BOATS BOATS AND MORE BOATS....MY CONTEST ENTRY

bananaron

I am sure many of you know I have had many boats over the last several years.Well let me tell you how it all got started.MY dad who I think is the greatest man I have ever known and grew up having nothing.He lived in Litchfield,Mn on a farm and was the valedictorian of his class of 150 students in 1937.After HS he hitchhiked to the university of Mn and graduated Phi bata kappa finishing in 4 yrs with a degree in accounting.He got a job got married and started a family working very hard.He took his family for summer vacations to a resort on a lake in Annandale,Mn area.He knew how much the family enjoyed the summer time at the resort he bought a cabin on the lake in 1958.He got an extra accounting job doing the books for a car and boat dealer and bought his first boat so the kids could ski.My water ski career started behind a spitfire boat with a 22hp scott atwater motor.WOW this boat went 30mph and we soon had to get a chrysler with a 85hp johnson so the kid could slalom and barefoot.My dad got me started as a skier and a lover of the water and boats.I soon was buying hydrostreams with jackplates and 200hp mercs.Going slalom and footin all day long.My dad did not ski much he really worked hard and bought the boats for me to enjoy because he knew I had a passion and love for the sport.So as I grew older and became a better skier I bought my first DD in 1991 and it was a 89 supra ts6m.A great classic ski boat that I had till 2001 when I bought a new 2001 gekko gtr which thanks to Mark overbye for making what I think is still one of the best wakes and tracking boat.Well the gekko got sold to a young guy on my lake and the boat buying frenzy got started.Oh my so many its hard to remember them all.Lets see 01 196, MC 08 197,03 MALIBU LXI,05 MALIBU LXI, 04 MALIBU LX ,09 196,A couple PS 190.And most recently one of my fav boats the 2011 carbon pro.Now I enjoyed the road trips getting the boats and certainly skiing them as I thought of my dad each time I picked a boat up and most certainly when I skied them.Its the memories of those early yrs that drives me to keep enjoying buying the boats and knowing that my dad worked so hard to give me what I have today.A passion and love for a sport I can still take part in and enjoy.Remember guys BOAT ARE LIKE GIRLFRIENDS THERE IS ANOTHER ONE AROUND THE CORNER......

Woodybc62

Loved the post. I had a Hydrostream w the Jack plate phase in my boat “girlfriend “ past. And still have a vintage Barefoot Sanger as a second boat. The Streams were sexy beasts tho. Thanks for the trip down memory lane

bananaron

I forgot to tell you that my dad never patted himself on the back or bragged about himself.I found out after he passed that he was the head of his HS class and a honor student at the U OF M.He worked so hard during some really difficult yrs and never bragged about the past and only planned for the future always thinking of his family.He never complained had simple wants and was always happy.A special guy who I think of every day and will always be with me........

bananaron

Oh I also had a pristine 99 malibu response that was a boat you could sell as new.That boat was one in a million.

6balls

Sweet story Ron. Similar here my Dad providing that kind of experience for 10 kids. Not nearly as many boats for me...a '72 Switzer, a '84 Switzer, a '88 Centurion Barefoot Warrior, a '91 Centurion Falcon Barefooot, and my 2000 SN 196.
I learned to ski behind a 14 ft alumacraft with a 15 hp that my Dad brought to the resort in Wisconsin each year. Most of my older sibs learned in his Whaler--with a 40 hp.
That '88 Centurion was a huge jump for us...not an inboard but I kicked ass in tourneys training behind that thing and only skiing an outboard except for tourney day...and could out 'foot them all. Was pretty funny to sit in line at the tourney lake floating around in an outboard Centurion for practice...watching the inboard skiers...then jump in the water and go rip with my Dad running 16.08's by hand with one of the most challenging skiers to pull thru 35 off. They all thought it was a joke til the state tourney each year.
You are a classic, Ron!

skialex

Great post! Hard to beat!! Difficult not to get emotional... was thinking of my dad that passed his passion for sports to me at a very young age, especially His passion for alpine and water skiing and I still enjoy them to this day...

markn

Great post and way to honor our fathers. My dad was a WWII vet who was wounded, was in the OSS (before the CIA), wrote his high school Code, was on the Board of the I.U. Kelly School of Business and a ton of other amazing accomplishments. Hell of an athlete who instilled a competitive drive in me. He too worked hard, never complaining and so unassuming and modest. I think that is just the way that generation was. Wish I was half the man he was.

cougfan

Looks like we need to have a thread talking about how great our fathers were and all they did and sacrificed for their families 👍 so far the fathers mentioned here are setting the bar pretty high!

75Tique

I compiled these few excerpts together a few years ago on my dads birthday. (He passed about 18 years ago) He had compiled about 6 hours of old home movies ranging from the 1930s to the 1960s and put a sound track to them and narrated them. Wait to the end for relevance to this thread and BOS

Here are other more skiing focused excerpts, from the early 60s.

2Valve

@bananaron I too had a great dad to thank for getting us kids on the water. He started pulling us with a 1960 Lone Star with a 40horse Johnson. That soon gave out so he convinced my mom to get a Reinell with a fantastic 70horse Johnson. (one of the best outboards ever made IMHO). He never skiied but always would be in the boat with a cold one, enjoying just being around the water, always with a huge smile. A special person. Survivor or D-Day and Battle of the Bulge. A man's man. Not many left these days.

Jody_Seal

I know about the boat bug.
Still have my dad's old boat. My son has my 82 American Skier. Also in the current herd an 09 SkiNautique a 90 Shamrock a 95 unknown center console 20' outboard.
Had in the past 5 200's, a fish Nautique and 4 bubble but ski Nautiques.
My dad's old boat is still my favorite as it is the boat I learned to slalom behind.

MichaelWiebe

We learned to ski behind my uncle's boats in the 70s/80s at Buffalo Pound Provincial Park in Saskatchewan. We enjoyed that a lot. In 1984, my Dad asked us kids if we wanted our own boat. Of course we said yes, and then went shopping the next day or so. We came home with a 1984 17' Glastron with a 150hp Johnson V6. (The boat was rated max for 140hp 4 cylinder.) It flew, topping out at 55mph. I was 14 at the time, and we loved doing "bunny hops" with that boat. We had great fun skiing, often with friends after school, by ourselves on our small lake near the farm. And many days with family too.

Well, that boat is still in the family. It began in Saskatchewan on the family farm. University took me to Toronto including working afterwards in the Niagara region of Ontario. In 2000 I borrowed the Glastron and brought it to Niagara, skiing on the Niagara river, the Welland river, and in Muskoka. Then we took it to Wisconsin when we moved there. We had in on Kentucky Lake for vacations (that's my younger son napping in KY). Since 2007 the boat is back in Saskatchewan. My brother had it for about 10y, gave it an engine rebuild, and it's now with my sister and her family. And luckily a neighbor put a course on that small lake by our farm, and keeps a ProStar on a lift there. If only I had known about slalom courses when I was growing up!

I can't say I've done as well as my Dad. He's 82 and has managed with one boat his whole life. I'm on my third one, after a 2005 Searay, a 2013 Wakesetter, and then smartening up with a direct drive ski boat (ProStar). So I'm finally set. Thanks for our fathers getting us hooked, and thanks for the great thread.

75Tique

@Jody_Seal Really like your Rickshaw's lines and colors. I like the old school flatties (yours, Stevens, Rayson) vs the newer ones that look like kneeboards with those silly 9 foot tall engines in the back. That's one of two of your boats I'd like. I thought you sold the red and white one, but it appears you still have it. That's always been one of my favorites.

OldGuysRule

Bananaron's story along with others brought back fond similar memories. Dad didn't ski but liked to drive and pull us kids. The first boat was a cedar strip runabout with a 22 HP Buccaner. It leaked like a sieve when first launched each spring. Then he bought a small cottage and purchased a new fiberglass Crosby with mahogany decks and a 40 HP Mercury Mark 55. It was a "dream boat!" My father died at an early age but we kept the boat and the cottage and got years of service from both. Segway to 1990's and I bought a lake home and a used '91 Prostar. Then I was on the 5 year plan with a '96 Sammy Duvall Prostar, a 2000 Nautique, a 2005 black P
rostar, a 2010 grey Prostar, and finally a 2015 Prostar which I presently have but......there's a new 2021 prostar ordered and due for delivery this coming summer.
Thanks dad for the memories.

ETskier

Great stories above, as it seems many of us were inspired by fathers, uncles etc. My dad taught me to ski when I was 6 behind an old wooden rowboat with Johnson 18hp. He taught me how to hop start on a slalom when I was 8. I grew up sking on Burt Lake in Northern Michigan and Lake Lemon near Bloomington, IN. But I inherited the boat bug from my grandfather. He taught me how drive that wooden rowboat age age 5 when it had an open flywheel 5hp Johnston on it. I had to turn the motor completely aroung to go backward to properly dock it. And he taught my buddies and me to pull each other with the 18hp. Grandfather had already owned several boats, a 24ft ChrisCraft Express in MI, a 22ft ChrisCraft Sportsman in OH, and a 42ft ChrisCraft Cabin Cruiser in FL. He also had 48 18ft Correct Craft, which I vaguely remember when I was 3 in MI. My dad skied with that one. He and his buddies built a ski jump on Crooked Lake the summer of 48. My favorite boat is the 1947 26ft ChrisCraft Super Cruiser, "The Big Boat", which I now own, restored in the 90s, and is parked outside the family cottage on Burt Lake each summer (my nephew takes meticulous care of it). Grandfather taught me to drive that one too, as well as the 17ft 1964 Thompson 75hp. It had a ski bar on the transom and we skied with that for many summers. In high school, Dad got a 15ft Scotty with a 70hp 6cyl Merc hanging on the back, and boy was it fast. In college I wanted to learn the course. A frat brother took me to Culver Academy Camp in the fall of 74 and there was not 1, but 4 boats docked with big letters SKI on the side. Wow, now we were really skiing. After graduation I bought a 71 Correct Craft 16ft Skier, predecessor to the Ski Tique. Then it was a 78 Ski Supreme in 81 and then 8 Ski Supreme promos, a 78 Mastercraft, 94 Ski Nautique, and currently a 2006 SN196 with Zero Off. Best ski tractor out there IMHO. I still think of my grandfather often. My best sking experience is having been able to share skiing with my wife of 43 years, Beverly. She's a great shortline driver by the way. We never had children, so skiers are our family and best friends. And boats are in my blood.