Have had a bunch of boats over the years but my first boat was what they called a 222 Stinger by Chris craft.

My first boat was a 19' Checkmate Convincor Jet with a Ford 460
Second boat was a 27' Baja with single 454
Third boat was a 35' Sonic with various engine packages (LOL)
Current boat is a 47' Riviera M470 (aka: Excalibur) with twin 496 HO/HP
Plus a myriad of skis, jon boats, inflatables, etc...

First? '81 Formula 233LS. I was 22. Then a couple 24ft'rs. Now? Who knows

2006 bayliner 185 . since then ......2007 yamaha vx deluxe , 1992 seahart corona , 76 checkmate jetmate 2 , 88 wellcraft nova spyder .bringing me to my current 97 active thunder tantrum , and that dang bayliner that i cant get rid off to save my life .

2000 - 2003: 1984 18' 187 Sea Ray Monical - 19 yrs old
2003 - 2012: 1993 24' Sea Ray Bowrider (454) - 23 yrs old
2012 - Present: 2004 37 Formula SS (twin 496 HOs) - 31 yrs old

First was Sweet Sixteen....
It's the only one I wish I had now.....
Lots of work, but it showed in her shine....spent the majority of my teenage years restoring here at the custom cabinet shop my dad had. Mahogany was swiped from inventory....clamps....glue....fasteners....

The ole man would always tell me what a waste of time it was, but I plugged along with a little direction from the d ick and help from friends.

Mechanically she was perfect but the stuffing box was a biotch.."too much for the bilge and me too young....

First one was also my last inboard. She took to the bottom like she had an invitation.....bad day.

My dad had boats since I was 4, and I was hooked then. When I graduated high school I took over the 1974 Glastron V-174 Bayflite, it had been in the family since new. Loved that boat, 3.0L 140hp MerCruiser.

Then I sold it to attempt my own business. Economy crashed, and business never really took off.. Got a job and started working on my BS degree. In 2010 I bought my current boat, 1984 Chris-Craft 210SL Scorpion, 350 MerCruiser.

23 now, trying to finish the degree so I can buy a newer/bigger/faster boat.. :whistle:

1976 Hydrostream Vector comp (still have)

12' aluminum v w/9.9 merc.@ 10 years old terrorizing the lake, I thought I was James Bond :lolhit:. My Dad bought a leftover sunburned unrigged 19' Glastron and a used 175 Evinrude, we sanded it down and sprayed clear over the 80's bassboat looking metalflake and sandblasted and painted an old ezloader trailer. That old girl would hit mid 50's and it would pull 3 knee boarders and two skiers at once.
I finally got my drivers license and went boating/skiing w/ my friends for many years until the old Evinrude broke a piston at the top ring (apparently a common problem with them in those days) but of course my dad said that I must have been running the $hit out of it.
We put a brand new 175 Johnson on it and it never performed the same but I was hooked on going fast on the water and still am.
Purchased my first boat at 30 in 96, almost bought a new 29 Scaarab 502 MPI, I test drove it in Jan. right out of Ocean City, MD inlet, it was 26 degrees. After more research I opted for a 26 Velocity same power but almost 15 mph faster, test drove that one in Jan. too it was about 30 degrees that day on the Chesapeake Bay, yea I was serious about a boat. Many performance upgrades on that one until 2002 and then moved up to a 39 Velocity. As they say; performance boating is not an investment, it's an expense.

Bought my first boat this past July. 03' Velocity 260. Absolutely love it for the few short months i got to use it before the weather turned.

my first boat was a $100 dollar canoe and we used kayak double style paddles to gogogogo
#1 motor boat was the whaler 13 2-stroke evinrude 40hp (39.999 mph)
first fast boat is a thing called a chris craft Caper 16 ft 2-stroke 90hp evinrude! 49.999 mph!
(i'll never sell it!)
2 years ago i jumped up a few sizes for the ZT28 Chekkie 496HO (i am still too newbie to pu**** past 70)

sorry, push it,

first, 79 20 ft Sea Ray open bow with a 260 Merc, was fun, ran 56!
second 88 Chris Craft 245 Limited
third 86 Baja 320 Force RIP in ladfill..
Current 85 Cig Mistress

Grew up and still live in Cleveland, Ohio, been gong to the Erie islands since I was a kid, when I was young standing at the rail at The Casino, I loved all the boats with HP... been a gearhead since I was born, said one day I will have a offshore boat in "front row" still go there every weekend...

:eekdrop::eekdrop::eekdrop::eekdrop::eekdrop::eekd rop::eekdrop::eekdrop::eekdrop::eekdrop:

FIRST bOAT WAS A 16FT SHAKESPEAR WITH A 3.8 JAGUAR MOTOR WITH THE 4 SPEED MANUAL AND V BOX . IT EVEN HAD THE WOODEN DASH FOR THE GAUGES ,I WAS 18 PLEASE LET ME GO BACK ITWAS SOOOO MUCH FUN

1ST BOAT 8' PUNT W/3HP JOHNSON AT 6YO
BUILT A 8' SKIPJACK W/10 HP MERC FROM PLANS AT 12 AND STRAPPED A 20 HP ON IT AND NEVER LOOKED BACK ......UNTIL THE TRANSOM RIPPED OFF :poopoo:

First boat still is 1999 Baja 272

My first boat was a 1972 Wellcraft V-20 Steplift which is still in the family and is in excellent shape. It is powered by a 1987 175 Merc outboard.

My present boat is a 1988 Fountain 8.8m Spitfire.

My dad has always had a boat as long as i can remember.
When i was 19 i bought a 1977 20 cig and had it for about 8 yrs. It was the one thing i should have never gotten rid of.

19 1977 cig
28 apache
38 Ocean yacht
now 30 cig mystique.


Work hard and go after what you want.

Dave

Would love to find my old 20 cig.

First boat I owned was a 1978 17ft Hydrostream Vector with a 235 Johnson.

1st boat was a 16 Whaler at 11 years old, moved to a v hull, 18ft Trojan wooden run about, then to a 16 Crestliner, then to a 23 Glasstron Carribean, 26 ft Caravelle. Then the fun began. A restore on a 23 Stinger, then a 312 Stinger, then a 336 Commander, which I still own, a restore on a 24 Excalibur, a 16 Sidewinder low profile, which I still have, and currently in the middle of a restore on a 73 Magnum Maltese. Man looking at the boat list, it's getting like the list of cars and motorcycles.

21 Fourwinns
22 Stinger
23 Velocity
24 Progression
28 Pantera
30 Velocity
30 Velocity Race
25 Powerplay
28 Apache
26 Corsa
19 Pioneer

1987 Baja 240 sport
1990 searay 260 OV
1991 Sunseeker Mohawk 29ft
1994 powerquest laser 27ft

first with power
 

Used to go to Lake Champlain every summer as a kid and drool over anything with a motor. We had a row boat (emphasis on ROW) that I would take fishing. I would spend the day out on the water just floating around, exploring, casting and swiming. My parents had no idea where i was.

Then I grew up, got a job and bought a brand new 89 mach1 magnum; talk about an expense. It took me 10 years to get over that financial decision, but I never lost the love.

Now I am older and wiser with my money (NOT).

89 Mach1 Magnum
97 Malibu
87 CHeckmate

23 - first boat 226 baja - rode like crap
26 - 40' Scarab that I was partners on - never again
30 - 30' scarab panther

Then the fun started
34 - 36' cruisers inc, 18' wellcraft cc, 13' whaler

sold the whaler in '08, '09 lost the cruiser in hurricane Ike (made out like an insurance bandit on that), '10 sold the wellcraft (should've kept it). It was pretty cool to have all three boats at the marina.

45- 32' Active Thunder


Boated all my life, started on Lake Erie- PIB, moved to Texas in '86.