Dave wrote:

On Tue, 09 Mar 2004 23:12:46 -0600, Jim Cate said:


Maybe, but I can charter a number of different boats
of various sizes for a few hundred dollars and see all the moonlit
nights and sunny days and secluded anchorage's I want to.


Having spent a number of years as a boat owner, a number of later years as a
non-owner, and now having bought again, I can tell you that while chartering
may seem to make sense in the abstract, in practice you prolly won't do it.
In the years when I had my previous boat I was on the water nearly every
weekend the weather allowed. During the years as a non-owner I chartered
exactly once and was able to sail 4 days out of a 7 day charter. There's a
big difference between just driving down to the boat on a Friday night, and
making all the needed arrangements for a charter.


Dave
S/V Good Fortune
CS27

I understand your point. Our family spend a number of vacations on
chartered boats, in which we usually chartered the boats (30 to 40 ft)
for a week and lived aboard the boat. This worked out well for us, and
although there are some disadvantages, it's nice to leave the boat with
the charter company if you don't have lots of free time. I'm looking at
boats now because I am transitioning to a work arrangement that will
give me more time for sailing and other interests.

Jim