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.

Thomas, Spring Point Light wrote:

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.



Best of luck on your new life ashore.


But I suspect you will find there is suddenly a large hole there -
with no boat in it...


--

Richard

(remove the X to email)

On 2008-09-21 22:40:41 -0400, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
said:

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.

One of the two happiest days of boat-stewardship.

Congrats, but some of us are less interested in the last day than the
next sailing adventure.

After 16 seasons, our lovely lady owes us nothing. The only thing I
would try to do is give her a reasonable next caretaker.

But she's still more than capable of supplying our needs for a few
years, so it's not a real issue for us.

--
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/

On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:40:41 GMT, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
wrote:

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.


and a couple paragraphs later you say:

Another thought; sailboats don't sell.


Huh?

"Thomas, Spring Point Light" wrote


The harbor masters are corrupt, the whole system is corrupt.


The one in my town isn't

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


Sorry to hear that. You really sounded like you were beginning to get it
and have fun that day I went by your mooring and talked to you after your
sail down from Boothbay. I bet you'll start dreaming about it about the
time the leaves fall. You ought to go look at that Contessa.

--
Roger Long

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
"Thomas, Spring Point Light" wrote


The harbor masters are corrupt, the whole system is corrupt.


The one in my town isn't

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


Sorry to hear that. You really sounded like you were beginning to get it
and have fun that day I went by your mooring and talked to you after your
sail down from Boothbay. I bet you'll start dreaming about it about the
time the leaves fall. You ought to go look at that Contessa.

--
Roger Long



======

Roger, it is not that I don't love sailing/cruising.. I have owned four
cruising boats ..

It just gets me when I see how corrupt the harbor masters are in NH. I
asked the
city manager of Portsmouth, NH why Portsmouth, a city which revels in its
maritime
history, has no municipal dock. He told me to call the state harbor folks,
who told me
to call the city folks. Well,, where did all the money go? Then I see an
article in the
paper, the fire department in Portsmouth has a brand new fire boat. For
what?

It is news stories like these that soured me on boat ownership.

"Thomas, Spring Point Light" wrote

It is news stories like these that soured me on boat ownership.


Well, if you are going to give up something as great as boating because of
corruption and incompetence in municiple waterfront management, you'd better
give up life in view of the way the rest of the world operates.

You can't get farther from this crap than in a boat. You just have to
cruise farther than Boothbay Harbor.

Buy one of those modest and easy to handle boats I recommended and go
downeast past Schoodic Point. The world will seem as pure and wholesome as
a Norman Rockwell painting until you return.

--
Roger Long

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
"Thomas, Spring Point Light" wrote


The harbor masters are corrupt, the whole system is corrupt.


The one in my town isn't

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


Sorry to hear that. You really sounded like you were beginning to get it
and have fun that day I went by your mooring and talked to you after your
sail down from Boothbay. I bet you'll start dreaming about it about the
time the leaves fall. You ought to go look at that Contessa.

--
Roger Long


What Contessa? Would appreciate a link or reference.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:40:41 GMT, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
said:

The harbor masters are corrupt

What do you mean by that? And what facts support your conclusion?
=================================================

In NH, the harbor is controled by the port authority. Moorings are very
hard
to come by. If a boater actually gets permission to have a mooring, the
cost
or permit is hundreds of dollars per year. There are a number of harbor
masters.
Each has a small area of responsibility. I'm not familiar with all of them,
but one
I have dealt with does absolutely nothing. He works for the port, and that
is about
it.

The word is, politics plays an important role in who gets a mooring. There
are some who
own moorings that others use.

What I mean by corruption is the overall system, the permit money, etc.
Where does it go?
According to the web page of the port authority ..

"The DPH assists in the establishment of accommodations for the boat
traveler, the area boat owner, the pleasure fishermen and others who pass up
and down the New Hampshire coastline or in its tributaries, particularly the
Piscataqua River and Portsmouth Harbor."

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.

So,, the question begs an answer... where is all the money going? It isn't
going for municipal docks, or
even a pump out station. Nothing..

"Jere Lull" wrote in message
news:2008092203224616807-jerelull@maccom...
On 2008-09-21 22:40:41 -0400, "Thomas, Spring Point Light"
said:

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.

One of the two happiest days of boat-stewardship.


You know, I never thought that was true. I was truly sad when I sold all of
the boats I owned, even those that were less than perfect. I know that was
true when the previous owner of my Sabre sold it to me. He hated to see it
go.

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