Friday, February 4, 2011

Yard Sale Boats

The only boat Dad ever owned was a fourteen foot, flat bottom aluminum puppy. Mom used her "credit" to buy him a 9.9 HP outboard motor at Sears and Roebuck and they were in business.

The venerable fishing craft was used to putt around Tyler Lake and the Sabine River for a few years and then the ole ranch hand bought the prized ship from Dad.

After enjoying yachting pleasure for a time on Texarkana and Caddo Lake, the would be sailor traded up for a fifteen foot fiberglass Kingfisher with a 25 HP Johnson engine. Years of joyful excursions occurred until such time as the veteran seafarer determined that it was appropriate to advance to the big leagues.

That's right sports fans, 21 feet of streamlined swiftness with a 125 HP screamer that would part the water with nuthin' but the prop getting wet as it tiptoed across the landscape. At least it would do that between repairs. It seems the more powerful/sophisticated the machinery, the deeper one's wallet must reach.

Sadly, after a few years of constant expense, the old salt clipped his water wings, sold the speed demon to a lucky soul (sucker) and became land locked for a couple of decades.....until last Saturday!

While cruising the local country byways, a yard sale appeared on the horizon. Amongst the normal uninteresting crap, the fat boy spied the most beautiful (dented, ragged, worn) fourteen foot flat bottom aluminum boat one could imagine.

Country negotiations sealed the deal at $75. The rest is history as the venerable tub now proudly sails the fish infested waters of the Tin Star Sea (pond).

Dad would be proud.

No comments: