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There are two happy days for a boat owner: the day he buys it and the day he sells it.

Waterluvian 5y ago
I feel like I must be the only one who has found a small pleasurecraft to be less work than a car. The fibreglass ones basically last forever. And if you get one with a popular car engine as the onboard motor, they’re very accessible and easy to maintain. Just don’t sink it.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  As long as you don't go into salt water it's doable, but once you do continuous maintenance is your lot. I've worked a stint for a sailmaker, the annual repair bill on a mid sized sea going sailboat was about half of what I earned in a year back then. A few thousand here, a few thousand there, it really adds up quickly and that's before you get into things like storm damage. A small car engine powered fibreglass cabin cruiser (remember to ventilate before starting the engine!!) can be affordable, the costs would mostly be fuel (still quite a bit of money), periodical re-painting of the underwatership and small maintenance of the upper structure as well as regular engine maintenance. That probably works out to a few hundred per month if you do a lot of the work yourself.
  - Waterluvian 5y ago
    Ahh!! Perhaps people are referring to a different scale than what I’m perceiving. I’m thinking 18 foot cabinless boat for Muskoka Lakes sized boating. Some water skiing. Etc. I can imagine that when you get to Great Lakes sized boating or salt water, things get expensive.
    - jacquesm 5y ago
      Yes, that's exactly it: there's boats and boats... an 18' is very much doable, it's essentially a nice hobby and will soak up some of your surplus income but that's about it. But a slightly more serious boat, say an older Jeannau or something else that isn't immediately going to sink if you take it out on blue water is going to cost you a fair amount of money and will be - unless you are already a multi-millionaire - a way of life rather than something you only use on the weekends because of the money you'll end up pumping into it. If you go on youtube and find the various channels where people talk about their life on their boats and what it's like you'll see that they hardly ever really talk about where they are going or what they are doing, the main subjects are always money, repairs and weather. A boat, unlike a house, is very strongly influenced by its environment and anything that you can no longer easily put on a trailer behind a car to get it out of the water when you're not using it will require near continuous work. You won't ever be able to 'and now it is done' and then to use it for the next five years without major work on it.
  - wil421 5y ago
    I’m about to buy a 34’ Cabin Cruiser. It’s taken me a few months but I finally found one that’s only been in fresh water. It is 1,000 miles away but will hopefully be worth it. I’m getting a survey done soon. Plan to keep it at a lake nearby so hopefully it will be less trouble than a saltwater boat. Plenty of saltwater boats around and I can see the corrosion all over them.
    - jacquesm 5y ago
      Smart man. Plenty of people wouldn't make that call ahead of time and by the time they realize that they bought a lemon it is much too late. If you can have it taken out of the water so you can inspect the underwatership from the outside, if there are zinc blocks look at how much they've worn and whether they've been replaced regularly, if they are completely gone you shouldn't buy the boat regardless of how well it looks.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Yup. Inboard boats are stupid cheap to maintain if you DIY it. Unlike a car you can't drop a grand on a locking differential and then another grand on 37-spline axle shafts and then another three grand on a fancy transmission. Even in saltwater any boat you can drag out of the water with a light truck is only going to be as expensive as you make it.
- bombcar 5y ago
  Yeah if you can make your boat not be a hole in the water it’s small enough it can be stored inland, and it can be pretty cheap.
kingcharles 5y ago
Amen, brother. The best boat is a friend's boat.
bsder 5y ago
The second happiest day for a boat owner is the day he buys his boat. The happiest day for a boat owner is the day he sells his boat.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
B.O.A.T - Bring Out Another Thousand
WastingMyTime89 5y ago
I also like the very true: travelling with your own boat is mostly doing maintenance and fixing issues on a boat in exotic locations.
killerpopiller 5y ago
true, but I really loved my time I spent on my sailboat chilling on the water. Fond memories worth the money and effort. Having a family now a boat does not fit anymore but I often think back to my Hai 7.10m
- bombcar 5y ago
  Many places rent sailboats - I was able to rent a 40ft for $450 or so a day.
A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago
Here is the under-appreciated part. You always have friends when you have a boat. You have a headache, because you have a boat, but everyone wants to have a friend, who has a boat:P

I feel like I must be the only one who has found a small pleasurecraft to be less work than a car. The fibreglass ones basically last forever. And if you get one with a popular car engine as the onboard motor, they’re very accessible and easy to maintain. Just don’t sink it.

jacquesm 5y ago
As long as you don't go into salt water it's doable, but once you do continuous maintenance is your lot. I've worked a stint for a sailmaker, the annual repair bill on a mid sized sea going sailboat was about half of what I earned in a year back then. A few thousand here, a few thousand there, it really adds up quickly and that's before you get into things like storm damage. A small car engine powered fibreglass cabin cruiser (remember to ventilate before starting the engine!!) can be affordable, the costs would mostly be fuel (still quite a bit of money), periodical re-painting of the underwatership and small maintenance of the upper structure as well as regular engine maintenance. That probably works out to a few hundred per month if you do a lot of the work yourself.
- Waterluvian 5y ago
  Ahh!! Perhaps people are referring to a different scale than what I’m perceiving. I’m thinking 18 foot cabinless boat for Muskoka Lakes sized boating. Some water skiing. Etc. I can imagine that when you get to Great Lakes sized boating or salt water, things get expensive.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Yes, that's exactly it: there's boats and boats... an 18' is very much doable, it's essentially a nice hobby and will soak up some of your surplus income but that's about it. But a slightly more serious boat, say an older Jeannau or something else that isn't immediately going to sink if you take it out on blue water is going to cost you a fair amount of money and will be - unless you are already a multi-millionaire - a way of life rather than something you only use on the weekends because of the money you'll end up pumping into it. If you go on youtube and find the various channels where people talk about their life on their boats and what it's like you'll see that they hardly ever really talk about where they are going or what they are doing, the main subjects are always money, repairs and weather. A boat, unlike a house, is very strongly influenced by its environment and anything that you can no longer easily put on a trailer behind a car to get it out of the water when you're not using it will require near continuous work. You won't ever be able to 'and now it is done' and then to use it for the next five years without major work on it.
- wil421 5y ago
  I’m about to buy a 34’ Cabin Cruiser. It’s taken me a few months but I finally found one that’s only been in fresh water. It is 1,000 miles away but will hopefully be worth it. I’m getting a survey done soon. Plan to keep it at a lake nearby so hopefully it will be less trouble than a saltwater boat. Plenty of saltwater boats around and I can see the corrosion all over them.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    Smart man. Plenty of people wouldn't make that call ahead of time and by the time they realize that they bought a lemon it is much too late. If you can have it taken out of the water so you can inspect the underwatership from the outside, if there are zinc blocks look at how much they've worn and whether they've been replaced regularly, if they are completely gone you shouldn't buy the boat regardless of how well it looks.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
Yup. Inboard boats are stupid cheap to maintain if you DIY it. Unlike a car you can't drop a grand on a locking differential and then another grand on 37-spline axle shafts and then another three grand on a fancy transmission. Even in saltwater any boat you can drag out of the water with a light truck is only going to be as expensive as you make it.
bombcar 5y ago
Yeah if you can make your boat not be a hole in the water it’s small enough it can be stored inland, and it can be pretty cheap.

kingcharles 5y ago

Amen, brother. The best boat is a friend's boat.

bsder 5y ago

The second happiest day for a boat owner is the day he buys his boat. The happiest day for a boat owner is the day he sells his boat.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago

B.O.A.T - Bring Out Another Thousand

WastingMyTime89 5y ago

I also like the very true: travelling with your own boat is mostly doing maintenance and fixing issues on a boat in exotic locations.

killerpopiller 5y ago

true, but I really loved my time I spent on my sailboat chilling on the water. Fond memories worth the money and effort. Having a family now a boat does not fit anymore but I often think back to my Hai 7.10m

bombcar 5y ago
Many places rent sailboats - I was able to rent a 40ft for $450 or so a day.

A4ET8a8uTh0 5y ago

Here is the under-appreciated part. You always have friends when you have a boat. You have a headache, because you have a boat, but everyone wants to have a friend, who has a boat:P