I'm Losing My Desire for Boating....

This year, 2011, I have put very little time actually cruising my boat. No, I'm not terminally ill or anything like that. Just not interested anymore. My wife very seldom accompanies me on the boat as she does her horse thing 5 days a week. The problem is that "I really Love this Particular boat!" I do go aboard about 4 days a week to busy myself with small projects, watch a ball game or just veg out with a drink.

So, what do I do? I will have no problem selling it as 2 guys on my dock say they would like to buy it. Both their boats are in horrible shape, however, and SeaHorse wouldn't be happy with owners like that. I can also list it or just put "For Sale by Owner" on her bow pulpit and answer the phone, hoping to find a caring owner. There's no way, however, to know, if in fact, an interested party would really take care of her. No, selling her isn't the end I want for her, besides, I can't even come close to obtaining an asking price that is anywhere near what I think she's worth. I've decided that when the time comes (and I have no time table on that) I am going to give her, lock stock and barrel to a deserving owner that will cruise her, keep her in excellent repair & write me once in awhile so I can share her adventures, vicariously.

I would really like the Forum's take on this as SeaHorse could make the right person/couple very happy! (And since I'm giving her away, I decide who that right person/couple is.)

Walt

*

*










-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Saturday 15th of October 2011 07:13:50 PM

Gee whiz, Walt.* You go aboard your boat four days out of seven?* Sounds like you're getting a lot of enjoyment regardless.* If you sell, what will you do with those extra four days?* Perhaps you should take vitamin B-complex every day.

markpierce wrote:
*Perhaps you should take vitamin B-complex every day.

Click to expand...

*** :teevee:* I already do that!

Well then, switch to the little blue pill.

I feel that way right after Christmas every year and I start trying mentally to justify the expense and time based on lack of use. But about spring I pop out of it and I'm good until winter. Bottom line, it's my floating condo and a get away from all the BS.
Maybe you should make some friends in the marina or join the local yacht club, power squadron or CG auxiliary? I have friends on the dock and we get together regularly at our favorite haunts. I don't drink alot, but I enjoy the dinners and dragging their tipsy butts back down the dock!!

PS: IMHO - Ship the horses to Montreal! They love horse meat!:biggrin:

Larry B

That looks like exactly what I looking for....but....it is geographically undesirable...just like one of my favorite girl friends....YEARS AGO.

I second Edelweiss's suggestions.* Boaters in my marina are very friendly, and I would expect the same for you.

The only answer is to give up the woman. Sorry man ,its the only answer. Unless all of a sudden you hate boats. IMHO BB

Walt--- I wonder if part of this issue is that there aren't that many places to go in SoCal. What if you moved the boat to the PNW and then came up here periodically to use it. You have family in Kirkland so you have more of a reason than just boating to come up here. There are a number of boats in our marina, for example, that are "home ported" in Montana, Nevada, Utah, etc. Their owners come out periodically, take a cruise, then go home for awhile.

You say you've spent time SE Alaska but not in northern Puget Sound and BC. There's a lifetime of boating in this area alone. We've had our boat 13 years so far and have not yet even remotely gotten tired of boating in this area, even if we go to a destination we've been to dozens of times before.

So call Associated Boat Transport http://www.associatedboat.com/ and get a quote for hauling your boat from SoCal to Puget Sound.* That's how we got our GB up here, although it came from Alameda.

We normally discourage boaters from coming to this state but I think in your case we can make an exception


-- Edited by Marin on Saturday 15th of October 2011 08:08:50 PM

I appreciate the replys but as I stated, I have no definite time table yet but know I'm close.

I think this Halvorsen would be a great little boat in the NW. I also think I would like it to go there.

Am heading out tomorrow at O dark 30 to my home in Sedona, AZ. Will comment about the "gift" when I get back.

SeaHorse II wrote:
I appreciate the replys but as I stated, I have no definite time table yet but know I'm close.

I think this Halvorsen would be a great little boat in the NW. I also think I would like it to go there.

Am heading out tomorrow at O dark 30 to my home in Sedona, AZ. Will comment about the "gift" when I get back.

Click to expand...

*

Walt, I sympathise, as I sort of know what you mean. My wife is not as into boating as I am, and although I seldom go out alone, as I don't really enjoy that as much as with company, it does mean the number of times we do is a lot less than what I would like to do. Then I think of what I would do without it, and it scares me. Like you I manage to get down to her nearly every weekend to do 'something', sometimes a useful 'something', sometimes not so much, but I enjoy just doing it, whatever the project might be. How we differ however, is there is no way I could afford to just give her away. That must be a nice comforting feeling to be in that position. For me, the reality is when I retire I will not be able to keep my boat, so even now, when I think what value I get out of her, compared to what else we could be doing with the money, I find myself wondering....but I'm not ready to part with her yet......

SeaHorse II wrote:I think this Halvorsen would be a great little boat in the NW. I also think I would like it to go there.

Click to expand...

*Not so sure* about the NW. I see it more as a SW FL boat. Home based out of Ft Myers; cruising to Naples or Sarasota; the quick weekend run to Key West; gunkholing SW Fl barrier islands. Yup, definitely a SW FL boat.

Let me know when I can come pick her up.

*

Ted


-- Edited by O C Diver on Saturday 15th of October 2011 09:29:10 PM

The boat would fit well*cruising around*the Channel Islands of SE California or even the Bay/Delta of central California.


-- Edited by markpierce on Saturday 15th of October 2011 09:31:17 PM

Clean her up, lock her up, walk away from her, and* stay away for*a while*(not your wife).**Sometimes a relationship needs a*break to rekindle interest.* For a couple of months you should have nothing to do with boating.* Don't even watch Gilligan on TV.* Have your Harbor Master or staff check on your boat*occassionaly. If you come back later and still feel the same way then by all means dump her (not your wife).

My son has been sailing with me since he was a toddler. While he was growing up (so fast), we would spend every weekend on the boat. When he was ten we did a three week trip in the San Juans.* He probably knows as much about boating as I do.*

Then he discovered girls. Not so many weekends on the boat with dad (not cool).

Then he went away to college and I lost my sailing buddy altogether.* Even when he came home he would rather hang out with his friends.

Talk about depression.* I went a whole summer without taking the boat out at all.

I was going to sell her several times, but my friends talked me out of it.

He's been out of college for two years now, he's back home with a good job and very mature.

And guess what, he call's me up and asks me if we're going sailing this weekend.

Life is good again.** I'm so glad now that I didn't sell*of the boat.**

Give it some time.************************** ** KJ

***

Walt the boat NEEDS to come to Thorne Bay. Seriously I actually know what ails you. It's your program. You've been through this several to many times before. You've become dissatisfied with lots of boats before. It's just a cycle. Go w the flow. Sell the boat and get another. It's what you do and need to keep doing it unless you can change the thing that keeps you in this pattern. I think the boat has great meaning to you as a special and beautiful rifle on the mantle would for some. Go make yourself comfortable on the couch and tell someone as much as you can and maybe they can lead you to the true meaning of your boats. But don't give the boat away any more than you'd throw 100K in the river. But if you must let me know where downstream will be.

I've got to go with some of the others here. Walt, you need to break your pattern. Your in a rut. Take some time off or plan a big cruise outside your normal pattern. Join a yachtclub, etc. If your in a marina then change marinas or better yet keep her in an entirely different location and use her as a vacation home , SW Florida, Chesapeake, Maine, Great Lakes, PNW, USVI, BVI.

nomadwilly wrote:
. But if you must let me know where downstream will be.

Click to expand...

******* Now, that's funny!

KJ wrote:
Talk about depression.* I went a whole summer without taking the boat out at all.

Click to expand...

______________________________________________________________

Click to expand...

OMG! I just did that!

Click to expand...

Tell me it ain't so Walt! Tell me it ain't so.

I agree with the reasoned replies that have been posted (vs the tongue in cheek ones).

Move her somewhere else, leave her alone for awhile, sell her and get another boat (we know you get that urge periodically), go charter a boat somewhere else.

For awhile I got tired of my former boat and really got into British sportscars. Then I went back to the boat and the cars. Now we have our "new" boat and my MG baby has been neglected for three years. Now I'm getting the car urge again and am glad I didn't sell the car.

Go meditate in the hill of Sedona. Sit under a SAD light says Emily.


-- Edited by dwhatty on Sunday 16th of October 2011 06:48:32 AM

Walt* -* It is amazing how*many people cruise in the PNW but do not live there. We live in Salt Lake City and keep our vessel in Sidney BC. About 1/2 the boats in our marina are US flagged. Our boat has become*the Sedona we considered. If we if we don't like the view or the neighbors we lift anchor.

SoCal boating and*intrinsic ocean swells are*pretty dreary in comparison to the easily found flat water of the inland PNW. But one and the Admiral must enjoy the cool and athletic related outdoors to enjoy boating in the PNW. It is not the California dream (lost now*sad to say) of the Beach Boys. Our daughters who live in AZ, put on Parkas*when visiting us on the boat in*60 degree weather but succumb to windbreakers after a few days.

*


-- Edited by sunchaser on Sunday 16th of October 2011 08:51:11 AM

Walt: Wish I could wax some wisdom to paint brush you into some other kind of consciousness, but I wonder how much success my own journey into boating is going to have with my Admiral. We're due to start full time cruising in less than two years, and the boat (if nothing else) is the doghouse I must retreat to whenever we're threatening each other not to do the cruising thing at all. Separate interests are good, but when they exist on two different physical densities like water and dirt, it's a challenge to reach compromise.

Walt, as has been suggested, a change of venue may be just the thing.* When we had kids at home, local cruising was the order.* We did about everything that could be done withing 3-400 miles of our river system.* When they were off to college, we got a fishingd boat and had it on the Gulf coast.* My last boat and this boat have never been "home".

I will tire of cruising the same area.* We move the boat around fairly frequently.* When we are cruising we try to vary our stops as much as possible.* We are moving from SC to Fort Pierce, FL. in the next couple of weeks.* New area to explore, and fish.* It's closer to the Bahamas, too.* On the way down, we plan to spend a couple of nights anchored at Cumberland Island for some exploring.* I have intended to do this for a long time.* The California Delta sounds interesting.* The PNW is an area that I am keenly interested.* Canada and Alaska would not be out of the question.

Many people that know me don't even know that I have a boat.* My Blackfin is at a dock near home, and it is not used often.* The people on the dock think I don't boat very much.

Leaving a boat at distance locals creates some logistic problems.* These are usually easily taken care of.* I wil hire a local captain to check on the boat, and make preparations for storms.* Usually you will learn the yards and services quickly enough.* We fee at home where ever Moonstruck is.* It can be from Maryland to the Bahamas.*

It also makes interesting cruising for friends and family.* We see them more at the boat than most any where else.* It can really revive interest in boating.* There are such rich cruising areas within reach, that I would hate to see you give it up.

You have probably thought of all this, but I thought it worth mentioning.

.* .** .** .* .* .* .** . but then agian I am in the clear mountain air.* Let's see how you feel after your stay in the mountains.

*

Our first boat of any substance was our Arima. From 1987 through about 1995 we used it all the time for fishing in the Sound and up north in BC. Then the fishing dropped off, the reguations shortened the seasons to nearly nothing, and we stopped using the Arima. Then we go the GB. The Arima sat unused in the backyard for seven years. It had a heater in the cuddy cabin to hold the moisture and mildew at bay, but that was it. I hadn't even fogged the engines.

We came very close to sellng the boat several times, and the one time we would have sold for sure to a the friend who had been bugging us for years to sell the boat to him, he'd given up and purchased a new boat they day before. Then my wife and I got to talking about the the good times we'd had halibut fishing up in Telegraph Cove in BC and we decided to go up again. It cost $2,000 to "fix" the engine I had neglected. But today, while we still don't use the Arima as much as we did during the years after we first bought it, we are VERY glad we didn't sell it. We bought it new for about $15,000. Replacing it today with the same boat new would be close to $30,000. And we are enthusiastically anticipating using the boat down here, too, for salmon fishing again.

So even if one wants to take a break from boating for awhile, unless they are positive they NEVER want to own or use a boat again, it's often worth keeping the current boat if one can afford to and can come up with a way to keep it properly maintained. Particularly if the boat they have is ideal for the kind of boating they want to do, which is certainly the case with our Arima.

Walt, Lots of great advice so far.

I think you LOVE that boat and it's the perfect boat for your style of boating. It's not the biggest or the smallest boat you have owned...it's just right. So it seems to me selling and changing boats is not the answer. But giving it away might be a bit drastic at this stage and obviously irreversible. I think I'd approach this change in incremental steps to make sure I'm doing the right thing.

1. Change your normal pattern. Arrange to do more things with your wife that you both share an interest in and visit the boat once a week. See how this feels for a couple months.

2. Arrange for some one to check on the boat regularly and stay away completely for a couple months to see how it feels not having a boat. No fishing or cruising on others boats, no fishing charters, no cheating! Like giving up smoking, go cold turkey and see how it feels.

3. If step 2 reveals you NEED to have a boat (like most of us feel, I assume), consider relocating her to another marina nearby to open up new waters for your discovery. If there are no new waters in your local area, move on to step 4.

4. Relocate your boat to new waters away from home. Of course, I'd suggest the CA Delta as an area full of new areas to explore, nice weather, freshwater, year-round boating and protected waters full of gunkholes. There are open berths in the sheds at Riverboat Marina that provide three walls, a roof and end curtain if desired, and a boat yard on the premises (Delta Boat Works) that is among the best in the delta. It's location allows trips N, S, E and W into the Delta for new places to explore. All you'd need is for someone to keep an eye on her and run her systems periodically when you're away to keep her in tip-top shape.

If all this fails to attract you back to boating, then I'd suggest taking your time to SELL her to the best boating family you can find. You're right, she NEEDS a good home to stay in her perfect shape. But giving her away is no guarantee that she'll receive that level of care.

Id haul her up to the PNW and stretch my legs cruising around up there! Shipping your 32 will be extremely affordable- only takes an F350 dually pick up and a trailer, though depending on hull form it may take a special trailer. Either way, you are not talking a lot of $$$ to ship up there and it sure would be fun. Even if after a season up there you decide to part with her, you would most likely have a very enjoyable time cruising there for a bit and who knows- maybe you can ship her elsewhere after that. That is part of the fun of a 32'- very easy to move around anywhere you want.

Walt,

*

The Halvorsen Island Gypsy was a boat my wife and I fell in love with when we were on our Albin 25 in Cowichan Bay, BC.* We were doing an emergency exhaust repair and the Gypsy owner drove us around to get the parts we needed.* Hi was a 30' but since then we have looked at 32's and think they are great boats.* Your model is especially appealing and would make a great cruiser up in the PNW.* My wife and I are in a partnership on a Willard 30 but will move to a different boat soon.* Come up and join us cruising the BC coast. Trailer or have the boat delivered by a captain and see the places we cruise.* Let us know if there is anything we can do to get you and your boat up here.

*

Keith Olive

*

FlyWright wrote:If all this fails to attract you back to boating, then I'd suggest taking your time to SELL her to the best boating family you can find. You're right, she NEEDS a good home to stay in her perfect shape. But giving her away is no guarantee that she'll receive that level of care.

Click to expand...

You're absolutely right.

Whether one sells or gives away a boat to what one thinks will be a good home there is, unfortunately, no guarantee that that good home will remain a good home.

After a couple of false starts, we sold our 70 year old woodie, in which we had invested* much love, blood, sweat, tears and treasure for 22 years, to a couple who were wealthy enough to have a yard maintain her to a high standard, who professed that they were in love with her, would be the next responsible stewards of her, care for her as if a family heirloom and vowed to keep her in shape so hopefully she would go another 70 years. They thanked us for our period of stewardship, donated a generous party basket of wine, cheese and other goodies to our farewell party for her. After they took her away, they sent us pictures of her in her new home (dock on their private island) with new carpeting, cushion coverings, electronics, heat exchangers and canvas. She looked great. We felt we had done well for the boat (not to mention our bank account).

A year and a half later they donated her (for tax reasons) to a non profit. They let her maintainance lapse (varnish peeling, not painted, etc.) and the boat had a stove-in plank on her transom and the toe rail was broken/smashed at the chock on the stbd bow.

The non profit patched her up a bit and has her for sale (has been for over a year now) on a (tax code mandated) 3 year lease/purchase arrangement. She was exhibited at a local boat show this summer and those friends and acquaintenances who saw her said she looked down at the heels.

I am pessimistic as to her future.

That is a beautiful boat. Her lines are near perfection. Keep us up to date with her disposition, if you can.

Giggitoni wrote:
That is a beautiful boat. Her lines are near perfection. Keep us up to date with her disposition, if you can.

Click to expand...

*Seems to still be for sale. All I know about her status now are from the brokers' blurbs:

http://www.grayandgrayyachts.com/privatelabel/listing/pl_boat_full_detail.jsp?slim=pp217712&currency=USD&units=Feet&currencyid=100&boat_id=2324878&ybw=&units=Feet&access=Public&listing_id=44788&url=

http://www.jonesportshipyard.com/documents/spec_sheets/RES_IPSA-SPEC_SHEET.pdf

http://www.maritimefunding.com/boat-donations/3.html