I have come to the realization that owning a free sailboat is very expensive!
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It's really not free
- Thread starter Bill sanders
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Re: Its really not free
Fellow told me after an "opportunity", that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes.
I am sure that includes boats as well..
Fellow told me after an "opportunity", that there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes.
I am sure that includes boats as well..
How true! Trying to fix her where my wife would enjoy her is becoming a impossible task due to money. But ingenuity is becoming my new favorite word.
Fortunately my admiral is OK with sailing in a perpetual construction zone.
oh; and there is no free lunch
This is a very important lesson to all of us.... your next sailboat will not be free, but will cost you less.
Its really not free
The cost of the boat is not even worth mentioning. Nothing more than a minor blip on the balance sheet :naughty:.
It's the cost of the:
The cost of the boat is not even worth mentioning. Nothing more than a minor blip on the balance sheet :naughty:.
It's the cost of the:
- Maintenance
- Moorage
- Insurance
- Upgrades
- Impulsively bought gizmos
Re: Its really not free
Free-not again. My Admiral gave me blacksmith lessons for a Christmas present a several years ago. Well-then I had to build a blacksmith shop and equip it. Actually it was fun shopping for old stuff and I did use it to make some decorator items. I haven't had a fire in the forge for about three years now. Probably one of the most expensive free items I have ever received. I cannot imagine what a free boat would cost.
Free-not again. My Admiral gave me blacksmith lessons for a Christmas present a several years ago. Well-then I had to build a blacksmith shop and equip it. Actually it was fun shopping for old stuff and I did use it to make some decorator items. I haven't had a fire in the forge for about three years now. Probably one of the most expensive free items I have ever received. I cannot imagine what a free boat would cost.
LoL. . .I used to complain about over paying for my fixer upper, and used to be jealous of everyone I heard about getting free and cheap "deals" on similar boats. . .
Similar projects abound on all boats, especially older and neglected ones. . .but mine is complete and ready to go since day one :dance: Some of these people have spent years tied up paying slip fees while the boat falls apart around them while they fix it. Like trying to push mud up-hill. . .
Most of my freebies have been pets though. . .free kitten everyone falls in love with, they don't realize how much all the peripherals and vet bills cost
Similar projects abound on all boats, especially older and neglected ones. . .but mine is complete and ready to go since day one :dance: Some of these people have spent years tied up paying slip fees while the boat falls apart around them while they fix it. Like trying to push mud up-hill. . .
Most of my freebies have been pets though. . .free kitten everyone falls in love with, they don't realize how much all the peripherals and vet bills cost
Re: Its really not free
Compared to golfing, health-club membership, etc, we've found sailing to be a quite affordable activity. I do believe that our current niche - used trailerable "weekender", drysailed from a yacht club - is a sweet-spot, giving a whole lot of sailing and sailing-related activities for the money. We've just finished our 6th season, and amortizing everything over the 6 years our annual TOTAL cost of sailing would be in the neighbourhood of around $1500/year.
As per Cool Beans, we bought a fixer-upper that we sailed from just about day one. I think that's key when getting your first boat; if a boat bargoon requires $X work in order to sail, and you can't afford to pay the additional $X to make her sailable right away, it's not (yet) a sailboat; walk away... Sail now, fix later
Compared to golfing, health-club membership, etc, we've found sailing to be a quite affordable activity. I do believe that our current niche - used trailerable "weekender", drysailed from a yacht club - is a sweet-spot, giving a whole lot of sailing and sailing-related activities for the money. We've just finished our 6th season, and amortizing everything over the 6 years our annual TOTAL cost of sailing would be in the neighbourhood of around $1500/year.
As per Cool Beans, we bought a fixer-upper that we sailed from just about day one. I think that's key when getting your first boat; if a boat bargoon requires $X work in order to sail, and you can't afford to pay the additional $X to make her sailable right away, it's not (yet) a sailboat; walk away... Sail now, fix later
Re: Its really not free
We use the fix between sails approach. Want a nice boat but don't want a yard queen with no sailing. So fix - sail - fix - sail -fix sail. It will years at this rate before the boat is restored but we spend a lot of time on the water anyway even if das boot is a little ugly. Its so great after 15 days straight on the water the admiral says something like "it was too short" as we are pulling home. That alone makes "not free" worth it!
Every trip I take tools and materials on the water with us to work during the trip but strangely I almost never get any work done on the water.....
We use the fix between sails approach. Want a nice boat but don't want a yard queen with no sailing. So fix - sail - fix - sail -fix sail. It will years at this rate before the boat is restored but we spend a lot of time on the water anyway even if das boot is a little ugly. Its so great after 15 days straight on the water the admiral says something like "it was too short" as we are pulling home. That alone makes "not free" worth it!
Every trip I take tools and materials on the water with us to work during the trip but strangely I almost never get any work done on the water.....
To listen or should I say read the responses, I have to smile. I sail on a 20 acre lake and I have to stay in certain areas so I don't hit man made fish habitats. At first our sportsman club frowned on me having a sailboat on their lake, but then they realize everyone got a kick out of it, especially when I started giving rides in the n17. Now they turn a blind eye to it? But yet they post pics on their web site to promote "family fun"! Now only if my beautiful wife would accept the sailboat, and realize its not going anywhere, life would be so much simpler and happier.
Re: Its really not free
Bill, I DO admire your approach. When I think back, some of the most fun sailing I've had was, a Sunnyfish on a pond I could tack across in 3 minutes. Set up and take down was nothing, slide 'er up in the back of the truck, done. Simple is good.
And cheap..
Bill, I DO admire your approach. When I think back, some of the most fun sailing I've had was, a Sunnyfish on a pond I could tack across in 3 minutes. Set up and take down was nothing, slide 'er up in the back of the truck, done. Simple is good.
And cheap..
my good old irish grandmother used to tell my mother (her daughter), "marie, don't complain about the boat- it could be drink or women". that explanation seems to work with my wife, as well. you might try telling your beautiful wife that.
Well tonight the N17 was pulled out of storage lot and power wash and now in my friends garage. Never realize that my wife had a list of projects that I never completed?
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