Re: Lost a fiberglass boat got another tinnie
I just had to say something here....I somehow stumbled upon this thread while looking for images or info of Ward's Sea King vessels, particularly the 18' cuddy they made in 1959. How I ended here at the last page of this delightful thread is obvious.
Like a good book is impossible to put down, I stayed up late reading page after page of this thread until I reluctantly made myself stop around 3 am. I just wrapped up reading the last comments and I'm kind of sad in a way. I hope you create more inspiring threads like this one. I love your sense of humor and the sensitivity you show to the needs of your son. You allow him to grow by letting him DO. And he DOES because you SHOW him. Using boats! Absolutely wonderful!
Your son is a beautiful kid!!! And it warms me to imagine what you and he are doing together. Spending that kind of time with your kid, no matter the end result is better than any school-room teachings. His sense of self and ability to learn and pick up ideas, little nuances, etc... up will be enhanced because it's with YOU, Dad.
He is learning WAYYYYY more from this project than how to fix up an old boat. That old boat is gonna be something he will never ever forget.
To this day, my lil old jon boat I had as a kid in Miami is a sacred part of my past. The memories I have of MY little rowboat---me pulling it across the lawn, down the banks and into the canal and my private & wonderful world were rekindled as I looked at those pix of your son. I would tie the jon boat up, call my dog, and load my minnow bait can, my handlines to fish with, and old bread for bait. Having my own boat and a huge canal to explore was the best part of my childhood. I didn't have a motor, but I wore out a couple pairs of oars! Everything revolved around that boat. My faithful mutt and I would check on all the duck nests in dug out areas along the banks to determine the hatching status of ducklings, we'd fish and bring home everything from bream, bluegills, ciclids, bass, and aven a snapping turtle once! We'd "hunt" ducks, and row to the "end" of the canal, where a cement drainage pipe runnng under I-95 blocked further progress to Snapper Creek during the "wet season"...but would year round allow alligators to travel willy-nilly to and from the everglades!
Ah memories... But I didn't even have a parent participate with any of these memories--except to have provided the means by which I could create them.
I can only imagine the joy that these memories will bring to your son. And you. Keep on keepin' on!!
PS. My search to relive my childhood fun with a jon boat ended with a Mother's Day gift in 2005; She's a 1964 Glasspar Avalon, a 16' fish and ski. She does it all and then some!
