Sold Boat, Bought RV?

Has anyone sold their boat, bought an RV and later came running back to boating with their tail between their legs?

Or just bought an RV and been sorry you did it?

Doc:* Here are parts of*2 emails from Hobo's previous owners.* The first was within six months and the second was 4 years later.

...We ended up buying an RV to get out of the summer heat in AZ. Perfect timing....with the price of gas going through the roof. Oh well, we may just park it someplace nice and use it as a summer cabin.
*
Overall, we are having a good time. Doesn't compare at all to sitting on the hook in a remote bay in Alaska....


...We really miss her and the lifestyle...

We haven't done it but we became friends with a couple who had lived full time aboard a sail boat for many years and now full-timed in a motorhome.* They really liked it that weather rarely prevented them from moving and that they could just pull over if conditions deteriorated below their comfort level.* They also liked it that "navigation" was less risky but were less enthusiastic that they had to go*the way*the roads led as opposed to charting their own course.

*

Though they miss sailing around the Caribean and Gulf, they have no plans to return as they near the 10 year mark.

*

Gary

A sailboating couple we've cruised with who have been active in boats for a couple of decades at least (progressing from day sailors up to cruising sailboats) sold their boat two years ago and bought a trailer and pickup. They have very much gotten into the RV thing and don't seem to have any desire to get back into boating, or at least boat ownership. Part of the reason they sold the boat and got the trailer was because of the increasing difficulty the wife had with getting around on the sailboat. She had double knee replacement a year or so ago which helped a lot but scrambling around a sailboat deck and up and down into the cabin just wasn't in the cards anymore. They had sailed all over this area, up to Desolation Sound and the Broughtons and then taken their 30' sailboat to SE Alaska and back on a five-month trip. So it's not like they hadn't gotten their money and time's worth out of boating.

The RV thing has zero appeal to me or my wife, so I don't see us ever getting into that at all when the time comes to get out of boating, if it ever does. We've flown the entire region between Seattle and Juneau, AK in the floatplane looking down on all these wonderful bays and anchorages. So we'd like to duplicate these travels at water level if we ever get the time. We both love driving and road trips, but the RV park thing leaves us cold. Neither one of us can imagine anything less exciting.


-- Edited by Marin on Saturday 19th of November 2011 07:26:01 PM

Both are very similar.

For the anchor out folks the concept of a camp ground will be very unsetteling . NO PRIVACY

For the marina to marina cruisers campgrounds will seem fine.

The same difference exists in cruising lifestyle.

Boondocking is what campers call free living , and the camper will frequently have the same gear and equippment as the anchoring boat cruiser.

One big advantage of camping is compared to boating its almost FREE!

*

Our bus conversion is for sale $15,000 about the cost of a dink and windlass.

*

https://post.craigslist.org/manage/2693046920



-- Edited by FF on Sunday 20th of November 2011 05:32:31 AM


-- Edited by FF on Sunday 20th of November 2011 07:08:39 AM

Having sold an RV after traveling 70,000 miles around the US and Canada to get back to boat travel, I can say that traveling the Alcan is a lot easier in an RV! There are many similarities but you get to see different stuff.

Dave

Yes...but no tail between my legs.* When I retired and got into the commercial side of boating...I was on the water at least 200-250 days a year.* I was getting a water fix so owning a boat was not a big thing...but not necessarily a cruising fix.

After a trip to Alaska where my wife and I and another couple RVed around Alaska...my wife said what about an RV so we could visit our landlocked friends.* Sold the boat and bought a big truck (whick I needed) and a fifth wheel.** We used it extensively for 5 years...even living in it full time in our driveway when our house was renovated.* It was very nice (new as I couldn't find what I wanted used) and 30'...nicer inside and more room than any boat I ever owned up to my 40 trawler...plus it got almost 10 miles to the gallon...also much better than any boat AND the trawler.

The concepts between the two are similar with many pros and cons with both.* I just like the water better and the ability to anchor on more of a whim than I could pll over and find a campground/park.

If I were wealthier I would have both.* Use one while I had the other in the shop/yard while somebody else did the maintenance...


-- Edited by psneeld on Sunday 20th of November 2011 07:14:31 AM

We are doing both.* When Alaska's at it's worst weather wise, we spend time traveling in our Camper Van Conversion.* One of our favorite things to do is to wait for the biggest storms of the year to go to the beach.* We really enjoy watching the huge waves tearing at the beach.* It's also educational, as I always envision myself being in a boat in those conditions, so studying near shore wave patterns can be a real learning experience.* Mostly what I've learned is that I never want to be in the the position of having to cross a bar under storm conditions.* Many years ago when I lived and boated in the Gulf of the Farlons, during big storms I use to drive to the Marin Headlands to study the wave patterns.* It was easy to see that the only reasonable way to enter S.F. Bay when there were big swells and a big Ebb was to stay in the deeper water shipping channel.* Just outside the channel the waves were out of control. Even then, I've seen big ships having trouble holding a course that kept them in the channel during storms.

The cost of fuel for the van is almost a non issue. Despite only getting 10mpg, that's 10 times better than the boat.* We almost never stay at orginized campgrounds so camping's free, and a days worth of fuel works out to be about the same as a hotel room for the night, and our room is always where we want it, as there are few hotels where we like to camp.*

If we ever sell the boat, I'd imagine we will continue to travel by RV, but for now doing both is great..................Arctic Traveller

FF,

I fixed your link, sounds like a great rig....is delivery included in price?




http://fortmyers.craigslist.org/lee/rvs/2693046920.html

One of the reasons that I belong to a yacht club is to be able to use the facilities ashore. They are in most cases much nicer than a public marina. What are campgrounds like on this?

We've lived in a converted bus full time for 4+ years now and extended time for probably 15 years.* I avoid most campground washrooms because our onboard facilities are vastly superior.* That comparison will depend on the quality of the RV - some RV washrooms are pretty pathetic and most RVs don't carry the kind of fresh and gray water that a bus conversion can.* Watching my neighbours in campgrounds I'd say its close to a 50/50 split between those that use their own rig's facilities and those that use the campground's.*

A lot of people will shower in the campground facilities because the onboard shower is so inadequate.* A little 6 gallon RV water heater doesn't allow for much hot shower time.

*

We have both and both have their good parts. Winters in the PNW can be windy and rainy. It's 7:30 pm and 79 degrees in San Antonio TX. My body feels much better warm than cold. It was 72 at 8:30 this morning here, it was 23 at a friends house at home. If you like the cold and wet then you wouldn't like snowbirding.

We will spend about 7 months on this trip in the motorhome and then 3 months on the boat this summer. The boat is nice because you can stop almost anywhere and drop the hook. There are RV parks, state parks, or Elks Clubs in almost every town. Elks Clubs have a system very much like reciprocal moorage. They range from full hookups and 54 spaces in Ottine Tx for $12 per night down to a parking lot you can stay in for free at other places.

My motorhome has a hydro-hot water heating system very much like my Webasto on the boat, except that the domestic hot water exchanger is efficient enough to run constant hot water until you run out of diesel or water. It also heats by electric for small domestic use like dishwashing. With 4 slideouts, the square footage of the 43' MH is much larger than our 40' boat. We carry 100 gallons of fresh water in the MH and 245 in the boat. We can hold all that water in our gray and black water MH tanks. 2 of us live comfortably with that capacity for a week between dumps and fills.

State Park fees at our current location are $120 per week, with water and electric at each site and a dump down the road. The previous TX park we were at was $18 per night. There are also daily entrance fees in Texas but a $70 annual pass pays for itself in the first week. We can see the neighbors lights from our campsite but we can't hear them talk so privacy isn't an issue. I've never been in an RV park that they parked rigs end to end and 6 feet apart on the dock side and a fenders width apart on the other side, so I can't really speak to the RV park lacking privacy. The closest we've been was at Disneyland where there was only 10 feet between rigs but we were at an angle so our windows did not line up with the neighbors windows. We've certainly never had to raft next to another MH and walk across their rv to get to ours, so I think privacy in land RV's is often better.

Traffic is often cited as a minus for land based RV's, but being retired allows you to drive after rush hour and be parked before it starts again. Occasionally road work or accidents slow traffic, but then Friday night at the Chittenden Locks can cause delays too.

If you can do both, I would encourage it.

Ken

This is how a college friend and I "RV'd" the Alcan, the entire Yukon Territory, and the Cassiar highway between Watson Lake, YT and Terrace, BC. At that time, you needed a rig like this to negotiate a fair amount of all the roads up there including the Alcan (other than in Alaska where it was already paved).* Today you can drive a Ford Focus with bald tires the whole way between Dawson Creek, BC and Fairbanks without a hiccup. Don't know about the Cassiar, though. It may still be mostly dirt, gravel, and rock.

First two shots were taken on a couple of the better conditioned sections of the Alcan.

Charles,

I did'nt know you were boatless! This time of year it would be a blessing for many. I saw your article on the deck job in PMM. Good job Charles. I've been trying to make the Dease/Cassiar highway for years and almost certain not to make it next year either. Having been a truck driver for over 10 years of my life I'd fit into the RV cruising real good but the fuel consumption puts me off and most anchorages beat the hell out of most roadside stops *..big time. We intend to do the Cassiar in our Suburban. I want to drive to Maine too. Want to see those old lobster boats and small wood boat shops. They have boat stuff we just do'nt see at all (almost). Also at 71 after a week or two I'm ready to go home much of the time. And I do'nt see Marin camping on the Alcan these days either. We all could but how much fun would it be?

nomadwilly wrote:
And I do'nt see Marin camping on the Alcan these days either.

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*We would still be doing that if we weren't into 4 million other things.* But we wouldn't be using the Land Rover even though I still have it.* We'd use the Range Rover.* MUCH nicer ride.

My college friend and I did the Alcan several times, the first time in his BMW 1600 with $12 tires and the same Grumman canoe on top.* What we learned is that unless you've never done it, the Alcan is REALLY boring.* Just a strip of dirt--- now asphalt--- down between the trees.* There are some really pretty places on it, but for the most part it's a very boring drive.

That's one reason that on the trip when we went to the Yukon for five weeks*in my Land Rover which I shipped to California and back for the trip, we came home via the Cassiar Highway and Yellowhead Highway to Prince Rupert and took the ferry south.* The Cassiar, even if it's paved today, is a MUCH more interesting trip.* Particularly if you take the side trips to Telegraph Creek and the other one to Stewart and Hyder.

Thanks everyone for the great information. Lots of food for thought.

My next step is to start looking at the various types of RV's. What I have seen so far that I like are a 24' B+ with a 5 cylinder Mercedes diesel and a couple of Class A's, A 40' Allegro Bus and a 40' Zepher, both with Cummin's diesels. If I go to an A my neighbor says that a tag axel is necessary for stability when you play among the 18 wheelers. That puts the price way on up there.

I would love to do the NW and Alaska by boat but Marin said that I was not invited.

The decision...another boat or an RV... is tough. We have cruised from Galveston to Booth Bay Harbor, and taken the rivers to Knoxville. We have never done the Great Lakes by boat so that is a pull factor for another boat.

Doc,

Some of the best cruising grounds anywhere on the Great Loop are the Trent Severn Canal through Canada, the Georgian Bay, the North Channel of Lake Huron, and the port cities on the east side of Lake Michigan (Charlevoix, Leland, Frankfort, Pen****er, Grand Haven and Spring Lake, Saugatuck etc).

The Sleeping Bear Dunes near Grand Traverse Bay were voted the most beautiful place in America recently on Good Morning America. I've included a picture I took from the Empire Trail.

I have owned three different motorhomes and traveled extensively. These places above are all wonderful to see and it would be very difficult to experience*in a motorhome.

*

Thanks for posting that photo. It brings back good memories. I was a councilor one summer at a camp up the shore from the dunes. I taught canoeing. One of the things the camp did periodically was go out to South Manitou island for a giant, three-day capture the flag game. The councilors also got to take a week long canoeing/camping trip as a reward for dealing with the kids. The summer I was there we drove with the canoes to the end of the upper peninsula and then took the canoes on the passenger ferry out to Isle Royale for a week's canoeing and camping. Impressive place, that was. Had my first encounter with a moose on Isle Royale.

superdiver wrote:
*So are you considering kepping the boat you have and adding an RV or gettting rid of the boat either way?*

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______________________________________________________

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I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure that Doc has already sold his 42' NT.

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*

what do you think if somebody came up with a amphibious trawler then you could do both. This one looks like it has a fly bridge.

Sd



*


-- Edited by skipperdude on Tuesday 22nd of November 2011 01:41:26 PM

Yes, the tug was sold this summer but I still like it as an avitar.

Doc wrote:

The decision...another boat or an RV... is tough.

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********* Doc, Nothing wrong with land cruising in an RV, but it would seem to me it is probably pretty easy just to rent them by the week, where you want it and leave the whole owner ship thing to someone else.

********* I get around to a lot of "gated communities" and by every clubhouse there are a bunch of stored motorhomes,* just like boats, lots of good intentions and tons of excuses not to leave the dock.

********* I would of thought your NT42 would have been great for the Loop.Would you go bigger or smaller if you decide to "boat up" again?

JohnP

Doc;

We have the same issue, as my first mate retired a few yrs ago, and I joined her in retirement this year. We struggled with what to do in our retirement for a nanosecond or so, and here is what we have come up with.
Keep the boat. No matter what else we want to do, it will never trump cruising the BC coast in the summers. She wanted to buy a winter home in the sun and snowbird. I, OTOH, am leery about Real Estate in the US right now, and I haven't seen much of the states, so an RV was attractive. We looked at various sizes and shapes of motorhomes for the last few years, and every cheap one we toured pretty much soured our expectations. Last March, we vacationed in a house in Indio Calif, and since I don't golf, I looked at all the motorhomes I could in the first 2 weeks. My take on them is that you only get what you pay for, like boats, so unless you are happy with a terrible ride and crappy looking inside finishes, start looking in the highest price you can afford. The better ones (I equate better with bigger after looking at so many) all have diesels, and once they have a diesel, they don't get blown about by big trucks, so the tag axle is a non issue. The big ones need a tag axle to carry the big weight anyway. We found the RV market quite depressed, so were able to get what was at the time a steal of a deal on a 13 yr old Diesel, high end Motorhome. Of course, having spent our money, the prices are even lower 6 months later.
The toughest part to predict is the quality of the places you will end up in. So far, for us, the places are generally a disappointment. You really need to book ahead, and to get a better rate, a longer booking, like a week or a month will significantly cut the rate. Anchoring out is rarely an option, unless you are just travelling and spending long days on the road. A crappy marina is far better than a crappy RV site, as at least you have a great view.
We have just returned home after spending a month in California, in a higher end place, and all was good, except the total lack of social contact. That surprised me, as when we go boating, there are always friendly people at whatever place we end up in, but in the RV site we were in, most of the people there were owners, who kept to themselves or their pre-established social routines, to which we were never invited.
RVing is quite a bit cheaper than boating, in capital cost and in annual cost, except for depreciation, which is huge, no matter the age of the unit. I figure my boat has retained most of its initial cost in present value, all I have lost there is the inflation on the money, but the RV, because there are so many of them, has a steep depreciation, exascerbated in a tough economy.
A few years of this split personality before we have to pick one. I expect when the time to choose comes, the boat will win.

koliver wrote:
I expect when the time to choose comes, the boat will win.

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The main, number one reason neither my wife nor I have any interest whatsoever in RVing is that there is virtually no challenge.* Or perhaps*I should say no challenge we think is*worth tackling.* Traffic is a challenge, boring RV parks would be a challenge to put up with, and the other negatives that Keith outlines in his post.* There is no skill required in RVing*unless one considers*being able to maneuver the thing onto a pad, hook up the pumpout hose, and operate the leveling mechanism to be skills.

But nothing like the currents, winds,*tides, anchoring, navigation, weather, maneuvering,*docking,*and all the other really satisfying challenges to deal with that you get with a boat.

Yes, there are lots of pretty, interesting, or historical places one can go in an RV.* Or you can fly there, rent a car, and see, experience, and learn exactly the same things and skip the hours of droning down the highway in the middle of everybody else who's droning down the highway.

I'm glad there are lots of people who enjoy RVing because that means they aren't out cluttering up the anchorages and bays in boats.* But*we could not abide a pasttime that has no challenge.* And no, I do not consider being able to get a good lock with the satellite dish in under 30 seconds*to be a true challenge.

*


-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 22nd of November 2011 07:48:28 PM

Marin:

There are challenges; how to maintain and/or improve the RV so as to recover as much as possible when it is sold; Finding a spot that has a view, privacy, quiet, activities, good weather; keeping the costs of the previous items under control;

But you are right about the nautical challenges. None of those exist inland. Nor are there prawns, oysters, crabs.

Its just different, and our plans for RV usage don't infringe on boating time in the summers, only on those times we weren't out on the water.

No more being stuck inside the boat because it is too cold/miserable to go outside (unless this happens in the summer. but last summer, we successfully followed the 7 day forecast and had only a couple of day bad weather in over two months on the boat.)

koliver wrote:
No more being stuck inside the boat because it is too cold/miserable to go outside

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*But I would WAY rather be stuck inside a boat in lousy weather than stuck inside an RV in lousy weather.* To just sit there looking at four cheap walls and the RV next door out the window would be absolute*hell on wheels, I think.

And the marine environment, even on a mooring in a protected bay on a calm day, is always changing.* An RV park pretty much stays the way it is other than the other RVs coming and going.

Nope, I* just can't see it.**More power to the people who do.* They*must get something satisfactory out of RVing or they wouldn't*keep doing it.**But it baffles me as to what that something must be.

By the way, I draw a very distinct line between a road trip and RVing.* Two years ago we drove a good 2,000 miles between southwestern Virginia/North Carolina and Prince Edward Island in Canada and back.* Flew Seattle to Washington, DC and rented a car.* We*thoroughly*enjoyed the trip othe than the run from Maine back to southern Virginia,*non-stop for eighteen hours.* But the very thought of spending even one night in an*RV park is scary to us.


-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 22nd of November 2011 08:25:44 PM

I'm one of those lucky guys who has both a boat and a RV and my take is you should never let snow fall on your RV. As Marin said that he would rather be in a boat than a RV in lousy weather. Well, the trick is don't park the RV where the weather is lousy. Oh sorry, I forgot that Marin is still working and paying for my retirement. Thanks Marin.

You are right however about the fact that boating is far more fun than RVing in my opinion. I find it mind numbing boring driving down the I-5 from the PNW to Yuma but it only takes 4 days to make the trip amd my wife prefers to do most of the driving. If I could have only one, it would be the boat.

Ron

windmist wrote:
I forgot that Marin is still working and paying for my retirement. Thanks Marin.

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*I'm paying for mine. You're on your own.

*

"I find it mind numbing boring driving down the I-5 from the PNW to Yuma..."

And that's another thing that totally baffles me.* I've been to Arizona and New Mexico.* I could see being sent to prison there because being in prison isn't supposed to be nice.* But when you combine the boredom of RV parks with the boredom of being in the hot, dry, bleak, blasted*environment of the southwest the whole thing reminds me of those people in the Philipines who drag crosses around with the hooks dug into their skin while they whip themselves with a cat-o-nine tails.* Why do that to yourself?

Maybe it's because I grew up in Hawaii so have had more than my fill of the sun and never-changing weather.* There are neat things to see in the southwest, no question,*but my approach would be to fly there, see them, and get the hell out.* I just don't get the whole snowbird thing at all.

On other hand, anything that takes people out of here and puts them somewhere else is a Good Thing in my book.* So I guess I should be encouraging the snowbirds to make the move permanent instead of trying to figure out why, like lemmings, they do it.


-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 22nd of November 2011 10:45:56 PM

Each form of travel has its charm. Its pretty hard to see Mt. Rushmore or Crazy Horse in a boat. There's a spot in the Provincial Park at Missinippi on the Churchill River where you can have fresh water out each side of the RV but you have to be the first there to get it and if you get the right spot at Castle Mountain its great even in the rain, BTDT. Kaslo is on the water but not real accessible in our trawler and Sandon is flat out of the question. We spent many wonderful summers ripping up the Shuswap River with our ski boat while camped nearby. Both of us are still working - the RV allows us to be in a variety of places where people actually pay us to see the country while we put money in the boat fuel fund - can't beat that. The boat is a destination and an activity in and of itself - the RV is a base to do things from while you come home to your own bed every night.

bobofthenorth wrote:
*the RV is a base to do things from while you come home to your own bed every night.

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That concept is something we do, but not with an RV.** We base in one spot and take one or two (or more) day trips out from there with a rental car.* In England they're called self-catering cottages, in France they're called gites (soft "g").* We've stayed in some really neat places, like working sheep farms in the Yorkshire Dales and medieval hill towns in France.* I suppose you could do the same thing in the US although I suspect it's not nearly as commonplace as it is in Europe.* But it's a great concept plus*you don't have to screw with feeding and maintaining an RV and*the*rental car's not our problem if it quits.* (First rule in the film industry-- trash the rental.)