A Rant Against the Gilded Handcuffs

[dana-tenacity]

Originally Posted by Boracay

If you were to buy an older boat now it would take 2 - 3 years to get it into proper cruising trim.

This is an offering I see regularly on this forum and (not wanting to pick on Boracay - you just triggered this rant) WHY???

First boat I left NZ for Aus less than 1 week after launching. 2nd boat left Dana Pt for Mexico less than 1 week after purchase, 3rd boat about the same - you get the idea. And when I do deliveries I target 24 hrs from arrival in port to departure, don't always make it, but that's the goal.

So what is it that takes you 2-3 years?

[roverhi]

I take 4 years to get my boat ready to leave SF for Hawaii. Of course I had a bit of a commute from Kona to Alameda to work on it. Was only able to get away a week or so at a time and seemed like it took about half my work time getting organized one each trip back so I could start making progress on the work. Actual time involved completely rerigging the boat, adding a windlass, mounts for the dinghy and liferaft, installing self steering and autopilot, all new instruments, SSB radio, solar panels, and quite a few other things was probably not more than 2 months. Most of these things I'd have to have done on almost any boat I'd bought unless someone else had alreadyset it up for cruising.

I originally bought the boat because it had already had a lot of preparation for cruising. Found that I ended up redoing almost everything the PO had done becuase it didn't work or wasn't done properly. It wasn't cheap but have about half the money in the boat that I'd have had buying a new one, not counting the additions I would have made.

Last boat I built from a Bare Hull and launched in a year of full time work.

[HapaPops]

29?

Assuming the wife is similar in age, in 3 years time you will be planning for kids. You need to go NOW.

Then, in 3 years time, you can go on about getting into adulthood.

[ViribusUnitis]

Originally Posted by HapaPops

29?

Assuming the wife is similar in age, in 3 years time you will be planning for kids. You need to go NOW.

Then, in 3 years time, you can go on about getting into adulthood.

It's crossed my mind.

However, the one thing that I can remember desiring growing up to moving. My family never did move, but I ALWAYS wanted to leave the small town I grew up in. Until the children get into a school age there really is no reason NOT to go. After school age, that depends on if you want to home school or not. I'm not that big a fan of public schools, but I'm not sure I'm up to home schooling. I'm at least 6 years from school age children. And that's if we have some luck on that front right now.

The one thing that the charger boats taught me is that I HAVE to have a decent showering arrangements. A quick rinse off after a swim simply won't do for daily grooming requirements for an extended period. For a week or two, I can live with it no problem. But for years, I've GOT to be able to take a decent shower. Not necessarily a "hollywood" shower, but the boat HAS to have a separate shower stall, and the ability to take a water saving shower at least once or twice a week or so.

But the good news is that NOW I know where my walk line is. I have a better idea of what I want, and it just costs more money. Big deal, sell a little more time, and I can buy a a good bit more money.