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Old 02-27-2015, 11:18 AM   #121
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IF I wished to tow a boat I would purchase a used 18 wheel tractor, cab over with a sleeper pod. The shortest available , easy with $5,000US

With some work I could shuck the second rear axle , shorten the frame as much as could be done and install a hitch.

With some work the sleeper could get a stove and composting toilet , VOILLA a legal RV!!!

No CDL , no air brake endorsement and most important $125 per Year! insurance.

Of course the usual mom & pop Airstrean style length , 55ft in many eastern 65 in civilized states and longer out west would rule..

With a tow rating of about 50- 55,000lbs a boat would hardly be noticed.

The cheap RV insurance is the key weather for one launch a year or Maine to San Fran every other week
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Old 03-03-2015, 01:03 PM   #122
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18 Wheel tractor, WOW! Although I have seen a 12 wheeled one.
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Old 03-03-2015, 01:49 PM   #123
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Most road tractors I've seen have 10 wheels.
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Old 03-03-2015, 01:56 PM   #124
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18, please....
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Old 03-03-2015, 02:24 PM   #125
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I like it. Reminds me of a big version of a Fisher 25 Potter. Needs some cleaning up in the aft cabin profile though.
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Old 03-03-2015, 05:46 PM   #126
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I've been watching and enjoying this thread for some time now and a couple of things pop out at me.....

-there are many on here who are willing to do without the niceties (notice I didn't say "necessities") on their boat.
-there are many on here who apparently are very handy at fixing things on their boat.
-there are many on here who have cruised much more extensively than I have.
-there are many on here who chose to buy and older boat that needed work, knowing they could do the work and save money all the way around.

For the record, I am OK with doing maintenance on my boat. By that I mean oil & filter changes, impeller changes, bottom painting, waxing, etc. I am not a boat mekanyk by any stretch.

I knew when I bought my boat I could do the maintenance, but not most of the complicated repairs. Thus I bought a boat that was sound, rather than one that needed a lot of work.

I also knew that I wanted a boat that was comfy, had air conditioning/heat, and other comforts that I enjoyed at home. I did not want to have to sleep on the deck to avoid the heat inside the cabin. Nor did I want to bundle up under a dozen blankets because I had a boat without heat.

I was in my mi-60's when I bought this boat and figured I'd probably have it until the late 70's when it would become too much to handle, and by that I mean keeping up with the maintenance and the costs of operating it.

With all that in mind, I bought a boat that we could comfortably spend weeks aboard. I wanted twin engines that were reliable and a generator large enough to power the boat if I wanted to run the heat, water heater, stove, etc., all at the same time.

Am I rich? Not hardly. I financed the boat mainly because I didn't want to take retirement funds and spend them on a toy. Many will question that decision, but my background is in investment management and I was comfortable that I knew enough to properly analyze paying cash vs. financing the boat.

We spend a fair amount of time on the boat, but we're not liveaboards. Probably next summer or the summer following we're going to spend 4-5 months on board (timing of the trip depends on a factors over which I have no control). Knowing that this would likely be the one big cruise we'd take I wanted to be able to enjoy it without having to worry about pinching pennies.

So to answer the OP's question--no, you don't have to be rich if you plan ahead then follow your plan.
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Old 03-03-2015, 06:06 PM   #127
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Maybe time for a reality check on the use of the word rich.

If you have the disposable income of $20,000 to spend on a boat....most people I have worked with for the last 40 years would consider you really well off to rich.

Doesn't matter if it's a one or two earner family.... most people I know making $100,000 before taxes....aren't spending 25% of their income on a boat.

Nothing to be embarrassed about being rich..just look long and hard how most people on the planet...even just the US..... live.
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Old 03-04-2015, 07:33 PM   #128
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I am hoping to leave at 52. By leaving at 52 instead of 50, I will get an extra 100K. If I stay to 55 then I get another 200K. I already have high blood pressure from stress and really don't feel like shooting the dice for a mere 200K more. I have never been much for worshipping money and my personal feelings are life cant be bought. So I will not stay until 55. I cant collect the 100k until 57 though so I want to be well into my cruising when that kitty comes into my hands, it will be fun money (or a new damn motor ). My father is my inspiration for my entire life. He told me to live life to its fullest and not work until the grave. Its a beautiful world out there and I refuse to miss it.
While I can't say that I'd consider an exta 200k "mere", I do hear you loud and clear.

I don't post much anymore, but FWIW, and if you'll allow me to segway off for a moment, I promise to return shortly, I have ALWAYS had high stress jobs. Law enforcement, military, and even in the gig's I run now, there are timelines, deadlines, and potentially HUGE ramifications if you screw things up, up to an including jail time, major lawsuits and death. Get my drift?

Add to that the stress of finances, trying to collect from deadbeat clients, a family, 2 kids, a grandkid and 2 flippin' animals who seem to think the vet's office is their 2nd home, it can get pretty rough at times.
I am sure you know the drill.

While my BP wasn't high enough to go on meds, I was getting dangerously close. At the age of 56, I was 252# at 5'8". Just about as wide as I was tall.

At that point I decided to take back my life!!
Changed the diet, started regular exercise (crossfit/TRX/and old school weightlifting).
I don't run much anymore, thanks to an injury I incurred while with Uncle Sam's Confused Group, but I can bike and row like a fiend.

The bottom line was, I started to make time for ME!
I dumped things, and people that were negative to that goal, lost 52# and ended up in better shape than I was at 36, a full time LEO and military reservist!

So here's what I'm saying.

While you make some very valid points, and you have to live life while you can, don't throw away the baby with the bath water either.

The extra two (2) years doesn't have to be a game changer.
Do what you have to do to reduce stress, go find yourself a boat, start working on it and cruising when you can. Maybe live aboard for short periods if work allows? Get used to it and the community, and when you hit that next two years, take that "MERE 200k" and head for that "One Particular Harbor (thanks Jimmy), wherever that may be, and don't look back!

I've got several years on you at 58, and only wish I'd started thinking this way when I was 50. Hindsight is as they say, always 50/50, but you can bet that we're already looking for that boat, big/small, old or not so old, pristine or a fixer up. Just doesn't matter. It'll be ours! No payments other than the normal crap, and my peace of mind. My escape.

So as promised, back to the thread, and your comments.

As others have said, it can be whatever you make it.
If you have an undying need to keep up with the Joneses, then by all means, it's going to get expensive quick.

If on the other hand, your bills are paid, you're comfortable with what fits you, your family, your budget and your lifestyle, and don't give a fat wharf rats backside about what anyone else thinks, then you'll be fine.

Go out and have some fun!

OD
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Old 03-04-2015, 07:59 PM   #129
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Well said, OD.

That from a former LEO who is now a retired LEO and loving retirement.
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Old 03-27-2015, 07:58 PM   #130
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Is boating for the rich? Feeling dismayed

We have an offer on a 42' Californin. We wanted to spend 50k. Will end up spending 69,900, plus reg, taxes, insurance, slip fees, and filling the Admirals move in list. That leaves us low in the pockets but hey, I never have had a lot of money anyhow!

It can be done if u are flexible and willing to go see a LOT of crappy boats. You can find one u like if u work at it. We have looked online over 2 yrs and several months on the ground humping from one to the other.

Ask away on this forum as u move fed. These folks have been super kind and very helpful to us.
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Old 03-28-2015, 05:07 AM   #131
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We have an offer on a 42' Californin. We wanted to spend 50k. Will end up spending 69,900, plus reg, taxes, insurance, slip fees, and filling the Admirals move in list. That leaves us low in the pockets but hey, I never have had a lot of money anyhow!

It can be done if u are flexible and willing to go see a LOT of crappy boats. You can find one u like if u work at it. We have looked online over 2 yrs and several months on the ground humping from one to the other.

Ask away on this forum as u move fed. These folks have been super kind and very helpful to us.
Getting out on the water is a very Zen experience, the size of your boat has little to do with it. Humans have some sort of instinctive connection to water, it's hard to explain.

I've never sold a boat, and still have our original 13' dell quay dory from the late 1960's (I think?), several home built dingy's one if which is at the bottom of a lake in France, a steel 60' home built barge and a little sea fishing Cat; they all hold positive memories for me, some going right back to my childhood.

There's the rich who have expensive play things; they have to spend money to compensate for their sadness in life, and the people who live simple happy lives on very little because they are already content with their lot.

My sister was friendly with the chef on a super yacht; we got a tour of the boat and it was clinically clean, all chrome and shiny like a hospital; no thanks!

...or some worm out old boat being restored by a keen enthusiast ; yes please!
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Old 03-28-2015, 07:22 AM   #132
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[QUOTE=Rustybarge;320255 There's the rich who have expensive play things; they have to spend money to compensate for their sadness in life, and the people who live simple happy lives on very little because they are already content with their lot [/QUOTE]

The tens of billions of loto tickets sold every year indicate the world's population thinks otherwise.
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Old 03-28-2015, 07:33 AM   #133
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The tens of billions of loto tickets sold every year indicate the world's population thinks otherwise.
From my personal experience of people from all walks of life I would say this:
Just Like respect you can't buy happiness, but you can earn it.
If you're already happy, then you don't need much.
Rich people become isolated, lonely and sad; everything revolves around money.

The flip side of Zen:
if you take away a person's happiness,what have they got left that's worth anything?
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Old 03-28-2015, 08:59 AM   #134
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IF I wished to tow a boat I would purchase a used 18 wheel tractor, cab over with a sleeper pod. The shortest available , easy with $5,000US

With some work I could shuck the second rear axle , shorten the frame as much as could be done and install a hitch.

With some work the sleeper could get a stove and composting toilet , VOILLA a legal RV!!!

No CDL , no air brake endorsement and most important $125 per Year! insurance.

Of course the usual mom & pop Airstrean style length , 55ft in many eastern 65 in civilized states and longer out west would rule..

With a tow rating of about 50- 55,000lbs a boat would hardly be noticed.

The cheap RV insurance is the key weather for one launch a year or Maine to San Fran every other week
Yes please

Careful with that type of setup, I know for a fact some states do not allow RV classification for anything with a 5th wheel

Anyone can be "rich"...if you behave responsibly. I feel absolutely zero sorrow for people that work 10 hour days, come home to a house that is way beyond the 30% income budget, drive a brand new car, and everyone in the household has new iPhones. Mommy and Daddy are more than likely on the verge of divorce due to finances and make up for it by giving their children everything they could possibly want without working for it. No one is making any retirement contributions. Blah Blah Blah...they choose to live like that.

Their is a boat life for the taking no matter what your income level is for the most part. Here is the perspective: trade in your family data plan for a set of flip phones and you have my boat payment covered and then some. Pretty sad...
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Old 03-28-2015, 09:09 AM   #135
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I would rather have a 12 ft beam and give it to a semi to tow to it's new location if you can not go by water. The cost of 1 ton truck and 3 axial trailer is kind of expensive.
That is because the big three have cashed out on Americans "thinking" they need a 1 ton truck. Have you seen the sticker prices...ouch

In reality you could buy a nicely used International truck or if you want to go real redneck, a used bus and cut the kiddo portion off. That chassis would tow circles around any 1 ton any day of the week for 1 years worth of payments on that shiny new 1 ton. They are all fluffed up, I'm sorry but a set of 4 or 6 E rated tires can only turn and stop so much weight. The traction and skid control is being amped up only to keep underwear stains from occuring.
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Old 03-28-2015, 09:44 AM   #136
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There's the rich who have expensive play things; they have to spend money to compensate for their sadness in life, and the people who live simple happy lives on very little because they are already content with their lot.
Does it somehow give you pleasure to stereotype and judge other groups of people? "Have to spend money to compensate for their sadness in life?" I personally take great offense to that. Should they not spend it just so as to not offend narrow minded people? I guess when they give money to worthy causes then that's also got some underlying meaning that you find bad too? Why do you feel it's appropriate to say such things as that? Do you not grasp that people can be happy at all economic levels? Or that rich or poor can be sad in life?
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Old 03-28-2015, 09:50 AM   #137
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Greetings,,
Mr. MS. After 135 posts I suspect you STILL have not got an answer to your question. LOTS of good suggestions to get you on the water on a budget but alas, as I re-read this whole thread, not a definitive answer.
Please allow me to attempt. "Is boating for the rich?" It IS indeed! Rich in spirit. I believe your father is still with you as is the love of water he instilled in you. Stop thinking and pursue your love...
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:06 AM   #138
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Does it somehow give you pleasure to stereotype and judge other groups of people? "Have to spend money to compensate for their sadness in life?" I personally take great offense to that. Should they not spend it just so as to not offend narrow minded people? I guess when they give money to worthy causes then that's also got some underlying meaning that you find bad too? Why do you feel it's appropriate to say such things as that? Do you not grasp that people can be happy at all economic levels? Or that rich or poor can be sad in life?
Sorry bandB:
I meant to say: get happy first then you won't need much to stay that way; rather than getting rich first thinking it will make you happy which it won't .

Putting the cart before the horse is a mistake that's easy to make.
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:07 AM   #139
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Does it somehow give you pleasure to stereotype and judge other groups of people? "Have to spend money to compensate for their sadness in life?" I personally take great offense to that. Should they not spend it just so as to not offend narrow minded people? I guess when they give money to worthy causes then that's also got some underlying meaning that you find bad too? Why do you feel it's appropriate to say such things as that? Do you not grasp that people can be happy at all economic levels? Or that rich or poor can be sad in life?
Well put BB. I am incredibly rich! I have my health, a wonderful lady to share life with and a bunch of grandchildren to spoil rotten. Add a couple of boats to the mix and I am the wealthiest man alive!
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Old 03-28-2015, 10:10 AM   #140
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Greetings,
Mr. RB. Mr. BB raises a good point about making generalizations. Happiness is a state of mind, not the state of a bank account. I'm not rich nor do I begrudge those that are for the most part. Likewise I don't look down on those less fortunate than me. As Popeye says "I yam what I yam and that's ALL that I yam."
We are currently in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. When one enters Port Everglades one runs the gauntlet of uber yachts. 10 million here, 25 million there...it seems to go on for miles (actually only about 3 miles or so). Invariably, they are, seemingly, fully manned with crew, shining, buffing, maintaining with, what I could see, nary an owner in sight. Are these owners happy? Who knows but the crew are gainfully employed and happier, I suspect than not being employed. My only wish regarding these symbols of affluence is I would like a crew to do the same on our vessel. But...It is what it is my friend.

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