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I spent a few weekends with a friend on his boat this summer and it was fun. As a possible endeavor, I’m thinking about buying one and/or looking at options. I’d be looking at a 25’ ish, but as I know nothing about owning a boat, I need some guidance. I know the first response is going to be “you’re an amateur don’t”, so instead of owning, there are various boat “timeshare” things… where you get any boat in the dock etc. I’ve got a home and stuff, and I’m not trying to #vanlife it up here, but I’m IT and wfh all the time. Dropping anchor here off the coast of Lake Michigan and working from a boat sounds good to me. I’ve been trapped for two years. I need some freedom.
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Jan 11, 2022 23:48
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This is what I’ve learned from sitting next to my boat-owning boss for 5 years. 
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Jan 12, 2022 00:15
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Literally everyone in my life who has ever owned a boat has used it almost never. The logistics of actually getting to your boat, preparing it, and re-docking it will take more time than you actually spend on it. Doubly so if you have kids. If you have to Winterize, that's another headache. If you have in a place with a lot of boats, finding a place to dock it is a headache. No matter what, maintenance is a headache. Also, I have a coworker who sometimes 'works from their boat' and it's a loving joke and the rest of our team is pissed because getting him in a meeting is impossible and his connection is trash literally always. also this: Don't get a boat, IMO. Also, also: quote:I’ve been trapped for two years. I need some freedom. This reeks of someone making an impulse buy. Really, really don't get a boat. Canine Blues Arooo fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Jan 12, 2022 |
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Jan 12, 2022 04:18
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Hutla posted:This is what I’ve learned from sitting next to my boat-owning boss for 5 years. A boat is a hole in the ocean that money pours into. Make it the smallest hole. A 12ft Aluminium Dinghy is fine for fishing or exploring coastlines, esp in a lake. Easy to launch, doesn't matter if you pull it up on rough beaches, not actively unpleasant to transport, can sit behind the shed most of the year. If you want to sail join a club that does small boat racing and see if you can pick up a cheap used sailing dinghy. Budget $1000 for replacement fittings and sails to get it going reliably. If you're still hankering for something bigger after 5 years then by all means ruin your life. Also do a day skippers course before you drown your family. Jaguars! fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Jan 12, 2022 |
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Jan 12, 2022 05:01
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Are you looking at a motorboat or a sailing boat? Since you'd be sailing in the Great Lakes you might want to try giving your friend a hand with maintenance in the off season to test if you would like the "painting and scraping algae and fixing leaking gaskets" part of boating. Jasper Tin Neck fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Jan 12, 2022 |
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Jan 12, 2022 20:33
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Jasper Tin Neck posted:Are you looking at a motorboat or a sailing boat? I was looking at a motorboat. I have no desire to scrape algae. This is why I was curious about boat “timeshare” or rental clubs. Edit- no kids, no family. Just me. Wake_N_Bake fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Jan 13, 2022 |
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Jan 13, 2022 03:04
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my mother uses her boat all the time, but she lives on an island that is only accessible by boat
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Jan 13, 2022 08:45
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Wake_N_Bake posted:I was looking at a motorboat. A motorboat is definitely the smarter choice if you're not interested in committing to the whole boating lifestyle, it's the propane grill of the waters. I guess renting one is a bit like renting a sports car:
Jasper Tin Neck fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Jan 15, 2022 |
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Jan 13, 2022 10:47
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Any idiot can take a boat out into the middle of a large body of deep water and putter around there just fine as long as they want, with an engine or without. It's absolutely piss easy, there's a few simple rules that make intuitive sense, and you should be able to get it going in more or less the direction you want, no problems. The trouble is, eventually you have to go near some land. At this point, things become very difficult, because the wind and tide will usually conspire to do exactly the opposite of what you would prefer them to, and things that are a very mild inconvenience when surrounded by open water become major problems when you've no option but to go in one direction.
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Jan 14, 2022 00:54
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Trin Tragula posted:Any idiot can take a boat out into the middle of a large body of deep water and putter around there just fine as long as they want, with an engine or without. It's absolutely piss easy, there's a few simple rules that make intuitive sense, and you should be able to get it going in more or less the direction you want, no problems. This seems sage advice.
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Jan 14, 2022 05:13
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Imagine buying a very expensive new car, except it depreciates even faster, you will use it less often, and it requires not only more maintenance, but more expensive maintenance. Everyone wants a friend who owns a boat. Don't be that friend. Edit: Well, if you value your financial health. If you want to throw money at the ocean, there are plenty of boat salespeople who have mortgages to pay.
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Jan 14, 2022 08:57
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I have known some capital letters Boat People in my time. A boat is basically a horse that can drown you.
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Jan 14, 2022 09:21
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Horses can drown you.
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Jan 14, 2022 23:10
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Are you sure the really fun part about hanging out with your friend on his boat was the part about it being on a boat? There's like a big difference between 'hey I'm hanging out on a boat and my buddy happens to be here' being the important part instead of 'hey I'm hanging out with my buddy, and we happen to be on a boat' So yeah maybe rent a boat and hang out on it solo for a weekend a few times and make sure that you're happy hanging out alone on a boat before you set your life savings on fire
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Jan 14, 2022 23:36
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gently caress the haters, buy the biggest boat you can, and fill it with hooers!!!!!
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Jan 15, 2022 04:13
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My Dad owned a variety of boats, and our family lived on one for like 9 months. It is what it is. It's an expensive hobby, it's a potentially risky hobby, but lots of people find it very rewarding in spite of that. Don't decide not to do it just because it's objectively a poor choice; most hobbies are, if you look at things from a purely utilitarian standpoint.
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Jan 15, 2022 04:31
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There's a suspicious amount of proverbs about how lovely boats are. Probably not a coincidence. "Dont get a yacht unless you can afford 10 of them" "You don't really want a boat, you want a friend with a boat" "The two happiest days in a boat-owners life is the day he buys it and the day he sells it."
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Jan 16, 2022 17:14
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I'm a super beginner boat person, I took some basic course and rented a small motor boat this Summer. It was fun! However, I resisted the sweet siren's call of buying a boat after looking into it. My advice is to start out by renting/borrowing a very small motor boat a couple of times, and taking some basic course in how to navigate and how to move around close to other boats. You can rent a small boat a lot of times before it gets even close to what it costs to own and maintain a boat. If you end up using the boat a lot of times not just the first summer but also a few more summers after that, consider buying into the whole Boat Life. Boat Life pretty much starts to maaaaaybe make sense if you end up really loving boats and end up choosing between buying a vacation home or a boat. The boat will probably be more expensive in the long run, but it can do things that houses can't. For me, just renting a small dinghy turned out to suit me very well for now. This might change when I get old and have lots and lots of time. E: if you end up wanting to buy a boat, buy it at the end of boating season or when boating season is over. Don't buy a boat in Spring. lilljonas fucked around with this message at 13:42 on Jan 17, 2022 |
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Jan 17, 2022 13:39
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Pondex posted:
it's this and your description especially tells me that you should not buy a boat do not buy a boat OP
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Jan 18, 2022 05:21
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This past year, my boss was having an old wooden boat restored and in March/April it was nearly finished, but the guy restoring it ran out of the varnish that he needed. There was a nationwide shortage of this particular varnish because of that Texas petrochemical plant fire. There was none of this stuff to be found in the continental US and I know that because he called seriously everyone up and down the food chain who might be able to get this varnish. Finally he found 6 tiny cans in Hawaii. He bought them all, hired a third party hazardous goods handler, and fedexed them to his boatyard. This cost about $1500. The cans disappeared in transit, never to be seen again. Thus is the life of a boat owner.
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Jan 19, 2022 00:27
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I have a sailboat, boats are fun and worth it if you live semi-close to the ocean. Boating is like most subcultures somewhat weird, but for various reasons there's a lot more myths and terrible advice around boating in general. Some advice: 1. You need to figure out where to keep your boat. A good marina with high fees is worth it if you don't have to drive out to check your boat every time there's a storm. 2. The tendency over time has been to buy bigger boats (40 is the new 30 etc) for a reason. Bigger boats are more comfortable on the ocean, safer and generally easier to steer with less experience (this seems counter-intuitive but is true in most cases) 3. If you want to be on a boat for hobby reasons (island hopping, fishing, lounging on the water) you want a motorboat, if you like the concept of boating you want a sailboat. 4. The costs that get you is a myriad of complex systems, which you probably don't need. Big boats are generally exponentially more costly to maintain because of people putting too many complex systems on them. 5. You want zero wood on the outside of your boat, regardless of how nice you think it looks. The maintenance is labour-intensive and unfun. 6. Boating people love to recommend older and/or non-production boats for a variety of terrible reasons. Don't listen to them. A good range is a 5-15 year old boat. 7. You do not want to buy a boat that has been a charter boat for your first purchase. 8. Unless you're experienced you probably do not want a boat that's overly cheap, because that generally means you need to do a pretty big investment in it right away. 9. If you're in trouble on the ocean, try to get as far away from land as possible. Boats will generally float unless you've really screwed up, but a boat you can't control close to land will either drown your or cause expensive damage to itself. Get away from land and call for help. 10. If you buy a motorboat, bring someone who knows engines to check the engine.
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Jan 22, 2022 00:36
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Dante posted:9. If you're in trouble on the ocean, try to get as far away from land as possible. Boats will generally float unless you've really screwed up, but a boat you can't control close to land will either drown your or cause expensive damage to itself. Get away from land and call for help. I love how counterintuitive this is. Boat getting hosed up? Better go out to the deep part. Yeah, no, deeper. Where the sharks are.
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Jan 24, 2022 14:29
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The most 'successful' boat people I know (defining success by the amount of time they use it / general happiness) had the following very simple things going for them: 1. The boat is always in the water. In this case, Lake Union in the middle of Seattle. A very nice place to have your boat. 2. They live less than a mile from said boat. 3. They live on a houseboat and have a small dinghy there, so can also access said boat by using another boat. Also are clearly mentally damaged people who have chosen to combine all the downsides of a home with all the downsides of a boat. 4. Said boat is a 1980s 26' or 27' sailboat -- relatively inexpensive purchase, lots of maintenance, but generally a relatively simple vessel. 5. Said moorage location / local waterways allow access to many, many places allowing for week+ long sail trips to occur with ease. I grew up in MI where people either lived on lakes and had pontoon boats and stuff, or trailered boats to a lake and launched them. It's a pain in the rear end. You wake up early (tide matters / you have a long drive), get to the ramp, wait for the other dinguses to launch their boats, swear as you launch yours (as you probably don't have another boat person with you / your other person is busy wrangling kids, guests, whatever). Then you get out on the water, and its honestly a good time. Then comes time to pull the boat out, and man, even with a motor, this can suck. Better hope you have someone who can drive the boat + judge currents _and_ someone who won't loving back the trailer and truck into the water! Then, when you get home, hope you have energy left to rinse the fucker down / do the basic maintenance, because no, you won't get it to it 'tomorrow' and especially if you were in salt water, you've got to run fresh water through the motor / across the hull. Add that to how many realistic weekends a year you get that also have good weather / you're not doing other poo poo (starts to get depressing) and yeah -- starts to suck. Note that many of the launch/recovery things get easier on a placid landlocked lake vs. a larger waterway but it's still annoying. Boat shares are just loving expensive, but I was part of one for a year or so -- used it like twice, but it was pretty simple. Text them, they get a giant forklift, grab your boat from the rack and plop it down for you in the water. Go do your thing, come back (only requires enough skill to pull up to a dock and tie a line which if you can't do, you probably should not be driving a boat) and they take your boat out. Anyways, don't buy a boat. Have friends with boats and realize that 'just' beer, while a nice gesture, probably doesn't come close to making up for the PITAness. Being able to competently help them launch/recover the boat, offering to drive, things like that will IMO be very much more appreciated than supplying beverages / food (Which again, is a nice gesture but have I mentioned this is a PITA?). If you still feel the need to buy a boat, keep it in the water / on the water if you can, and don't live "too far" from it. This is a personal laziness threshold -- some people will drive 30 minutes (I swear its more of a time thing than an actual distance thing -- 30 minutes whether its 40 miles or 2 miles) to go check on stuff on a whim. Others threshold(s) will be like 5 minutes. movax fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Jan 24, 2022 |
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Jan 24, 2022 21:47
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Thanks, movax. I’m definitely thinking a rental/timeshare service now.
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Jan 25, 2022 15:18
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Former sailboat owner. Grew up with boats in the family as well. I am not as "anti-boat" as some people. In the case of a sailboat you can basically buy an old used one and sell it back for what you paid for it. Cost is in the mooring. That said: Don't buy a boat. I almost threw up when I totaled the maintenance, repairs, and mooring fees and divided it out by the number of days I actually used it. It would have been cheaper by 2/3 to rent a nicer boat any time I wanted to and would have had no headaches associated with it. Caveat: I am not lying when I say boat ownership is the best pickup line on earth. "Hey I am going sailing with my friends on my boat next weekend, want to come?" My future wife gave me a bj on the second date on the boat. So there is that.
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Jan 26, 2022 05:05
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Tai-Pan posted:Caveat: I am not lying when I say boat ownership is the best pickup line on earth. "Hey I am going sailing with my friends on my boat next weekend, want to come?" My future wife gave me a bj on the second date on the boat. So there is that. Yeah but I'm sure there are cheaper ways to achieve this as well
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Jan 26, 2022 14:47
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A boat, OP? Or just a bunch of fuckin cocaine? I know which one I'd pick
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Jan 26, 2022 21:01
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Wake_N_Bake posted:Thanks, movax. Renting boats is a great idea, but don't fall into the trap of buying a boat and trying to rent it out when you're not using it. People tend to treat boat rentals even worse than car rentals so it probably won't work out financially unless you own some kind of boat shop / marina or if you can otherwise fix the issues by yourself. Especially pontoon boats, those might as well come with a sign that says "You Must Be This Drunk To Drive This Boat". If you ever buy anything, get a jet ski, they're cheaper and take up less space in your driveway where they will spend 98% of their existence.
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Jan 26, 2022 22:17
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I’m not buying a boat. I’m not buying a boat and renting it out. I’m literally just asking about rental services at this point. And do I have to choose between a boat and blow? Don’t they come together??
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Jan 27, 2022 04:51
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Wake_N_Bake posted:I’m not buying a boat. I’m not buying a boat and renting it out. I’m literally just asking about rental services at this point. Only if you're super rich and since you're waffling on a small boat purchase I just assumed
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Jan 27, 2022 05:03
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mobby_6kl posted:Yeah but I'm sure there are cheaper ways to achieve this as well Yes. But are they as classy?
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Jan 27, 2022 07:56
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We moved to West Michigan in late 2020 to be closer to some of my family and to be close to the big lake for boating stuff. We bought an XCAT sailboat as an entry level way to get out on the water and we really enjoy it. https://www.x-cat.com/en/xcat-sail We spent a lot of weekends out on the water last summer and hope to do the same this year. This boat is nice because it's pretty easy to carry on top of your car and drop in a bunch of different places. It probably wouldn't enable you to work from the water since you definitely get wet sometimes. Having the flexibility to operate this boat in row mode or use the outboard is great too. It's fun to park it just off shore in shallower water and use it as platform for swimming and refreshments. I want to get a bigger sailboat one day but one of my friends who has a sailboat on a like down south put it this way: "Your current boat has most of the pleasure with very little of the maintenance and upkeep."
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Jan 27, 2022 20:16
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Watch out for giant great white sharks
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Feb 2, 2022 16:15
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BiggerBoat posted:Watch out for giant great white sharks Just get a bigger boat. B.O.A.T. Bust Out Another Thousand.
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Feb 3, 2022 02:10
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wesleywillis posted:Just get a bigger boat. Yeah, some guy tried to suggest I do that but it was already too late and my comm radio was...broken. Also, OP, don't lean too hard on the throttle when there's black smoke coming from the engine.
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Feb 3, 2022 18:25
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BiggerBoat posted:Yeah, some guy tried to suggest I do that but it was already too late and my comm radio was...broken. Bitch, you smashed that fuckin radio. Don't lie, I saw that poo poo.
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Feb 4, 2022 01:24
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Wake_N_Bake posted:Thanks, movax. That’s a good idea, probably would want to start with a rental so you aren’t under any long term contracts.
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Feb 4, 2022 02:06
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My boating experience is with smaller boats like these  The 2nd style in particular, my parents had a boat like the first one and it was really quite cool but it was a wooden boat and they did not take care of it properly. The 2nd is a row boat with an outboarded, it's a cheap to own and cheap to use boat for puttering about near the coast. When winter comes we just pull it u on land and flip it over and put the outboarder in the shed. I might consider something smaller and easier to live with before spending a lot of money on a big rear end boat. Get to know the waters a bit before trying to live there. His Divine Shadow fucked around with this message at 13:20 on Feb 4, 2022 |
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Feb 4, 2022 13:15
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This reminds me of an old joke, whose punchline is “If it fucks, flies, or floats, lease it”.
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Feb 5, 2022 22:38
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I have never owned a boat, but from the ages of about 10 to 18ish, I spent about 6 weeks sailing around with my family every summer in, firstly a 28ft then later a 33ft boat. They were great holidays, and I'd guess very good value compared to the equivalent cost of family package holidays. It's vanishingly unlikely that anyone else is going to be in a similar position with vacation time tho  Parents went to night school to learn navigation skills, morse code etc. At the start, GPS was not a thing, so they had to know how to navigate via old-school stuff like radio-direction finders, DECCA, etc., Even now that GPS is standard, it's important to be able to navigate without it because systems can and do fail. Wooden boats are 100% money pits - avoid. Trailer-sailers are a good starting point, as long as you have somewhere to store them on land - unless fiberglass construction has fundamentally changed in the last 20 years, I was always told that fiberglass boats need to spend time out of the water to preserve the integrity of the hull from osmosis. Everything that is made specifically to be used on a boat is wildly more expensive that anything similar used on land. I remember going to the chandler's as a kid and it just seemed to be an endless display of bins full of millions of mysterious metal objects that cost a lot of money. Side note - some of the specialist ropes for sailboats (sheets) are extraordinarily powerful for their diameter. We were having trouble getting sash-cords strong enough to hold up some very heavy sash windows, and the only stuff that actually lasted more than a few months was got from a chandler's.
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Feb 6, 2022 12:44
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