Boats that Never Get Used ... I Don't Understand

[ozskipper]

Funny you should raise this. I used to keep a trailer yacht out the front of my house as a part of my sailing school. I used it 4-5 times, on weekdays, during high season. But rarely on the weekends. I was at the ramp one day when a guy who recognised the boat approached me.

He commented "its nice to see that boat is finally in the water, it hasnt moved for 5 years".

He would drive past it on the way to work at 8am. and drive past again at 530 pm on his way home. I would use it between 930 and 4. So, to him, it would always be in the same place. As a result, he thought it never got used, when in fact, it was a working vessel with very high use compared to a recreational boat.

There are lots of boats that just sit there on weekends, but maybe do twighlights every wednesday. Or Ma and Pa head out week days. Not saying this explains every boat in the bay. But certainly accounts for some

[WaywardWench]

Last year, while we were traveling down the Pacific, we spent alot of time waiting out storms in different marinas. One of the past times that we liked to do was to walk the docks to see the old, maybe not forgotten, but neglected boats. We would take in to consideration any damage and quality of the equipment still left on the boat. It all tells a story. A little bit of history about someones life.

[charliehows]

i dont buy boats that often or i wouldnt bring this up...there are always plenty of floating shitheaps for sale at any one time but about twice a year around here one with really good bones underneath the crud comes up, if you're quick you can get it for a bloody song, and have it afloat for peanuts. Thats what my old dog was.
Now, I spend a lot of time on my boat, but the other day this bimbo on a paddleboard came over for a chat and told me how sad it was that she never saw anyone on any of the boats, come to think of it i'd never seen her before either, but she reckoned she lived somewhere nearby on the shore...so i guess its in the eye of the beholder.

[SunDevil]

I hate to say it, but I know someone like this. They have been remodeling the interior and just overhauled the engine. Yet, 18 months after they bought it, the boat hasn't left the marina. They still work part-time, and they are 1,000 miles away from the boat for their job. They are still happy though, and that is what counts.

Once they retire in a year or two, that will be their water toy. (As long as the hurricanes miss them.)

I won't get into the workaholic culture that we have...

[Randyonr3]

I don't see that's its anybodys business but the boat owner himself.
I own a Sanger Flatbottom that I bought over 15 years ago. Took it out once
With the guy I bought it from. I rent a storage space inside a building to keep it from harm.
And I'm sure many have passed by it saying remarks as to why I keep it and never use it.
Don't know if I'll ever use it. But I know I've got one if I ever decide to.

[Ex-Calif]

Even at our small mooring field there are a couple of "abandoned" boats. The owners are either gone or still have some deluded view of the value, arguably based on what they paid before they became run down.

Even free these boats are expensive. There is rarely anything near a free lunch...

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

I bought my boat from a gentleman in his 80's who was not able to sail as much as he liked. According to the broker they took the boat out once or twice a year. But he liked going down to the boat in its slip, spending time aboard, inviting his friends, etc.

What's wrong with that? If I get to be 85 (God willing) I may be doing the same thing if I can afford it.

Indeed. My father is approaching that age. He's still in good health, thank God, but of course losing physical strength and becoming less and less bold. He put his boat up for sale a couple of times (at a ridiculously unrealistic price) but finally decided never to sell her. So he tinkers with her almost every day, refinishes the brightwork, starts up the engine, changes the oil, washes her, polishes her, organizes and reorganizes the tools and gear on board, and rarely goes anywhere. Once every few months he will single-hand her a couple of hours away and drop the hook, spend a couple of nights on board reading. He mostly sails on genoa alone when he's single handing because he can't quite manage the mainsail by himself anymore. Then he and I go out on her for a week once a year in the winter. The years of little use add up, and we broke a chainplate last year, scary (over the summer he changed them all).

So what's wrong with that? Better he sold her on to someone who would live aboard or sail her long distances? It's his boat, who are we to tell him what to do with her?

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

I don't see that's its anybodys business but the boat owner himself.

+1

For me rows and rows of gleaming white boats are offensive to the eye, no matter whether used frequently or not.

I think they are called marinas .

[kevlarmike]

Well I believe the fantasy of sailing and cruising, especially offshore is a lot easier, than the reality, and the difficulty of admitting this must come in stages, so the boat sits.

[SunDevil]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Indeed. My father is approaching that age. He's still in good health, thank God, but of course losing physical strength and becoming less and less bold. He put his boat up for sale a couple of times (at a ridiculously unrealistic price) but finally decided never to sell her. So he tinkers with her almost every day, refinishes the brightwork, starts up the engine, changes the oil, washes her, polishes her, organizes and reorganizes the tools and gear on board, and rarely goes anywhere. Once every few months he will single-hand her a couple of hours away and drop the hook, spend a couple of nights on board reading. He mostly sails on genoa alone when he's single handing because he can't quite manage the mainsail by himself anymore. Then he and I go out on her for a week once a year in the winter. The years of little use add up, and we broke a chainplate last year, scary (over the summer he changed them all).

So what's wrong with that? Better he sold her on to someone who would live aboard or sail her long distances? It's his boat, who are we to tell him what to do with her?

It sounds like it is being used. I think this thread is about boats that the owners had to abandon, or the boats people buy and are too busy to use. Or the trophy boats, or the overseas boat bought with income earned overseas and not taxed very much, yet people only travel to the boat once or twice a year to take it out for a few days.

It would be good if it were easier to break away from land, to have more flexible job schedules, and have family visit you where ever you are a few times a year.

And then, even if I were in a position to move aboard a boat and live on it full-time, I would still like to take trips to different national parks and spend time with my family throughout the year for a few weeks at a time. That is one of the issues I would need to figure out before I would jump into the cruising lifestyle.

[Kettlewell]

There are a lot of different ways to go cruising--it doesn't mean you have to be onboard fulltime year-round. I met a guy one time who owned two identical old 30 footers. He kept one in Cartagena and one in Maine. He sailed the San Blas and southwest Caribbean in the winter and the coast of Maine in the summer, and he also had a small old house he lived in when in Maine. Since all three were pretty modest in cost I suspect they might have been less expensive than a lot of the boats people dream about living on fulltime. There are quite a few people who keep a boat in Florida for winter time cruising and trips over to the Bahamas, and then they spend the summers up north. Those boats might look like they aren't used much if you saw them when the owners weren't around.

[DaBod]

Right across the dock from me is what looks to be a brand new Catalina 34 (which here in OK is a big boat). It truly looks like it just came out of the factory, except that a halyard is rigged in lieu of a forestay, the pulpit is a tangled mess of metal, and the remnants of the old forestay, roller furling, and headsail are just dangling and flapping in the breeze. A few weeks ago I finally asked a guy about the boat and was told that it was, in fact, purchased brand new, slipped, and then the couple got involved in a nasty divorce. The wife was so spiteful that she fought for the boat and told her soon to be ex-husband that she'd never sell it; he'd just have to live with the fact that it would sit there and detiorate into oblivion. She's apparently held fast to her guns, as that was 12 years ago (so I suppose saying it is brand new is false, but I don't even think the sails have ever been raised) and she has refused several offers on the boat. Sure is painful to see something like that go to waste. I'm not sure what he did to that woman, but she continues to pay the slip fees as it slowly rots into the lake. I sure hope I never cross someone like that...

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by DaBod

Right across the dock from me is what looks to be a brand new Catalina 34 (which here in OK is a big boat). It truly looks like it just came out of the factory, except that a halyard is rigged in lieu of a forestay, the pulpit is a tangled mess of metal, and the remnants of the old forestay, roller furling, and headsail are just dangling and flapping in the breeze. A few weeks ago I finally asked a guy about the boat and was told that it was, in fact, purchased brand new, slipped, and then the couple got involved in a nasty divorce. The wife was so spiteful that she fought for the boat and told her soon to be ex-husband that she'd never sell it; he'd just have to live with the fact that it would sit there and detiorate into oblivion. She's apparently held fast to her guns, as that was 12 years ago (so I suppose saying it is brand new is false, but I don't even think the sails have ever been raised) and she has refused several offers on the boat. Sure is painful to see something like that go to waste. I'm not sure what he did to that woman, but she continues to pay the slip fees as it slowly rots into the lake. I sure hope I never cross someone like that...

Other than the fact it is sad for the boat I don't think this is a hardship on the guy. In a community property state the assets are added up and the couple splits the value. He would have gotten something of half the value of the boat during the divorce even though she got the physical asset.

He probably bought another boat. The fact that she has being paying moorage for 12 years on a boat that she doesn't use makes her the stupid one.

[austinrick]

I just assumed many of them were purchased by a business as a write off and just sit there being written off: all those 'professional maintenance and operating expenses'; all those 'client entertainment outings'. How many of those boats are just write-offs (that drive up the cost of slip fees for the rest of us)?

[Bash]

Originally Posted by austinrick

I just assumed many of them were purchased by a business as a write off and just sit there being written off: all those 'professional maintenance and operating expenses'; all those 'client entertainment outings'. How many of those boats are just write-offs (that drive up the cost of slip fees for the rest of us)?

Having owned a boat as part of a scuba instruction business, I'm under the impression that you can't write off a loss year after year. I forget exactly what the rules were, but I remember that I had to make a profit something like three out of every five years. I'd try to wait until my accountant gave me a green light to take a loss before buying something new for the boat.