"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.

"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 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

On 2008-09-22 14:43:25 -0400, "Capt. JG" said:

"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.

I agree. I enjoyed the heck out of each boat, but I've used each new
boat more. Now, the idea of going back to just daysails on the 21 or
Sunday Laser racing doesn't appeal. I do love stealing a Laser and
surprising the young bucks for a few hours, though.

That old saw should probably end "directly proportional to its use" --
which will decrease if it's too large.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

"Capt. JG" wrote
Not necessarily.

No offense intended to y'all big-boat guys, it's just that it sounded to me
like Thomas found himself on the wrong side of the enjoyment/LOA curve.

"Ernest Scribbler" wrote in message
et...
"Capt. JG" wrote
Not necessarily.

No offense intended to y'all big-boat guys, it's just that it sounded to
me like Thomas found himself on the wrong side of the enjoyment/LOA curve.



None taken. I don't really consider a 30' sailboat a big boat. It's too bad
when one finds oneself on the wrong side of the curve.

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

On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:57:44 -0400, "Ernest Scribbler"
wrote:

"Capt. JG" wrote
Not necessarily.

No offense intended to y'all big-boat guys, it's just that it sounded to me
like Thomas found himself on the wrong side of the enjoyment/LOA curve.

I have a 22 foot aluminum runabout. It has plenty of room for two guys
to wave fishing rods about, not quite true of my son's 15 footer with
the ten horse motor. It is small enough for one person to launch it.

Casady

"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