Hello all! Lifelong boater. My avatar is a photo of my father in his first solo boat, a Yellow Jacket with a 35hp two stroke twin cylinder Johnson. Wooden ships and iron men! I remember the boat well. When I was a baby they'd wrap me up and stow me in the bow for a nap while dad and my older brother would slalom ski (!). Dad bought a Hydrodyne Flat Top in '68 or so. Had a 75hp Selectric Shift Evinrude. We had loads of fun with that boat, a small skiff built by the family and a collection of canoes. The early years were spent on Lake Milton in Northeast Ohio, then Herrington Lake in Kentucky, and the Ohio River in Huntington, West Virginia. Present day: Wife of 27 years, our three daughters and I get wet as often as we are able in Jamestown, Kentucky, Lake Cumberland.
Great story! I remember my grandpa stowed me in the bow of his old Lund fishing boat while night fishing for walleye on Mille Lacs Lake -- I must have been 7 or 8 yrs old. Some huge rollers came by and rocked the boat and I've never been so sick in my life. Thanks for sharing, Jack!
