Question for the boaters

[DoubleB]

So the poll got me to thinking.. UHOH..

What was your first boat?

 

[Fishin Fool]

You'll have to define first boat. If you are talking about anything that floats my first one was a second hand canoe that I fished out of from the time I was 14 until I was about 16. My first actual boat with a motor was a Sunsport Ski Boat (which I just recently sold) with a 220 HP V-8.

 

[Buoy-Master]

1st / 12' Fiberglass-Homemade-Flatbottom with some air cooled 5 horse motor.</p>

2nd -14' Alum with same motor</p>

3rd-16' Alum with same motor..LOL (that was a tough little thing)</p>

4th-16' Fiberglass Hornet Tri Hull made in Manchester Tn with a Merc 65 Thunderbolt</p>

5th-16'  NEW Tracker with Merc 50 (had 2 of those in 3 months!!)</p>

6th-18.5'  New Stratos! and love it....well...I have considered a 20'

 ****Consider it and....</p>

7th- New 20 foot Stratos with Yamaha 225 Decked out and Red Flake.</p>

Figured I'd just list them all

</p>

 

[Bass Addict]

14' fiberglass trihull with a 1953 Johnson 50. Bought it with grass cutting money when I was 14 years old. give $300 for it and it was all to pieces. Got er going though and started catfishing.

 

[NRG]

1st boat 4 or 6man vinyl raft just oars no motor, from Monkey Wards. age 15 B-day present
2nd boat used 14 ft Aluminum V-Hull 9.9 Johnson, electric transom mount trolling motor age 17 worked at marina all summer to pay for it
3rd boat 17ft Ranger with 75 hp won in TX in WV sold when moved to TN in 89 emoDoh emoBawl age 19
4th boat 16 foot unknown make fiberglass with 25hp motor went POW! age 21
5th boat 15 foot alum v-hull 9.9 motor age 22
6th boat 18 foot canoe, 5hp electric trolling motor age 23
7th Belly Boat flippers to move along - if you can call that a boat lol
8th boat 15ft Hurst Bass Boat 75Hp age 38
9th boat and current 17.5 Astroglass bass boat w 150hp age 40

 

[dtw2]

1st. boat- 1987 180 Vision with 150 mariner
2nd. boat 1997 Ranger R72 sport 115 Fast strike
3rd. boat 1996 Javelin 389 TE 175 Fast strike

 

[Davo]

First I took over one that my dad had. An ancient POS Bomber. Half the time the motor didn't work so we just trolled. I pulled it with a totally humilating Chimney Sweep van. Terrible, but it floated, most of the time.

In 1993 I bought a brand new Tracker TX 17 and about wore it out. I was fishing more than 300 days a year and got every penny's worth out of that boat.

In 2005 I bought a Stratos Vindicator 17, that I sold to Bprice in '06. That same day I picked up an '05 Triton TR 186. It's not as fast as the Stratos but has more room for all my crap.

 

[Liveliner]

emoLaugh

 

[cargotrailer]

1st was a 2 man inflatable with oars that my mom got for me using green stamps, i think. Does anyone remember green stamps? They were kind of like "MArlboro Miles". I was 10 or 11 and me and a cousin would fold that thing up and get it and all our gear on a 3-wheeler (they were the hot ATV at the time). We would ride over to the Baptist Associations camp where there was a small lake for some bluegill and bass fishing. After we spent 30 minutes pumping it up.

 

[BackOnTheWater]

1st - 12 ft plastic v-hull with a 3 hp TrueValue engine. Pulled it with my HUGE 1979 Datsun 210 hatchback!

2nd - got my Dad's 17.5 ft DynaTrak w/ 140 hp Evinrude when he died, sold it to his fishing buddy soon after.

3rd - mid-70's model SeaCraft bass boat w/ 45 hp Merc, front & rear decks...still have, plan to fix up.

4th - current '86 ProCraft w/ 150 Merc..very similar to dear old Dad's boat...it's all I need...

Love the lawn-chair raft!!!!!emoThumbsup

 

[Buoy-Master]

Liveliner - 4/24/2007 12:33 AM emoLaugh

</p>

And there we have Ranger Rob and his very first boat!

</p>

 

[rsimms]

The Great Green Submarine - My first boat was a 10-foot... yes, I said 10-foot... Jon Boat. I paid $20 for it. My buddy's Dad rounded up a 6-HP Johnson and we thought we were hot stuff. Until one December day.... 20 degrees and blowing snow.... we launched (out of the back of the pickup truck).... to go duck hunting. Three people (in waders), three guns and decoys... remember, 10-foot boat. You get the picture... about 100 yards out my buddy says, "turn a light on. Something feels weird." I hit flashlight and see water pouring over front end... my buddy gooses it (as much as you can "goose" a 6 HP Johnson), and the boat simply noses beneath the waves like a submarine. Long story short.... we floundered in the water until somebody started to go under and realized they could touch bottom. The water was 5 feet, 4 inches deep... which means we could barely keep our noses out of the water. I swam out and ran for the truck to fire up the heater. My buddies stayed out there and waded around in circles and recovered all three of our guns. I had to undress them at the truck (ugly picture, I know) because hypothermia had set in. Of course we came back after daylight and recovered our shipwreck, although that motor never ran again. From there on out the vessel was known as The Great Green Submarine.

 

[Guest]

1. 10' john with a 3.5 air cooled motor from Sears
2. 18' john with a 35 Merc
3. 14' john with a 25 Evinrude
4. 15' Procraft w a 75 Johnson
5. 18' Vision w 150 Merc
6. 19 1/2' Hydrasport w a 200 Evinrude
7. 20' Bullet w a 200 Merc
8. 20' Bullet w a 225 Merc

 

[BackOnTheWater]

Mr. Simms, THAT story should have been censored by the moderator! I was enjoying your story until it got ugly and offensive! WAAAAAY more than we needed to hear!emoLaugh emoLaugh emoLaugh

 

[RangerRob]

Yep ... LL took that pic minutes before I sold it him! That was the original flagship of the Bama Navy. The ONLY problems I ever had out of that boat was that the beer cooler was actually larger than the boat itself. Those were the good 'ol days ... emoLaugh

The first boat was actually a '77 Procraft. That boat was a 16 footer and was only rated for a 115, but the previous owner had strapped a Merc 150 on it and that little sucker would move along pretty good. My dad actually bought my younger brother and I that boat just a few months after I turned 16, but he had grounded me from driving anywhere but school, so he had to drive us back and forth to the lake for the first few months that we had it. We insisted on going anytime the sun was shining, and I recall a Dec or Jan day that we just HAD to go. Dad - a non-fisherman - was so cold he just layed in the bottom of the boat under blankets all afternoon while my brother and I fished ... and got peppered by shotguns from the duck hunters. My brother and I were oblivious ...

I've also owned in the neighborhood of 30+ kayaks ... does that count for anything? emoRolleyes

 

[Skeeter]

Well the first boat i ever owned I owned 1/2's with Gray Bomber. It was a 1988 17' Crappie Master with a 95hp Mercury. Our uncle ownes it now. The second was a 2005 Ranger 175VS with a 125 Mercury. Sold it to up grade to a 1996 Javelin 400SE with a 200 Johnson.

 

[SeqBass]

I was just out of high school when I bought my first. A 17' Venture with a 75 merc. Couldn't have been more proud....

 

[Bumble Bee Kid]

1st 15.5 ft Dyna-Trak with a 90 horse merc

2nd 18ft Bumble Bee with a 150 Johnson

3rd A 2008 519vx Ranger with a 200 Yamaha HPDI (when ever it comes in) which I can't stand not having a boat it sucks.

 

[ranman]

1st 72 or 73 model glassmate tri-hull with a Johnson 75 that I got from my uncle
2nd 84 bullet 17vee with a Merc 150
3rd and current 2001 bullet 21xd with a merc 225 optimax.

 

[DHaun]

1967 14' Alumacraft - 20hp Evinrude (used it as a kid growing up on the lake)
1991 17' Tracker - 40hp Johnson
2005 18' G3 1860 - 90hp Yamaha 4-stroke