Hello from Kelowna, BC, Canada

[Springfever]

I am shopping for a trawler for the BC Coast. Would appreciate all advice. Have cruised for 2 weeks each on an Albin 32 and CB 40? out of Kitimat and Vancouver. Just love the coast and expect to spend 6wks plus each summer catching crab and salmon from Wa to Alaska. Have an apartment in Kitsilano and home in Kelowna.

Would like 2 cabin with optional sleeping for family, under $100,000. Like me, age is not a detriment it is all about maintenance! My wish list includes modern electronics including Radar.
Full displacement single engine is OK with me.

My boating background was mainly sailing - owned up to CS 40 - in the Caribbean and the Great Lakes.

Hello to everyone and would really appreciate sage advice from the greybeards!

Cheers

Kimble

 

[Xsbank]

6 weeks a year? Keep renting. All the huge varied costs, capital and human outweigh the benefits.

"If it flies, floats or giggles in bed, rent it!"

 

[Xsbank]

Sorry, forgot to say welcome!

 

[Springfever]

I have owned many boats before and I would get on it quite often so I think it is worth it.
Plus I want to have all my gear on board!
Cheers
Kimble

 

[MurrayM]

Welcome aboard

Some good daydreaming material here;

Pacific Boat Brokers Inc.

 

[Marin]

Xsbank makes a good point. If your planned use is one six-week shot of cruising a year, it can make a lot of sense to charter rather than own. Particularly if you're not going to be in the vicinity of the boat the rest of the time.

While a six week charter can cost a chunk of change, compared to the cost of buying a boat an the annual ownership cost-- moorage, insurance, fuel, maintenance, repairs, and upgrades-- chartering may cost less.

And even if it costs the same, the big advantage of a charter is that the boat's not yours. If something breaks, it's not your problem. Also, if one year you decide you'd rather go muck about in Europe for a month or two, the boat's not running up a bill even though you're not using it.

Obviously there are advantages to owning a boat or most of us on this forum wouldn't own one. But there's no one-size-fits-all solution.

Some of us, like my wife and I, own a boat but in terms of cruising it, don't come close to your six-week figure. In our case, perhaps one 2-week cruise a year plus as many weekend outings as we can get away with throughout the year given my work and travel schedule and what the weather permits.

But... we use the boat throughout the year even if we don't actually take it out. It's the equivelent of other people's weekend getaway cabin in the hills or by the ocean. It wouldn't be practical to do this if we lived any more than a couple hours' drive from the boat.