So how did you come into yachting? I'm an easy candidate, all the family is/was in the business. Captains, Owners, Brokers, Designers, Crew and Yard/Marina owners. There was little else I was going to do. How about you? Did you just fall into it, a summer job that sort of lingered? Sailing with your family as a kid, fishing with an Uncle at weekends? Let us know your story. Fish
i'm not that really into yachting, more the enthusiast, but have you ever seen the eyes of a 14 year old kid staring into a marina full of big yachts and big cars?
Living in Stockholm, surrounded by 24.000 islands, boating comes natural. My first own boat I bought from a schoolmate who had built it and I was using it night and day. Got my Yachtmaster at 16. Later I have had all kind of boats but have not had it as a living until in the 90:s when I started with boat design. Was in advertising before this, always with boat manufacturers as clients, trying to improve their products...
What a pretty little boat but I cannot see if the foredeck and gunnels have laid decks or painted plywood (the photos may be a bit old but so are my eyes). I had a little Dyer dinghy, all mahogany and bronze, although I wasn't allowed an outboard until I was 16. Dad bought us a 2nd hand Laser for christmas one year so we learned to gulp saltwater at a faster rate while up-side-down. Most of the yachts in Antigua at that time had a good lump of paint taken off the topsides by that dinghy. Fish
This boat was built with mahogany plywood and the stripes are painted. I got these pictures last year from my old friend who built it. It was good for waterskiing, white prop, otherwise the red speedprop was on... If I should continue, the boat #4 is below. It is a Coronet 24 Weekender with twin 120/200 Volvo Penta Aquamatic and the year is 1970. It was a hot summer and many weekend trips with friends, like here in the outer archipelago having a barbeque. The next boat was a 31´sailer.
Came from a Navy family. Got our first family boat (14' fiberglass w/ 25 hp Evenrude) when I was 6. Built my first boat (an 8' pram) when I was about 8 or 9. Then became a responsible adult doing the business thing. Burned out in my 30's and decided that, since my work is so much of my life, I'd better enjoy what I do. Haven't had a secure day since.
I was born and brought up On Holy Island or Lindisfarne to give it its proper name (pic below). Had access to a pram dinghy from a very early age and the opportunity to go out on the fishing boats that made up the majority of the islands income. In '75 at 15, took up a boatbuilding apprenticeship in Scotland (oak framed, iroko planked seine netters and stern trawlers between 30 and 90 feet). Things took a bad turn in the traditional timber built market and I moved to the South Coast in '79 to find work. My father had advised me that I could expect warmer weather, faster boats and even faster women down here, and he was right.
Have been around boats and on the water since very early on. Perhaps having been conceived in a canoe would have had something to do with it.
That bit of information was disclosed during a toast to the new bride during the reception after my second wedding. My parents were present and the colour of my mother's face was actually quite alarming for a moment or two. That reception went on till sunrise and the speculations became quite vivid. Amazing what you find out about yourself.
When I was in my early twenties, I traded my car for this cabin cruiser. It's been a barrel full of monkeys ever since.
While not a yachtsman, I'm a licensed captain since 2006 - Master 25 Near Coastal. Growing up in Northport/Huntington, NY area, I boated & fished with my grandfather & father. Dad worked for the now gone Mariner's Inn, shuttling yachters from moorings to the inn & also taking them fishing. Dad refused to let me follow my childhood dream of working on the water. Spent my years in the corporate world & taking off MUCH time -- more than reasonable in corporate -- to boat & fish. In 2005, got the courage to follow my heart, get licensed and charter. Quit my corporate job one year ago this week. It has been spectacular, and hope it will continue. Thanks for asking & allowing me to share.
