should I keep her or let it go

[frankies56]

Lou,
Well said and point taken, I went out last sunday wind was at 18 knots wow what fun. had the boat to the rails a couple of times. hated to turn around. thank you you all for the advice. thinking of morley safer. and other fellow sailors , that was a shame to retire and live less than a week. thank you my sailor friends,

 

[H33CRich]

Sail what you Like. Like what you sail. Tomorrow may never come. Enjoy the present and sail.

 

[smokey73]

I once buried a man (when I'm not sailing or doing other things I make my living as a United Methodist Minister) who postponed many of the things he wanted to do until he retired. The last decade of his life was essentially "preparing for retirement" deferring many things he enjoyed until post retirement. He made it to retirement day excited about all of his plans. He died a month after he retired with a very long list of things he planned to do. It was sad and I determined I would not do the same. Enjoy life's blessings while you are here.

That man I buried was my Dad. From the time I was old enough to remember, I walked through Boat Shows with my Dad looking at boats (not sailboats but boats none the less). He always wanted one but with 5 kids he always felt the need to make sure we we had what we needed. When I got my appointment to Annapolis it freed up some capital he had put aside for my college but he never pulled the trigger on the boat and had a heart attack less than 6 months after he retired. He lived on a few more years but it was a pretty bad one and he never had the energy for a boat after that. When I started looking for boats but talking my self out it because it was not a "wise financial decision"(it seldom is) my wife said "buy the damn boat" (God bless her). To paraphrase a quote, when your laying on your death bed, you'll regret the things in life you didn't do far more than the things you did. I've had 3 heart attacks, 5 way bypass and my heart stopped on the table during one of the stents before the bypass. Take my word for it - as long as you can afford it, sail till you can't sail anymore and when you're forced to sell your boat figure out a way to go out when you can on somebody else's boat. Not to be a downer but you might not even make to retirement, putting everything off till then may mean putting off for the rest of your life.

 

[Tally Ho]

I once buried a man (when I'm not sailing or doing other things I make my living as a United Methodist Minister) who postponed many of the things he wanted to do until he retired. The last decade of his life was essentially "preparing for retirement" deferring many things he enjoyed until post retirement. He made it to retirement day excited about all of his plans. He died a month after he retired with a very long list of things he planned to do. It was sad and I determined I would not do the same. Enjoy life's blessings while you are here.

As I keep telling my Admiral...."life is short, we should buy a bigger boat, now". To which she normally responds... "Or buy a condo on Maui".

Either way, we should enjoy the here and now.

 

[tango_51]

why sell something that is payed for?? you can live on the boat and save money or have the boat hauled and stored and getting rid of the dock-age, which is less than a slip fee. win win. who wants to buy a new boat when they retire, that's digging in to the sailing kitty..

 

[thinwater]

Keep it on dry land for a while. Should be much cheaper.

But if you can not sail for 6 years, are you sure you like sailing?

And it doesn't need to be a serious health problem. An annoying shoulder or knee problem can keep you off the boat. It takes less than you think.

 

[rardiH36]

And it doesn't need to be a serious health problem. An annoying shoulder or knee problem can keep you off the boat. It takes less than you think.

So true! In my case it was broken neck that derailed the number of days per week/month sailing.

Neck has been healed enough now for 3-4 months. But wife's progressing osteoporosis and general muscle weakening causes me to not want her on board except on the calmest of days. This should be good, but she gets easily bored in no or light wind conditions and starts to gripe. Not a good time for either of us.

And if I want to go sailing solo or with friends, she gives me a huge crocodile tear look and sulks for excluding her . Result -- an outing for me every few weeks now.

I live a 15 minute easy bicycle ride from my boat. Five hours is all that I need for a day sail. I can't imagine the added impediment most owners face who must to travel 60+ minutes or even hours to their marinas. Any alternative demand on the day and sailing is out of the question.

 

[David in Sandusky]

When we bought our '77 h27, (at 55) we knew that dockage and maintenance/improvements were about $3,000 per year. The boat was only $9,000, and we knew we would get some of that back when it was time to sell. We planned to spend 20 to 30 nights and more days on her each summer, and we're happy that this was a good deal for us. The key point is that with classic plastic boats (all of the Cherubinis) annual operating costs far exceed net acquisition costs. For us $300 per night seems like a really good deal! We love sailing, cruising, anchoring and biking on our boat!

17 summers later, (at 71) the annual cost is only up to $3,200. We still spend 20 to 30 nights per summer on Lady Lillie. We still love our time together on her. We will keep her until we can't sail her any more, or we don't want to. Our experience says the first is the more likely stopping point. We have no idea when that will be.

If the boat sale price was a significant portion of our retirement savings, we might have a different analysis. But this is unlikely with a classic plastic boat. When we bought her, the agent, Terry Freeman told us, "Remember the fun factor!" And we have!