I remember it being read to me as a child, and I remember remembering it when I lived it, mucking about in boats, building little piers with secret entrances. I remember landing on islands and climbing around old ruins.
In many ways, my dad had the same attitude as the dad in that book. It's been fairly defining and probably why I got to do everything I really wanted as a kid. It's summed up in the telegram the kids get when they ask for permission to go exploring.
BETTER DROWNED THAN DUFFERS, IF NOT DUFFERS WON'T DROWN
