I dug holes for my first job. I was twelve. All summer long working at a nursery in Northwest Iowa. It was fun, and rewarding, having a hand in trees and bushes planted all over town. And laying sod… instant lawns.
But it was also a means to buying my first big purchase. No, not a bicycle, or a go-cart, or mini-bike. I was going sailing. I saw this advertisement in a magazine.
Draining my $88 bank account, I became the proud owner of a Kool cigarette branded Sea Snark. And, it came just in time for a two-week family trip circling the Great Lakes. I launched it on several lakes in Minnesota, Canada and Michigan. Light, maneuverable, unsinkable and simple to sail, turns out I was not the only one buying a Sea Snark. It was the #1 selling sailboat of the early ‘70s.
The one thing you didn’t do is attempt to sail it on Lake Superior, or Lake Michigan… a lesson I learned immediately.