Is it really worth owning a boat in England?

[Medskipper]

Just recently got back from the Greek islands where my brother has been living on his yacht for the last 3 years.
Fantastic weather, wonderful scenes and flat calm seas just perfect for Mobos!

Its been raining here in England since it seems forever with little or no prospect of a summer at all, but what is in my opinion even worse are the high winds! it just seems to have been blowing a gale since Christmas! This of course makes cruising a motor vessel very uncomfortable on long sea trips.

Lastly, the cost of boating here in England! if compared with the amount of use you actually manage to get out of your boat I think if we all worked it out would make most of us sell our boats! and before any jumps in and says it costs a fortune in the Med, yes it is expensive but when compared to days of use vs costs it surely has to be cheaper! I'm too scared to work out the costs Vs days used here in England as the wife might decide that our money could be made use of elsewhere!

Barry

 

[ari]

You are absolutely right, and no it isn't.

But I also know that we'll get one good day (eventually), hopefully followed by a few more, and suddenly it will all be worth every penny again.

Lets face it, boating isn't "worth it" full stop if you want to get analytical about it. But it's the old "price of everything vs value of everything" argument again. The sheer pleasure I do get from my boat come the good weather is impossible to put a figure on.

 

[DAKA]

It is ideal in the UK.

It is nice to be able to drive there instead of all the Airport delays.
Finish work on a Friday, nip down the M3 or any of the other high speed routes.
The Motorway network on the South coast is particularly handy in that the Motorway takes you straight into the Marina' Hassle free'

Then a relaxed evening meal in a Restaurant overlooking your boat.

Cruise out into uncongested sheltered waters across to Cowes which is buzzing with atmosphere and a warm welcome awaits in the local Yacht clubs.

BBQ Sunday before a Champagne cruise back through the Locks and straight onto the fuel pontoon.

The worst bit is then tyeing up and leaving until next week.
Idyllic way to spend a relaxing weekend.


PS
Any one want to buy a Princess 360
We enjoy it so much we want a bigger boat /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Poignard]

[ QUOTE ]
Is it really worth owning a boat in England?

[/ QUOTE ]

I sometimes wonder whether it's worth owning anything!

A friend of mine does not have a house, car, boat, or anything of much value and nothing that needs maintenance. He is a widower with a reasonable income, rents his home, travels around by taxis, trains and airliners, backs horses, visits theatres and cinemas, takes loads of interesting holidays and has a good social life with many lady friends. He is dependent on no-one and no-one depends on him. He is always in a good mood and I have never known him to worry about anything.

A famous explorer once said "The more possessions you have; the less freedom".

Anyway, that's enough philosophy; just got time to take the car in for service before the television repair man comes. Then I must get a builder to fix the roof.

 

[clivew05]

I have to say that that is a made up story - !!

1. you mention motor ways and hassle free in the same sentance - so we know this is a dream, and you must also have your own prtable sun!....

So far I put the boat back in the water in February, went away the weekend after and had to fight the seas to get back home safe went up to a F6/7 on our return SWMBO not too happy , and since then the winds have been so strong that it has been a job to get to the boat along the pontoon let alone go out on it.

I thought that I would go out this weekend - the ong range forecast was low winds and cloudy but sunny - all till yesterday - now today we are getting nearer the weekend and suddnely sun gone - prospect of rain and showever and we have knocked it up on the F scale to just about manageable ..... looking like weekend is now touch and go ... /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Garryt]

I live 30 mins from our boat.

We spend weekends on it, just like a second home in winter, spring and summer! We have heating when needed, TV when needed. We can go out for a meal and a few drinks, invite friends round for the weekend, forget about the business, chat with the "neighbours", cook ourselves a meal....

That's before we even get the pleasure of taking the boat out on a nice crisp winters day or a nice hot summers day, or even taking our "second home" to another location for the weekend or for a week......If it's cold and bright, steer from the flybridge with a warm coat on!....Get caught in the rain.....steer from inside! If it's hot...steer from the flybridge, if it's too hot, steer from the inside!

If the weather's rough...stay alongside...I didn't get the boat to challenge the elements but to "cruise" and enjoy it!

YES, it's definitely worth having a boat in the UK and I could never see myself without one!

Garry

 

[Richard10002]

I was always welcomed as crew, (best part of 30 years+), by various boat owners, and was always conscious of how much it was costing them for very little use. I found that I could sail almost when I wanted, and often got the use of a boat without the owners being aboard.

I dont think I was being mercenary as many owners find it hard to get good crew, so it was always a win-win situation.

I eventually bought a boat last year, when I knew that I was going to be able to mostly live on it, thus getting more days use per £. It still costs lots of £ though!

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

My sister and law and her boyfriend have just returned from a month on their sailing boat in the Greek islands and they reported storms and high winds. I've boated in the Solent and in the Med and, whilst British weather is generally pants, Med weather can be changeable too, especially out of season so it's not all sun and flat seas
The cost of keeping a boat in the Med is definitely higher than the UK. Marina costs can be higher, depending where you are, but fuel is more expensive (until red diesel goes) and the cost of maintaining your boat is much higher because you have to pay somebody to do all the jobs you can't do because you can't get there
Then there is the cost of travel and the hassle. If you're limited to school hols, flights are expensive and crowded and, whatever way you do it, it takes you a minimum of 6 hrs to reach your boat door to door
You will use your boat less simply because of the cost and hassle of getting there and obviously, you can't just pop down to your boat as you did in the UK when the fancy takes you
Overall and on balance, boating in the Med is better than the UK but it definitely has it's disadvantages

 

[mjf]

I think a resounding Yes.


Of course we would all prefer to have predictable fine wx but even so we use ours a lot frankly. We are about 1.5 hrs door to door in busy traffic but that said its a nice run throu fab country (A3). We now also have a RIB which we use when we do not 'Solent' it. Friends have RIBs on the south coast too so we nearly always get out.
I def. feel better on a Monday when i have been on the water even if we go no-where special.

i know several peeps here who enjoy the Med and thats good too - but its not for me currently and there are people on my UK pontoon who have come back from France, Spain, Greece as on balance it was not for them either!

You pays your money........

 

[D3B]

Bit like GarryT

use the boat throughout the winter as a get away from the rat race...i do get a bit grumpy if i miss too many weekends on board.
and always good for a quick blast on a brisk winters day.

i wonder whether one of the respondants is trolling again though /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
only one guess as to which one /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Doug

 

[Sundays_Child]

Med? Great. UK, prefectly fine.

What I don't get is the new popularity of boats in Dubai. Wherever you go it's just scorched sand. No scenery, no variation... blah.

 

[jhr]

Dubai

Seconded. And if you go over the side for a dip, you're shark meat. Aaaaarrrrrrh!

 

[peterb26]

I have had 30 seasons of UK boating and enjoyed them all. However, the weather is a damned nuisance much of the time.

On retiring we moved our boat to the Algarve. Not as quiet as the Med but nevertheless very warm and very sunny. We get winds out here - but normally they are the local Nortada (northerly) wind that picks up in the afternoon.

Around the Algarvian Coast they dont make much difference unless you are more than 5 miles out.

In the 3 months while we have had the boat here - I have done more hours than I did in the whole of last year in the UK. (and I have never gone out in "dodgy" conditions, weve always chosen glorious weather).

Hence - it works for me. However I am a retired geriatric, so I can come to the Algarve when I please, and return when I please. In my working days, I would not have considered it.

Oh - and washing the boat is actually enjoyable fun! Its often a pleasure to get a bit of spray from the hose as it cools you down!

 

[oceanfroggie]

Don't know about England but we have pretty much the same weather over here in Ireland, and definitely here it's worth operating a boat. Why?<ul type="square">[*]Avoid Airport hell
[*]Short drive to boat - escape from Marina on Friday evenings
[*]Less on water traffic - shipping and leisure
[*]Scenery and atmosphere - wow!
[*]Lower marina costs
[*]Little swell on east coast
[*]S and SW coast is boating heaven
[*]Vast inland seas - huge non tidal cruising area and large lakes (ie Derg, Ree, Erne Upper and Lower - they make windermeer look quite small)
[*]You can get a lot of use out of your boat - access, distance, weather when it suits
[*]Great 'Craic'

[/list]Buoy are we lucky /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[peterb26]

I think that "airport hell" is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration?

We have done 8 return trips out here in the last year. One was delayed by 4 hours. The rest were on time.

Many European places are now served by small regional airports which are a whole lot more pleasant than Gatwick etc etc..

We regularly go from Southampton. We can leave home at 5am and be on our boat in Lagos at 10am. To me - thats not hell.

 

[oldgit]

Pah,just because the "Med" has got better weather,good food/wine at cheaper prices,nicer scenery, its water is not cold n murky with lumps innit and the ladies are younger and better looking!...........................

 

[oldgit]

Assuming it takes you 1 hour to get to airport, unload the wifes bits and bobs, then escape car parking area and you have to be at the airport 2 hours before the dept and the flight down takes 2 hours that leaves exactly 0 hour to collect the car and drive the 80 odd kilometers to Lagos.You must have a fistful of speeding tickets. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Medskipper]

Te-Hee! spot on Fred, younger better looking and wearing not a lot!! course I don't look! well not for long!

B

 

[Medskipper]

That sounds fantastic!!
What are the marina prices like, mines 11.3 mtrs.


Barry

 

[peterb26]

Nope - no speeding tickets OG. (Mind you I dont want to tempt fate......)

If you check in online the day before the flight - which you can with Southampton, you can arrive an hour before the flight. (Some cut it closer but we dont).

Leave home at 5am
Southampton at 5.30am
Flight departs 6.30am

Depending on winds, it will arrive anywhere between 8.30am and 9.15am, and I dont think weve ever taken more than 20 mins to clear Faro Airport as it has the European record for "fastest baggage times". (Allegedly!!)

The car hire company we normally use leave our car at the airport. We literally have to collect the keys from a pickup point and get in and drive away. They have my licence info and credit card so theres no paperwork to do (and no car rental desk queues).

Takes 50 mins at a legal 120kph from Faro Airport to Lagos.

The earliest we have arrived in Lagos is 9.45am flying from Southampton. The latest is 11.00am.

Works for me.......... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif