"what is a poor boy meant to do?"
1- Avoid expensive luxury hobbies like sailing.
2-Don't use the electrics.
I mean, really. If stuff is beyond your
budget, you don't use it.
You only need the nav lights if you're sailing at night. You don't need the
chartplotter if you read your
charts and do a little traditional nav and avoid think waters.
There's no magic, you either go in debt to a credit card or you accept the
concept of delayed gratification. Or make do without.