Trailer-sailers costs Vs fixed moorings

[HappyMdRSailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

This is what would drive me to trailering, and what made me stay with trailerable boats for years, my tow vehicle being a Chevy C3500 four door Dually. Unless of course your down at the boat several times a month and spend considerable time maintaining it.
Any boat that is of a size that it's practical for it to be kept out of the water, under a roof, will age much more slowly than one left in the water subject to the sun and weather.


Wanna buy a truck? I know where there is a good one for sale

Hmm....
Would you consider a trade??? for a boat... or a boat... or a boat...

[ptrailsail]

Originally Posted by messias

I'm currently in Prague, but going to Lisbon in April... we should get together and have some boatless talk :-) :-) :-)

Well, I'm hoping I'll have a boat by then and we don't mingle with the boatless

Originally Posted by messias

... you're underestimating the trailer insurance cost by far. 5 years ago I was paying 75€ for mine...

It's possible, I did a simulation online, but I am prepared for some surprises/variations in that front...

For someone without a suitable car, I guess the trailerable option gets expensive fast... I'm hoping mine will do for the 400-600kgs boats I'm looking at...

[messias]

Originally Posted by ptrailsail

Well, I'm hoping I'll have a boat by then and we don't mingle with the boatless

I was counting on that... but no worries... i can build mine on the spot!
Bigger AND lighter than yours!

[Stu Jackson]

This is a very good summary.

We experienced the reality of BOTH with the SAME trailerable boat, a Catalina 22 from 1983 to 1987. During the winters we dry sailed it from a local SF Bay marina less than a half an hour from our house, and were able to keep the mast up and pull it around to a launching ramp only a block away. During the summers, we trailered it up to a huge lake in Northern California and left it in the water all summer long.

Even factoring in the 2 1/2 hour driver up and back on weekends, it was far more fun to use the boat WHEN IT WAS ALREADY IN THE WATER.

On & off the trailer gets really old, really quickly, no matter who good and efficient you are with setups.

Given the OPs issues with hauling vehicles where he lives, it is very hard to make a case for cost benefits. I don't think any of us is in this hobby to count pennies or dollars or Euros.

The issue is basically how you intend to use the boat, first and foremost, since based on the original question, all the OP can do is absorb our experiences and make his own decisions.

If he is going to use the boat with the specific goal of trailering to and from DIFFERENT sailing venues, then it makes sense, regardless of the cost, all other things being equal. If that's NOT the case, then in the water wins, hands down, every time.

Since we sold the Catalina 22 in 1987, we've had a Catalina 25, full keel in the water, and our current boat bought in 1998, also in the water.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by Siberianhusky

I was a trailer sailer for years. Own a docked keel boat now. I'd say in terms of miles per dollar sailed value my docked boat wins hands down.
So easy to go out for a couple hours after work mid summer when it is dusk at 9pm.
Start the motor, take off the sail covers, undo the docklines - sailing in 5 minutes.
I don't need a big boat, mine's a 25 footer, but the difference below deck between a 21' and 25' is huge! Standing headroom (for average people) and a head with a door, built in icebox, proper stove.
The difference between the 17' and 21' wasn't really that much, both were "tight" down below, much better pop top on the 21' though.
All in I'd say with some rough mental math ballpark 500$ more all in a year. BUT I sail 3-4 times a week now vs 1-2.

[sesmith]

Stu pretty much summed it up.

Our boat is trailerable, but not really a "trailer sailor", at least the way we use it. We keep it slipped during the summer on our local lake. If we didn't, it wouldn't get used. As it is, we use it a lot. We do pull it and trailer it elsewhere for vacations (usually somewhere on the Great Lakes). There are still a lot of places we want to visit, so it's the perfect boat for now.

The plus's are no storage fees in the winter, no lift fees,etc.. The boat is now in my back yard, so easy to work on. The negatives involve maintaining a truck. It was easy to justify a truck when we used it for other things like wood hauling and horse hauling. These days, it's just a boat truck, so much harder to justify replacing it when needed. Also, our Seaward 25 is a nice sized trailerable cruiser, but it's also a cramped cruiser. If it weren't for the trailerable aspect, we would have a 32-35 foot boat rather than the 25. That is likely to happen once we retire (though we may still keep the 25 for trailering).

[Siberianhusky]

" I don't think any of us is in this hobby to count pennies or dollars or Euros. "
Thats strange! I count every cent, sail the boat I do because of economics.
Then again I'm going cruising in a new boat in a couple years with 7 figures in the cruising kitty. Currently semi retired at 47, work because I want to and am completely debt free.
I must be the odd one out who counts EVERY penny.

[allatsea99]

Hi from Aus., no, no no... its a sailer-trailer, my personal experience is you spend more time as a truckie than you do as a sailer- We're 3 hrs from the coast We had a trailer sailer -nearly 3 tonnes incl. trailer... vehicles are no worry, common rail diesels will take it in their stride. Our experience is the preparation involved in going away was hugely stressful - took days off our holiday to recover & the risks of road & launch were just too high.. the road regulators here in NSW continue to raise the standards for trailerables. Trailer parts just don't cut the safety standards - we had one wheel come off and bounce into oncoming traffic... manufacturer's fault but failed to investigate... their engineers lost the technical report! We now have a keel boat 4 hrs away on a mooring, its cheap, a beautiful spot and we can just board & go.
I think this is a question you can only answer from experience & my advice would be to look carefully at the non-financial costs... perhaps if you have a bent for psychology, take a trip to a boat ramp and watch a few launches.

[ramblinrod]

Depends on your trailering vs mooring plans.

If you have the body of water you plan to sail, just a few miles away, you can use an old beater truck to tow it, and an economical car for all other personal use.

If you plan on trailering distance, want a newer, more reliable truck, and plan to use it as your regular, the costs go way up.

We have sailed for 20 years, 12 of those trailer sailing, road trips up to 3000 miles there and back.

Here are some figures. There are an infinite number of variations that may impact costs. These are based on our experience. YMMV.

$3000/yr slip/storage agreement. They can get by with an older economical car (say $5K), having an annual depreciation of $1000/yr. Maintenance + fuel costs (15,000 miles / yr) around $1000 + $1500 fuel. No loan and no collision coverage means $500/yr car insurance.

Total Annual Cost Boat + Vehicle = $7000

If one has a trailer boat, and plan to tow it distance, lets say the truck is $20K. Over 5 years it will have an annual depreciation of about $2000.
With $5000 down and $15000 financed, the total cost of borrowing will be about $2500 or $500 / yr. Insurance with collision will be about $1800/yr.
Maintenance and fuel costs for the same distance travelled, will be about $2000 + $3750.

Total Annual Cost Boat + Vehicle = $10,500.

In general, boats in slips get used more, than boats on trailers.

There are all kinds of options and variations including dry sailing a trailerable, paying for tractor launch each use, so an old beater car can be used.

Nobody can say which is better. It depends on what you want. If it were just me, I would still be trailer sailing fairly long distances. However, the admirable has decided she's done trailering. Since it is a whole lot more fun to share adventure, we keep a slipped boat now.

[messias]

Thank you all for your answers on this one. They were, without a doubt, much helpful.
I think I have a final answer for myself here, and that is... a slip.

I love the idea of being able to trail a boat anywhere, but facing (my) reality and facing the numbers I was able to get from yacht clubs abroad and storage facilities here, plus all the things I would have to buy and added costs, I just cannot afford a trailer-sailer.
A boat on a slip/storage agreement on some yacht club up North will be the most convenient/cost effective solution for me, since the price for a truck and storage facilities where I live, will allow me for a LONG time of driving there with my current car, just meet the boat and go.

Thanks again for your valuable input as it really made a difference on the decision.

Have a great day all of you!

[hsi88]

I own a Mac 26X and when it comes time to move the boat any distance, I simply rent a pickup truck to do so. No ongoing costs or maintenance or insurance to worry about. Wear and tear is on someone else's vehicle. Not practical if you need to move the boat all the time, but my long distance sailing only comes once every two years or so. For just moving the boat around, my car does just fine. Trailer maintenance is very low now that I've replaced the components with more seaworthy stainless hardware.