Which boat should I keep?

My 2p. Having owned and sailed a Medina when I was young and fit, I wouldn't want to be on the open sea in anything but fine conditions. As said earlier they essentially sail like a big dinghy with a lid and give a lively sail. Great if that's what you enjoy. I found it too skittish and sold it on after 6 months as it was not the small cruising boat I desired (I had a a dinghy background - 420/fireball so was used to lively sailing). Our next boat was a BK Sadler 25 which was a brilliant sailing boat (headroom apart) which coped well with Irish sea conditions.

Also launching and recovery of the Medina became tiresome (as did towing the bloody thing).

My advice, for what's worth, is to stick with the two boats this season and see which one you prefer. If neither, sell both and buy a Sadler 25 which are only around 5-6k nowadays.
 
My 2p
The OP says he hasn’t sailed either one yet?
I would at least splash the fibreglass one and have a little play with it and if he likes it, well there you are. Decision made

There’s a Zircon HB 4 tonner on YTube which was the recipient of some skilled owner restoration and maintenance but it does go to show how relentless is the upkeep of an old, loved, wooden boat.

Been there, scratched that itch.

And if the OP decides to sell both, what about a shrimper on a trailer ??
 
Owning a boat is never a rational proposition, but we have to try to rationalise it.

For me, it would come down to this - do I want to spend my time fettling a wooden boat or sailing the wee plastic one?

Personally, I love wooden boats, but I've spent far too much time watching people refurbish them on YouTube. It's a bit like vaccination, so I'll never own one unless I get a big enough lottery win to be able to cherish a real classic, with someone else doing the hard work while I get in the way help when I feel like it. Maybe I should buy a ticket...
 
ash2020 said:
I'm 73 now and increasingly tired. We'll be mainly doing day sailing with the odd overnighter, with 2 dogs.
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I reckon that if you sold the comfy wooden one, you'd soon regret that as you find yourselves resenting the launching and recovery hassle, cramped interior and less stable sailing platform of the plastic one, and will consequently use it less and less and give up sooner than you might otherwise. Whereas If you kept the wooden one, you'll be able to do keep going down for short trips or even just spending time aboard for longer.

A possible solution to the problem of carrying stuff up/down a steep path to the quay/dinghy is to split the process into two: use the path just to get to the boat, then get the boat to somewhere walk-ashore where you can load from/to the car.
 
ash2020 said:
Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons I seem to have ended up with two boats, which is never a good idea. A 78 year old wooden classic 5 tonner, 26' in reasonable condition, with nice sails, running backstays and a fairly old but reliable Beta 14 inboard engine. The other is a lovely little 20' Hunter Medina on a galvanised trailer in good condition which just fits on our driveway.

The wooden one, Zircon, is on a mooring in Fowey, we can walk to the quay and dinghy in 10 minutes but it's a very steep walk back and we'd have to carry everything, no parking. She has standing headroom, two separate berths and a smallish cockpit. The small one, Minxy can be kept a 10 minute drive away, on the trailer with the mast up and launched in 30 minutes. Parking there, so could take all our stuff in the car. She only has sitting headroom, largish forepeak and 2 separate berths but has almost the same size cockpit, good sails inc. a spinnaker. Almost new Tohatsu 6HP outboard.

Cost is approx £1k for summer mooring and £1k for winter storage for the big'un. Little'un would be £800 summer and £0 winter as she'd be on our driveway.

Maintenance, probably fairly considerable for Zircon, general tidying for Minxy.

Sailing-wise, haven't sailed either yet but I'm guessing Zircon is very solid and more stable? Minxy is probably more like an overgrown dinghy. Is there likely to be a big difference?

I'm 73 now and increasingly tired. We'll be mainly doing day sailing with the odd overnighter, with 2 dogs.

There's my dilemma, neither boat is perfect but I have to sell one. They're both about the same value. What would you do?
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I can think of loads of good reasons for selling either, or even both, of them. £2000 per year to keep a keel boat in deep water and overwinter it is a bargain though. And as that deep water is in Fowey it's more like a lottery win.

The Hunter is fine for the odd picnic under engine up the river, apart from that I can't think of any use at all for someone over 70. If that sort of use is what you want, fine, or maybe a bit of light club racing? Otherwise I would get rid of it asap for what you can get. Sail Zircon for a season and if it looks too much sell it and put the dosh towards a similar calibre of boat in GRP. Take care not to lose your river mooring.

There are loads of good cheap boats around right now the drawback in that you have to forget what you think yours are worth and take what you can get.

I'm not stalking you, honest, but there is Troy named Zircon so I followed it up. Readers may like to see Zircon:



.1748182893789.png

.
 
Tradewinds said:
My 2p. Having owned and sailed a Medina when I was young and fit, I wouldn't want to be on the open sea in anything but fine conditions. As said earlier they essentially sail like a big dinghy with a lid and give a lively sail. Great if that's what you enjoy. I found it too skittish and sold it on after 6 months as it was not the small cruising boat I desired (I had a a dinghy background - 420/fireball so was used to lively sailing). Our next boat was a BK Sadler 25 which was a brilliant sailing boat (headroom apart) which coped well with Irish sea conditions.

Also launching and recovery of the Medina became tiresome (as did towing the bloody thing).

My advice, for what's worth, is to stick with the two boats this season and see which one you prefer. If neither, sell both and buy a Sadler 25 which are only around 5-6k nowadays.
Click to expand...
That's interesting. The attraction of the Medina is that we wouldn't have to tow it, apart from beginning and end of season. Also, as someone pointed out, there's always the option of different sailing grounds if you want. I would love something trailable around 23' but this is the one I've got. As far as keeping both, that definitely involves paying out for next winter storage whereas a mooring for the season might be a good selling point for the wooden one.
 
Babylon said:
I reckon that if you sold the comfy wooden one, you'd soon regret that as you find yourselves resenting the launching and recovery hassle, cramped interior and less stable sailing platform of the plastic one, and will consequently use it less and less and give up sooner than you might otherwise. Whereas If you kept the wooden one, you'll be able to do keep going down for short trips or even just spending time aboard for longer.

…..
Click to expand...
Surely the Hunter could be kept afloat on the Fowey mooring - and just pulled out for the winter or to cruise in a new area.
 
Blueboatman said:
My 2p
The OP says he hasn’t sailed either one yet?
I would at least splash the fibreglass one and have a little play with it and if he likes it, well there you are. Decision made

There’s a Zircon HB 4 tonner on YTube which was the recipient of some skilled owner restoration and maintenance but it does go to show how relentless is the upkeep of an old, loved, wooden boat.

Been there, scratched that itch.

And if the OP decides to sell both, what about a shrimper on a trailer ??
Click to expand...
I'm quite happy to forego that itch. Hoping maybe to get 2 or 3 years with only a paintbrush. I would dearly love a shrimper but wouldn't have the funds, even if I sell both. These boats are only worth 2-3k each.
 
Stemar said:
Owning a boat is never a rational proposition, but we have to try to rationalise it.

For me, it would come down to this - do I want to spend my time fettling a wooden boat or sailing the wee plastic one?

Personally, I love wooden boats, but I've spent far too much time watching people refurbish them on YouTube. It's a bit like vaccination, so I'll never own one unless I get a big enough lottery win to be able to cherish a real classic, with someone else doing the hard work while I get in the way help when I feel like it. Maybe I should buy a ticket...
Click to expand...
I thought maybe this post would help rationalise the dilemma but sadly, there are so many good and bad points for both that I've lost the plot now. Still slightly favouring the wee plastic one.
 
doug748 said:
I can think of loads of good reasons for selling either, or even both, of them. £2000 per year to keep a keel boat in deep water and overwinter it is a bargain though. And as that deep water is in Fowey it's more like a lottery win.

The Hunter is fine for the odd picnic under engine up the river, apart from that I can't think of any use at all for someone over 70. If that sort of use is what you want, fine, or maybe a bit of light club racing? Otherwise I would get rid of it asap for what you can get. Sail Zircon for a season and if it looks too much sell it and put the dosh towards a similar calibre of boat in GRP. Take care not to lose your river mooring.

There are loads of good cheap boats around right now the drawback in that you have to forget what you think yours are worth and take what you can get.

I'm not stalking you, honest, but there is Troy named Zircon so I followed it up. Readers may like to see Zircon:



.View attachment 193849

.
Click to expand...
Yes, thanks for putting up the pic. The very boat. We were put on a mooring that was too shallow because of the other Zircon, which is now about 3 moorings away. What a coincidence! I think I'm more worried about the grunt needed to sail Zircon than to launch the Medina. She's a very heavy boat and, as you see, a massive mainsail, oh and of course the running backstays. One of the reasons I have no money is that I have bought and sold a few boats and made a big loss each time. The ideal would be something like an Etap or a Parker 23 but funds wouldn't allow.
 
Reading all this, no contest. I am a bit older and have two boats, a 15ft faering and a 17 odd ft two berth mini cruiser, both trail sailed. Epoxy wood, so low upkeep.
Keep the lighter,low maintainance Medina.
Second the Gulf de Morbihan. Big meet there this week. Google semainedugolfe.fr

I find the faering a bit lively now with creaking bones, so up for sale.
 
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