This is the end?

I grow attached to my boats.

I still have the Grumman canoe I bought with paper route money when I was 14, but many others have come and gone.

The pretty wooden drift boat in which I learned to row is but a memory now. I cashed in a retirement plan to buy that boat and never regretted the decision.

The aluminum Smokercraft that Barb and I bought when we first got together is also gone. It took us to dozens of lakes and rivers across Montana. We’ll probably never catch as many fish out of another boat as we did out of that one. It was replaced by a similar boat with a bigger motor, which we sold after we got the Key Largo center console.

I’d always wanted a center console and we drove all the way to Florida to get it. Designed for saltwater fishing, it served us well in Montana. Fast and stable, it has eight rod holders, is easy to move around in, and is a unique craft this far from the salt.

I never wanted the same boat as everybody else.

Small center consoles, however, are fair-weather craft unless you’re dressed in full foul-weather gear. We wanted a little more protection from the elements, and recently ordered a new boat better suited for where we live.

I’ll miss the Key Largo. Made by a company no longer in operation, it was a bare bones craft that quickly jumped up on plane, was heavy enough to provide a smooth ride, and I could operate it standing up at the helm. When things got western there was a grab rail on the console, and floor drains in the transom.

It appears to be unsinkable although we tried a few times, once taking on so much water that a big pike my friend Chris caught was able to swim freely in the boat.

Our new boat, because it has a windshield and full cover, will enable us to fish earlier and later in the season. It’s also considerably bigger than the Key Largo so we can take more grandkids fishing.

My first watercraft was a leaky eight-foot jon boat I found abandoned in the woods. I patched the holes, gave it a fresh coat of paint, and bought a couple of oars. It sent me down a path I’m still traveling.

The end may finally be in sight.

Parker Heinlein is at [email protected].