How Long Do You Own a Boat?

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

By the way, out of the possible reasons for doing upgrades, you left out one:

To gain experience with a given system, in preparation for the next boat....

There's a lot of truth in that one. It has been my experience as well. Learning is fun.

[thinwater]

I'm rather surprised at how common the 8-15 range is. Many different reasons I'm sure.

[-bliss-]

Well, I´ll hopefully keep her for as long as I´m able to sail her, and then some years..

I guess it couldn´t be any other way, as she´s been my home, travel companion and money pit for the last eight years.

For me personally, it would have been very dangerous knowing I would put -bliss- on the market in a year or two, as the maintenance involved in keeping an old yacht safely afloat, is a time consuming commitment. If I knew she would soon be for sale, I probably would cut back on money spent and elbow grease invested, and she deserves better.

Frankly speaking, she´s a tad too powerful for a flimsy single handler like myself, but that´s just an incentive to sail safely, and to stay in shape. I try not to over stress her systems, and in return, she takes me to the next anchorage comfortably. Even though I probably sail a knot slower than the boats next to me, I couldn´t care less.

I don´t waste my time looking at other boats. She´s the one.

[Smooth Move]

Coronado 15 four yrs, Catalina 22 five yrs, Catalina 30 thirty one years

[zeehag]

my uncle owned his registered historic treasure, a clinton crane designed raceabout from early 1950s until after his death in 1998. both he and boat were 95 at his demise. that boat is still owned by his daughters and is undergoing and nearly completed restoration.
i acquired my boat a formosa 41, in 2008. i still own it and it will be my last boat. i have owned many boats from 1990 until 2008 when i acquired this formosa.
it is not the length of time one owns a boat , it is how one uses said boat.

[ssteakley]

Thinwater, thanks for starting this discussion, very interesting to me personally.
I crewed on my brother in laws family boat a Chris Craft 31 ar Eagle Mtn Lake 68'-71', in those three years we managed to win one race, a Frostbite regatta when only 4 started and we were the lone finishers due to cold and wind and rain.
Flash Forward to 1999, kids were out of house and I immediately found a 1999 Catalina 250 at Canyon Lake Tx that we enjoyed and sailed every weekend and more for 4 years,
Bigger boatitis hit and we then bought a 86' Catalina 30 and put her on Lake Travis, just a 30 min drive from our Austin home. We had been on charters to the Virgins and Belize with our Canyon Lake friends so the C30 was our part of the quest to determine if we would move to a cruising life boat. 4 yrs later we sell the C30 and spend two yrs going to Galveston Bay Area searching for our cruiseing boat. That led us to the Puget Sound area where we bought a Endeavour 42, sailed her to Port Townsend and had decommissioned for the ride back to Houston Texas here we spent $10k+ and after the debris cleared from Hurricane Ike sailed her to Corpus Christi. Where we lived aboard and spent three years preparing to go on a 5 year or so cruise. After Two wonderful years we were on East coast of FL waiting for a weather window to sail across to Bahamas. Then our daughter calls from Seattle and wants us to be there by the following August to assist her family with their first child. We thought we would be there as long as 6 months so we sailed back across the Gulf of Mexico and put the boat in Corpus Christi. That 6 months turned into a year and soon the second child was on the way. I threw in the towel, sailed the boat back to Galveston Bay and sold her. You can't live in the PNW without a boat, but by now ours goals have changed, we wanted a easier to maintain and sail vessel that would accommodate living aboard for short terms, and be safe for grandkids. We have now owned our 1998 Catalina 36 for just over a year and feel like we hit the sweet spot in finding the not to big, not to small, easy to sail and maintain. Owning the 42' inspired a book, I felt I needed to give back to the community who helped us along for so many years. I was working as a volunteer sailing instructor at the Center For Wooden Boats and my supervisor was a young female millinial. I asked her to read the proof of the book and to offer comments, critical suggestions. I included every word she said in the book since she offered the perspective of a whole new sailing culture. Milinials are not interested in collecting material stuff, they want to collect experiences and so sharing offers the most bang for the buck. Sailing clubs are preferred as they start out and the do not expect to buy several boats as they work toward whatever goal they have. Also owning anything may mean they would have to give up on a lot of life experiences they seek. She, the supervisor, has many incredible sailing experiences to date including the Race to Alaska, the transpacific race to Hawaii and many other Puget Sound experiences, most on other persons boats.

Please let us know the resulting article or other piece you write from this question.

Steve Steakley

[Lost Horizons]

Originally Posted by markpierce

I've always wondered why some boaters change boats as frequently as pants.

Because we can.

Three cruising sailboats in the last 20 years. 3-5 years each.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by botanybay

Upgrades have essentially no resale value. I do them for my own enjoyment.

Sort of a philosophical issue...houses are similar...while upgrades may not increase the value, failure to keep things upgraded can seriously degrade the value...so is "not degrading" the value different from "increasing" the value?

We've owned 3 cruising boats. Changes were usually made due to life changes:
- Silverton 31': 10yrs Great for weekending but we switched to liveaboard and doing the Great Loop. Not so great of a layout for liveaboard and 1.5 MPG would have made long distance trips pricey.
- Gemini Catamran: 10yrs Wanted to do Europe and not interested in ocean crossings. Found a deal on a boat in Europe.
- Catalac 34: 3yrs Other life issues got in the way and it didn't make sense to pay for the care and feeding if we couldn't use it much.

On the sidelines for at least the next year or two until life situation changes again. Likely get another Gemini and maybe ship to Europe but hard to say with any certainty.

PS: for those that say "keep forever", that may be their feeling but it rarely happens that they keep a boat till the end (a few but very rare). I see most people change for similar life change reasons where the current boat no longer makes sense.

[kgreenlaw]

I learned to sail in San Francisco. I say that after having tried to sail where I grew up, in St. Louis, Missouri. The wind blows strange along the bluffs and Lake Carlyle is barely large enough to have its own weather. I escaped in October of 2008.

After realizing I had aptitude for this I started looking for a boat. Rent is ridiculous here, and I'd lost my shirt selling my house in St. Louis in '08. I found a boat I thought would be a nice mix of livable and cruiseable: a 2000 Catalina 470. I pulled the trigger in December of 2014, then brought her north from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

So far I'm in love. There have been some hard knocks, but the Flying Saucer is my home, death do us part.

[Captain G]

Originally Posted by Souzag818

Wellllll....Brace yourself. I bought my first legitimate boat when I was 21. A Southerly 23 built by Compass Yachts in Auckland. That was 43 years ago, and I still have it! It's a strong, capable, sweet little sloop with a fin keel and a skeg hung rudder that I sailed inter-island in Hawaii more times than I can recall. In all kinds of weather. Some trips I wouldn't do today, but I was young and invincible... Prior to the Southerly I owned a 16' trailer sailor for about 4 years and that was my first sailboat that I learned on. Later I bought a Tartan 30 that I owned for about 12 years, then a Pretorien 35 that I've owned for 10 years, and still do. So why did I keep the Southerly you're probably wondering? Well, I figured at a young age that at some point in my life, I'd have a hard time pulling the strings on a big boat. I had this great little boat that never let me down, goes upwind like a banshee, and has nearly a 50% ballast/displacement ratio. Why sell it for a couple thousand dollars, then buy something like a Catalina 22 later? It's cost me minimal over the years- I've had it on a trailer for over 20 years. Some day I'll have to go back to sailing my sweet little boat, and that'll be it. But hopefully not any time soon...

Very interesting story, my first boat was a 24ft fiberglass over plywood home made boat. It had a retractable swing keel on it, I was 23. Sailed for 3 1/2 years and sold it due to my then wife that didn’t like the adventures of sailing. Fast forward upto 48 years old I was asked to go on a charter boat in the Caribbean. We charter’d boats for the next 5 years and then bought our own boats. When I was 55 I found the boat for me, a 41ft Dehler. I’ve own it for the last 12 years and will be sailing her until I can’t sail anymore. Last year I did my first solo for 3 days. Loved it and love the boat. I believe the boat owns you and so far Aurora Sky doesn’t want a new owner!!! Good sailing!!!!⛵️⚓️🍷 Captain G

[boden36]

We still own the 36 ft steel yacht we built in the 80's. She has had some spells on the mooring unused during that time, other times intensive use. At present giving her a complete refit. Not an economic proposition but when you spread it over the years not a huge annual cost. Also you become sentimentally attached to a good old boat.

Before that we had a 12 foot VJ skiff. This is an old Australian design with hiking planks for racing. We found it too hard to sail and sold it.
Then came a Hartley TS16 multi chine plywood trailer sailer which was a delightful little boat.
We raced that with some success whilst building the steel boat.
Recently we bought a 44 ft Diesel Duck motor boat in the US but ended up selling it fairly quickly as it was too far from home to realistically maintain and use.
I guess we will eventually move to a 36 ft motor cruiser but not until the sailboat gets too much trouble to use or maintain.


Regards,
Richard.

[ChesapeakeScout]

Very interesting thread

1987 Pearson 28-II: 5 years

I got my Pearson after several years renting Flying Scotts. Since I wasn't really sure if I was a more of a day sailor or a cruiser, the Pearson seemed like a good compromise, a 'little big boat'. She's the perfect size for weekend getaways, but I wouldn't want to live on her full-time.

So she's the right boat for right now. The one thing I would have done differently was get a boat easier to take my dog sailing with me. The high freeboard on the Pearson means steep ladders down into the cabin and into the dinghy (no sugar scoop transom), and the cockpit is a little small for a big dog to not be constantly in the way. So she stays home, and I get out less than I would otherwise.

[thinwater]

I started this thread by stating that I seem to change boats every 10 years or so. But as I think about it, I can go MUCH longer than that on kayaks and small boats. I would only shed one if it didn't work anymore. My around-town bicycle is 41, though my road bike is only about 7... but it won't be sold until the wheels fall off. It will probably just become the around-town bike. The psychology must be different. Cars I keep until they become unreliable, about 12 years; I'm not sure boredom factors in, but I don't try too hard to keep them either.


Perhaps part of it is that a bike is a bike, and a kayak is a kayak (because I stay with one style), but cars and boats can be more different.