Why Dont Most Boats Go Anywhere.

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I can understand the diesel costs now. But they mostly never went any where before. Though in the early days of the forum, loads of us went places and a few still do. Now I can understand little boats cant go far, but passed 33ft they can mostly go anywhere with in a bit of reason. Boats in the various marinas we've been in, seem to troupe out, then back again on the next tide. Where as we go out and may be away for a few weeks. Yep it has things to do with work. But I could still talk to customers, even if it ment climbing a hill in Ireland. In those days it did not stop us, but now there are marinas most every where. I hate the things. But anyway. I have had many cruises of 600 miles or more. None of them with much difficulty. Whats the point in having a boat and not going any where, except the folly inn. Yep been there a few times to. But why do most boats never leave the marina and if they do, it's a mile out then back again.

Why is Solent to the West Country thought of as a big deal. Get to Dartmouth then go back. Like it's the end of the earth or something. How come we fit that in with a cruise to the CI's, France and then Solent, before back to Plymouth. How come were now back in North Wales. Now doing Ireland IOM and other places again with the old P 35. Is it that other boats arnt up to it and not built like they were, or is it the folk. The navigation is mostly point and go. There are few excusess.

So why dont most boats go any where, is it fear or something else.
 
I visited a marina in the USA a few months ago, and it was obvious that many of the boats parked there were simply floating condominiums - and why not?
Even a very comfortable and well appointed motor cruiser would cost significantly less than a pigeon hole in a block of flats ashore, and there is still the option of going somewhere if desired for a change of scenery.
Combine this with marina fees considerably less generally than on the south coast of Britain and one can see why these floating condos are so popular. :)
Oh, and fuel in the USA is probably half the cost of what it is in Britain.

But maybe the floating apartment is popular in Britain as well? You don't HAVE to go anywhere, but you can if you want to have a change of scene.
 
Banjan has it.
Lots use their boats as Holiday Cottages.
Always have always will.

Again as The Man said, nowt wrong with that!

Don't think usage has changed much since the early days of the Forum as You put it.

Peeps who are still working are maybe peddling faster to stay in the same place nowadays?

My impression whilst talking to peeps over the last few years.
It's a time and tide thing that puts em off.

Peeps in My spot are using the same boat in the same way they were in the Forum forming years.

Weather seems a big factor.
Seems lately to have been ****e!

Remember how Summers were always hot as a kid?

The fuel thing may curtail peeps a bit.
But heck, if you have a 100k or more invested in a toy, taint gonna bug anyone too much.

Blimey, it has been fun chatting to peeps on ere and for real ref a few of us just going up the coast on our 'Frostbite' thinghy.

Tiss the time element for most
Even though as you say communication should be ok even if up a mountain in Ireland.

Why the feck der wanna go up a mountain in Ireland anyway?

Think of better things to do in the Emerald Isle!
 
I think lack of confidence. I spent the summer training up a guy (for free rides) who had bought a 50ft yacht as his first boat. It never went out. He had never even anchored, could not turn the fridge on, did not know how to fill the water up etc. He did know how to sail though, just not prepare or look after a boat!

And this is the main issue. In the past most people started with a small boat, learn't the ropes and then moved up in size. Now 34ft is a small starter boat. Boats are more complex as we have more toys and so people are scared to use them.

People focus on careers/family/mortgage and then one day realise they have a dream to own a boat and the money to buy a good one. They do not have time though. So off they go and buy the big boat but do not spend the time to learn about it or how to handle/run/fetle it. End result lots of boats do not go anywhere.

I bought my 45ft yacht and on the first trip the bow thruster broke. I could still put it into a med style berth no problem as I have been doing it (allbeit) on smaller boats for years. A newby would have no clue! I even decided not to get the bow thruster sorted until I am very sure how to handle her without!

In my Marina the Sailing boats go out a lot, but the Power boats are holliday cottages in the sun.

So, Too much money, too little time, lack of experience and no passion! I intend being out Saturday and Sunday....wind 12-15kts, 20 degrees and sea state slight! Got two seperate crews lined up as well...

Paul
 
I guess I consider Solent- West country a cruise. Why dont we do it more often, or further? Time,weather and fuel, really, and I guess the type of boat we have.
Regards time, we both work, so it isnt possible to just bu**er off for some days,as its all to do with whats going on, and getting cover at work ..*2 . Then neither of us care to battle on for hours in poorer conditions. Gotta sat F4/5 for four or five hours in quite physical in this boat(well, guess I could slow down, but then might as well get a Nimbus!)
Depending how far west we go, its £1k in fuel.. fine if we have time to spend down there, but its just not worth it (to me) for a w/end.
Having said that, we use the boat every w/end form March til Oct, but mostly day.. w/end boating, and the Solent is great for that.Sure if we had great weather,we d probably take some longer trips, but on the spur of the moment boating isnt very feasible for us. But I dont feel I m missing out somehow, just bcz I m not roaring off some distance.
 
I think there is a definite speed and distance relationship. The slower the boat type the further they travel so I guess its a fuel thing. sailing boats, displacement and semi displacements on average travel further afield and fast planing boats have the narrowest horizons. this is prob down to the owner's intentions. If you intend to travel far and wide, you buy a boat that can do this without costing a fortune. This leaves out most big planing boats and explains why so many of them wallow in the marinas.
 
it all depends on the nut holding the steering wheel, doesn't it ?

Some ain't up to it; others get stuck in, partly sink, cover the boat in gore, axsphyxiatify ancient castles, explode bogs, live on broth for months, leave crewmembers on the pontoon over night, post videos of attacking warships. It's amazing that they find any time to log sea miles at all. ;)
 
In the past most people started with a small boat, learn't the ropes and then moved up in size

Thas a really good point.........

I started sailing (mirror Dingy) when I was about 15 and that taught me how to sail. Fortunately the company that I worked for had five yachts around the country and I moved up to the bigger stuff. In order to do so I had to go and do RYA courses, be vetted by the organisation and prove I could handle the boats safely before I was allowed to take one out.

Many people go stright into Mobo's thinking it is easier than a sail boat and have no or very limited knowledge about the sea.

Now I'm based in the Menia Canal I watch people that never go passed the ends of it (Puffin to Abermenia) and I feel that is a fear factor more than anything else.

The other point I find is that when travelling around this area there are limited resources (marinas) as safety havens, and I know you have an anchor?? but many prefer to tie up and sleep at night. Compare the North West to say the Clyde and you now have an area that supports (kind of) cruising, many places in the Clyde have ports about a 4hr sail-cruise away without the difficulty of strong tides and overfalls.

The other point that prevents people cruising is the cost of mooring in marinas (and yes I know we have anchors) but lets face it our weather conditions are not suitable for travelling on the hook, we normally find that we get a lull between each low and sometimes it may only be a day or so before the next low takes over. In the States they have what is called reciprocals, which means if you belong to one marina you get a free night in another one, you pay for the second I think!! but what that does is it makes travelling around more acceptable and brings in a little revenue to the marina with pumpout, fuel, restaurants, drink and food bits and bobs ect! Wouldn't that be a good idea for our marinas to participate in.

So why don't people go anywhere............ Time Cost and weather!

Tom
 
hlb said:
with the old P 35. Is it that other boats arnt up to it and not built like they were, or is it the folk. The navigation is mostly point and go.
Click to expand...

I put it down to seating plans being designed for boat shows.

My Princess 360 ( note flybridge seating here http://www.icvideo.co.uk/felix.html ) is more or less the same as your boat but the few years between had already seen 'boat show seats' added throughout the range at that time.

Back rests are too low.
Everything spins round in order to turn into a drinks lounge, great for boat shows and marinas, but you know exactly what is going to happen as soon as you find yourself in an afternoon sea breeze off a headland.

As you lean forward to grab a rail the back rest smacks you in the back and makes a noise like the boat is shacking to bits.

It leaves a choice, get a bigger boat ( not really as the whole range has these boat show seats)
Stay in the marina so the wife and kids don't get frightened as you round the headland

My choice was to simply add a press studded strap to lock the back rest in place while at sea.

A petty design issue such as that sorted for a pound or two and is removable without trace.

Newer boats deteriorated further , the fairline wrap round seats are unbelievable for a so called seaboat.

Even sealine who I have a lot of respect for in finding space with interior designs lack any secure seating for crew, back rests are not much more than waist height.

I always thought the new colour plotters were so easy to use there would be massive increase in boats cruising, its so easy compared to the old paper charts and Decca days.

Weather forecasting is so easy now with the advent of mobile broadband Lap tops, perhaps some cant understand how to interpret them ?

I don't think the weather has really deteriorated, we have set holidays and only ever twice not made our planned destination, two years ago and 15 years ago.

You mention the west country, I would like to try the Scillys but when I look at the mileage it makes more sense to head South to the warmer, closer Channel Islands with cheaper fuel and berths, even France offers better value and reduces the chance of being storm bound.

Boats need to be fitted with ample bucket seats and handy grab rails in order for all the crew to feel secure offshore.
 
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...a few rambling points here...

Time and size of my old boat prevented me from long cruisers, but plan to be away far more next year with my new one...and its a bit less that 33ft....but probably more able than most.. I don't really agree that a lack of confidence is a common issue that stops people using there boats....perhaps some...who knows!?

I don't think I am alone in that I also simply enjoy being on my boat, and frankly I don't really care where! I like getting out but as I have to work 5 or 6 days a week I don't get a chance to just down tools and go away for a week or two whenever I feel like it. Most people have to work for a living to afford a bloody boat... certainly I do and its a tough world at the moment.. so yes, I do use my boat I guess more than most but I do also consider it a holiday home.

My parents who also keep their boat at Mercury are beside a beautiful Swan 53. It arrived 18months ago (brand new), the owners have been down to it twice last year for weekends only, not once this year.....Now obviously this is something else again.... wealthy owners needing a yacht as whim? who knows... a skipper comes down and cleans it every few weeks... but that's it.

Helped my mate get his Binliner 285 lifted at Penton Hook yesterday. Looked round the sales pontoons and some of the boats around there have not moved for years, its like some sort of GRP graveyard...very sad.
 
I guess no one answer, but I figure also that for some folks the reality does not quite measure up to the brochure or simply that a boat is one thing amongst others - and not the overriding passion.
 
We keep our boat in Mallorca and every summer until this one have cruised for 3-4 weeks to other parts of the Med. This summer due to the current recession cannot afford the time to leave the office as probably would not have a business left to come back to !
That being said a lot of boats out there are used purely for social occasions ie out of port round to the next bay drop the hook and drink/swim/ socialise (which there is nothing wrong with) or as a holiday home.
 
I think it is also fuel costs which scares the whole lot of people
this year I did not do any hundred miles plus trips to Sicily, hopefully next year will do this
another problem is the expense of marinas when u go to Italy for me and start to pay for 100 EUROS per day for a ten metre is not nice too
so u have to budget like a max of 10000 EUROS to do a nice trip IMO
 
We have been in a similar position to Firefly, size of previous boat restricted the distances we could go. As we now have something a little bigger it has opened up new horizons for us but we will still be restricted by a lack of time except for holidays. I can't operate my business from a hill in Ireland, those who can are very fortunate.

We are also restricted by a lack of experience as we are relative newbies and building up slowly rather than jumping in and putting lives at risk.

Personally, I don't have a problem with peeps using their boats as floating holiday homes if they wish, after all if everybody in Conwy, or PD come to that, were keen to get their boat out at every opportunity the area would be mayhem.

Live and let live I say in this particular case, and I'm not know for being overly tolerant!
 
I think another factor could be over planning. People tended just to turn up at the boat on the basis of a vague weather forecast and head off dealing with whatever came along. I know all we used to do was listen to the coastguard forecast on vhf.

Now with the internet it can be a combination of a dozen different forecasts, webcams, live weatherstation reports and opinions on forums even - seen it on here "What's the weather like at ....., is it worth me driving down to the boat?"

Perhaps we just need to head down to the boat and look out of the window and head off. I know we have a tendancy to sometimes not set off in conditions that we wouldn't have thought twice about ten years ago, in a smaller boat as well. Perhaps we just get softer when we get older.
 
Live and let live I say in this particular case, and I'm not know for being overly tolerant!
__________________

Oh, I'm not bothered what folk do. It just seems a bit daft to spend 100 K +, then 5 grand or so in marina fees, to have a boat thats not used or not even visited in many cases.

Would the same folk book a world cruise, then be quite happy if the ship could not be bothered to leave Southampton.??

Most places it's quite easy to go some place with a pontoon, instead of an expencive marina. Why do folk need expencive marinas when they do venture out?? Even in winter a little Honda genny sorts the heating and TV out, so it does not have to be 40 quid a night.

It's just that I thort, having a boat was about visiting different places and having adventures. Suppose I must be wrong.
 
hlb said:
It's just that I thort, having a boat was about visiting different places and having adventures. Suppose I must be wrong.
Click to expand...

Nah, you're not entirely wrong, I can't see much point to having a boat without intending to use it either.

All I'm saying is folks as do want to use 'em are sometimes limited by lack of time and, if they're going to be honest, ability.

I suspect as others have said, there is a fear factor which creeps in for many also. Some have a bad experience which puts the wind up 'em and puts 'em off going out at all, but they still like to be afloat in the safe confines of the marina.
 
Couple of possible reasons spring to mind
  • Lack of Time for more than day hops
  • Cycle of life - Active boats can become less active as family and life circumstances evolve or change (ie kids grown up, new babies, etc)
  • Lack of confidence and fear after an impulse purchase
  • Lack of experience
  • Lack sense of adventure
  • Lack of funds
  • Spouse wants to stay in or near homeport due to past scare in a bit of swell
  • Blinkers (ie boats can only be parked on serviced jetties with 240v)
  • Limited ability due to lack of training or experience
  • Some thought a boat was just a floating caravan
 
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