On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:07:11 GMT, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
wrote:

The fact is, the port authority does absolutely nothing for recreational
boating. There is not one public munipal or state dock
in NH that is open to recreational sailboats.. period.

Do you know about the Portsmouth municipal docks at Prescott Park?
I've docked there a few times and we were not the only sailboat. In
fact it is one of my favorite docks because it is cheap and within a
short walk of three excellent pubs. What more could you ask of a muni
dock?

http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/prescottpark/docks.htm
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1786
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2538
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/596
Chuck Cox
SynchroSystems - embedded computer design - http://synchro.com

my email is politician-proof, just remove the PORK

"Thomas, Spring Point Light" wrote in message
news:JADBk.416$nl3.110@trnddc05...
After three season of single handed sailing, I was approached by a young
guy as my boat
was taken out for winter storage. He loved her, and he bought her.

Owning a good size cruising sailboat is lots of work. I started working,
repairing,
adding, maintaining, my boat in April .. she went in the water in June.
And I worked on
her each and every day.

At this time, I doubt I will purchase another cruising sailboat. I don't
have crew.
And the cost of owning her is very expensive.

Another thought; sailboats don't sell. Years ago, I owned a couple of
cruising boats,
and when my for sale sign went up, the buyers came and bought. Not
anymore.

There just does not seem to be much of a market for boats, even sailboats.

It is frustrating to offer a boat for sale, and have no one even
interested.

The "give me your boat for free" crowd shows up. They tell you what a
junk your
boat is, point out every nic, chip, defect, that might exist .. then tell
you about the
same boat on ebay for $10 dollars. If they make an offer it is very low,
and if one
accepts the offer, they run away. They don't want to own a boat, just
drive people nuts.

In the Northeast, the marinas don't help out the boat owner at all. They
just sit back and
figure that the new owner will be a big sucker. The problem is; in the
boatyard I stored
my boat, there are numerous "walk aways". These are pretty nice
sailboats, the owners
tried to sell them, couldn't, and then the marina fees started adding up.
Last spring, the
marina had an auction. No luck. No one showed up for the boats. The
marinas wanted
the back storage money, in many cases well over $3,000 dollars.

I fear that the boating market is doomed. The days of the working guy
with a nice little
cruising sailboat are almost over.

Another problem, the towns, state. They have their hands out for mooring
permit fees, but
they don't provide any service at all. Hundreds of dollars, Portsmouth NH
does not even
have a municipal dock. The harbor masters are corrupt, the whole system
is corrupt.

As there are less and less motor boats, due to high fuel costs, and fewer
sailboats, the towns
have ruined it for themselves. Too late now.

I guess I will move on to some other activity. Don't know what yet.



How about a daysailer? One you could keep on a trailer in your driveway and
rig/launch/handle by yourself?
A bit more work each time you take it out... but you should save 90% of the
maintenance costs. (assuming boat is fairly new)
I see Hunter has a 17' and a 21' model.

"Chuck Cox" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:07:11 GMT, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
wrote:

The fact is, the port authority does absolutely nothing for recreational
boating. There is not one public munipal or state dock
in NH that is open to recreational sailboats.. period.

Do you know about the Portsmouth municipal docks at Prescott Park?
I've docked there a few times and we were not the only sailboat. In
fact it is one of my favorite docks because it is cheap and within a
short walk of three excellent pubs. What more could you ask of a muni
dock?

http://www.cityofportsmouth.com/prescottpark/docks.htm
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1786
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2538
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/596
Chuck Cox
SynchroSystems - embedded computer design - http://synchro.com

my email is politician-proof, just remove the PORK
===========================

It is not a munipal dock,, it is owned by the Precott Park Trust.. and the
docks are in
very poor condition. Last time I went by, end of august, no one boat was
there.

"Don White" wrote
How about a daysailer?

The amount of pleasure one gets from a boat is inversely proportional to its
size...

"Thomas, Spring Point Light" wrote in message
news:JADBk.416$nl3.110@trnddc05...
After three season of single handed sailing, I was approached by a young
guy as my boat
was taken out for winter storage. He loved her, and he bought her.

Owning a good size cruising sailboat is lots of work. I started working,
repairing,
adding, maintaining, my boat in April .. she went in the water in June.
And I worked on
her each and every day.
snip

My primary thought is that you set your own trap. Your trap was working on
the boat every day. Duh!

Hey, everybody, if you are a fixer-upper kind of guy then admit it and just
enjoy the fixing up. If, on the other hand, you are a sailing kind of guy
then buy a boat that doesn't need but minimal fixing up and then sail her.
Save the fixing up for those "rainy days" when you don't want to can't sail
her.

It's really pretty simple. It's a matter of knowing who you are. . .

Wilbur Hubbard

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote in message
et...
"Don White" wrote
How about a daysailer?

The amount of pleasure one gets from a boat is inversely proportional to
its size...



Not necessarily. When I had the sunfish and hobie, they were a blast and a
half. The Cal 20 was less fun. My Sabre 30 is a heck of a lot more fun than
my Cal, but not as much as the hobie, but I'm much, much older now.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:32:02 -0400, Chuck Cox
said:

The fact is, the port authority does absolutely nothing for recreational
boating. There is not one public munipal or state dock
in NH that is open to recreational sailboats.. period.

Do you know about the Portsmouth municipal docks at Prescott Park?
I've docked there a few times and we were not the only sailboat. In
fact it is one of my favorite docks because it is cheap and within a
short walk of three excellent pubs. What more could you ask of a muni
dock?

Don't trouble him with facts. He's clearly not interested in them.
============================================

Dave,, what is your problem? I am very familiar with the Prescott Park
docks,
and Portsmouth. Last winter I spoke to the harbor authority about these
docks
and the poor condition they were in.. That conversation was followed up
with a
contact to the NH governor's office and the city manager of Portsmouth. The
governor of NH saw so much wrong with what was going on that the port
authority
was brought under control of the Pease Developement Authority.

You can attack all you want ,, but I have been there,, meeting/speaking
asking the tough
questions about what and where the money which is supposed to go for
recreational
boating is being used for.

Facts: there is not one state owned recreational boat dock along the NH
coast. There are a
couple of commercial fishing docks.. the fishing coopertive in Portsmouth
NH went out of
business, disbanded last winter as the number of fishing boats got very
low... the state has
taken over the facility.

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote in message
et...
"Don White" wrote
How about a daysailer?

The amount of pleasure one gets from a boat is inversely proportional to
its size...

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote

The amount of pleasure one gets from a boat is inversely proportional to
its size...


There's some truth to that and I still think the statement in the first line
he

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Boats.htm#Canoe

but fun and pleasure are only part of the equation. The return on physical
and financial investment in "Strider" is a much broader and deeper reward.
Her ability to to to remote and rugged places and be a home while traveling
are closely connected with that and directly related to size.

--
Roger Long

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote

The amount of pleasure one gets from a boat is inversely proportional to
its size...


There's some truth to that and I still think the statement in the first
line he

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Boats.htm#Canoe

but fun and pleasure are only part of the equation. The return on
physical and financial investment in "Strider" is a much broader and
deeper reward. Her ability to to to remote and rugged places and be a home
while traveling are closely connected with that and directly related to
size.

--
Roger Long



"The bigger the boat the stupider the driver." This is a very true truism!

Wilbur Hubbard