SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

Tell us about the first boat you ever owned.

11K views 80 replies 55 participants last post by  tenuki 
#1 ·
I'll start, I was 16 yrs old, just learned to drive and was just driving around when I saw it. It was a 16' homebuilt pretty well constructed of plywood and fiberglass on a trailer, except.. it was in pretty bad condition (hole in the hull, etc) but hey, 200 bucks. Fixed the hole, sanded and painted it, fixed the mast, repaired the mainsail (used nylon fishing line to lash on the sail hanks, etc), all myself and for cheap.

So for my first sail I took her down to lake michigan (8 miles away) and launched her with the help of a friend. A girl I was trying to impress (who was coincidently an experienced sailor with her own hobie cat) was on hand to watch. Pretty much everything went wrong during the launch, and by the time me and my friend got about a mile offshore two things became apparent. First of all, a storm was headed in and a low, planing hull really wasn't equipped for the waves that were starting to be generated. The boat was swamping. Second of all I discovered that the centerboard that had come with the boat was the wrong one, it obviously was barely longer than the well, so basically no centerboard. Ok, should have probably checked that before I started.

At that moment one of the buckets I had for bailing floated out of the boat and away, fortunately I had tied one in so we could still bail. My friend then calmly informed me that he couldn't swim.

I ended up having to get out of the boat and swim it around to point it back to the shore, then scramble in before it took off without me. it was like sailing a rudderless submarine, but we finally got back to shore about a mile and a half down from the boat launch.

The girl had left by the time we got the boat back and she never returned my calls.

It's a miracle I'm still sailing. :D
 
See less See more
#6 ·
An early '70s Puma 23 sloop, a Holman Pye design built in Spain. Very rare in the USA, but a great sailing and sturdy boat. Somehow managed to then move up to a PUMA 26, another rarity in the US, and a design that had more tumblehome (vertical hull curve) than any other boat I've seen.
 
#8 ·
First boat I had was the family hand-me-down that my father put each of us in to learn to sail. A green wooden thing 9 feet long with a daggerboard and a cat rig. I was the youngest kid of four so it had seen its share of trauma before I got it. Not sure if it was any class or not - never seen another one. Fun though !
 
#9 ·
First "boat" was a 14' glass over ply runabout that I built from a kit at age 16...

10 years later our first sailboat was a 24' Hinterhoeller Shark, rare here on the west coast. After the first summer my wife informed me that our son was on the way, and stated she wouldn't cruise in the Shark with a baby. So, first order of business was to get a larger boat (rats!<G>) and so we only had the Shark for 6 or 7 months. It was a great, forgiving starter boat esp. in an area of generally higher (20K+) breezes on a daily basis.
 
#10 ·
Thing called a VJ. 12' skiff, plywood, solid deck. Bought it cos it was the first boat I had ever sailed and figured better the devil you know. Sadly forgot to think about a certain height difference. Getting six foot of me under that boom was tricky at best and I did spend an awful lot of time in the water. Lots of fun though.



Not mine, same design.
 
#11 ·
First boat

My first boat is the one I have now, bought three years ago when I was 49: a Santana 35 built by Schock in 1980. I probably had about 30-50 hours sailing experience when I bought it, in a rental Catalina 27 and in the knockabouts they formerly used to teach sailing at USNA back in the '70's. I'll never have two foot-itis other than when I get older and start looking for something a little smaller.
 
#14 ·
My first sailboat was probably a Snark.. I didn't own it for very long, and bought it used as a teen. Had a canoe that was used a lot more when I was a kid. Back then, I was more into fishing and less in to sailing.. which has since changed.
 
#15 ·
First sailboat was a Mirage 5.5. Price was right, since all I was looking for was something to see if I still enjoyed sailing.
 
#16 ·
My First

My first sailboat was a Snark. It was 1958 or 59. I was 13 or 14. My parents bought it for me after a runabout cut my pram in half while I was fishing on the lake. Had a grat deal of fun with that boat but like others I spent a lot of time upside down or hanging on for dear life. Been sailing on and off ever since. Bought my first "big" boat four years ago, a 1979 28' Mariner. Love that boat too and Buzzards Bay is a great place to cruise.
 
#17 ·
About 30 years passed between my first outings on a sailboat and actually buying one and sailing again. Two wives, one child, 8 or 9 jobs in nearly as many cities ... all went by before I found myself with the time, money and nearby water that made getting back into it possible.

I was living in Chicago at the time, and took lessons from the local chapter of American Youth Hostels. The price was right, and I think we spent eight or ten Friday evenings doing classroom work and took a written test before we were allowed out on the fleet of 7 or 8 Rhodes 19 keelboats that they kept at Monroe Street harbor.

The first time I had the tiller I had to launch from the mooring and sail out of the harbor. I remember the magical moment after cast-off when the sails first filled, things were suddenly quiet, and the boat began to make way. At the helm, I could distinctly hear the hiss of the wake, and looking over the stern I could see the champagne bubbles created by the rudder rising to the surface. Pure delight, and it still makes the hair on my arms stand up to recall it. I love the Flying Scot I bought last summer, but the experience of that first sail is still vivid three decades later.

Kurt
 
#18 ·
Mine's a 1976 Columbia 26K. I take posession tomorrow. A completely different boat than what I envisioned, but the price was great. The current plan is to sail her around the Bay for four years until the girls are in college, sell her, and get something to go long distance passagemaking on (like a Southern Cross 31, or a 32' Valiant), which will become home for my wife and I. Work is already cool with the idea. Current boat is to get my wife and kids out on the water and having fun.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Another hand-me-down . . .

My first boat was a hand-me-down from Dad. We sailed a Chrysler Mutineer for years when I was young. Dad was on the USS Enterprise, an aircraft carrier and I had my Small Boat Sailing Merit Badge. Therefore, we thought we were qualified to get ourselves a boat.

After a few years of sitting in the driveway and I had moved to Florida, Dad hauled her down to me. I spent several more years sailing her and then sold her to a Scotsman named Ian Molloy who had retired to Florida.

Dad was a punster, the boat was named "The Luff Boat." :D

TrT
 
#20 ·
Todd,

You're father didn't happen to like Spider Robinson as an author, did he???
 
#22 ·
Hobie 10'

The first boat I ever owned was a present for my 9th birthday. It was a little pumpkin seed with a sail. Because the boat was so small and unstable, when the impromtu hailstorm came in, I was doomed. Luckily, my fearless father and one of his cohorts came to save me. The one good thing that came from it all was that I learned to trust my life jacket. When I finally was brave enough to try again, it was on a sunfish. It was such an improvement, sailing came much easier and I was hooked for life.
 
#23 ·
Freesail99 said:
My Dad was also on the USS Enterprise.
Last October, the USS Enterprise came to visit Lisbon Portugal, on her last trip before decomission, and I sailed around her for a while..they were nice and friendly...the helicopter made my sails crazy:D :D

I like Americans...you guys are OK.:cool: :cool: :cool: Happy Easter everyone.











Sorry, photos by phone camera..
 
#24 ·
My first boat!!!

Was a small raft which I built in Cuba, had a broom stick and a sheet. Had a blast. Just donated by 1973 25 foot Ericson to the Sea Scout program and found a beutiful Morgan 28 Out Island, love it.

Sir Giuelletta, I named her after my mother Daphne, who is French. No French jokes on this one if not I will thow a stale croissant at you!!! Just kidding, I enjoy your wicked humor

John
s/v Daphne
 
#25 ·
Isusailing-

Shouldn't you have gotten a Bendytoy or a Jeanneau instead? :D
 
#26 ·
Bought a Chrysler Lone Star 13 sloop when I was in college. Read the little how to sail manual on the way home from the dealer. Launched the boat and had a nice downwind sail. When I turned back to the dock, I didn't know how to dump wind from the sails and managed to swamp the boat. It was so heavy when full of water that it would not respond to the rudder. I didn't have anything to bail with and had to be towed home by my little brother in the speedboat.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top