanting to sale. I looked at the oday sitting on its trailer and told him it was sold.

I went to the book store and bought "Sailing for dummies". Later during the middle of the week when I knew no one would be around to watch i launched the oday. I have not regreted that moment and love the freedom that wind brings to "power" my boat.

I still own a 50' power boat in addition to the Hunter 36 Vision and a 22' bucaneer.

I love sailing but most of all I love being on the waters that GOD created for us.

 

[Brian D]

In 1973, I was at the Caspian Sea and a friend of mine asked if I would like to go out on a sailboat. It was a small one maybe 12 foot or so. I said sure as long as she knew how to sail. I have never looked back since.

 

[Ross]

When I was little we had a stream behind the house and bits and pieces of wood became boats as I launched them. Leaves also worked. There has never been a time when I was considering a lifestyle that didn't include boats. Sails are a grand way to move a boat but if it floats and I can sit in it or on it I am happy.

 

[RAD]

Hi,
My name is Bobby D and I'm a boataholic and this obsession started when I was in my early teens saving every penny from paper routes and cutting lawns to buy my first boat a 16 ft Old Town runabout with a 40 hp Johnson and it was a fixer upper but I learned and after selling it for a profit I bought another wooden boat, a 21 footer with fiberglass over plywood and a 125 hp outboard and with a small cabin.
After selling that boat there was a lapse in between boats (had to focus on traveling around the country and girls) but by the time I was 30 and needing a place to live I found a Chris Craft Connie with teak decks and twin engines and only one worked but the whole boat needed a complete refurb so refurb we did and after untold hours of labor new teak decks,327 Chevy engines,new interior,etc... my dream boat was finished (never is a boat finished) but after meeting my first wife and buying a house, having kids getting divorced some things have to be parted with and the Chris Craft went but one day I decided to buy a Honda 7.5 hp and then go find a small boat to put it on to have something to play around with and after asking a friend to keep an eye out for something he said get in the car and we headed towards the marina.....he shows me his 24 Bristol sailboat and says I'm moving my business and I need you to rewire my new place so take the boat and we'll figure out the money along the way....well I knew that very moment and after learning how to sail (I'm still learning) on that Bristol that I'll never be without a boat again, the children grew up and the need for more space brought us into looking for a lager boat and the present boat a 32 Oday is our floating summer home and although the big kids don't want to spend the time on the boat it is serving us well with the newest children 7 yrs and 7 months

 

[zeehag]

i grew up in a unique family. seems my grt-grtgrandfather founded a successful shipping company back in the golden age of sail. my mommas uncle went into navy and learned on tallships, bought for reallly cheap a gaff rigged sloop--or got it free--from a famous rich man who had more bux than brains, and ultimately the gaff rigged sloop became a national historic treasure. my mommas uncle graduated kings point merchant marine academy after the navy, and sailed in tallships around the world as a merchant mariner. when i was 7 yrs old, we went sailing on mommas uncles boat. we would go sailing when we visited grandparents and cousins in upstate NY. i was 16, stepped on a rusty nail in the boatyard--is an ancient one---yipes--i didnt tell anyone, and while we sailed hudson river that day, i performed rustectomy on my foot so i wouldnt have to stay away from the water.
my mommas mom told me "ladies dont sail" so i got out the window of my bedroom at grandmother's and ran 5 miles to uncle phil's to go sailing. too bad there wasnt any wind..
after i raised my son and life was mine,in 1990, i bought a 34 ft olympian--the best boat hank mccune ever built--and moved on board. i have been living aboard since then , and have owned boats of many sizes, and under many situations from boatsitting to owning my own heavy displacement cruiser.
i ran away from home 2 times to sail opb-one time in caribean--not wise choice when i chose the skipper--LOL--but i was successful the second time out--spent a near year in gulf coast sailing and lazing..was fun--had some awesome sailing and some horrific t-storms! but inside those is some waaayyy fast sailing....gotta stay fast to avoid the bolts!!
now i cannot wait to get my boat out of here to be a full time , water only, no docks sailorette who is able to go anywhere i want whenever i want to ....

see you out there.....

 

[Hermit Scott]

I decided one day I wanted to sail to the Bahamas. I searched the internet and found this site. I asked them what kind of boat I would need. Then I asked them 1000 more questions.