Still using the excuse you can't afford that boat?

[Mithril Bham]

Like it.
Big changes are cleansing.
Went to Paris in 1970 with a one way ticket, a wife and six month old kid and $500. Stayed in Europe for a year. Best time of my life. Dirt poor.

Moved onto a Passport 43 when my son was 8. Sold everything. Second best time of my life. Poor as hell.

Now I like to work on boats. Great time of my life. Still poor.

Spent years not poor, working every day, lot's of respect. Worst time of my life.

Cruised on super yachts as well. Great fun. Takes all kinds of people to make this world. If someone is having a good time and hurting no one there is nothing wrong with that.

[exMaggieDrum]

I have to admit that I love working on my boat and making it "my" boat with everything working as it should be. I have no qualms about taking stuff out I don't think is necessary, whether it is working or not. But it seems I like boats in the 42' range and they often have a lot of different gear you would never want or need on a smaller boat.

My latest experience looking at the boats my friends (very picky ex-cruisers) have looked (close to a hundred boats) has been an eye-opener. They have yet to find that true bargan without an enormous about of "deferred maintenance" that would need to be addressed (for them) before pushing off.

I have helped rescue a couple of boats where they bought a "bargain" boat and the boat went to crap on them hundreds of miles from where they started. I also know that fixing (if need be) a boat in Mexico is much harder and more expensive than it is in a US home port.

However, there will be and have always been true bargains out there. And some very lucky people will find them and push off without a worry. And it is certainly possible to be a happy sailor with smaller less expensive boats. I just have a jaundiced eye for 42' ketches that are priced at $39k. Every time I ask for more pictures you see stuff you don't want to see. And sometimes they won't even send you a picture of stuff you need to see, like the motor, because they know it would be a deal killer.

But like I said, there are bargain boats out there that will get you to your version of paradise. Whoever is looking, good luck and godspeed.

[exMaggieDrum]

Originally Posted by magellanyachts

Like it.
Big changes are cleansing.
Went to Paris in 1970 with a one way ticket, a wife and six month old kid and $500. Stayed in Europe for a year. Best time of my life. Dirt poor.

Moved onto a Passport 43 when my son was 8. Sold everything. Second best time of my life. Poor as hell.

Now I like to work on boats. Great time of my life. Still poor.

Spent years not poor, working every day, lot's of respect. Worst time of my life.

Cruised on super yachts as well. Great fun. Takes all kinds of people to make this world. If someone is having a good time and hurting no one there is nothing wrong with that.

[solmaniac]

I got the "dream" bug about 6 or 7 years ago and did a lot of dreaming and shopping. Finally found the boat...Westsail42...that had been languishing in an RV storage lot for about 3 years in San Diego area. So I bought the boat...left my career in BC and have been here in San Diego since January getting her "ready". I'm pretty sure she will be by the time the Baja Ha heads out and there will be no turning back. Meanwhile...life is all good.

[lateral]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

About the only way I can explain the fact that some fix it nearly continuously while others hardly ever do any boat work is that size matters.

Big boat, with many and varied systems will, no matter what, will create way more need and opportunity to spend time fixing things. I know this for sure from working on big boats.

We started extended sailing nearly 15 years ago, in a boat that was 20+ years old then. Our own boat is sub-30'. Way sub.

Now if I were to add up all our boatyard and repair time over 15 years, it could hardly add up to maybe two months or so. Offshore, there is next to nil repair & maintenance, just sailing, cooking, reading and sleep.

So my take is that I should avoid upgrading to a big(-ger) boat as I am OK with such a lazy bones attitude to sailing.

Others who love tinkering may actually desire a big, heavy project boat that will give them all the opportunity to mess about with boat jobs and no time left to sail places.

To each their own. Life is good.

b.

+10.
My reality too.

I relish the thought of a bigger/faster boat, until the reality of maintenance checks it. Which is a couple of ms's.

[Rorzech]

[QUOTE=SV THIRD DAY;2167754]I hear it all the time, "I've been dreaming of cruising for years, but I just can't save up $300K for my dream Catamaran or $150K for my dream mono."

Well I'm calling BullS$!! on the "I can't afford the boat I want" excuse right here and now. Stop using the "Dream Boat Myth" as an excuse and get a boat you can afford and go. It seems that lately every time I'm on the web (often now to take breaks from the Teak Deck Redo Project) I'm seeing cruise capable boats ready to go. Heck and this one is even down in paradise where you want to be for heavens sake!

https://www.facebook.com/sarahh.aloh...s/890162102003

Folks...you are not getting any younger, the the zero interest rates are not helping your fixed income investments get any better and the world is not going to be getting any more "stable" than it is right now.

Sure, everyone has timing issues and responsibilities that they can't just walk away from, but this "Dream Boat Myth" keeps more people from taking the plunge than almost anything else, don't let it happen to you.

If your dream doesn't scare you, then your dream isn't big enough

[DDabs]

[QUOTE=Rorzech;2168504]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

If your dream doesn't scare you, then your dream isn't big enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RGbrEmVrhc

[ingrid75]

Yeah, but do you really want to go "cruising" on a boat without towel warmers, two deep freezes, full air conditioning, a 72" flat-screen, and gourmet island-style galley? Why, you'd be the laughing stock of the whole marina!

[sainted]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

Shhhh...dont tell anyone, we bought our boat for 30,000. Deck, hull, sails, engine etc all good. Now it does need work on the rudder, but nothing expensive or time consuming. We had to slow down our plan as there was far more to do than we expected, (to wrap up land life) but come next year we join the ranks of others fixing boats in exotic locations.
The couple we bought our boat from had been actively cruising her. Her systems are aging but in good working order. We will replace or upgrade as parts give up the ghost.

So no more excuses. We dont expect to get compliments on her, but we get to cruise!
Like us, Gitana is not pretty, but capable.

The Cheoy Lee Offshore 38 is a great boat. My son has one. One thing to make sure of is that the chain plates have been replaced. Cheoy Lee used terrible stainless. His plates failed due to crevice corrosion and he lost his mast.

It is a great boat, though. Have fun out there!

[Allan S]

We moved on board 3 weeks ago and I am putting my 3 months notice 12 hours from now. big changes for us

[ingrid75]

Sainted, this is a side bar on this thread, but I would suggest that MOST if not all boats built in China (including Hong Kong and especially Taiwan) use or used poor quality stainless steel, and that all chain plates on all boats no matter where they were built that are over ten years old should be checked.

[daletournier]

The dreaming is the easy bit, its comfortable. Comfort is the enemy, it leads to the "creeping death of sameness"

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by sainted

The Cheoy Lee Offshore 38 is a great boat. My son has one. One thing to make sure of is that the chain plates have been replaced. Cheoy Lee used terrible stainless. His plates failed due to crevice corrosion and he lost his mast.

It is a great boat, though. Have fun out there!

Glad to hear the positive thoughts. We bought this boat for many reasons, but one is that the chain plates has been recently replaced. The teak decks were also removed and glassed over and the rigging, while not new, is heavier than normal and in very very good condition. The engine, also older, has been maintained very well. We had a mechanic go over it pre-purchase and he thinks it will keep in ticking for many more years. Oh, and a new main.

[Oceanride007]

Took me many years (10) to get my dream. Seems so silly now. Now the excuse is, I,ve got to do this important task. At least I can say when I fix something, its better than before and that job shouldn't come back. Still I hope, that I am not a serial avoider, will know soon enough.

[Paul L]

Why in the world would anyone care about when or if someone else goes cruising. Or try and slam them by calling bulls$it. Is it to justify their own life decisions as the correct path? I see as many pump-up-my-chest I'm a real cruiser posts as I do I have a dream to sail around the world posts. They both often seem detached a bit from reality. So what.