I've often wondered........

Commissionpoint · Post by **Commissionpoint** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 10:45 am

Gerry Ford was President when I was born, and Jimmy Carter was when I started going out on the water regularly with my dad. I am an Executive Chef by trade and also run a wilderness guide business. After 23 years in commercial kitchens I am ready for a change. I will most likely go full time with the guide business in the next couple years.

jddens · Post by **jddens** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:26 pm

I'm 61 going on 18......heard to believe that number......anyways, sometime around 1963-64 I talked my dad into buy a 17 foot wizard with a 60hp Scott outboard.....It took me years of hounding to get him going. We spent many a happy hour fishing and skiing with that boat. My first boat was an 8 foot hydroplane with a 12 hp Johnson, fun but scary, used to car top it on my 1966 mustang. It worked good until I stepping off a cliff putting the motor on and went in over my head with the engine in hand. I've been boating ever since so about 46 years or so. Until the Trojan the largest boat was a 1997 23 Reneill open bow......current fleet is the Trojan, a 17 foot bayliner bass boat, a 12 foot aluminum with 10hp Tahatsu 4 stroke and a 1998 Kawasaki ZXI 1100 jet ski........I'm semi retired. I retired from Eastman Kodak (just in time) after 30 years in the graphic arts service business. Started a small home prep business working with high end realtors preparing homes for sale. More of a hobby than a job....some $$ for boat gas...Last summer I rode my Yamaha Roadstar 1700 on a solo trip to Ky and back from CA. Did 5287 miles in 8 days, averaging over 650 miles per day....it was a bucket list thing for me. I enjoy motorcycles, hot rods and most of all boating and this forum.................this is a great forum with great people and I'm very appreciative that I found it.............John

jimbo36 · Post by **jimbo36** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 3:18 pm

Tim, you old "sea dog". let me say, your post has instilled a profound componant in bringing us all together. To hear the members of the forum give everyone a brief snapshop of their boating lives has added greatly to our understanding of each other. Bravo!

I read somewhere that when you turn 60 you should start a new career. So I did. Having spent the majority on my life (35 years) as a Real Estate Broker in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, I decided to followed my real passion, the Marina Industry. That was 3 years ago and I am enjoying it more than my expectations. I have always been involved in Boating. I have owned 13 boats (8 restorations) over the years. Taught the CPS boating course for 15 years. Yacht Broker for several years.

Four years ago I went to look at what I thought was my next boat. A '65, 38' Chris Craft Connie. Nice boat, but I wasn't sure I wanted to get into another big wood boat. There was a 36' Trojan Tricabin beside this boat for sale. I looked it over and decided there was enough wood, and bought it. My wife and I are now enjoying Georgian Bay aboard "Sea Biscuit"

Briand · Post by **Briand** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 7:00 pm

I am 63, been boating with family for about 30 years, same Marina at Catawba Island in the Western Basin Of Lake Erie. I am in purchasing for a well known automotive aftermarket company. Our first boat was an Imp Inca, see how of you know that one, it was 23' had a 318 super bee engine and gel coated bilge that I was very proud of. We love our F30, especially the flybridge, it is just the right size for us. We have had the Kay Dee for 12 years. This forum is great, I will continue to ask questions and I really appreciate all the responses and wisdom and guidance.

Nancy · Post by **Nancy** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:19 pm

I'm a consultant specializing in business software systems - point of sale, inventory management, general accounting - sales, implementations, training, support.

I grew up sailing Lightnings with my parents and sister. Even though it's a 3-person crew for racing, I guess it was casual enough back then that the race committee let the two little girls count as one. Each of us handled a jib sheet, and our spinnaker handling was legendary! We'd started boating a few years before when my dad bought his first boat - a wooden Sailfish - in, hmm, the late 50's, I guess. All four of us sailed it on summer vacations in the Adirondacks - my parents, my sister, and me. As my dad got more serious about racing and more ornery, I mutinied. Oh well, I was a teenager by then anyway.

(My dad's sailing personality eventually mellowed, and I went back on board. He and my mother have had a small succession of sailboats through the years and done tons of cruising, and he's still out every day on Lake Champlain at age 87.)

Fast forward fifteen years or so. My husband and I have had a canoe, windsurfers, duck boat, 1987 19' Wellcraft cuddy cabin, 1983 Grady White 24' Weekender, and in 1998, bought our 1978 F32 (still have the duck boat and canoe). The Trojan has been lots of fun with many projects, repairs, and upgrades over the years. In about six weeks, if the weather cooperates, she'll become Michael Commissionpoint's new baby, and we'll be moving on to an Albin 28TE.

This forum has always been a great resource and has really started jumping the past couple of months. I imagine I'll still be checking in. After all, someone has to keep an eye on Jeff and I can't wait to see all the great stuff Michael is going to do with Nancy Lee/Eclipse.

jefflaw35 · Post by **jefflaw35** » Tue Feb 28, 2012 8:25 pm

Nancy wrote:I'm a consultant specializing in business software systems - point of sale, inventory management, general accounting - sales, implementations, training, support.

I grew up sailing Lightnings with my parents and sister. Even though it's a 3-person crew for racing, I guess it was casual enough back then that the race committee let the two little girls count as one. Each of us handled a jib sheet, and our spinnaker handling was legendary! We'd started boating a few years before when my dad bought his first boat - a wooden Sailfish - in, hmm, the late 50's, I guess. All four of us sailed it on summer vacations in the Adirondacks - my parents, my sister, and me. As my dad got more serious about racing and more ornery, I mutinied. Oh well, I was a teenager by then anyway.

(My dad's sailing personality eventually mellowed, and I went back on board. He and my mother have had a small succession of sailboats through the years and done tons of cruising, and he's still out every day on Lake Champlain at age 87.)

Fast forward fifteen years or so. My husband and I have had a canoe, windsurfers, duck boat, 1987 19' Wellcraft cuddy cabin, 1983 Grady White 24' Weekender, and in 1998, bought our 1978 F32 (still have the duck boat and canoe). The Trojan has been lots of fun with many projects, repairs, and upgrades over the years. In about six weeks, if the weather cooperates, she'll become Michael Commissionpoint's new baby, and we'll be moving on to an Albin 28TE.

This forum has always been a great resource and has really started jumping the past couple of months. I imagine I'll still be checking in. After all, someone has to keep an eye on Jeff and I can't wait to see all the great stuff Michael is going to do with Nancy Lee/Eclipse.

in that order too...^^^^

^^^^^

LandVF36 · Post by **LandVF36** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 11:50 pm

50. My bride and I cellebrated 31 years yesterday. I've been boating since I was < 1yr old and bought my first boat when I was around 10yr old. We've owned a dozen or more boats and made sure our boys were on the water before they were 1 too.

We live just outside of Minneapolis where I work in the computer services industry. I work about 60-70 hrs a week from Nov - Mar to pay for boating from Apr - Oct.

I grew up rebuilding everything from bikes to tractors. For whatever reason, rebuilding boat is the most enjoyable. I normally rebuild a trailerable boat each year. Some are my own, some are projects of mercy, but all for fun.

We've had the Trojan for 5 years. Its by far my favorite of the fleet. I probably have over 3000 hrs of time into her so we know each other very well.

Some day, I'd like to upgrade from the F36 to a F44 so I keep looking for one headed for the scrap-heap. Would like to retire to the FL Keys some day, but been broke a few times so retiring is not realy an option. Maybe I'll do PC repair or find a marina to manage in the middle keys when I can't take the MN winters anymore...

aaronbocknek · Post by **aaronbocknek** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 5:11 am

LandVF36 wrote:50. My bride and I cellebrated 31 years yesterday. I've been boating since I was < 1yr old and bought my first boat when I was around 10yr old. We've owned a dozen or more boats and made sure our boys were on the water before they were 1 too.

We live just outside of Minneapolis where I work in the computer services industry. I work about 60-70 hrs a week from Nov - Mar to pay for boating from Apr - Oct.

I grew up rebuilding everything from bikes to tractors. For whatever reason, rebuilding boat is the most enjoyable. I normally rebuild a trailerable boat each year. Some are my own, some are projects of mercy, but all for fun.

We've had the Trojan for 5 years. Its by far my favorite of the fleet. I probably have over 3000 hrs of time into her so we know each other very well.

Some day, I'd like to upgrade from the F36 to a F44 so I keep looking for one headed for the scrap-heap. Would like to retire to the FL Keys some day, but been broke a few times so retiring is not realy an option. Maybe I'll do PC repair or find a marina to manage in the middle keys when I can't take the MN winters anymore...

MAZEL TOV ON THE 31 YEARS!!!! (i guess that 16 w/ my current, i'm at the half way point?)

Mike Kulp · Post by **Mike Kulp** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 1:25 pm

I am 46 and have been boating for 25 years mostly on the Cheasapeke Bay. I have worked at a tire shop changing truck tires, frame & alignment shop straightening trucks and trailers, mechanic at trucking company and for the last 23 years my wife and I have owned and operated a auto repair shop in Bowmansville Pa.

pk · Post by pk » Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:17 pm

Hi! I will be 58 first week in March. At least I hope..... Got my 10 meter from your side of the Atlantic ocean 3 years ago, and used her the first summer as she was. Since that year the Norwegian Trojan have been placed on hard for a total rebuild. Hope to be ready this spring. By the way: I have the fifth Trojan in Europe, and the first 10 meter.

akwalker · Post by **akwalker** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 6:53 pm

Commissionpoint wrote:Gerry Ford was President when I was born, and Jimmy Carter was when I started going out on the water regularly with my dad. I am an Executive Chef by trade and also run a wilderness guide business. After 23 years in commercial kitchens I am ready for a change. I will most likely go full time with the guide business in the next couple years.

One of the resturants around Lake George? I have to work in Glens Falls next week, and am always looking for new dinner options.

I'm 50, got my first boat when I was 10. It was a plastic Sears Gamefisher with a 4 hp Evinrude OB. Have had too many boats to count over the years, but have to say my F-26 is so far my favorite. That is, until I can afford a Grand Banks.

yorklyn · Post by **yorklyn** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:43 pm

41. Own a spray foam insulation business and also do Polyurea coatings for secondary containment etc. Worked for my fathers general contracting company before that. Have been boating my entire life. Self taught on all boat repairs and maint.
http://www.envirocoating.com
http://www.delawaresprayfoam.com

lawyerdave71 · Post by **lawyerdave71** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:18 am

I am 40 and have been boating since I was 5 and have been living on Lake Michigan for 15 years.

I know all the tricks of the trade - I give my nieces and nephews - cheetos, cheese, and kool aide - all of the things that made me turn green and puke as a youth.

Now that I am older - I get, sorry we are late but we were at the bar until 3 am - I love it when people turn green on the boat!!!!

You all know what I am talking about - u look around - then suddenly someone you know is green like the grinch that stole christmas.

I love it - great boating.

And for me, I love the big waves!

rspecops · Post by **rspecops** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:07 am

I am closer now to 50 than 49. Originally from south Georgia. Been around boats, swamps, alligators and fishing all my life. No telling how many boats I have owned and had over the years. Took a shot at trying to save the world years back. Spent several years in the Army in the 7th Special Forces Group, a real "green beret". Been a police officer at a large metro Atlanta department for the past 20 plus years. Got my 6 pack captains license bout a year ago. Been into offshore fishing out of Destin Fl. past 8 to 10 years. Bought a 1978 F 26 F/B couple months ago and fixin it up for offshore fishing. Can't wait to retire, hang up my guns and go fishing every day.

seeadler · Post by **seeadler** » Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:55 pm

Hello,
My name is Henry and am 63 years old. I worked as a tool and die maker for Ford for 40 yrs and am retired. I have been boating for 40 years and this is my 4th boat.....second trojan! I am located in Southeast michigan mainly on Detroit area and West end of Lske Erie.