Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 07-16-2012, 03:57 PM   #41
Senior Member
 
Delia Rosa's Avatar
 
City: St. Catharines
Vessel Name: Delia Rosa
Vessel Model: C & L Sea Ranger 47 Raised Pilothouse
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 375
Quote:
Originally Posted by RT Firefly View Post
Greetings,
To all the new folks on this thread. If you would like to get into boating, by all means pursue your dreams. Rent some boats, join a yacht club, take a bunch of courses, read a lot, talk to as many boaters and get on as many boats as possible. I've found education, preparation and ultimately shopping for and purchasing "the" boat is 99% of the fun. Using your boat on the water is the other 150%!!!!!!
Yup, boating involves everything Mr. Marin mentioned and more for sure but like I mentioned, for me it's those sunrise type moments that are priceless...
I have to agree with RTF and Marin about finding out what you are getting into before you buy..... but I can tell you, from our point of view, it has been worth it.... to me there is nothing better than being on the water!
__________________
Susan and Dan
"Delia Rosa"
Point Breeze, N.Y.
Delia Rosa is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 03:27 AM   #42
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
Quote:
Originally Posted by THD View Post
...that day or so redoing the head is still better than any day in my office!
Not in my office.

Actually the plumbing project went very smoothly and was actually fun to do. My wife and I planned out every step beforehand down to the details of exactly how we were going to take the old plumbing apart and snake it out, and then we simply followed the plan. My earlier description was more to make a point rather than the way it actually went. It was a team effort and the detailed pre-planning really paid off.
Marin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 05:03 AM   #43
FF
Guru
 
FF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
Go for a ride first on a poor day with an experienced skipper.

Observe the work load , notice the motion.

FF
FF is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 09:44 AM   #44
Moderator Emeritus
 
dwhatty's Avatar
 
City: Home Port: Buck's Harbor, Maine
Vessel Name: "Emily Anne"
Vessel Model: 2001 Island Gypsy 32 Europa (Hull #146)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,846
LOL Marin. Just completed a 2 1/2 day job of replacing all the sanitation hoses on our boat. It has got to be one of the worst jobs known to boat owners.
dwhatty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 09:55 AM   #45
Guru
 
refugio's Avatar
 
City: Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club
Vessel Name: Lulu (Refugio sold)
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,284
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marin View Post
It's called "Time To Change Out The Aft Toilet to Holding Tank Plumbing."
Or you call someone like Dave "The Head Guy" (if you're in the PNW) and he does all of that for less than a "boat unit". He redid all my plumbing and rebuilt my Vacu-Flush for under $500. And that included the shower sump plumbing. Money very well spent IMHO.
refugio is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 11:37 AM   #46
Guru
 
Moonstruck's Avatar
 
City: Hailing Port: Charleston, SC
Vessel Name: Moonstruck
Vessel Model: Sabre 42 Hardtop Express
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,276
What ever happened to the vision of the manufacturers or dealers. You know like the spiffly, casually dressed people with a cocktail in their hands looking cool and serene? Are the realities really that different? Have they been false advertising?

It seems the two new posters maybe having second thoughts after reading through the realities and pleasures of boat ownership. It seems we may have done it again.

I think the thing that is tough to realize is that a boat requires much. It is almost like a living thing such as a horse. You cannot neglect it. It requires care and attention. Boating is as much a life style as it is a recreation. It is not for everyone. Do I like it? Over 40 years and counting should answer that.
__________________
Don on Moonstruck
Sabre 42 Hardtop Express
When cruising life is simpler, but on a grander scale (author unknown)
https://moonstruckblog.wordpress.com/
Moonstruck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 11:59 AM   #47
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
Quote:
Originally Posted by refugio View Post
Or you call someone like Dave "The Head Guy" (if you're in the PNW) and he does all of that for less than a "boat unit". He redid all my plumbing and rebuilt my Vacu-Flush for under $500. And that included the shower sump plumbing. Money very well spent IMHO.
We'd rather put $500 worth of fuel in the boat than pay someone the same amount of money to do something we can easily do ourselves. Plus the more of these kinds of jobs we do ourselves the better we get to know the boat and its systems, which means the easier it is to troubleshoot and correct problems as they arise.

And as I said, it was actually quite enjoyable to work together to plan and then execute the project.
Marin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 03:01 PM   #48
THD
Guru
 
City: Seattle
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,142
Marin-sure sounds like you did it the right way! Maybe the lesson for those considering a boat is: "Done the right way-even changing out the sanitation system can contribute to marital bliss on a boat!"
THD is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 07:28 PM   #49
Guru
 
bobofthenorth's Avatar
 
City: Cowichan Bay, BC
Vessel Name: Gray Hawk
Vessel Model: Defever 43 Offshore Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 570
Don't wait for retirement. We live and then we die. None of us knows when the end will come but we all know what we have done and what we dream of doing. We've travelled extensively in our RV for the last 20 years, living more or less full time in it for the past 6 years except for the time we have lived on Gray Hawk in the last 2 years. Over that time I can't count the number of people who have said "Oh you're so lucky to be able to do that" or "My wife and I are absolutely going to do that as soon as we retire". Luck be dammed. Luck has absolutely nothing to do with it. We made a plan and executed the plan. And waiting for retirement is procrastination not planning. If its important then figure it out and do it now.
bobofthenorth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 07:56 PM   #50
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobofthenorth View Post
...And waiting for retirement is procrastination not planning. If its important then figure it out and do it now.
Absolutely. We started flying floatplanes, then started flying them up the Inside Passage to SE Alaska more times than we can remember, we started running narrowboats in the UK and have done that more times than we can remember, we got a 17' fishing boat and began fishing and exploring the waters between here and the north end of Vancouver Island plus lakes in the BC interior and we still do that, then bought the Grand Banks and began cruising this area, all before I was 50 and while I was working a very demanding and time-consuming job and writing books in my spare time (both of which I still do).

With every one of these activities it would have been easy to say, "Let's wait until retirement to do it." But we refused to do that and always have found a way to make it work. As a result we have a massive stockpile of wonderful experiences and memories that we would never have had the time to compile had we "waited until retirement."

We had a male orca surface beside one of the floats on the Beaver as we drifted in glassy water in SE Alaska and look us over for a few moments. He was perhaps five feet from the float and was so big the top of his dorsal fin hit the underside of the Beaver's wing. That is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we have had the pleasure of reliving together and in our minds for the past two decades instead of "waiting for retirement."

And the journey continues with no intention of stopping until we can't get out of bed anymore.
Marin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 08:00 PM   #51
Guru
 
refugio's Avatar
 
City: Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club
Vessel Name: Lulu (Refugio sold)
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1,284
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moonstruck View Post
What ever happened to the vision of the manufacturers or dealers. You know like the spiffly, casually dressed people with a cocktail in their hands looking cool and serene? Are the realities really that different? Have they been false advertising?
At the risk of bringing quantum physics into the discussion, I'd say that this is one instance where you can "create your own reality".

There are definitely people in my club who subscribe to that vision - and pour doubles! - but who I think will be out of boating in 5 to 10 years. I bought my first boat (a Pearson 26' One Design) at 19 within a week of graduating college, and 33 years later I'm even more dedicated to the activity. I'm scheming to get my 5 month old grandson into the club (currently lobbying the bridge to create a new category of membership!) so I'll have someone to drive me around when I'm in my dottage.

I moor next to a classic woodie where the ownership is shared by the 94 year old grandfather (with 2 years club seniority to me), his son (who's around my age), and now their grandson. Now that's commitment to boating!
refugio is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 08:30 PM   #52
Guru
 
City: Pensacola
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 748
RT speaks with big medicine! One sunset or sunrise DOES make it all worth while.
Geez, how many of us changed heads or hoses this week? ;-)
Blue Heron is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 08:35 PM   #53
Moderator Emeritus
 
dwhatty's Avatar
 
City: Home Port: Buck's Harbor, Maine
Vessel Name: "Emily Anne"
Vessel Model: 2001 Island Gypsy 32 Europa (Hull #146)
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,846
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Heron View Post
Geez, how many of us changed heads or hoses this week? ;-)
Must mean many of us are full of ....?
dwhatty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2012, 09:34 PM   #54
Guru
 
Moonstruck's Avatar
 
City: Hailing Port: Charleston, SC
Vessel Name: Moonstruck
Vessel Model: Sabre 42 Hardtop Express
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,276
Has anyone noticed that our 2 new members have not been participating in the conversation. Whether they are just sitting back taking it in, or left us I don't know.

Anyway for what it's worth, my two sons have told me that their best memories of childhood were doing things with our boats, and especially being around the Morehead City Yacht Basin. They took the dinghy up into the marshes, learned to filet fish, and shadowed James Hester the dock master around. They even watched wrestling with James in the lounge on Saturday nights. Later we added a 17' Boston Whaler for a ski boat. My gradsons have it now. My son has a 26' Whaler. We are still a boating family.

We didn't wait for retirement. In fact, I could retire now, but choose not to. I can cruise when I want. So, I can also enjoy the grandkids sports, and theater stuff. Still active in business, cruising, and family. Seems pretty good to me. You don't have to wait for retirement.
__________________
Don on Moonstruck
Sabre 42 Hardtop Express
When cruising life is simpler, but on a grander scale (author unknown)
https://moonstruckblog.wordpress.com/
Moonstruck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2012, 03:21 AM   #55
TF Site Team
 
City: Ex-Brisbane, (Australia), now Bribie Island, Qld
Vessel Name: Now boatless - sold 6/2018
Vessel Model: Had a Clipper (CHB) 34
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 10,101
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwhatty View Post
LOL Marin. Just completed a 2 1/2 day job of replacing all the sanitation hoses on our boat. It has got to be one of the worst jobs known to boat owners.
Roger, that...!
Peter B is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2012, 05:43 PM   #56
Member
 
City: Chesapeake
Vessel Name: NoneYet
Vessel Model: Who knows?
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 16
I'm Back in the Saddle

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moonstruck View Post
Has anyone noticed that our 2 new members have not been participating in the conversation. Whether they are just sitting back taking it in, or left us I don't know.
<snipped>
I think I'm one the two "new guys" here, and yes, I've not been online in a while. As I alluded-to in my several previous posts, I have some amount of medical issues I am working to overcome. The past week or so was not kind to me in that I spent it in a hospital bed.

I am back home now, with renewed vigor and matching enthusiasm.

I purchased a new copy of "Chapman" to replace my dog-eared and slightly moldy copy of 1970 or so. About the only major changes I noticed quickly were the available electronics for just about everything (engine monitors, communications, emergency transmissions, and especially navigation).

When I got involved with boats in the late 60's, I took a basic seamanship course and a celestial navigation course (overkill) and after a year or so of operating my boat, I purchased Chapman. I read it cover-to-cover several times, learning more each time as its lessons were more relevant.

I can't help but agree with the preponderance of the posts in this thread, which I found very interesting. There is nothing that beats some hands-on experience with a smaller, more easily piloted boat in helping to decide whether or not boating is for you. Trying to come alongside the fuel dock on a very windy day while fighting a beam current is a lesson in humility. I am glad that I repeatedly bumped the dock in my small boat rather than a big, new boat. I also learned that I could do the "sideways crab walk" to the dock under power of a single engine. Who would have thought....

Anyway, I'm going to continue reading and learning.

By the way, I only recently decided to re-enter the boating world. My freak accident of a few years ago coupled with some other serious medical conditions caused me to reevaluate my life and my goals. I was supremely aware that life is fleeting and we can't get a "do-over". I was successful in business, but that did not fill my heart with warm memories or peace. It was then that I began thinking about my happiest moments in life.

At first, I got back into Corvette race cars. I still have one. But I am afraid to race it anymore, not so much for fear of injury, but for fear of crashing such a valuable piece of history. So I am slowly getting away from the Corvettes. In the hospital about 1 1/2 years ago, I began thinking about boats and my summers on the Chesapeake and my several trips (as crew) on others' boats in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean, and the joy I felt at those times.

My life may be shortened because of my accident, but I want to enjoy the remainder of if on my terms.
MilShooter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2012, 06:29 PM   #57
Guru
 
Moonstruck's Avatar
 
City: Hailing Port: Charleston, SC
Vessel Name: Moonstruck
Vessel Model: Sabre 42 Hardtop Express
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,276
I was specifically referring to Khalil and NCBrewers as the two new posters in this thread. However, I'm glad you are back, MilShooter. Hopefully, you will have a long and enjoyable time boating. Best to you.
__________________
Don on Moonstruck
Sabre 42 Hardtop Express
When cruising life is simpler, but on a grander scale (author unknown)
https://moonstruckblog.wordpress.com/
Moonstruck is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2012, 07:29 PM   #58
Senior Member
 
Budds Outlet's Avatar
 
City: South Puget Sound, WA
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 364
Quote:
Originally Posted by yachtbrokerguy View Post
Most insurance companies will not insure a beginner in a larger boat. So take some courses, get some experience with other boaters and think about a starter boat to use for a year or more with a plan to move up in size as you gain experience.
I am dealing with a client now who never had a boat before, he is now looking at larger boat than he originally thought to have room for a crew cabin as all of the insurance companies required crew for boats over 55 feet.
We met the owner/skipper of a 106' Westport yacht at a marina in the Canadian Gulf Islands. We watched as he smoothly docked the boat with only the assistance of his SO and another couple. My wife asked him if it wasn't hard for him to do that. He replied that driving the boat wasn't the hard part, it was getting an insurance company to insure him driving the boat.

He said he had started (as has been recomeded here by many) with a small boat and just kept moving up to larger boats. I noted several years later at the height of the recession that the boat was up for sale on Yachtworld. Sometimes the financial seas can be more difficult to navigate than the saltwater kind.
Budds Outlet is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-18-2012, 08:04 PM   #59
Scraping Paint
 
City: -
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 13,745
Quote:
Originally Posted by MilShooter View Post

My life may be shortened because of my accident, but I want to enjoy the remainder of if on my terms.
I'm sorry you are faced with some health challenges but you certainly have the right attitude toward it all.

While I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, the one thing I would offer is not to get so wrapped up in learning about boats and what's available today and reading Chapmans and examining all the options that you forget to actually do something.

Time is a finite commodity for all of us. The ony variable is the amount. I (and fortunately my wife as well) are big believers in the "just do it" philosophy. Putting things off may make tons of sense, and one doesn't want to be recklessly foolish, but we believe that if there is any way to make something work, do that "something" rather than wait for a "better" time.

You seem to have a pretty basic game plan worked out already. Get a boat, do some coastal cruising for a few years, and then perhaps move up to a boat more capable of longer, open-ocean cruises. Makes sense but the longer you debate and study what sort of coastal cruiser would work for you, the more time goes by that you aren't out cruising coastal waters. As has been said here before by others, "being out on the water in a crappy boat is better than not being out on the water at all."

So I would suggest that you determine what sort or sort of boat appeals to you for meeting your initial objective, start looking at them, and buy one. Be careful of getting all bogged down in the analysis. There is much to be said for determining the right boat based simply on what you like the look of. Do you like Nordic Tugs? If so, find out if they'll do what you want to do, and if they will, buy one. Do you like the look of Grand Banks or Hatteras or Krogen or Eagle or Willard or.......? Same answer.

Remember, it's only money. They'll print more.
Marin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2012, 02:03 AM   #60
Member
 
City: Duvall
Vessel Name: Kingfisher
Vessel Model: Nordic Tug 37
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 6
I'm one of the newbies here. and, yes, have been quiet. Frankly I hardly know enough to ask sensible questions so do a lot of reading and following. And, in addition, i'm on holiday in Italy so not online much. After we charter in August, i'll have made enough errors to generate lots of questions for all of you.

Marty
Kartski is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Completely unrealted.. Seahorse source? Noonan General Discussion 8 01-24-2011 06:03 PM

» Trawler Port Captains
Port Captains are TF volunteers who can serve as local guides or assist with local arrangements and information. Search below to locate Port Captains near your destination. To learn more about this program read here: TF Port Captain Program





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:09 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2006 - 2012