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Forgot to ask what your backend budget would be, you know, how much you are willing to spend every month, year after year until you sell the boat, to keep the boat you bought?
How often do you realistically think you will be able to get on the water?
If you get a boat that is too big to trailer, you'll have slip fees, hauling fees, yard fees, land storage fees, hull maintenance, etc.
If you get a boat on a trailer, you'll have launch fees, need extra time to rig it, need a vehicle that can tow it, and a place to keep it on the trailer, which, if it isn't on your property, you will have to pay for.
Have you identified a place to put it in the water? Here on the Chesapeake, there are lots of locations available, and slips are not cheap. Even the only partially desireable marinas have waiting lists YEARS long, and these lists keep the fees high.
My slip rent costs more than the loan on my boat. Once the loan is paid off, I'll still have the slip fee to pay. It is not for no reason that boats are compared to holes in the water into which you pour money.
Some important lessons to learn are:
Pay CASH whenever possible - you don't want a paper trail of receipts for your wife to find, and you won't want to figure out how much you actually spend on the boat.
If you do actually keep track of costs, NEVER NEVER try to calculate anything like cost per sail.
NEVER wonder about how much time you will need to spend on maintenance, which will alway need to be done when the weather is just right for sailing.
If you do calculate cost/sail, NEVER research sailing clubs (either membership or straight charter) to see how comparatively inexpensive and flexible they are.
But, for this guy, even after breaking all those rules, I'll give up all my cars before I give up my boat.
Seriously, ask some questions on the trailersailer board.
posted by 128.190.221...
, Tue, 20 Sep 2005 11:29:30, Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:29:30
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