Reality of family boat ownership and decline of boating

[rwoofer]

I struggle to see moving to Chi solving any of the OP's issues. Less places to go within range of a comfortable family sail. More tidal issues.
Cost wise, I doubt you'd save much over a full average season including haul out, shore storage and launch.

That is what I fear, but worth a second look before I push the button on sell up.

 

[maby]

I struggle to see moving to Chi solving any of the OP's issues. Less places to go within range of a comfortable family sail. More tidal issues.
Cost wise, I doubt you'd save much over a full average season including haul out, shore storage and launch.

We are in the process of leaving Chichester after a year there and returning to the Hamble. We've really enjoyed Chichester - as a place to walk and explore - but the tidal conditions are so limiting that we got to the end of the year and realised that we had hardly moved the boat.

 

[nicappotamus 2]

join a decent self help sailing club. slash your mooring and storage costs and get drinking and sailing companions into the bargain.

in porstmouth - portchester, hardway, fareham spring to mind
many in chichester
there's wossname up the top of southampton water

you could reduce your costs including club membership, mooring and winter storage to about £500 a year by doing that

 

[FairweatherDave]

We are in the process of leaving Chichester after a year there and returning to the Hamble. We've really enjoyed Chichester - as a place to walk and explore - but the tidal conditions are so limiting that we got to the end of the year and realised that we had hardly moved the boat.

Happen to know the OP has a 20ft boat with lifting centreplate, perfect for Chichester. I can see the appeal of the Hamble or Gosport for bigger boats but Chichester is great for families messing about.
As for the clubs in Chichester, yes they are all tidally restricted except for Itchenor.

 

[dolabriform]

We're probably some of the few bucking the trend here, but saying that we keep meeting families whenever we are out sailing.

We started with a L17 when the kids were 2 1/2, progressed to a L23 SL, and now in the process of ( hopefully ) buying a 37 footer as our forever boat.

My wife had never sailed before, but put up with it and has now done competent crew. We chartered this October and she decided that if we were going to keep doing this then we needed something around the size of the 38ft we chartered. This has been the right decision to take as it means she is happy and wants to continue the adventure. More importantly we can invite the kids friends and parents out for a sail in comfort and the kids love sharing the adventure with their peers.

We keep the boat at a Marina, because (imho ) having non tidal walk on access whenever you want it is really important when you have young kids and an 84 year old mother in law who likes coming sailing as well.

The cost of the marina and upkeep of the boat is no more than we would spend chartering for a couple of weeks a year and adding in a few other trips, yet it is ours and we can have fun a moments notice.

Last time we were anchored at Stone Point, there were 4 other families there, all on reasonable sized boats. It may not be as widespread as it was 20 years ago, but it's definitely still happening

 

[UK-WOOZY]

im 43 and dont earn a great deal. i used to spend my wages on gaming PCs until i joined my local yacht club, the yacht club im with along the Thames is very local to me, about 20 mins drive from work or from home. We use swing moorings and most of the fees go towards the PLA for the use of those, though the moorings are maintained and ran by our club. Its about £800 p.a all in for membership and moorings. Each boat has its own yard trailer which each boat has for storage, launch, recovery using the clubs winch by the slipway and tractors. everything is voluntary with no fees for club equipment use. we get unlimited electricity and water included in the membership. But i just about can afford things, my parent has helped me financially with a lot of boat things, i did the hard work. it gets me out the house and gives me something to focus on and im on my third yacht since aquiring it from Burnham on crouch 2 and a half years ago for a good price (which bit me in the behind when i discovered why - needed tons of work), first boat was a seawych then and intro22 now the boat in my profile. All have been cheap boats but the current boat needed lots of investment and is still ongoing. the Thames is getting busier with more and more shipping and very annoying rise in tugs with often aggressive crew. it can get very frustrating having to move well out of the way of them even though you know you are no where near them. theres been a lot of politics at the club too. I have fallen out with a couple of people over things. I have contemplated giving it up numrous times over the years, especially after a frustrating 2019. next yeah is the year i make my final deceision to carry on or not, aiming to go to france in my boat and do some solent sailing which is a first for me as usually kept to the thames going to St kats, other YC's, Queenborough. i am single and have no children but lot of friends now have families and so they dont sail with me anymore like before. theres nothing quite like owning your own yacht and i would miss it, when you say to people you have a yeacht it impresses them

 

[northwind]

That is what I fear, but worth a second look before I push the button on sell up.
[/QUOTE}
Move to Chi, buy a small gas stove and a frying pan.. day sail to East Head, cook bacon sandwiches on the beach.. that's what I did when my children where young, forget long adventures, but make adventures out of day sailing, yet its a compromise, you get some of the sailing hit, and they get time on the beach, doesn't eat up a whole weekend, and leaves time for other activities.

 

[ryanroberts]

im 43 and dont earn a great deal. i used to spend my wages on gaming PCs until i joined my local yacht club, the yacht club im with along the Thames is very local to me,

GTFO computers is one of the many things I enjoy about sailing, I am a software architect/dev so the amount of screen time is insane if you also have a gaming habit without deliberately making it difficult.

On the other end of the family theme, It's a shame that boats sort of became a focal point for my recent breakup, if not the cause. I suspect this isn't particularly uncommon.

 

[sails_02]

join a decent self help sailing club. slash your mooring and storage costs and get drinking and sailing companions into the bargain.

in porstmouth - portchester, hardway, fareham spring to mind
many in chichester
there's wossname up the top of southampton water

you could reduce your costs including club membership, mooring and winter storage to about £500 a year by doing that

Mind sharing some examples?

 

[lw395]

The obvious self help club in Chi Harbour is Langstone. PM Seajet perhaps?
Tudor SC in Langstone Harbour.
Here's a resource for finding all the clubs. Many have moorings...
Directory of Sailing Clubs and Yacht Clubs - Noble Marine Insurance Brokers

 

[Resolution]

and an 84 year old mother in law who likes coming sailing as well.

Hurrah! Absolutely fantastic!

 

[t21]

I've been a sailor since childhood and owned sailing boats up to 44 foot and even a motor boat. With the start of a family I downsized to my current 20 footer to keep sailing, principally due to its ease of maintenance as I have little ability to sneak off at weekends to work on the boat. It also more fun to sail than bigger boats.

I suspect that I started off with a fairly typical family situation of a few trips with friends and a few family trips a year. To make that work means convenient moorings, which means quite an expense - a year in a marina is over a third of the cost of the boat. As the kids (3 girls) get older the number of trips is reducing due to them getting interested in other things. The balance of boat enjoyment to cost and hassle is starting too look pretty poor. One solution is to moor somewhere cheaper than Gosport, so been looking at places like Poole or Medway or even the East Coast. The problem is that where it is cheaper it is also far less convenient, which makes the chances of getting the family out even slimmer. The end result is that I'm now considering getting out of boating altogether.

I think I'm not alone in finding the whole enjoyment/cost/hassle factor of boating just not working any more. I certainly know of some others that have bailed out already. On top of that the baby boomers will be starting to move out of boating as well. This isn't a good outlook for the pastime, but what really surprises me is the lack of industry interest in making sailing attractive and workable for the modern family. Is sailing doomed to decline?

Hm. 3 daughters and wife is your killer. Rent a boat somewhere trendy with sunshine ie not the uk I think.

 

[oldgit]

from a mobo point of view.
Some folks enjoy the owning of the boat, some just want to get out on the water by any means possible.
Its your boat and your hobby. There is no law that states you must drag unwilling crew aboard so you can go out and enjoy yourself.
If you cannot find anybody to go with you it may well be that you are part of the problem


Keep it cheap and within your means
Keep it close.
Keep it small enough to manage it on your own if you have too.
UK, weather preventing you boating, sounds like you either have the wrong boat or its in the wrong place., or possibly both.
Have boated in both the Med and UK. Would take a 10 mins drive to boat over another 01.00 delayed flight back to Gatwick from PMI anytime.
Although this may be an anathema to some (blazers and all that rubbish) join a club who does stuff and goes places.
Small mobo clubs unlike marinas tend to attract folks who like to boat rather than just park up until the sun shines.
Savings on moorings can be considerable , in my case less than one third of our local MDL marina.
Plus its more fun in company.

Last but not least, no plans to go a bit further or somewhere new/ different next year, just get rid of the boat , it to late. !

 

[nicappotamus 2]

portchester sailing club in portsmouth harbour
hardaway sailing club in portsmouth harbour, gosport side
fareham sailing club up fareham reach
then there's one or two near the harbour entrance - google sailing clubs portsmouth harbour and see what you find

 

[nicappotamus 2]

marchwood sailing club 0 top end of southampton water is another good club with moorings and storage

 

[bobgarrett]

There

Is there cheap tender storage at Itchenor or do you have to be a member of ISC? When I last investigated Chi Harbour I remember places like Northney Marina wanted £800+ to store a tender, which seems a ridculous price.

There is tender storage at Itchenor but we get away with using the public ferry most of the year and if outside of his schedule we pump up the dinghy. You dont need to join ISC.

 

[bobgarrett]

We are in the process of leaving Chichester after a year there and returning to the Hamble. We've really enjoyed Chichester - as a place to walk and explore - but the tidal conditions are so limiting that we got to the end of the year and realised that we had hardly moved the boat.

We have been in Chichester Harbour for many years and race our cruiser most weekends in Spring and Autumn. I can only remember two weekends when we had to delay getting back in over the harbour bar due to lack of depth or wind conditions - and then we just sailed about for an extra hour or two. I assume you were restricted by tides for Chichester Marina, not Chichester Harbour. There are other marinas and swinging moorings in Chichester.

 

[Stemar]

By all means join Hardway for the convenience of a long pontoon, a cheap bar and a friendly helping hand, but don't join expecting a mooring any time soon. Those who have club moorings hang on to them and there's a long waiting list. Come to that, there's even a waiting list to join, so sign up now to join in the 2021 intake.

There are commercial moorings, but they're a good bit dearer than a club mooring. Quay Lane and Gosport Boatyard spring to mind. There's also Portsmouth Moorings, but I had enough bad experiences with them that when they ran a chandlery at Hardway, I'd drive to Arthur's in town rather than spend 50p on a couple of washers with them.

 

[scruff]

I'm sitting here in my mid thirties and been sailing since birth. Had several boats, but sold my folk boat a few years ago and replaced it with a Wayfarer. I was in the market to buy a new (to me) ~35ft boat a couple of years ago...

Without wishing to make a political point, we've had just under a decade of Tory austerity and wages stagnation with a reduction in job security (able to be fired within first 2 years for no reason). This combined with the uncertainty of brexit and what that will mean to the job market for the next few years has presented me with a reluctance to actually buy a new boat.

This combined with used boat costs currently in free fall whilst I am sat here with my savings returning >6% ytd. It simply does not make sense to drop a few £10k's onto a boat at this moment in time which will be a rapidly depreciating liability. As for taking out a loan to buy a boat in today's market - not a chance!

I suspect I'll have my wayfarer a couple of years yet until there is more stability in day to day life.

 

[Babylon]

@ scruff:

I'm not saying all is or will be fine and rosy, but the great fear of a Marxist fantasyland was fully dispelled at the end of last week, and - despite the ongoing uncertainty about how the Brexit (fantasy or salvation depending on one's subjective view) will actually affect things over the next couple of years or longer - the fact is that things aren't feeling quite as asphyxiated as they have been since 2016... or longer if Austerity has impacted you personally!

As a case in point, I was chatting to a high-end furniture maker yesterday who like almost everyone else has been experiencing lean times: he reported that since the start of the week he's suddenly become inundated with work from various kitchen companies!

But - as ever - its each to their own circumstances at any point in time, and you're clearly remaining prudent.