Are boats really worth so little these days?

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I've been learning to sail this year....something I always wanted to do but never seem to have the money AND time (always one or the other).

Bought a cheap sail boat at the start of the season...so far not had any problems...I think it helped that it was in the water when we bought it and the previous owner had regularly sailed it for the last 6 years so kept up on the maintenance.

 

[arther dailey]

3K a year to moor that boat at the glamorous Hartlepool Marina. If you squint a bit you might mistake it for Monte Carlo...

An ominous warning direct from the Ebay ad. "The previous owner spent £30k on works and £40k for this boat so grab a bargain."

You have been warned.

If you have the money, you don't have the time and vice versa.

agree, if you have money you have more sence than throw it down a never ending hole

 

[hotponyshoes]

Its the cost V opportunity to use it, I would have thought it cheaper to hire when required. Local boat yard is full of part repaired boats, its like cars etc some people just like owning them and potter about cleaning and fixing them

I use mine for fishing.
We are not very good at fishing and I know it would work out far cheaper to buy the equivalent catch from a top-end fishmonger.

Even if you divide the total annual cost by the hours spent fishing then it would be cheaper just to go to a decent restaurant every few weeks and have a nice fish dinner.

Divide the cost by the total amount of time spent "messing about with boats" including a car full of mates driving to the coast and having a weekend away with a few beers and it looks a bit better..

I suppose it depends on your outlook to the costs.
For example, 2 of us could spend a day cleaning up the hull and anti-fouling it.
£200 for paint & consumables plus 2 days labour/lost work time that's £600 at least.

Or, you call that hobby time and it's cost you £100 each for a day doing something you enjoy.

Although I wouldn't say it's a job I really enjoy doing but I wouldn't be prepared to pay a boatyard £600 to do the job for me.

If you don't mind doing the work yourself boating does not have to be particularly expensive compared to plenty of other hobbies you could have.
Plenty of the high mantainance costs can be vastly reduced in exchange for time spent doing cheap preventive mantainance.

You also don't have the constant 24/7 costs of something like a horse.
Although if you count & divide the hours people spend faffing around with horses they probably work out cheap...

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

The way I look at it....2 days sailing is 2 days where I didn't buy cars or tools

 

[waddycall]

i think a shift in culture is taking effect too. In the 50— 90’s big engines, powerful boats etc were a bit of a status symbol and desirable for that reason alone by some. Nowadays people with big fuel guzzling engines in their toys are seen by many as wrecking the future of the younger generations for their own selfish pleasure. This is an objective opinion By the way.

 

[hotponyshoes]

i think a shift in culture is taking effect too. In the 50— 90’s big engines, powerful boats etc were a bit of a status symbol and desirable for that reason alone by some. Nowadays people with big fuel guzzling engines in their toys are seen by many as wrecking the future of the younger generations for their own selfish pleasure. This is an objective opinion By the way.

Big boats loose value just like big cars.
A 18'-20' on a decent trailer with a 80hp Honda outboard could easily cost the £18.5k they are asking for the boat in the first post.

Much the same as a supercharged range rover v8 can be found cheaper than the same age 3.0l diesel even though the v8 has a much higher spec and was 3x the cost when new...

 

[Domdom]

I have had ski boats for years but the biggest issue now is finding a place to use one. Windermere was the last decent lake but the fun police stopped that. River skiing is impractical, too many rivers are silted up and full of prop damaging junk. There just isn’t anywhere to enjoy a day boat or sports boat in the uk. Even a decent gin palace is only useable on the sea, which is too cold in the UK.

 

[ajlelectronics]

There just isn’t anywhere to enjoy a day boat or sports boat in the uk. Even a decent gin palace is only useable on the sea, which is too cold in the UK.

We have a water ski centre just down the road and I often see them out on the River Severn out the back of my house. Also there are a couple of (can't recall the name) fast boats with an enormous fan on the back. Just last weekend they were all out, although I have seen none today yet.

Water Ski club link...

 

[Domdom]

We have a water ski centre just down the road and I often see them out on the River Severn out the back of my house. Also there are a couple of (can't recall the name) fast boats with an enormous fan on the back. Just last weekend they were all out, although I have seen none today yet.

Water Ski club link...

Yep, seen all those clubs but I have a real problem with them charging a ton of money just to access a river. Sold the boat a while back but planning to get another when we retire to a warmer climate.

 

[addjunkie]

I've been learning to sail this year....something I always wanted to do but never seem to have the money AND time (always one or the other).

Bought a cheap sail boat at the start of the season...so far not had any problems...I think it helped that it was in the water when we bought it and the previous owner had regularly sailed it for the last 6 years so kept up on the maintenance.

Much as I love boats and sailing, cheap and expensive are relative terms…….but well cared for older boats can be used for a sensible outlay. It will only get really expensive when you decide its too small and you no longer want to get wet using it!

I once read an article about boats and their use…..average was below 10 weekends per year, but in respect to costs versus time its no different to shooting pheasants, 8 to 10 days per year would cost a few thousand if done on the cheap.

What did you buy? Ive been looking into the trailer sailer options for our local reservoir!

 

[voipio]

Two best days of owning a boat:
The day you buy it, and the day you sell it!

We've had many good days between the buying and selling. Our boat was moored less than 4 miles away. I could leave the house after dinner, and be out on the river 10 minutes later. It was idyllic on a summer evening to just chill. The peace and quiet, drifting with the current, watching the wildlife, takes some beating. Sad to see the boat go, in the end, but we were planning on moving away from the area.

 

[bert]

The marina where I keep mine is just under £500 per meter a year.

Add on the river licence and its expensive to own one you have to keep on a mooring.

I've spent 1 week and 1 weekend away on her this year but easily 30+ nights in the marina working/relaxing on it.

 

[ajlelectronics]

The marina where I keep mine is just under £500 per meter a year.

Add on the river licence and its expensive to own one you have to keep on a mooring.

I've spent 1 week and 1 weekend away on her this year but easily 30+ nights in the marina working/relaxing on it.

I looked into making a mooring at the back of the garden, but apparently you have to pay CRT a ransom even if you pay for the lot yourself.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

What did you buy? Ive been looking into the trailer sailer options for our local reservoir!

I was lucky ...snagged a freedom 21 in well looked after condition...think they were built in the Netherlands originally.

For a trailer sailer I think you'd really want a drop keel as it'll make life a lot easier.

 

[addjunkie]

I was lucky ...snagged a freedom 21 in well looked after condition...think they were built in the Netherlands originally.

For a trailer sailer I think you'd really want a drop keel as it'll make life a lot easier.

Yes some kind of lifting keel, and a road worth trailer, surprising how many trailer sailers dont have road worth trailers. Sadly most of them are blooming miles away too, quite annoying driving 5 hours to view to find its stood on a pile of junk. Makes for quite harsh price negotiations when a new trailer is circa 5 k.

 

[marlinspike]

That boat looks fabulous. I kind of view it like a touring caravan, or even a camper van, though. You'd have to use it a lot to get your money's worth and with UK weather I'm not sure you would. You need to just enjoy the fettling and being on it when moored I reckon. If you only enjoy it when it's moving it could quickly become a bit of a millstone.

 

[Stupoty]

So is the Thames part of that anti-pollution tax ?
If'n you motor this thing up to London, and it's gas powered, is it covered ?

12 knots speed limit , .

Stu

 

[theMenace]

i think a shift in culture is taking effect too. In the 50— 90’s big engines, powerful boats etc were a bit of a status symbol and desirable for that reason alone by some. Nowadays people with big fuel guzzling engines in their toys are seen by many as wrecking the future of the younger generations for their own selfish pleasure. This is an objective opinion By the way.

Sadly Jim Bowen isn't around giving them away as Bully's Star Prize any longer either

 

[theMenace]

A couple of pics of one of my family's less good financial decisions...


^^It's not the one afloat in the background!! ^^
Sadly she's deteriorated beyond our abilities to restore her now. I don't feel too bad though as she sank in the mouth of the Lune a couple of weeks after we bought her. my cousin and I managed to pump her out and move her to the docks (where she sank again!), and now out onto a trailer, so we may have saved her from a sad death out in the Irish sea.
She looked beautiful out on the water

 

[RWD3M]

12 knots speed limit , .

Stu

Not once you are downstream of the Wandsworth Bridge!!!