Biggest problem with boating?

[oldgit]

You need 3 things to enjoy boating & thus help prevent some of the problems that arise:-
A partner who is willing to accept it all without complaint- (Or no partner at all, of course) One who wants to go boating as much as you is great. One who will go sailing but who will start whingeing if it is windy or rough is a real pain in the rear. One who keeps coming up with reasons not to sail - ie some darned relation's B B Q etc etc are just a waste of time.
You want one like mine- " I am going golfing for a few days next week. If you go sailing be careful, let me know how it goes & where you are) "

Money to afford the sailing that you want to do- so you need to have the budget sorted. Match the boat to the budget & be honest about it. Being unable to afford to keep the boat can cause friction & worry at home. It can spoil the sailing if something goes wrong & one cannot use the boat. It hurts if a bill comes in ( & it will) at a difficult time

Time to do the sailing you want to do- No point getting the boat- be it project or otherwise & not enjoying it. It will end up a millstone around your neck & you will not enjoy the hobby.

If you want to add a fourth, then location would be my choice. A boat 100's of miles away, is no enjoyment (in my view) The travelling is a killer. Going along the M3 & round the M25 on a hot Sunday evening is something to put one right off sailing.
I am lucky. I am 4.4 miles from my marina & love to go to the boat daily, even if just for a chat to the boat. Fettle something that really did not need fettling, talk to other owners etc. Much more civilised

.

Keep it cheap within your budget, keep it close and small enough not to make it impossible to use without help.
The abilty to look out of the window to a cracking sunrise and to know that shortly afterwards , after chucking a few bits into the car you could be leaving the mooring "F1 moderating" makes for a long boating life.

 

[Praxinoscope]

You could add the helpless feeling as you stand on the shore and watch a storm wreak havoc in the harbour hoping that your boat will not be one of the casualties. (Aberaeron 13th October 2018, 9 boats sunk/written off, day before crane booked for planned lift out)

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Keep it cheap within your budget, keep it close and small enough not to make it impossible to use without help.
The abilty to look out of the window to a cracking sunrise and to know that shortly afterwards , after chucking a few bits into the car you could be leaving the mooring "F1 moderating" makes for a long boating life.

I never lived closer than 210 miles from my boats and even if it had been 210 yards I wouldn't have gone out for a couple of hours sailing, that was never my enjoyment.
When I was a kid messing about in a dinghy and a little latter with my grandfathers converted ships lifeboat it was different but even then I yearned for the open water and long voyages.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Ok, you disagree. I must accept that
Apart from a tax credit & the ability to lower a flag, - Which you seem to think is important- can you tell us what else one might need to answer the OP's question
I am willing to learn where I have gone wrong in helping to solve problems with boating

You don’t need to accept anything. That’s the point. There is no prescribed method for enjoying sailing. Just go and do it, if it doesn’t make you happy, don’t do it.

 

[Bouba]

Treasure those perfect moments of boating bliss…they maybe fewer and further between than you hoped.
One hint is to photograph every moment and post them on this forum…not only will you have the memories to comfort and encourage you…but the more people that are jealous of your exploits the more likely you are to think that the experience was longer than you recall (works for other aspects of your life also)

 

[RupertW]

And until you have to buy something - parts, paint, mooring - and the bill comes in.

The other advantage of a smaller boat is that when my little Snapdragon got wilful, a tug on a line and she'd shape up. My mate's 38 footer would just laugh and pull back - a lot harder than I could pull. Everything just has to be planned so much more carefully on a big boat.

I sort of get that but a bigger boat (mine is 42 feet) is a much more tolerant and stable platform. I don’t remember the last time I had to plan anything- I just do it. And I also can’t remember the last time I had to change any sailing oart as they are so much bigger and more robust.

But it is more expensive tic to run overall. Maybe a 55 foot would be too big for an older couple to sail but up to that point bigger is better for living and sailing on except maybe for lots of short marina hops.

 

[RupertW]

The biggest problem is that it’s addictive and will take all your holiday time until you retire when I suspect it will take all the money you have for holidays.

So spend a year or two between each boat to decide whether you want to fling yourself back into it all (hint - we always have).

Biggest problem when sailing is that little (or not so little) touch of anxiety that something else will break and you will have to move from being relaxed to being in ultra-calm problem solving mode.

I can think of a few times over the last few months that that has happened.

 

[Bouba]

The perennial problem is that the boat you buy won’t be the boat you want....and you go down that well worn slippery slope of getting one boat after the next...take as much time, research and advice you can when buying your first boat...but, as always, it’s when you use it that you realize that something else would suit your needs better

 

[Fr J Hackett]

The biggest problem is that it’s addictive and will take all your holiday time until you retire when I suspect it will take all the money you have for holidays.

So spend a year or two between each boat to decide whether you want to fling yourself back into it all (hint - we always have).

Biggest problem when sailing is that little (or not so little) touch of anxiety that something else will break and you will have to move from being relaxed to being in ultra-calm problem solving mode.

I can think of a few times over the last few months that that has happened.

After nearly 10 years without a boat early this year I decided that I would buy again, it was going to be kept at least 1000Km from home ( I don't want to be in the Med or close to Bouba ) but for various reasons I missed the two boats that interested me and the only other is 3 times the cost of the most expensive one that I missed. Couple that with my wife really doesn't want to be away from the house her garden and friends for months on end and I am coming to the conclusion that it's a no go.

 

[Bouba]

After nearly 10 years without a boat early this year I decided that I would buy again, it was going to be kept at least 1000Km from home ( I don't want to be in the Med or close to Bouba ) but for various reasons I missed the two boats that interested me and the only other is 3 times the cost of the most expensive one that I missed. Couple that with my wife really doesn't want to be away from the house her garden and friends for months on end and I am coming to the conclusion that it's a no go.

Pity you don’t have any friends in the Med who could invite you out

 

[Bouba]

You could add the helpless feeling as you stand on the shore and watch a storm wreak havoc in the harbour hoping that your boat will not be one of the casualties. (Aberaeron 13th October 2018, 9 boats sunk/written off, day before crane booked for planned lift out)

View attachment 156446

It happened to my local marina one year after the river burst it’s banks...luckily my boat wasn’t there at the time...unfortunately our home was badly hit

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Pity you don’t have any friends in the Med who could invite you out

As it happens I do a 28M one in port Vauban Antibes

 

[Bouba]

As it happens I do a 28M one in port Vauban Antibes

Well good for you....stick with your posh friends

 

[Daydream believer]

Couple that with my wife really doesn't want to be away from the house her garden and friends for months on end and I am coming to the conclusion that it's a no go.

Relevant point there. My wife & I were going to take the boat to the Med
.We set off & by the time we had got half way down Biscay we missed everything, from family, to home, to friends, the sailing club , even the blasted cat. She suddenly said " I have had enough, do what you want"; got on a plane & b..gered off home.

It is not always the environment to make friends. They come & go as one moves along.
One meets people as one sails around the coast, some are really interesting. But quite honestly, the pompous, " I retired early when I realised that the new MD was going to ruin the company", type just get right up my nose. Plus we were fed up with the French.

I turned round & sailed home. Which is where I realised how much I enjoyed SH sailing. We finished the year in the Dutch canals, (much better fun). But that really finished off most of our sailing together, apart from the annual weeks with family aboard.

 

[Bouba]

Relevant point there. My wife & I were going to take the boat to the Med
.We set off & by the time we had got half way down Biscay we missed everything, from family, to home, to friends, the sailing club , even the blasted cat. She suddenly said " I have had enough, do what you want"; got on a plane & b..gered off home.

It is not always the environment to make friends. They come & go as one moves along.
One meets people as one sails around the coast, some are really interesting. But quite honestly, the pompous, " I retired early when I realised that the new MD was going to ruin the company", type just get right up my nose. Plus we were fed up with the French.

I turned round & sailed home. Which is where I realised how much I enjoyed SH sailing. We finished the year in the Dutch canals, (much better fun). But that really finished off most of our sailing together, apart from the annual weeks with family aboard.

I think what you prove is that boating is a very flexible pastime and that eventually you will find the kind that brings you the most pleasure

 

[geem]

I sort of get that but a bigger boat (mine is 42 feet) is a much more tolerant and stable platform. I don’t remember the last time I had to plan anything- I just do it. And I also can’t remember the last time I had to change any sailing oart as they are so much bigger and more robust.

But it is more expensive tic to run overall. Maybe a 55 foot would be too big for an older couple to sail but up to that point bigger is better for living and sailing on except maybe for lots of short marina hops.

We have friends here sailing a 57ft sloop. He built it in aluminium in 1980, himself. He still sails it at 84 years old with his wife. They have no electric winches. He also kitesurfs. He is an inspiration to everybody that knows him. He doesn't do the miles he used to do but quite happy to sail from Antigua to the BVIs none stop and back again (about 170nm each way) More distance than most will do on this forum.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We have friends here sailing a 57ft sloop. He built it in aluminium in 1980, himself. He still sails it at 84 years old with his wife. They have no electric winches. He also kitesurfs. He is an inspiration to everybody that knows him. He doesn't do the miles he used to do but quite happy to sail from Antigua to the BVIs none stop and back again (about 170nm each way) More distance than most will do on this forum.

Further than we go in one hit. My wife has RP, she can’t see in the dark, and is quite nervous after dark. However, she’s a proper trooper in the daytime, will endure a hard beat if there’s a drink and food at the end of it.

 

[mattonthesea]

I think what you prove is that boating is a very flexible pastime and that eventually you will find the kind that brings you the most pleasure

Agreed. We discovered that my newish partner didn't enjoy multi-day passages when we crossed Biscay. She would do it again as she enjoyed Spain but preferred not to. And Ocean sailing with her meeting me the other side was out as she misses her family. And I enjoy cruising to new grounds. She loves the traveling lifestyle.

So, after discussion, we now do mainly day sails, mixing UK and Europe, playing Schengen shuffle.

Still having fun seven years later.

We are fortunate in that we have the time and a low budget attitude to life.

 

[Stemar]

The perennial problem is that the boat you buy won’t be the boat you want....and you go down that well worn slippery slope of getting one boat after the next...take as much time, research and advice you can when buying your first boat...but, as always, it’s when you use it that you realize that something else would suit your needs better

Doesn't have to be the case. Our budget was strictly limited, so our choice was strictly limited and we made the best of what we had.

No, our little Snapdragon wasn't our lottery win boat, but she served us well for 18 years until Madame was starting to find moving about on her more difficult and we had an unexpected opportunity to buy a Catalac 8m, which suits her much better. I don't know how long we'll keep Jazzcat, but I suspect she'll be our last boat.

 

[geem]

Doesn't have to be the case. Our budget was strictly limited, so our choice was strictly limited and we made the best of what we had.

No, our little Snapdragon wasn't our lottery win boat, but she served us well for 18 years until Madame was starting to find moving about on her more difficult and we had an unexpected opportunity to buy a Catalac 8m, which suits her much better. I don't know how long we'll keep Jazzcat, but I suspect she'll be our last boat.

Absolutely. Our first boat was kept for 5 years. We cut our teeth on that one. The next one suited our needs for the next 11 years. The current one we have had for 11 years and we haven't seen a boat more suited to our needs. We don't need or want a bigger boat.