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So I am 20 and when I was a kid I remember I was obsessed with Titanic and stuff. Then later on I became obsessed with boats and ships and other forms of water craft. Now I would like to know from you guys what is it like to own a boat? Have you ever gone out in the ocean with it?
Yes we chartered a three hour tour, the rest is history.
I had a 46' Bertram Sportfisher in southern California for about 6 years. I kept it in the marina in Long Beach. It is very expensive to own a boat! It is also extremely time-consuming to keep the boat in pristine condition. You need to have plenty of disposable income to do it right. I loved my boat as I would rather be on the water than anywhere else! I also had a mooring in Catalina which I spent 3 weeks on every August & any weekend when the weather was good. It was wonderful!! I also took the boat up the coast to Ventura, down to Newport Beach for brunches, to San Diego & to Mexico. If you ever decide to buy a boat, I strongly suggest you at least take either the Power Squadron or the Coast Guard basic seamanship class. It will teach you so much on safety, equipment, right-of-way, radio use & so much more that will surely be needed especially when you venture out into the ocean.
If I could have any job I wanted, I would be a Captain on a private yacht where the owners would call & tell me where they would like the boat to go next. Sometimes owners actually fly in to visit their boat. And I would get paid. My dream job!
....... Now I would like to know from you guys what is it like to own a boat? Have you ever gone out in the ocean with it?
My family gets a lot of use out of our boat. The fisherman just bought an expensive new aluminum boat that can go out on the ocean. However, it takes some learning about the boat and equipment, so it is being used on lakes until it is all dialed in.
For the ocean, you need an experienced person to go with you the first several times to teach you the ropes. It' dangerous out there if you don't know what you are doing. It's dangerous crossing the bar going out and coming in. You need help from someone experienced with that bar to teach you.
I don't recommend an ocean safe power boat for the first boat. My family has fished and boated all of our lives. We started with canoes and have owned an inexpensive sailboat and a canal boat, so we already knew we would use a boat. The fisherman has been out on the ocean fishing, but on a charter.
Used sail boats are really cheap, as long as you don't want one to cross the oceans with.
If you really want to spend a lot of time on the ocean, you'd do better to buy a boat that is too big to trailer, and then you have expensive mooring fees every month. There are trailer-able boats that can go out on the ocean, on the days when the seas are calm and the bar is safe to cross.
If you haven't yet been out to sea in a small boat, I suggest a few fishing charters to let you see if you really want to do it. Take your seasick meds before you go.
I believe owning a boat is both what you want out of it and what you make out of it. It can be a huge investment in time and money or a small investment in time and money.
I heard all those phrases/acronyms about boats when I went to buy my first boat, and while there is a little truth to them, I think it varies with what you plan on doing with the boat.
I found a VERY clean used 18' I/0 four winns that had never been in salt water and always garaged. People cannot believe its 16 years old. It has given me nearly no trouble over the past 5 years that I have owned it and I only paid 8500$ for it. Looking at used boat prices I could almost break even if I chose to sell it today. NOT BAD! It is good on gas and great for the lakes/rivers I typically go on. would i like something a little bigger, yeah, but the bigger, the expenses get exponentially bigger, you can no longer store the boat in your garage, its harder to launch the boat, the gas is more expensive because you need a larger engine, the repairs are more expensive. etc etc.
Now, if I had decided to just buy a 40k dollar boat from day one and went to sell it 5 years later, I'm going to take a major depreciation hit.
For me the most frustrating thing about boating is finding reliable friends to have out on the water. Spending a 90 degree Saturday at the sandbar and doing wake boarding sounds like a no brainer to me, but you may be surprised to find out how many of your friends don't like swimming, get sea sick or are just straight up impossible to schedule last minute boat rides with.
Its like a hole in the water to throw your money in. The bigger the boat, the more you will throw in. Its an expensive hobby / activity to have, but lots of good times to be had. So enjoy it. Getting rid of one feels like a HUGE weight, expense and responsibility has been lifted off your back though. I grew up on the water with a boat / boats tied to the dock in the back yard.
I had an 18' Glastron, but it never saw much use. I sold and and boiught an 18' SeaArk aluminum boat, pretty much just a fishing/hunting machine. Just a simple 50hp merc and I honestly enjoy it more than my old family boat. Great on gas, get's us to where we are going and I can hunt and fish from it comfortably.
We also have Kayaks. I just bought a Pro Angler from Hobie and I'm sure I'll enjoy it immensely. It's fun to be out on the water- but not so fun to spend the gobs of money if you jump into a high HP recreational craft.
I like boats and jetskis. You just need to justify the time/money needed. I rode a neighbor's jetski last weekend (supercharged yamaha). It was ridiculously fast and thirsty for a jetski (8 gallons of fuel doesn't last long!).
He took them home and spent an hour cleaning/flushing them at the end of the day.
I loved owning a boat, but don't miss the countless hours of working on it, cleaning it and well of course paying for the damn thing.
I'm sure a lot of the money spent vs enjoyment is dependent on the type of boat. They still are holes in the water you throw money into.
This is a older thread but does the question by the OP ever get old?
Boats are what you make of them. I have been out on mine 3 times this year so far, yes pretty sad but I still don't view it as a hole to throw money into. I do the basic maintenance myself and so far after 10 years it hasn't needed anything big.
To anyone thinking about a boat I would say start small but comfortable 18-20 feet long. Preowned is OK but NOT beat to heck. Something 5-10 years old is usually affordable depending on the size and make. I think inboard outboards or I/O's are easier to work on since they are more like a car engine but outboards are good too.
A 18' boat with a 75 HP engine should be good to pull a skier. You can fish from any boat.
When buying a boat be sure the trailer is solid and fits the boat and be sure your tow vehicle is up to the task.
I would start in a lake or pond since they are more forgiving and help is usually close by. The ocean can be a scary place and kill you but common sense and safe practice is the rule wherever you dip into.
Start small and you will have more fun for less money.
My old boss used to have a 50' sport fisher which you could have lived on. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and it even had a washer and dryer. He spent a fortune on it, just topping off the tanks was $1000. We went fishing in his but he liked my little 18 footer just as much since we could get in close to the rocks for the stripers at a fraction of the cost.
Honestly, it can really depend on the boat you get (if it's a pile or not) and how much use you'll actually get out of it.
8 years ago we bought a cheap little 16' runabout ski boat with Force 125 outboard motor. It was not running since the owner had let it sit a few years. We paid under $2k for it, figuring we could get it running for not too much. Sure enough, needed a battery, plugs, starter motor, and impeller, and it ran great.
Now, it's a really crappy little boat...but you know what? Our family has gotten hundreds of hours of fun from it, and going tubing in the northern Idaho evenings on the Pend Oreille River has been a staple of our summers ever since. Some weeks we're on the boat 3-4 times.
If you buy a fairly reliable brand, like Sea Ray, Chaparral, Four Winns, Reinell, Rinker, Mariah, Larson, etc...you'll likely get years of use out of it with what I would say is a VERY reasonable cost of ownership. If you buy a boat that needs work to "save money and do it yourself"...God help you...you'll regret it.
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