beat this! money lost on boats!

[Interested]

All told, by today's standards if you can afford a boat & your prescriptions, you are truly wealthy and many must know the side effects of boats. Thus I'm not counting.

[DaveS]

[mdoug]

1974 21' Glastron that came with our camp--hauled out for scrap in 1992
1993 Alumacraft jon boat, new for $450, still good, used as spare
1985 19' Sting Ray--$5,000 in 1993/4--gave to neighbor in 2003, still running
2003 18.6' Doral bought new for $23,000, still running well
2005 CD22 bought new in 2006 for $43,000, still running very well
2004 Alumacraft fishing boat w/Suzuki 9.9, new for $5,000, loaded
Not too bad as far as boats go, I guess, but also have been through a few small outboards for fishing boat:
1976 Evinrude 9.9hp that came with camp--sold for $900 in 1993
1992 Johnson 4hp, bought new for $800--sold for $400 in 1993
1996 Suzuki 9.9 2cycle, bought for $2,000, sold in 2002 for $600
2003 Suzuki 9.9 4cycle, bought new for $2,500, traded in for 2005 Suzuki 9.9 long shaft, got $900 trade-in

[johnrmarshall22]

1975 18' tri hull bought $2000 sold $2000
1975 22' sailboat "free" $1500 (parts/ sails) sold $1200.
Various used kayaks, canoes, homebuild pram, etc.
1971 15' Sidewinder (100hp) bought 2300. Still going fast enough for me!
2006 C Dory Cruiser $40K... hope to hold on to it for years to come.

I crewed and raced on sailboats for many years and had a blast. I have managed to be on the water for very few dollars. By far the biggest boat purchase I have made is our 22 CD. We did not have much spare money (kids, divorce etc) but we always had something on the water, It is really nice to have something that I'd only dreamed of before. I think we tend to spend what we can. It seems to me the trick is being happy with what you have and spend only what you feel you can afford.

I really like Seawolf - Joe's tag line

[squidslayer]

In 2004 I bought a 1990 C Dory 22ft angler that had a 2003 Honda 90..with a trailer.. Furuno GPS sounder and Radar for 21k....used it for 2 years a lot..put
About 2k into it and sold it for 25k to a gent from Canada..he drove all the way down to bring it back...he loves it and I miss it!
But then I went and bought a new Tomcat in 2007 that set me back 150k
With everything
Moral of the story... Buy used...but I do love the Cat

[Catch 22]

1965 19' Sabercraft-- Came free with a truck I bought. Put $2,500 into it, used it for 8 years and sold it for $2,800.

1981 22' C-dory Classic-- Paid $3,500 for it. Put about 7K into it so far, probably never sell it.

Buying projects and doing all the work myself is the only way I can afford boating. The experience of working on boats and using them is priceless to me, certainly my favorite way to spend my time.

[anchorout]

In 1995 we bought a 33ft sailboat for $29,000. We cruised the Caribbean down to Venezuela and back for 4 years, and sold the boat for $29,000. Yes, there were maintenance costs and an engine replacement, but we averaged $1,100 per month for everything, gas, rental cars, food, rum (lots of rum), inland tours, etc. It was the high point of our lives.

OR, we could have not bought the boat and spent $3,000 per month to rat race the Joneses. I can think of nothing better to spend money on than that which allows you to escape the bonds of a humdrum existence.

[DuckDogTitus]

years ago when I first mentioned wanting a boat my father in law tried to talk me out of it telling me people only take their boat out a couple of times per year if that, and that they will always sit and rot in the end. He suggested for the very few times I would go out, I should just hire a guide and pay someone to take me out on their boat.

well lets say a fishing guide cost $250 per trip, and for fun lets say I use 20 gallons of gas per trip, thats $80. plus a launch fee, $20. if I round my personal costs up, I still save $150 / trip using my boat, and this year that was 30 trips...

30 x $150 per trip = that's $4500 savings

of course there is maintenance. "winterization", a new relay for the trim, a little caulk, new downrigger wire. lets round up and say $2k for fun.

still at plus $2500.

except my wife joined me on probably 20 of those trips. there's another $3k.

minus my boat payment (gasp, I am one of those who borrowed), I figure buying a C-dory so far has netted me a gain of around $5,000 this summer just for owning the darn thing. after a few years I could give it a way and make a profit

economics are all point of view

you must remember when you invest, or dont invest, the opportunity costs of where you put your money. Had I not bought the boat, I'd have missed out on a substantial amount of adventuring, can't get last summer back to do again!

also, there is compounding interest to be had on adventuring. You see, just like $5k sitting at 5% interest over 20 years, my adventuring gains interest each year as my experience and bravery takes me further and further beyond home port. have to start investing in adventure young to net the big gains.

[rogerbum]

Dustin - you left out the money you are saving by NOT needing a psychiatrist due to the stress relief provided by boating. I figure that saves me $5-10K a year.

[B~C]

man, there's always stuf to learn on this web site. I had to take a few accounting classes when I was in school and always grappled with ROA....now I understand what it really means....Return On Adventure.

[Roy & Dixie]

I've sold 3 boats because it was costing me more to dock, insure, maintain than I would lose on the sale. I even used the money I saved on these costs to buy my next boat, which renewed all these same costs all over again. When I was 39yr old, wife 34, we quit excellent jobs, liquidated house, car, gave up company car, and moved aboard our 30ft sail boat. For 2 years we cruised and worked random odd, low paying jobs so as to move on to another port. Along the way we became deckhands on dinner/dance boat, then the captains, then to captains on the companies overnight cruise ships (170-200 ft boats). We had room & board 8mo/yr, 24/7, no debts, and thus were able to save almost 100% of our very low pay. But after 30 yr it all added up so we could retire and live comfortably. How much did this all cost us over what we might have had had we continued with our original jobs and boated at the lake 100 mi from home? There is no way to calculate. But whatever the cost or losses along the way the experience has been priceless. Now we have our 22 CD and are enjoying boating in much the same way we did on our 30' no frlls sail boat, and that was the best of times.

[DuckDogTitus]

Love that story Roy- sounds like a great life to live

[rogerbum]

[bridma]

We all came into this world naked and penniless. You can guarentee we will all be leaving this planet the same way. Nobody lost money on boats, cars, houses, etc. We all participated in life's experiences and what we wanted to do at that time. For us on this forum, it is participating in the world of the C-Dory, because that is what makes us happy today.

Martin.

[DuckDogTitus]

now that's a profound philosophy with a solid foundation of fact. I like it