"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
Someone here made the statement that some marina owners think that
sailors are cheap and some of that accusation is true buit not
generally. After all, if you can afford the fuel for a trawler,
nobody will think you are cheap. Gas powered motor vessels consume so
much fuel that their owners cannot be accused of being cheap. This
leaves lowly displacement hull sailboats as the mode of cruising for
the lesser economically advantaged. However, most of us do not
hesitate to spend money on equipment we need but we simply are unable
to spend much on fuel at a marina thus giving the impression of
cheapness.
Then there are those who truly are cheap. 6 years ago, I came into
the same Port Tarpon Marina late at night and tied to the dock. Very
early in the morning, I had to wait for them to open so I could pay
for the night. The woman there was surprised saying that most sailors
who tie up for the night leave in the morning without paying. BAD,
BAD, BAD, never do that.If you use the man's dock, pay him. It is
false economy to not pay him. Often, he will be so happy you were
honest as to help you in some way. If you do not pay, you are scum.
Then, I have known a few sailors who truly were detached from society
and used almost nothing in marinas. I am not sure I would consider
them as much cheap as simply so self sufficient as to not have any use
for commercial stuff. These have tended to be eccentrics in old
trashed out boats living their own way. These guys I admire.
So, no, the average sailor is no more cheap than the average power
boater.

What I said wasn't an attack - I'm cheap. If I find something I think I need
at a yard sale it's going home with me. I prefer Walmart to West Marine,
even if the product doesn't have a cutesy picture of a boat on the label.
I sail because I like sailing and shudder when my friend with the OMG Huge
Hatteras tells me how much fuel a week long trip to the Bahamas costs him.
I think these things would be construed as cheap by the people that work
hard to out-spend each other. I laugh when I hear $30-40-60k to remodel a
bathroom. Or see the $2k tool box at Lowes with a fridge and crappy car
stereo.