What did you get a boat?

[ricky_s]

Why did you get a boat?

You often read that people have their first boating experience on the Norfolk Broads, that's how my interest started and I always wanted a boat after that. Though I didn't get my first one until I moved to the coast as an adult.

How many of you started out via a broads holiday?

 

[powerskipper]

Me and dingy sailing.

 

[Greg2]

Grew up about as far from the sea as its possible to be but have always had a fascination with water and boats/ships Can't put my finger on where it came from...I did have early day boat experiences on the Broads as a child, sailed as a teenager and had a memorable trip to the Isle of Man in very rough conditions on the Isel of Man Steam Packet Company ferry. Dad did National Service in the Navy and I joined the Sea Cadets and then the Navy despite some bad experience with seasickness.......!!

Strange really, always has this affinity with nautical things and always knew I would have a boat of my own at some point....now on our fourth!!!

 

[jfm]

Nope, never been to the Norfolk Broads in my life! I started dinghy sailing aged about 12 iirc, and did that for years on Marine Lake in Southport. Mirrors, Enterprises etc, then a Laser for years. My dad and I built the Mirror from the kit you could buy - I'm sure lots of people remember those kits. And at roughly same time my folks bought a 4m inflatable (late 1970s, before RIBs largely replaced inflatables) with a 20hp o/board which I thought was the biz in terms of top speed

 

[Firefly625]

not me!

. Boating started for me at the tender age of 1 when my Dad bought his first big boat, a 9 tonne Hillyard, (he had had a sailing dinghy and a particular nice pink speed boat which he still has pictures of hooked up to a Triumph Vitesse, nice...) ... he has never been without a boat since, at the tender age of 83 he still refers to himself as a boat bum... so its his fault!

...but I'm far to young to remember Mirror dinghies in kit form!!

 

[epervier]

Me neither, Broads isn't that another name for swamp? all the pics I've ever seen of the Norfolk Broads have been water filled ditches meandering through reed beds, born in Southampton, lived (ironically) in Quayside road, first boat aged eight, no nanny state to worry about in them days, Dads rule was no boat until you could swim properly, if memory serves, width of the public baths equals yellow ribbon, length green ribbon, 2x length equals blue ribbon been a boat owner close to sixty years now, still learning and know nuffink.

What boat? my first was a 14' clinker river launch, Why? because I lived next to the river, and kids had and still have a lot of time off to play outside, waaaaay before eggboxes that cost £3.60 along with blackberrys, apples, running on orange, also iphones, ipads, ipods, I bought my misses an iron with ironing board, is that new age enough?

 

[EME]

My mother's family farmed in Pembrokeshire so every summer found us at Wiseman's / Amroth / Saundersfoot. I would have been 7 or 8 and my first trip in a dinghy/boat/ship was to be with the legendary Val Howells and his niece (??). No recollection what the family connection was. I dreamt the night before about crossing the Atlantic and back next day ( and home for tea) ... reality was a massively tall man taking me out from Coppitt Hall Beach , making me sit very still wearing a lifejacket rather than the life of a swashbuckling pirate .. but I was hooked.

 

[rafiki_]

The Broads were hugely influential for me, but started in Mirrors, Enterprise, GP 14 in puddles and on the Sarf Coast. First sailing hols on the Broads, following the Arthur Ransome stories that I loved as a child. Fair bit of windsurfing at Brighton/Midlands in between. Too cold now for me except in the Med or somewhere else hot

Kept our first cruiser at Acle for a couple of years, but got fed up with the A14/A11.

 

[lisilou]

Dinghy sailing as a kid with my dad and then out sailing on his bigger boats was for me the decider that I never wanted a sail boat but...canals and narrow boats were my favourite holidays as a kid and so I guess that's where it all started for me.
L

 

[FalconSteve]

I've always been drawn to water, never been to the broads though. I've only been into boating for a year now, so no long history of childhood adventures on dinghies. I've always loved the space and feeling of being close to the power of nature. My Dad was in the navy during the war, but since then we've only been on passenger ferries, until last year when I took my destiny into my own hands, not looked back since

 

[maybh1]

We started with a week on the Broads over 30 years ago

Me, my husband, my son and my ex mother and father in law from my first marrriage

May
xx

 

[prv]

Was taken out on my grandad's boat from as young as I can remember. Parents clubbed together with my aunt and uncle to buy a shared Wayfarer when I was about six, so I learned to sail in that. Couple of years later got a Mirror to be "my" boat, sailed with my dad for a year or so then allowed to go out alone or taking my younger brother, in Chichester Harbour. Bit of a hiatus after I outgrew the Mirror, Wayfarer went about the same time, and my grandad died so no more trips on his boat. Then my parents discovered flotilla holidays in the Med, which completed my switch from dinghies to yachts. I did a brief stint in the Army between school and university, where I quickly joined the battalion sailing team and did my first serious yacht sailing (first time taking watches overnight, racing both round the cans and passage, some less-than-ideal weather). Few years (through uni and a little while afterwards) chartering in the UK with mates. Then moved to Southampton, started saving for a boat. Ended up with a nicer boat than I could afford on my own, via a co-ownership deal with my parents. Learned a lot about boat repair and maintenance, and have just started on the second, bigger, boat.

Never been near the Norfolk Broads.

Pete

 

[landlockedpirate]

I started dinghy sailing aged about 12 iirc, and did that for years on Marine Lake in Southport. Mirrors, Enterprises etc, then a Laser for years.

Same time, but on the 'dark side' of the lake, used to spend Sunday afternoons going round the ski part of Southport Marine lake behind dads 12ft Broom and 50hp mercury (when it started !).

 

[oGaryo]

I purchased a boat because I was told by The Boss, that there was no way I was getting a motorbike. The hobby at the time (in hindsight) was incredibly selfish (fishing) so I could see her point as a motorbike was pretty selfish too, so I went for something the whole family could enjoy, a boat.

The first boat (bowrider) SWMBO wouldn't step aboard, hated the thing. The second (cuddy), saw her warming to the idea and the third (sportcruiser) resulted in her actively pressing for us to go down the boat. One of the best decisions I've made I reckon, costs a bit as we all know so some other things have fallen by the wayside (like fishing) but the benefits of owning a boat for friends and family FAR outweigh that expense, we're all seriously bitten by the boating bug and I firmly believe it's brought us closer together as a family. In particular, I can see #2 son (Caley) getting in to boating in a biog way which is great to see, Debs is even considering doing her PB2 this year.

p.s. this year I'll be buying a motorbike because I've got a boat

 

[Andrew38]

I started on the Broads in the late 1950's, cruisers, sailing dinghies then full sized cruising yachts. Was horrible in late 60's and 70's but much better now with wildlife making a serious comeback. Trick is to get to the quiet areas above Wroxham and Potter Hiegham.

 

[No Regrets]

Started in the family Shetland 535 with a 50hp Mercury Redband on the tidal Thames (Putney launched)

Went across to the IOW, which was interesting as the waves were massive on the way home!

Thirty years later, bought another Shetland of my own, up at Reading, and went from there!

 

[superheat6k]

1978 Bosun Dinghy at Royal Clarence Yard, Gosport. Followed by a sickly trip an Olsen 38 yacht, then lots (too much!) round the cans and offshore racing (all under sail) culminating in a Fastnet in 1991. Kept up the yachting save a few years out for my business start up.

I went through the motorbike returners phase, scared myself s**tless on my third Moto Guzzi Le Mans, by which time SWMBO was pregnant, so the deal was the bikes went and a boat would replace them. Two kids later (both girls) I got fed up with only going out on fine non windy days going everywhere under engine at 4-5 knots. Thus a powerboat was a natural development.

Not sure I will ever willingly go back to sail. I like tinkering with the engines and systems too much. I also abhor tacking !

I understand there is no sensible reason to own a boat from an economic perspective, but one thing is sure whatever you gain in this life you ain't taking it with you to the next one so might as well spend it now !!!

 

[dkm]

Never been to the Broads. First boat was a tiny blow up inflatable for my 7th birthday. 16' rib many years later followed by a Flatacraft F4 then an Avon sea rider ex North sea rescue boat - built like the proverbial brick s**thouse. Boatless for a few years then made a mistake with a Shakespeare 650, a V8 petrol monster on a tiny hull, the only thing it could do was scare everyone. Boatless again then Targa 30, 34 and now 38. Planning retirement on a Nordhavn - bring it on!

 

[benjenbav]

My first introduction to boats was a wooden ketch owned by my uncle. There are pictures of us sailing but that's not what I remember. What I remember is sleeping on board. I was probably 7 or 8 and I loved it but my cousins (whose father owned the boat) and their mother did not like it at all and the boat was eventually sold. Then a couple of years later my father bought a Mirror dinghy which we took on various holidays in Wales, Scotland and the Lake District and then joined a club and started racing, moving later into faster dinghies before I left home for university.

In my first year at university I was elected commodore of the sailing club partly owing to my winning charm, but mostly to the fact that no-one else wanted the job because the boats were shot and there was no budget for replacements. In my second year I was sacked partly for realising that the boats were shot and there was no budget for replacements, but mostly for not managing to do anything about it.

Then along came the cares of the world: career, marriage, home, children and limited funds. I didn't really think about boats for 15 years or so.

Then a successful deal was celebrated by means of a few days of team-bonding on a corporate charter out of Lymington Yacht Haven. I remember waking up in the dawn on the second day and looking around at all the boats and thinking: I really want to do this, and have my own boat.

Never looked back since.

 

[alteredoutlook]

Bl**dy Swallows and Amazon!