It's the END .. Sold Up ..

[Rivers & creeks]

I live in Derbyshire, and the nearest coast is Skegness about 2 hours away, but do you really want to go there?!

Good point, I visited Skeggy twice. The second time was a mistake as well.

 

[mbay]

Can't say i blame you, as others have said a 6hr round trip is to much.

Its a 20 mins round trip for me and sometimes i can't be arsed with that!.... but on nice day it means i can get a couple of hours sailing in before going to work

 

[sailorman]

That's just mad - The Irish Sea is an outstanding place to cruise - and they swap that for the Orwell?

And Florida in the winter

 

[Rivers & creeks]

And Florida in the winter

That I understand

 

[l'escargot]

Wasn't the Isle of Wight the safe haven?

Probably. Our native zombie population is well established and fully integrated. Others just turn up for the weekend and sail back to the mainland on Sunday evening...

 

[sailorman]

That I understand

all of the winter

 

[Elessar]

and......

just owning one makes me happy

the thought of not having one would be awful

I get value from mine even when I am not on it

Dylan

I can relate to that completely. Well put that man.

 

[smeaks]

and......

just owning one makes me happy

the thought of not having one would be awful

I get value from mine even when I am not on it

Dylan

That's because it is a floating garden shed..... Every man needs a shed of some sort and floating ones offer the advantage of mystique and the potential to arrive anywhere in the world having left your berth.... Despite the fact that you know you will be back in a few hours because mrs sailor has the Sunday roast ready for seven. We are an island nation.... The sea lies close to our hearts and everyone of us has that underlying sense of security and oneupmanship that comes from sitting in a meeting and thinking that the chap across the table would not have a clue how to reef down in a F6 and get home safely ..... Even if it turns out he was in the SAS for years..... You can still think it...... Smugly!

 

[Greenheart]

Rather than washing his hands of the whole game, wouldn't the OP be wise to get a general-purpose dinghy he can keep at home free of cost, and tow to any nearby lake or coast; he can tinker with it all winter without ever worrying about the appalling cost of keeping a boat idle in a marina, half a day's travel away...

...and critically, he needn't stop sailing, especially when he's taken the motorhome to the coast!

 

[BrianH]

Three hours one way? Pah! I have eight. So what? If that puts someone off then they should never have had a boat in the first place. I sacrificed a lot of material things in life to begin the chain of boat ownership, from building a dinghy through to a cruiser in the Med. and, like others have put better than I can, life without a boat is unthinkable.

If you have to be a bean-counter and justify time afloat against cost then you are trying to quantify the unquantifiable. Boats are magical things, there is no comparison of owning your own little ship and, say, renting one ... or even more ridiculous, comparing to a motor home.

 

[Tomahawk]

I recall an "Hagar the Horrible" from many years ago.

He is standing on the dining room table regailing Helga with his latest bit of philosophy..
Says he " there are two types of people in the world"

"Boat people and non boat people" .... says it all...

Helga did have the grace to look confused..

 

[Greenwichman]

Plan B ..... ??

Thanks IAN13, you've released all kinds of latent energies in this thread. Sorry that you have fallen out with boat-owning, but reassuring to read posts from others expressing the pleasure of doing so. Despite the weather, costs and travel to and fro, I'm hooked for life - and happy to share forum space with others who 'get it'! Good luck with Plan B, perhaps there's a Motor Home forum you can join?

 

[jordanbasset]

We have sold our boat not out of any sense of despair but a feeling of we have done what we wanted to do and now want to try something else. Horror of horrors we will not be buying a motor home but a caravan. I see this as a positive choice, we have cruised down to Greece from the UK and really enjoyed it but we now want to see more of the UK and Inland Europe, so a caravan is the right tool for the job.
There is a surprising, to us anyway, feeling of sadness in selling the boat, bearing in mind it is an inanimate object, but this is tempered by our new adventures ahead. We only have one life and a limited number of hours we want to try and do what we can in that period. As has been said many times on here often it is not what you do that you regret but what you did not do.
Good luck to every one regardless of choices.

 

[Derm]

We had a motor home and iT was good fun but we noticed one strange thing! We always drove to somewhere by the sea and watched the boats. Then I realised that we should be sailing and not having a motor home. Sold and back cruising again, just need the weather her to change though!

 

[Athene V30]

2011 season I managed two weekends afloat, 2012 was better with about 10 nights spent onboard overall. Working in Yorkshire, weekly commuting from home in Norfolk and boat in Essex don't make it easy but I guess I is payback for the great season I had in 2010!

I did go through the do I sell process but at end of day as others have suggested owning the boat is my sanity! The ability to go to the boat mid winter and just sit and tinker with something makes it worth while. A bit of warm weather and fair winds is just the icing on the cake!!

 

[dylanwinter]

brightlingsea is wonderful - but so is wells

2011 season I managed two weekends afloat, 2012 was better with about 10 nights spent onboard overall. Working in Yorkshire, weekly commuting from home in Norfolk and boat in Essex don't make it easy but I guess I is payback for the great season I had in 2010!

I did go through the do I sell process but at end of day as others have suggested owning the boat is my sanity! The ability to go to the boat mid winter and just sit and tinker with something makes it worth while. A bit of warm weather and fair winds is just the icing on the cake!!

move the boat?

jill and I had some wonderful times in Wells

I am a Brightlingsea man but it is one heck of a schlep from Norfolk to Brightlingsea

I loved the Broads too - there is a zen to the place

D

 

[Athene V30]

move the boat?

I am a Brightlingsea man but it is one heck of a schlep from Norfolk to Brightlingsea

It is just over an hour by car to the boat. Lowestoft would be a bit quicker (still 40 minutes) but no where to sail to. Wells would be longer and nowhere to sail to! Was on the Orwell but moved as less transit time to sea and less money.

Broads not for me, done that in dinghies & kayaks. I am not a day sailor - I have to go some where.

My lack of sailing was the weekly commute - now ended as made redundant plus zero interest from the family making each trip to boat a guilt trip too.

 

[Tomahawk]

I do hope you don't end up with sine navicular morbus.....

 

[Captain Haddock]

If you have to be a bean-counter and justify time afloat against cost then you are trying to quantify the unquantifiable. Boats are magical things, there is no comparison of owning your own little ship and, say, renting one ... or even more ridiculous, comparing to a motor home.

+1 to that

 

[PeteMylett]

I persuaded myself 5 years ago, that owning a boat was an excessive waste of money. I was foolish enough to do the cost of ownership/number-of-days-used sum....

Sold the boat and immediately regretted it. Finally came clean with meself in November and bought another. So far managed 5 days sailing You know what? It doesn't matter

Just knowing she is there gives me a warm glow. There are some things in life which are priceless. Owning your own small boat is one of them!