My Old Man Provoked an Interest in the Sea in Me !

[Ram]

The title of the other thread on the book My old man & the sea , sparked memorys of just that,

As a boy I remember the first time on a boat I was 6 years old and went fishing with my Dad, in his 14 Aluminum boat - he was 50 years older than I and he had just retired (from a heart attack) As the years went by my Dad got bigger & bigger boats up to a 26' lapstright i think Christ Craft that me & my brother had to sand each day for about a year after school (slave labor) we finilly got that boat in perfect shape and soon started fishing trips off the coast and to the Bahamas once in a wile.

I think the best moments of my life around my Dad was when we were out there fishing Off Jupiter ,Fl. or West End back in the 60's. I remember how fasanating it was to look down under the boat and see all the fish sometimes 50 - to 100 feet below the boat, thats what got me intrested in Snorkel/Scuba.
Being out there taught me alot and helped form who I am today.
I was not able to pass the torch to my daugher, shes 29 now, but my grand son just turned 6 the other day and he will have the oppertunity to experence whats left of this taste of life. Has anyone here grown up around the water with there Dad ?
Ram

[Pura Vida]

It was my grandfather that brought me to the water at age 3. Sometimes things skip a generation. Boating was not his hobby but it seems that all of his hobbies required a boat. They were metal or wood, home made or factory, big and small, safe and well... Looking over photos of the family taken when I was a child the only time there was not a boat in the background there was a tent. I guess that everyone has their own idea of what paradise is.

[Charlie]

First time I went sailing was on a lake in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with my Dad. Couldn't have been 12 years old. Wasn't off the dock more than a couple feet when we got hit by a gust and I capsized.(Dad wasn't in yet) Talk about cold. Four years later Dad bought a boat and we sailed SF Bay alot. From There I started racing with other people and took my Dad along doing deliveries down the CA coast.

With my kids they have been sailing since before they were born. Have pictures as proof for them. They are 8 and 9 now so I'm going to sign them up for sailing camp at the lake this summer. If they like it enough I'll sign them up for Richmond YC (SF Bay) jr program. Even if it means driving them three hours to the Bay Area all winter. They have to want to go though. Don't want to force them.

They do like the bareboat charter that we've done in FL and are excited about the one we'll be doing come May. And the boat we are going to buy to keep in Mexico. I hope they like it b/c I want to take off for a cruise in the next few years.

[Talbot]

Although I did do a very limited amount of time at sea with my father at a young age, I believe that Arthur Ransome is probably rather more to blame for my obsession.

[Ram]

Talbot
Whos Arthur Ransome?
Ram

[Talbot]

Author of childrens stories in the 1930s based around sailing dinghies and larger vessels. Written by an enthusiastic sailor who also published three books based around his actual cruises. Lots of details: http://www.humboldt1.com/ar/