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A 1956 Johnson 5-1/2, CD-12, I must have been 13. I’d saved all my grass cutting, window cleaning, car washing money. Hung it on the back of the Optimist pram my Dad built for me (I paid for materials). 3 or 4 other buddies had small boats with small outboards and we ran them from May to September, every day, in our little harbor off Long Island Sound. We’d stick the handle end of an oar in the water at speed and try to soak each other with the rooster tail, fish, swim, run up creeks and backwaters. Pretty sweet memories. Love to have another CD-12.
I grew up on Long Island Sound also…My parents used to rent out our home near the city to city people, and we would rent out a shack on Fairfield Beach for the summer….The Sound was our front yard, the “creek” was our back yard. My brother and I destroyed several mid 50s fleetwins, I think they spent as much time under the salt water as they did right side up. Always got em restarted though, surprised none of them ever threw a rod. Then one day, my brother brought home a beautiful looking 58 Fleetwin, but we never got it running on both cylinders…This one probably had a thrown rod, and we didn’t know it. Probably why it was nice looking, never got any use. A few years later, I would get my own 68 Lightwin for the 8′ flat bottom “skimmer”. Our summers were most kids “dream come true”. Both parents worked, so us four “delightful” Kellogg kids were left “home alone” on the beach for the summer, quickly learned how to “spin the bottle” and smoke cigarettes watching the older siblings having fun.
It is ironic that our dream summers were born out of financial need…Parents rented out our home across the street from the sound for big bucks, and we all jammed together in a summer shack for much less. I have many great memories with my brother on the beach, before he got old enough to drive and chase girls….
Quite a few Long Islanders; eh? Add me to the list. Grew up in Little Neck….in bicycling distance to the Boat Launch right off the Cross Island Expressway. Right by the Throggs Neck Bridge. Hung out at the ramp for hours.
My dad and I went boating/fishing out at Huntington with the 1947 Scott Atwater Model 473 7.5HP motor that he bought new. That was my first motor.
Chuck