NW Cat Sailor Introduction

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Hi everyone,

I registered on this forum a few minutes ago so that I could post a reply on the multi-hull board and decided to formally introduce myself here. My apologies in advance for the long first post but the story about how we named our boat tells most of the important information about me. This is a slightly edited version of my speech at the christening of our boat.

Being a farm boy from Wisconsin, I found sailing to be a totally new experience when first introduced to it at the Naval Academy in the summer of 1967. However, having a good grasp of physics, I quickly got the hang of it and found the experience quite enjoyable. A couple of years later while crewing for my roommate on a 44' yawl in intramural races, the racing bug bit me. Sometime during my last two years at Navy, I developed a dream of eventually owning a 65 foot yacht to charter around the Caribbean. Over the following few years, I sailed whenever I could find a sailboat to rent in such exotic places as Subic Bay, Phillipines, and Alameda, CA.

Then I met my wife who worked at the Officer's Club in Bremerton to earn tuition for nursing school. One Sunday afternoon when she had no other customers, we sat on the back step of the bowling alley bar and talked. I must have been unusually chatty because I told her about my dream of charting in the Caribbean, among other things.

Fast forward a few years to the early 1980's when I was deployed to the Indian Ocean on a submarine. My sub stopped in Perth, Australia, on the way back so my wife came to visit. We went to the local race track during that week and placed a $2.00 bet on a horse named <I>Yachtsman's Choice</i> soley because of its name. He placed third in the race and paid off $3.16 so we considered him a winner.

A little while later the doctor she was working for in San Diego received a flyer from a company in Newport Beach, CA. That flyer advertised a package deal for a person to buy a sailboat and turn it over to a charter company as a tax write-off. The doctor gave the flyer to my wife and told her it sounded like something more appropriate for me. She brought it home and we ended up buying our first boat, a 30 foot Erickson, which we named after the race horse that made us $1.16 in Australia.

Nearly twenty years later, with retirement eligibility sneaking up on me, my wife gave me tickets to the Miami Boat Show in 2003 so we could go check out boats that would be suitable for us to cruise on. We had not intended to buy at that time but when faced with a 10% price increase, coupled with relatively low interest rates, we decided the time was right. After several legal issues clouding the delivery, we finally received the boat on September 27, 2003. Then we had to come up with a name for the customs and Coast Guard papers. Our older son suggested <I>Yachtsman's Dream</i> to keep with the theme we started on the first boat and also to reflect the long term goal in our lives.

[CaptainK]

Welcome aboard John,

Ex-Navy, huh? So am I. I served 9 years in the US Navy. All on the east coast.

If you need answers to solutions. We have them here. This is were the REAL answers are.

If you have any questions about upkeeping. Or maintaince solutions. We have them here also.

If there is something not listed somewhere on this forum. I'm sure there is someone here on the forum. That could come up with some answers to your questions.

Well, enjoy. And John. There is no such thing as a stupid question? Welcome aboard.

Regards,

CaptainK

[capt lar]

welcome john. look forward to hearing your views and stories. glad you registered. congrats on your new boat.
capt. lar

[Vasco]

Welcome John,

You'll find a prety good crowd here. Always something to learn. How's a left coast sailor ever going to get to the Caribbean?

Congrats, and I agree, go with what works (regarding the boat name)
I will say, you are probably the only person I have ever heard refer to Alameda as an "exotic place" Of course for us wood boat crazies, it has it's charm.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Dreaming,
Welcome aboard!! I think I joined the forum after you but just read your introduction. Great to have you here and look forward to you sharing your experiences.
I seem to have been to a few of the same places you have. I was able to visit the Naval Academy when the USS Bainbridge pulled in there in the late 80s. I went through a yard period at Bremerton in 85. I lived in Oakland and had a friend stationed at Alameda in the late 60s while my ship was at Hunter's Point. I even sailed a few of the MWR boats in Subic. Retired from Pearl Harbor in '91.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Dreaming Yachtsman

Nearly twenty years later, with retirement eligibility sneaking up on me, my wife gave me tickets to the Miami Boat Show in 2003 so we could go check out boats that would be suitable for us to cruise on. We had not intended to buy at that time but when faced with a 10% price increase, coupled with relatively low interest rates, we decided the time was right. After several legal issues clouding the delivery, we finally received the boat on September 27, 2003.
.

My wife and I had a long discussion today about the feasability of buying now at todays prices and putting a 36 to 41 ft.boat (Seawind 1160, Manta, Priv.....) into charter for a couple of years before taking it over.

I would really like some real world answers. Not just the ones from the charter companies who, it seems are more than happy to have you finance a boat so they can make a bunch of money.

PS: For signing up "a few minutes ago" and having 40 posts already makes you a bit "gabby".

[Vasco]

A guy in our club bought one a few years ago and posted all the financial details. It's one of the more honest accounts I've seen. For most folks it's not a good deal. In any event check it out for yourself. The Usual Suspects - Caribbean Sailing Adventures

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Vasco

A guy in our club bought one a few years ago and posted all the financial details. It's one of the more honest accounts I've seen. For most folks it's not a good deal. In any event check it out for yourself. The Usual Suspects - Caribbean Sailing Adventures

Thanks,

I have read that in the past.

I wish I could contact a few of the hundreds and hundreds though.

[Ex-Calif]

"therapy - PS: For signing up "a few minutes ago" and having 40 posts already makes you a bit "gabby". "

Ummm... That intro was November 2005 by my calendar...

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Therapy,
My wife and I bought our first boat, an Ericson 30+, as part of a charter package in San Diego, CA. We bought the boat in 1983 and immediately turned it over to the charter company whose office was right next to the dealer in Newport Beach. For us it turned out to be a good deal for the first few years. Interest on the boat loan as well as all maintenance expenses (there were many and seemed a bit inflated) were tax deductible as business expenses. During busy charter months, we actually had a positive cash flow that almost offset expenses in the slow charter months. The biggest saving for us was not having to pay Ca. sales tax on the purchase. We took the boat out of charter after one of the charter company "qualified" skippers ran the boat into a rock jetty, putting a 2 foot long scratch into the side and bending the keel. Overall, though, we came out of the deal with a nice boat for a relatively small investment.

Our second experience with a different charter company was significantly less positive, however. They wanted us to put on a roller furling jib but I refused. Then they said no one wanted to charter the boat because it was "older" (about 4 years old at that point) and didn't have a roller furler. We did not stay with that company very long.

Regarding your P.S., if you look closely, you'll notice that my first post was actually dated 03-11-2005. Perhaps some confusion came about when, at my recent request, Alan Wheeler changed my user ID from my name to "Dreaming Yachtsman".

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Dreaming Yachtsman

Regarding your P.S., if you look closely, you'll notice that my first post was actually dated 03-11-2005. Perhaps some confusion came about when, at my recent request, Alan Wheeler changed my user ID from my name to "Dreaming Yachtsman".

I have been known to miss some things in my life.

I also am sure that after 5 years there is little to be made because of the amout of repairs that come about. I was not aware that the company did not share in the upkeep. It seems that any expense is incurred by the owner whether it is maintinance, damage or theft.

The only advantages I see are an offset to the cost of owning (dockage, maintinance, repairs) the boat. And the down side is that you have a much more heavily used boat.

I just don't know how much one really gets back in taxes.

I look at tax write-offs with a jaundiced eye because if one gets a 10% tax write-off one still spent that other 90% no matter what.

I have a tendency to just not buy things till I can get it paid for with my own money, but then I have to wait for what I want a lot longer than all these other people.

Total confusion.