Justifying the dream

H

Heaven Seeker

Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2013
RO Number
33320
Messages
14
I know with a boat you should never do the math but I can't help myself sometimes. The admiral really wants to move up to a 420 dancer from our 280. I would love to but if I lay out the perfect boating season here on long island with my life I would say two week long journey out east. Seven 3 day weekends. Then throw in 10 evening diner runs and 10 more day fishing trips in the early spring and late fall. So in a perfect season on Long island 55 days aboard at most. 40 is more realistic factoring in weather, work, and kids schedule. Figuring in 150K for a boat spread over 10 years and the storage, maintenance, and docking - it costs total around 25-27K per year before fuel or any major repairs. So in the perfect summer I use the boat 50 times and it costs me $500 per day aboard plus fuel. Just because you have the funds does it really make sense? 90% of me says you can't take it with you house is taken care of college funds are set up so do what makes you happy but I cant' figure out how so many people do it. Couldn't I charter a boat for two weeks with a captain and charter fishing boats for several weekends a year, etc. and come in at half the cost?
 
It is always a personal decision but life is short. I dont plan on leaving with many regrets.
 
Couldn't I charter a boat for two weeks with a captain and charter fishing boats for several weekends a year, etc. and come in at half the cost?

probably. but it would not be you piloting, your place, .......

This year I have only been out on one over-nighter and a half dozen day trips(more like couple hour trips) but we have spent most weekends at the boat. We are in a great location with a lot to do in the local area so we do not feel as much of a need to get out. But their is still the cost of purchase, slip fees, maintenance, breakage, and even updating. Any you are correct in that it is sometimes hard to justify. I do not know how old you are but I am looking at retiring in 6 years and while the payment part will be gone I do wonder about the sense of all the other expenses and whether we would be happy with something half the size. It is a tough call for sure.
 
You are making a classic boater mistake. Don't EVER do the math. No, it does not make sense from a financial standpoint. There are just different degrees of bad. It's an expensive hobby, no question. And like anything else, you need to figure out if there are other things you should, or would rather, spend money on. Last time I checked, you can't take it with you and there are no prizes for sliding into home with the biggest net worth.

As for chartering, yeah you could do that. And it would likely be cheaper. But as has already been pointed out... it wouldn't be YOUR boat. You would have to book certain times in advance, be at the mercy of departure and return schedules, have to load and unload all your personal belongings with each trip, and have no pride of ownership. It's a trade-off.

I spend, on average, 30 nights year on my boat. And that is all away from my dock in different locations. So that is basically one month out of twelve away from home, with my family doing my favorite thing in the world. It's worth the money to me. Your mileage may vary.
 
An advantage of owning is that many people feel obligated to use the boat more often.

Renting is fine but when you own your boat is always ready at no extra cost or planning.
 
AGREE.......Life is to short to have any regrets. Enjoy everyday.
 
You should consider yourself a lucky man. Many of us have Admirals who could take boating or leave it. If mine said lets get a bigger boat so we could do more boating heck we'd get a bigger boat. The costs are there for everything you do for example one daughter getting married and the other has two more years of college well by comparison boating is cheaper. You can't take it with you so go boating and have fun!
 
Time for a motivation check.

(a) Those who charter view this as a way to get away from land, sit back, relax and be carried off to sea without any responsibilities.

(b) Those who own boats seek (a) to some extent, but are seeking to be masters of their own world. The rites and rituals of keeping and maintaining the boat are as important as acquiring the skills and exercise of those skills to reliably, safely and comfortably carry their treasured castle to new far away realms.

Two different goals.

I fit into category (b). Chartering is only a method of controlling the shakes of withdrawal during the times when I am boatless, but it is and never has been a desire.

Note that there is not one $ sign in the above explanation...
 
To me there's 2 ways to look at this -

First, does the 420 buy you enough over the 280 to justify the expense and are their drawbacks? This you have to answer by considering how you use the boat and if you're looking to use the boat differently (longer trips, more nights aboard, etc). I went through the same thing when deciding about going from 32'-38' The 32 got me into different types of boating then I did before, longer trips, overnight offshore fishing trips, etc, but I was getting the bug to do it in more comfort. I made the move and 10 years later don't regret it at all. I spend a lot more nights on the boat, usually do longer trips, etc. But you should also consider if those evening dining runs would be practical where you are going (do your dining spots have big enough slips for the 420?) and if you'd fish as much on the bigger boat depending on how far you run, fuel costs, etc. Will an increase in draft impact you where you boat? Depending on how you use the boat going up can have its drawbacks. Think about how you use the boat, how you want to use the boat, and if the bigger size makes sense.

The other option you seem to be considering is not having a boat at all and chartering to cruise, fish, etc. As others have mentioned it's different owning the boat vs chartering. The other thing to consider is availability of charters, where you are looking to go, how much planning is involved, etc. One of the great things about owning a boat is you have an easily accessible vacation spot which needs minimal planning depending on what you are doing. A few years back friends of mine who were never boaters bought a boat because they got tired of dealing with weekend trips, cancelled flights, etc, and just wanted something where on the spur of the moment they could get away. Sometimes I wonder if I didn't have a boat what else would I do? You mention 55 days tops - when you think about it if you have 52 weekends off a year and let's say 4 weeks vacation, that's 125 non-working days a year. If you're on the boat 55 of them now that's currently 45% of your days off on the water at some point. Replacing a good chunk of that with charters isn't going to be cheap either and as others have said there's a big difference in the experience of running the boat yourself (whether fishing or cruising) and going along for the ride. Then again going to different places and chartering in new territory can be a great experience also which certainly has its pluses (I did a 10 day Virgin Islands charter this spring). But if you're a long time boater I think losing the option of just going down to the boat every summer weekend and relaxing on the water would be hard to replace. Unless you keep the 280 and put the money you would have spent towards 420 on charters in different spots for a couple weeks anyway and get a sample of both.
 
I will temper the availability option with some reality. With ownership of a larger boat comes more responsibility;
a) Boat handling. It's heavy. If you eff up a docking, people can get hurt. Sure that's true on a smaller boat but there is a tendency to say heck it's a 42 I can invite the universe aboard and wow, can you let yourself in for "it". However, docking a larger boat with diesels seems easier to me after a few years. It grows on you.
b) Getting out of the dock and back in, hooking up the umbilicals, fenders and all of that will take a toll on the S.O. once she realizes what she is in for. She's going to look at you driving and think you have it easy. Meanwhile she might stick her head between a piling and the boat rail while docking. 15-20 tons doesn't stop on a dime even while you are docking. This never changes. Especially in the Summer when it is hot. You will always have to be on your toes.
Of course, I have seen a successful transplant of the S.O. to the helm. It worked wonderfully. She was a drop dead gorgeous blond that could back a 50'er into a 15 foot slip like a Smart Car into a regular parking spot. I have yet to master this aspect and we have been on the boat, a 43' 20 tonner for 13 years. She has recently decided that learning to handle the new 13' dink is a good thing. Oh boy.
c) If you are mechanically inclined you are at an advantage. Otherwise, you will be raped. People will bang fuel pressure sensors that run the hour meters and spray fuel when they leak, hammer a macerator and leave it looking fine until you use it, kill your batteries while it is laid up, go aboard to check it and leave it open when they leave, and a host of other activities that will hamper your enjoyment. Don't let anyone have the keys.
d)Maintenance costs for diesels are far and away more than you can anticipate. Don't forget more often than not you will have to hire someone who needs to travel. And they will charge 100 bucks an hour to merely drive to your boat. Each way. And for coffee.
e) Keeping it ready to go can be a chore. At this level now you have waste systems, more galley issues, and overall housekeeping that is more complicated. Power, generators, the whole deal. When it works it's great! When it doesn't it can really suck.

But over all, the last 13 years have been marvelous. We could not have asked for more. From NY on the Hudson down to the Exumas, we've had a blast and I would not trade it for anything in the world. What is it worth to you? Will you really use the capabilities?
 
All excellent input. We are heavily leaning towards making the move up. Any other opinions/ experiences would be great.
 
Our boat is our summer vacation home. We are up there every Friday - Monday morning. As soon as I step foot on the dock, all of my work issues are forgotten.

We take a 2 week trip out east that costs a ton of money (food, fuel, dockage, drinks, tee shirts...) but we love it and can't imagine not being able to do it.

Owning a boat will never make financial sense, but the joy it brings us is worth the cost.
 
I'll skip right to the end and give you my opinion. I sold my 32' in 09 thinking I was doing the right thing. Got an expensive Wife, Ex and a ton of Child support, over mortgaged on Long Island and even with a pretty good salary, found myself leveraged way beyond the norm. One day, while in the Mother In Law on her death bed, she told me to go get my boat back. I told her I couldn't afford it.....she said make it happen. I did....not the perfect boat but just enough to keep me on the water and broke for the summer (fuel, beer, fuel.....food and stuff). Bottom line is it makes me happy, even to just go down and nap in the rain, it makes me happy.....so frig it..

BTW, no college fund (although support payments should have gone there somewhere, house way over leveraged and I would go for it regardless....because as everyone before me said, you can't take it with you and you never know when that's comin......
 
If it makes you happy do it!! If in a year or two it's not your cup a tea, dump the boat and don't look back. John C has so good advise, nothing to add to his post. All good advise above and by the way, advise from seasoned boaters that have been where you are and where you want to go.

With that all said and what the above posts have said, my advise is ---------------

Live your dream, just don't overextend yourself, you don't need that stress.That stress will ruin your fun on the boat
 
You can't put a price tag on the joy, family time and relaxation you get from boating . It's priceless to my family and I . I'd be dead from the stress of work and life if I didn't have it

Rob
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top