Anyone else thinking about giving up sailing?

[maby]

I am curious about various posts where people have said that they keep their boats in the water for all but a couple of days a year. Do you have wooden boats?

I ask because I have just been chatting to a broker who was warning me off a 1980s GRP Moody because it has been in the water for a few years and he seemed to think that this would almost certainly guarantee osmosis. It sounded a bit alarmist to me but it has made me uneasy. Should I be?

GRP technology has improved a lot since then - osmosis really isn't a problem with most relatively modern boats. Apart from that, I'm pretty confident it will take at least ten years before my hull gets noticeable wet, probably a lot longer - I doubt I'll be capable of sailing it much longer than that!

 

[sailorman]

Could quite easily read - 'went sailing twice years ago, now props up yacht club bar telling everyone what they're doing wrong,'

I will admit to only 800 mls this year. Nxt year will be different :encouragement:

 

[nimbusgb]

125 hours flight time in a year versus about 6 weeks on board time.

Take sandwiches! Eat a decent meal in a pub after landing.

 

[xyachtdave]

I will admit to only 800 mls this year. Nxt year will be different :encouragement:

Obviously was not referring to you Sailorman!

Was thinking of a couple of MYC characters.

 

[Trop Cher]

Robert, September to March is for dreaming about sailing your boat
Where is your boat laid up?

 

[Searush]

I am curious about various posts where people have said that they keep their boats in the water for all but a couple of days a year. Do you have wooden boats?

I ask because I have just been chatting to a broker who was warning me off a 1980s GRP Moody because it has been in the water for a few years and he seemed to think that this would almost certainly guarantee osmosis. It sounded a bit alarmist to me but it has made me uneasy. Should I be?

I presume it wasn't on his list then? It's a stupid generalisation. It may or may not have osmosis but it has less to do with time spent in the water & more to do with quality of lay up. It may even (like mine) have been treated as soon as the symptoms were spotted (about 35 years after she was built). Go see the broker whose list it is on & he will tell you what a wonderful & sought after family boat they are.

Some did have rudder problems tho.

 

[nimbusgb]

Thinking of giving it up? PLEASE DO!!!

More space and lower costs for the rest of us!

Um no, not unless i sink my boat! Someone will buy it and take my place!

 

[Robert Wilson]

Robert, September to March is for dreaming about sailing your boat
Where is your boat laid up?

Not far from you! Loch Ewe (Ormiscaig/Marine Harvest slipway) 10 mins by car from home, providing I don't forget the all-important bag of tools, bits etc.

Where abouts are you in Lochcarron? Off the village slip or down Plockton-way?

I agree, September to March is dreaming time - but dreaming doesn't get the jobs done!!!

Do you ever get up this way?

 

[fergie_mac66]

Put your boat back in the water and have a 12 month season.

+1 we always have a winter week and a couple of weekends even if the boat goes nowhere and stops on mooring we get a few walks a bit of sea air nothing like watching the weather from the companionway

 

[Pleiades]

View attachment 37475

November on the Reach - ok there was ice on the decks in the morning but fabulous sailing to be had and great light when its time to drop the hook or pick up a buoy.

Robin
Pleiades of Birdham
MXWQ5

 

[BrianH]

I am curious about various posts where people have said that they keep their boats in the water for all but a couple of days a year. Do you have wooden boats?
I ask because I have just been chatting to a broker who was warning me off a 1980s GRP Moody because it has been in the water for a few years and he seemed to think that this would almost certainly guarantee osmosis. It sounded a bit alarmist to me but it has made me uneasy. Should I be?

Not really. My 33 year old GRP HR has lived afloat all its life, other than for a few days ashore each year for anti-fouling, and the last 8 years of that have been in the warmer waters of the north-eastern Italian lagoons that allegedly are more conducive to water absorption and consequent osmosis. No signs of it the last time hauled out a year ago.

There are literally thousands of GRP yachts in my marina complex that stay afloat the whole year - it's normal there.

On the subject of distance between home and boat, I have no option to an eight-hour journey to the Adriatic. But I drive, which means I can carry a large load of clean clothes and bedding, plus any small winter projects I have completed for the boat - I always travel heavily loaded. I cannot imagine how those who fly to their boats manage, but I suppose needs must.

 

[Trop Cher]

Not far from you! Loch Ewe (Ormiscaig/Marine Harvest slipway) 10 mins by car from home, providing I don't forget the all-important bag of tools, bits etc.

Where abouts are you in Lochcarron? Off the village slip or down Plockton-way?

I agree, September to March is dreaming time - but dreaming doesn't get the jobs done!!!

Do you ever get up this way?

I have a mooring in Slumbay, just off the sailing club in Lochcarron, and she's overwintered in the yard at Kishorn.
Hopefully I'll get up to Loch Ewe next year, it was on the plans for this year but never happened.
What's the name of your boat, and I'll look out for you, that is if you haven't given up!

 

[oldharry]

In answer to OPs original question - thinking about giving up sailing. The answer is - yes every autumn. Another rotten summer over, a lot of work, some of it heavy and unpleasant, ahead. Annual bills like Moorings, harbour dues coming up. Couple that with long nights, short days, and British winter damp and cold, and I think to myself why do i bother? However, autumn is notoriously a bad time to sell, so I might as well hang on until spring when I can get a better price. In the meantime the work gets done, the bills get paid, and the weather is improving (usually!), and somehow, the decision goes by default that I will try another season in the hopes the weather will be better this year.

 

[ffiill]

Am I alone? Boat's out on the hard, weather's getting colder, windier, wetter; darkness from 07:00 to 17:00. List of "Jobs to do" increasing exponentially by the day. Cost of everything likewise.

Am I the only one wondering whether or not the few months from late March to late September are going to be worth it all?

Are the memories of this season's fun reality or fantasy?

Despite the fact that sailing in The Inner Sound and neighbouring areas is no doubt in some of the worlds most beautiful scenery I am beginning to feel the same way as I progress through my 60s!If I could afford to pay out for maintainence maybe.
At the moment the only thing that helps get me the 70 miles to Kishorn is the beautiful scenery

 

[Skylark]

No-one - in his right mind - invests in boating.

I consider every penny spent on the boat as 'written off' (never to be seen again).
Money well spent it is too.

You can't take it with you. I have no ambition to be the richest corpse in the cemetery.

What a brilliant post, couldn't agree more.

I'm happy with a 6 month season, good, bad or indifferent. I like the thought that she's on the hard, in her cradle over winter as I find it too cold for enjoyment.

 

[mikeinkwazi]

In answer to OPs original question - thinking about giving up sailing. The answer is - yes every autumn. Another rotten summer over, a lot of work, some of it heavy and unpleasant, ahead. Annual bills like Moorings, harbour dues coming up. Couple that with long nights, short days, and British winter damp and cold, and I think to myself why do i bother? However, autumn is notoriously a bad time to sell, so I might as well hang on until spring when I can get a better price. In the meantime the work gets done, the bills get paid, and the weather is improving (usually!), and somehow, the decision goes by default that I will try another season in the hopes the weather will be better this year.

+1 :encouragement:

 

[maby]

In answer to OPs original question - thinking about giving up sailing. The answer is - yes every autumn. Another rotten summer over, a lot of work, some of it heavy and unpleasant, ahead. Annual bills like Moorings, harbour dues coming up. Couple that with long nights, short days, and British winter damp and cold, and I think to myself why do i bother? However, autumn is notoriously a bad time to sell, so I might as well hang on until spring when I can get a better price. In the meantime the work gets done, the bills get paid, and the weather is improving (usually!), and somehow, the decision goes by default that I will try another season in the hopes the weather will be better this year.

The weather really should not enter into it - if it's grotty on the boat, it will be similarly grotty in the house - at least you can move the boat somewhere hotter if it matters that much to you!

 

[Robert Wilson]

I have a mooring in Slumbay, just off the sailing club in Lochcarron, and she's overwintered in the yard at Kishorn.
Hopefully I'll get up to Loch Ewe next year, it was on the plans for this year but never happened.
What's the name of your boat, and I'll look out for you, that is if you haven't given up!

Boat's name is Khamsin. Dark blue hull. Unless the weather is really bad (V strong northerlies) I usually have the boat in front of my house round in Gruinard Bay. So my Loch Ewe mooring is generally available for visitors. If you're interested, PM me and I'll send co-ordinates.
Having said that, there is a mooring infront of the Hotel, in the village; and anchoring in the village harbour is usually ok, unless STRONG SW-erlies.
I've probably seen your boat when driving through Lochcarron. Not sailed that far up yet.

Despite the fact that sailing in The Inner Sound and neighbouring areas is no doubt in some of the worlds most beautiful scenery I am beginning to feel the same way as I progress through my 60s!If I could afford to pay out for maintainence maybe.
At the moment the only thing that helps get me the 70 miles to Kishorn is the beautiful scenery

Another with similar thoughts!
And two of you who use Kishorn. What are the facilities there like? I had heard they were going to develop a "full facility" marina.
You're 70 miles from Kishorn - Mull??

 

[Ravi]

On the subject of distance between home and boat, I have no option to an eight-hour journey to the Adriatic. But I drive, which means I can carry a large load of clean clothes and bedding, plus any small winter projects I have completed for the boat - I always travel heavily loaded. I cannot imagine how those who fly to their boats manage, but I suppose needs must.

That would be a swine if you ever go to the boat and realised that you have forgotten the boat keys?

 

[BrianH]

That would be a swine if you ever go to the boat and realised that you have forgotten the boat keys?

As general security the harbour administration keeps duplicates for every berth's yacht keys so that's always a backup.

I have travelled 15km on my way back from the marina after laying up to remember that I hadn't cleared out the rubbish bin. By luck it was just before entering the autostrada - a few minutes later and I would have been well on my way towards Venice with a long stretch before I could exit to come back. A good example of having a check list before finally closing up the boat.