Rationality and the thought process in boat buying

[Wansworth]

The mind of a man Know no bounds in relation to boat ownership .Setting off with measured step the boat owner can all by himself be bewitched by a sentence or a picture that will quite without apparent reason convince the rational would be boat owner that the desired craft is just what he wants.Although armed with a steadfast grip on a logical Appreciation of facts about engines and rig and marina costs,insurance,age, the eye of our stalwart boater can rationalize any obvious drawbacks to his choice.That he is not supple enough to reach and change the oil filter that he probably cannot afford it or any other Thought a properly thinking person would have is no deterrent,onceanirrational seed has been planted

 

[Blueboatman]

You can buy a boat alright
but you need to do a few other things first perhaps

 

[Mister E]

Wansworth how did the operation go?

 

[Minerva]

Objectively boats are fairly expensive.

However that first moment you turn the engine off, sheet in the main and the boat heals and off she goes…

The moment the hooks down
In an empty anchorage and you can have a beverage of your choice and be a million miles away from the real
World / work and enjoy the sunset in peace.

The following morning - all is totally still as you have your morning coffee and listen to the light call of the oystercatcher over on the shore line finding it’s breakfast and the faint “schplop” of the otter doing the same as it plays in the shallow water.

Those times that make boating the best value activity man can do.

 

[Greenheart]

A pretty speech, possibly reliant on circumstances!

After the raw question of cost, and assuming that can be borne, the issue that decides whether it should be, is time.

I owned my little Achilles for only about 18 months before selling with relief, realising that time aboard in agreeable weather wasn't often enough or agreeable enough to be anything like good value. I liked and continue to like the idea, but despite having the money, I've identified very few yachts I want to repeat the experience with. With retirement to spend aboard, it might be quite different.

 

[Wansworth]

Wansworth how did the operation go?

Well thanks,now on convalescent………yet more time to ponder weighty thoughts

 

[Wansworth]

You can buy a boat alright
but you need to do a few other things first perhaps

Buying is the easy bit

 

[LittleSister]

Buying is the easy bit

Yes, you'll, er, sail through that in a trice!

 

[Skylark]

It takes but a few minutes reading through many of the posts within this learned forum to conclude that there is no logic, rational or common sense associated with buying a boat.

Surely “because I want one” is sufficient justification. Or, to borrow from the field of sports footwear, “just do it”

 

[Greenheart]

I've very nearly concluded the exact opposite. I'm planning to downsize to an ancient Laser dinghy.

I know it reads like an advertisement, but so much is available to the man without a boat...

• enjoyment of pure, languorous relaxation every time you aren't busy with something else
• child-like excitement and envy when you see a boat sailing, because you've forgotten how onerous ownership is
• peace of mind regardless of season
• time saving (which is valuable beyond mere financial cost)
• avoidance of frustration, discomfort and effort, and the constant availability of a comfortable chair instead; and
• avoidance of completely unwarrantable, irrecoverable costs for all manner of items and services.

"Just don't do it."

 

[Minerva]

The first time my, now wife met my late grandmother; she imparted a very good piece of advice to my wife. She said “I never minded [my grandfather] having a boat, it meant he never had any money to spend down the pub”.

 

[Stemar]

Once you've reached the necessary level of insanity to buy a boat, you look with your head, but you buy with your heart or, better still, SWMBO's heart.

Selling the kidney comes later, when the maintenance bills start to come in...

 

[pyrojames]

One may find oneself born into the affliction and have no choice. In those cases you may only escape through death or bankruptcy!

 

[srm]

Unless the boat is to be used commercially, and even that excuse is questionable, there is no rational/logical reason to own a boat. That said, if you still want one then get the boat that you will enjoy owning, and possibly using.

 

[Greenheart]

I wonder about any previous-boat-owner's keenness to pay liberally to own and maintain another. Why do any who have been through it once, go back for more? Is it Einstein's definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result?

Apollo Duck is among my daily reading. I enjoy closing it with relief, finding nothing for the sums I command which I would enjoy more than not having to arrange my life around another ruddy boat. I still want one, of course, but I believe I'm happier without.

 

[Wansworth]

I wonder about any previous-boat-owner's keenness to pay liberally to own and maintain another. Why do any who have been through it once, go back for more? Is it Einstein's definition of insanity - doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result?

Apollo Duck is among my daily reading. I enjoy closing it with relief, finding nothing for the sums I command which I would enjoy more than not having to arrange my life around another ruddy boat. I still want one, of course, but I believe I'm happier without.

Now you see my dilemma

 

[peter gibbs]

Now you see my dilemma

Is it not the case the typical day / weekend trip along the coast/ up the river acquires a patina of deja vue, that soon loses value for the owner. This descent can be arrested by having jolly friends or family aboard of course. And ministering to one's steed's needs also adds lustre to ownership. But the end point is never in doubt, whereupon cost bears its ugly nose into the emotional satisfaction of having a retreat away from home.
Early on I sought foreign destinations, real purpose and a wider experience to exploit the full value and joy of ownership. In the UK we are blessed with such opportunities and my sailing has been immeasurably enhanced by navigating in near foreign waters.
I write from New Zealand on vacation where a fine tradition of seafaring is clear, but most of the many vessels in marinas here travel a small range, and get less use than one would expect. The West coast of the USA is similar; extended amateur tripping opportunities are limited by geography. Not so in Europe.
My message to UK yachties is, extend your range and garner the greater pleasures of ownership. Before the family asks why you keep a shed on the water.......

 

[srm]

My message to UK yachties is, extend your range and garner the greater pleasures of ownership. Before the family asks why you keep a shed on the water.......

That would not suit a lot of them. I was more than once asked to commit to joining a crew for "some real sailing": two evenings a week going round and round the same buoys in a sheltered bay outside a marina just to prove that the owner might possibly get round the course a few seconds faster than the other boats. My response was that I was already very familiar with the bay as I often passed through it on my way to or from other interesting places.

A year or so later I asked said owner if he would be interested in joining me on a passage to Norway. It would be a short trip, just two day sails from Orkney then an overnight sail east from Shetland that was only around 180 miles and another day sail from the outer islands in to Bergen so he could fly home. He was horrified at the thought, so far and out of sight of land.

 

[Bouba]

When men buy toys they become boys...

 

[38mess]

Buy in haste (or love) repent at leisure