So who are you anyway and why a boat?

M

mrsrobinson

Well-Known Member
Mar 9, 2006
7,704
Virginia
Boat Info
2001 380DA
Engines
Caterpillar 3126
If this has been posted before just kick me.

So what do you do, what did you use to do and where did it all start?

For me, I graduated college with an Economics degree in 1990. I went into the Insurance industry as they were the only folks that would offer me a job that paid with an Economics degree. I did Account Management type stuff. It quickly became boring so I started studying IT at night at the local community college.

I got a break in 1998, got in the Software Development industry and have loved every minute of it since.

The Mrs is in Marketing for Qubica/AMF, the bowling people. She likes her work too, even though it's corporate America. My company is small, only 8 of us and I love it.

I grew up with a dad who was always trying something new, always blue collar from excavation to driving a truck. He thought he wanted to be a waterman so we moved to Urbanna, VA when I was in the 4th grade. He bought a 40 foot wooden party fishing boat, converted it to an oyster/crabbing boat (he cut the top off, built a stell mast/boom, added a new engine and a rear end from a car for the oyster tongs) and away he went, with my mom as his side kick. On the weekends I helped him work on the boat and/or oyster/crab the Rappahanock, York and Chesapeake Bay.

This lasted about 5 years until he realized he was a "come here" and did not fit in, so back to Richmond, VA we went.

I graduated HS, then college, got married to the wrong chick, finally married the right chick and we started boating. As a kid boating stunk as I related it to work and missing goof off time with my buds. As an adult though we both got the bug real quick. We have worked our way up from an 18' to a 24' to our current 33' Sea Ray. The Mrs's dad owns a 2003 Sea Ray 420AC, which we have spent a lot of time on.

It's just the Mrs. and I, a dog and a cat, no kids. We had 4 dogs but 3 passed away recently. We have been in Richmond, VA most of our adult lives and love the area.

So, what about you...what's your story?
 
I am engineer, my wife is a teacher. We have a 10 month old son. We live in Mid-Michigan and have a cabin up at Higgins Lake in Michigan. We take all our summer vacations at the lake on the boat. :grin:
 
Well I guess I'll start with I just turned 34 yesterday so I'm probably part of the middle age to young crowd here I'm guessing. My 3rd aniversery is May 5th. The wife made it easy for me to remember 5/5/2005 at 5pm :smt038

I'm a college drop out I guess I went 1 semester to a community college and said the hell with it.

I've been a software developer (actually making money) since the 9th grade when I did my first software product for the Tampa Police department.

Now some 20+ years later still loving the software development work. I have a regular 9-5 job plus contract work I do and then all the little side businesses which are a software development/hosting business, where I take care alot of small companies programming and webhosting needs, then I also provide Merchant Service accounts through Leaders Merchant Services and then the hobby business of n-scale model trains which I have an online n-scale model train store.

I live in Odessa which is in North West Hillsborought County just outside the last flood zone so when the big one comes I'll have water front property.

Always wanted to one day own a boat and 1 day while shopping at Costco MM was there and we decided to make a go for it.

That's about it I guess :thumbsup:
 
I grew up boating in Michigan, on Lk St Clair. I'm 35. We had many small sailboats, and eventually had power boats.
I worked through HS and college, graduated and got into the staffing business.
I now run a region for an offshoot of the original company. I have been here 12 years.
I bought my first boat in 2000, it was a total POS. Then we had our first, bought a 270, then we had our second, and bought our current 300. My wife never was into boating, but thankfully my kids think it's the coolest thing ever. Now my bride who has been very patient is starting to see the benefits, and finds herself enjoying it even!
 
Oops, forgot about the age thing, 41 here, quickly approaching 42 and the Mrs is 29 again.
 
I'm Greg, 51 years old, wife, 2 sons, 31 and 27, (2) grandsons, 1 granddaughter and another grandchild on the way.
I'm a retired police officer and now work as a personal assistant to a retired Fortune 400 type.
My wife is a legal assistant.

My first boat was a '77 Sea Ray SRV240, used. That boat nickle and dimed me to death so I stayed away from boats for a few years after that. Second boat was an '87 Sea Ray 270DA.
The wife wasn't much on boating then and after a few years that one was sold. Last year she suggested we get another boat and we went with a new 240DA. A close friend and his girlfriend bought a new boat also and we had an enjoyable year on the water. So much so that my wife suggested a larger boat partly because she didn't want to sleep on the 240 and also because the grandkids are old enough to come out on the boat this year and the 240 is too small for everyone. So now we bought an '04 280DA.

I don't always agree with the wife but we she says let's get a bigger boat....:grin::smt038
 
So lets see I'm 47 live in Maryland came here in 1990 from north Jersey were I grew up. I work as a service manager for a Audi dealer in Annapolis. Have a son 23 (I feel like I am filling out an online dating app.) Have had two boat a 1997 Bayliner 2355 that I had for 8 years and now the 1997 Sea Ray 290 Oh I have also had two wive's but none currently. And I am not looking for another one. But I would like to have a 3rd boat someday.
 
Grew up here in VT up near the Canadian/NY border on Lake Champlain, spent all my life from the age of 5 onward on the lake. My parents had their first boat when I was 7 or 8, it was like a '57 16' with a 40hp Evenrude outboard. I learned to water ski behind it at 8, slalom at 10. Later they upgraded to an MFG tri-hull (yuk - but my mom is afraid of the water from a childhood near-drowning) with a 120 HP OMC, then they got various other boats over the yrs. About 10 yrs ago, they bought a house maybe 1000' from where I grew up, with a nice sandy beach lakefront.

I married, had 3 sons (now 24/21/18), and divorced. Got a boat in '99 my '95 185, after 2 yrs searching for a good used boat in excellent condition, I finally found it. My gf and I have now been together for 3 yrs, she loves boating and the water as much as I do, having grown up with her family on a 30+' Trojan on Lake Erie. She thought my 185 was good enough, but I wanted to upgrade. So, she went with me to get it (we made it into a Valentine's outing.) We're looking forward to going out on it any day now.

I work(last 12 yrs) for a large Healthcare medical sw co, installing VMS and pc OS's and db's for both. Prior to that, I've done some private consulting on the same, and prior to that, I worked for 12+ yrs at Digital Equip. Corp. I've been working with VMS now, since '82. Best OS around!

Oh yeah, coming up on the big 5-0 this summer.

-VtSeaRay
 
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Gregg, 41, married 18 years, two kids. involved in the HR and Benefits business for 20 years, the last 2 on my own. Probably shouldn't have bought a boat until business was a bit better, but what the heck!

The kids will soon be at the age that they don't want to be with mom/dad. after one summer on the water, they are looking forward to this year (hopefully many more to come).

As a kid, my folks had several boats (aluminum fishing boat, bassboat, family boat). I've always loved being on the water (fishing, skiing, whatever). I'm glad my kids now can experience the summers the way I think they should be spent!
 
I'm Tim. 2 sons, 13 and 11. I boated on my parent's friends boats as a kid when we would go camping, all on midwest lakes. That was back when you pulled your boat behind the family station wagon:lol:. My Admiral's grandparents had a small cruiser on Lake Michingan. I worked road construction in highschool and college, drove trucks and operated heavy equipment, shoveled asphalt and finished concrete. That taught me two lessons: It's hard to earn your living with your body (made college look more appealing); and I don't like towing stuff. I went to college intent on becoming an electrical engineer and ended up with a finace degree:smt101. I am now the CFO of an accounting firm. The Admiral is an accountant also.

We talked on and off about getting a boat when we could afford it, but then came a house...then the kids...then school. About four years ago we went to the local MM "clearance sale". We fell in love with the 240 and when they gave us the price, realized we could finally afford it. The boys learned to ski at a small resort in Minnesota and they were hooked. The boat allows us to get away and spend time with the boys. Seems like that is the only time we don't seem to annoy them:grin:.

The move to the 270 was necessitated by the sudden influx of frinds wanting to visit us at the lake!
 
StressAweigh said:
So lets see I'm 47 live in Maryland came here in 1990 from north Jersey were I grew up. I work as a service manager for a Audi dealer in Annapolis. Have a son 23 (I feel like I am filling out an online dating app.) Have had two boat a 1997 Bayliner 2355 that I had for 8 years and now the 1997 Sea Ray 290 Oh I have also had two wive's but none currently. And I am not looking for another one. But I would like to have a 3rd boat someday.
Click to expand...

"I feel like I am filling out an online dating app."

Do you like long walks on the beach?

Your height, weight and eye color please.... :grin:

Hey, one never knows, you might be compatible with some young thing on here.
 
Im Larry, 28 years old bachelor, Performance Review Supervisor for Park and Recreation Dept for Miami Dade County. I bought a boat because I grew up on the water my whole life as my dad and grandfather had boats. My grandfather used to have a boat building company in Candidagua, NY and sold it to work for Florida Marine Patrol here in Miami and Marathon.

I may be looking to jump ship into a CC boat but I am not sure yet, while I love sea rays, I may be looking to jump into a 270AJ or 290AJ just so I can fish and still have the comfort for overnighters.
 
I'm 36, married with 2 kids - daughter is 11 and son is 8. I work for a 3 letter computer company as a software project manager. I was in management for a test organization and a development team, finally stepped out so I could work remotely from the beach full time. My wife works for a computer company as a project manager working on internal infrastructure. We also work on rental property, a gift shop and a just started up a bed and breakfast. I've been boating for a long time - started sailing as a kid and stopped when we moved away from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. Started real boating and fishing about 15 years ago in a variety of boats - a Grady White and now a Parker and a classic 130 Boston Whaler which is currently being refinished. The 270 was just purchased at Christmas time and have enjoyed every minute of it!
 
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I'm Gerry, 31, married for 12 years, with 4 kids (3 girls and 1 boy).

I'm VP/GM of a regional wireless ISP here in Kentucky. I also own a server monitoring company and a web hosting company.

My father traded a tractor for an old deck boat back when I was in high school. He then bought a new Hurricane deck boat in the late 90's. We were hooked. Four years ago we bought our first boat, an '04 Sea Ray 200 Sport. The next year we got a jet ski. Year after that we upgraded to an '05 Sea Ray 220 Select. This year, we upgraded the jet ski. I think I'm starting to see a trend...... :)

Joking aside, family and boating are the loves of my life.
 
Bill, 39, wife Amy 30, married for 5 years, I have 2 girls from a previous marriage of 10 yrs, they are 12 and 8, and an almost 3 yr old buddy from this marriage.

I am 2nd generation owner of an international ad/marketing company specializing in trade show displays and graphics (and point of purchase, retail environments etc..) and my wife is a pharmacist.

I grew up in a snobby town on eastern Long Island and stayed there for college: LIU Southampton college while my parents (mom and stepdad) moved to CT.

My real father was a police officer killed in the line of duty when I was 8 and my brother was 3. Suffolk county officer.

When my parents moved to CT they bought a house on the river and I grew up with jet skis and runabouts, and have always wakeboarded since before it became cool lol. We were out on the river a lot, sometimes dawn to dusk.

We specifically bought a boat last year because we bought a new house that is less than 2 miles to the private town boat ramp of a large lake and figured we might as well enjoy the lake besides just the beach and facilities. Really, we just want it for watersports as I wanted to get back into wakeboarding and my wife and kids want to ski and wakeboard and tube. No plans to get a bigger boat at any time since it would be silly on a lake, and we have too many other interests to make getting something for the LI sound worth the time, money and effort.

Maybe when the kids are all older and we have more leisure time we will think about it then.
 
Interesting, am I the only one who noticed the only folks replying are those with boats under 30'? Big boat boys too snobby to share? ;-)
 
Name is Graham, 25 years old, currently in graduate school at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. I received my B.S. in Geology last May and am currently half way into my Masters in the same program. Spent last summer working for an oil company and am looking forward to doing the same this summer; although, this summer will be much improved. I landed an internship with a Fortune 500 Gas/Oil E&P company based out of Ft.Worth making twice what I did last summer!!

Grew up half my life in Canada, not exactly the boaters’ paradise, and subsequently never spent much time on or near boats. Actually, to be honest my father despises them; hence the reason he has yet to find out about my purchase. On a whim last summer, mostly the idea of my gf, I decided that I needed a boat. After months of searching, a high school buddy of mine, now a boat mechanic for Boat Town in Austin, let me know of a 1995 200 Sig for a price that I just couldn't pass up.

Since purchasing the boat, and enjoying the last half of last summer on it, I am currently undergoing my baptism by fire to the boating world. The boat is sitting at my friend’s house currently undergoing a floor up restoration with hopes being that the completion will occur before the end of May. If not I will be moving to Ft.Worth for the summer sans boat.
Interesting thread, although I will echo the words said above about the dating service!! ;)

GrahamB
 
"folks replying"

I posted, I did not reply to the original post :grin:

Just an interesting observation...wonder if there is something to it..smaller boat owners are friendlier maybe?
 
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