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.