Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:47:44 -0800 (PST), Tim
wrote:

I was wondering if there are any stats on how long people actually
keep their boat. Like if they buy a new runabout or cuddie etc. how
long do they actually keep it, before selling it or trading it in for
a new model.

Good question.

For me, I average about, roughly off the top of my head, 6 years on a
boat. The longest I've owned one is my Ranger CC - that's going on 8
years this Spring and will probably be the one that I will keep until
I don't need a boat anymore.

The Princecraft I had for two and a half years before I sold it to Don
is the shortest.

I suspect that Chuck is right on this one - for folks under 30 feet,
it's often a case of two foot bigger disease. Over that, it's a
different ball game - if they trade up, it's usually for something 10
or more feet bigger, but they tend to stay in their boats longer than
10 years at a time.

I was reading a while back that folks in the mega yacht world usually
have them for a purpose - as in to travel around the world or use them
as a floating condiminium for a specific purpose, then sell them. Once
they have achieved their purpose, that's it - sold.


I average three to four years, max. I downsized my fishing boat the last
go-around, and I'm glad I did. For me, it's the perfect size for
fishing the bay, quick cleanup and ease of launching and retrieval.