Large Boats

N

NORO LIM

Member
We were lucky enough to spend a week and a half on the Mediterranean Coast of France. As chance would have it, our trip coincided with the 2018 Monaco Yacht Show. We encountered mind-boggling displays of wealth. Lots of ideas for that "next boat" when your C-Dory starts feeling a little cramped.

Here are just three of the toys of the rich and famous we saw:

The "Freedom" in the harbor of Nice. A 230 foot boat built to sleep "up to" 12 guests (nothing worse than an overcrowded boat). You can charter this boat "from $581,000 per week." (Oh, "plus expenses," but I'm sure it burns hardly any fuel.)
P9270177_The_Freedom_Nice.jpg




The "Khalilah" near Monaco. Composite hull is 160 feet long. Color-coordinated dinghy. Will do 32knots.
P9280241_The_Khalilah_near_Monaco.jpg




The "Maltese Falcon" near Monaco. My favorite. (Has also been sighted locally in the San Juans Islands.) The hull is 290 feet long with three freestanding, rotating, 187 foot masts. Can be single handed.
P9280255_The_Maltese_Falcon_near_Monaco.jpg
 
Sure, big yachts exist. So do big egos. Do you believe this creates happiness
or contentment?

One of the signs you are living an illusion is you are fulfilled through having
'things'. Chances are owners of these mega yachts have plenty of other stuff
too.

I'll bet, for many, the bigger the 'thing' and more of the same equates to the
size of their personal void or lack which cannot be filled.

Aye.
Grandpa used to say, "The road to 'bigger, better, faster, more' leads nowhere."
 
Foggy":2v1imcr6 said:
Sure, big yachts exist. So do big egos. Do you believe this creates happiness
or contentment?

One of the signs you are living an illusion is you are fulfilled through having
'things'. Chances are owners of these mega yachts have plenty of other stuff
too.

I'll bet, for many, the bigger the 'thing' and more of the same equates to the
size of their personal void or lack which cannot be filled.

Aye.
Grandpa used to say, "The road to 'bigger, better, faster, more' leads nowhere."
Click to expand...


I stood in 500 year-old cathedrals, castles, and citadels on our trip. Some of them are (relative to their era, at least) even more over-the-top extravagant and expensive than any of these mega yachts. In each instance I found myself asking, "Who built this, and why?" Motives abound.

I find the interiors, in particular, of most of these yachts somewhere between laughable and disgusting. It's hard not to feel just a touch of outrage, too. It's the same way I feel when I see pictures of Louis XIV's "house." I also agree with Foggy about the emptiness that must drive some of this. I do feel a little sorry for anyone who seems to crave owning "things" to this extent. Everything else aside, as a simple matter of my aesthetics, excess is repulsive. (Isn't that an aesthetic we all share when it comes our boats? Or are we just hiding our envy? What would you buy if you had Paul Allen's money?:lol: )

Sometimes, the seemingly stupid or sinful ways the rich (or powerful) choose to spend their (or other people's) money advances knowledge in fields like engineering. The "Maltese Falcon," for instance, was built in part out of a desire to explore the practicality of returning to sail power for trans-oceanic cargo shipping. It is an impressive work of high-tech boat building.
 
I imagine the world’s poor could look at the possessions of us on this site & say, much the same as Foggy did about the owners of these large boats. It’s about the wealth scale & where one is on it. Being content with what one can afford instead of envious or judgmental of the possessions of others is a quick way to personal happiness. Unless it’s slave or forced labor producing the chosen product, there are many lives enriched in the process.

If I could have afforded it without sacrificing other things desired even more, my cruises shared on this site would have been on a CD25 instead of a CD22. Making that choice hasn’t made us envious of those who own a CD25 or larger boat or less content with our CD22.

Jay
 
Well said, Jay. I don’t condemn others for the “stuff” they own. I say good for them. They obviously have done something right. Who is to know if the owners of these yachts have contributed some of their wealth to causes that benefit mankind...
 
My personal choices, even if I had Paul's disposable income, would include something with raked front windshield, which a few boats have, but none of the 3 shown. Personally, if those folks have it and want to spend it, it makes jobs for others, so good on them. I would hope that there is some similar amount that would go to providing for world hunger, water, and peace.

My C-Dory 22 does exactly what I want it to do: Stay right side up, keep my head and feet dry and bring me home when I want. That's not much for some but it is hard to beat.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

JC_Lately_SleepyC_Flat_Blue_070.thumb.jpg
 
Regarding really big boats, I just put another 15,000 miles on Midnight Flyer's boat trailer this past boating season. Not quite up to the 16,000 miles the previous season. And I'm loving it! The places I've taken the boat, the fellow boaters and others I've met! I remind myself of that every time I start to drool over a BIG boat! :wink: And while I could afford the 25 or a Tomcat, I'm cheap and like the better efficiency of the 22, while still having a boat big enough to serve my wife and I well. :mrgreen: So while I envy those bigger boats, I really envy what I already have! Colby
 
Capn Jack expressed my financial feelings:

could float my boat in what it takes to paint their bottom. Crook
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Pat expressed another financial fact:

The gin tastes JUST AS GOOD on our 25 foot C-Dory Cruiser
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Maybe better because one can afford better gin if they don't spend everything on a larger boat. It is also nice to consider damage or loss of the boat something that won't bankrupt you.

There are two books that feature the versatility and capabilities of the CD-22.

I just finished reading recently published "Artic Solitaire" by Paul Sounders. One of the things Paul mentioned was how the locals in North Hudson Bay didn't seem to think much of his quest to photo the "Perfect Bear", but really liked his boat, a CD-22. The boat came through for Paul, and he often praised it over his four summers in Hudson Bay.

Another C-Dory adventure book, by the author of "Blue Highways", is "River Horse" by William Least Heat-Moon. How many boats have made a journey nearly across the USA from the Atlantic to the Pacific THROUGH the continent on rivers (streams) and lakes not mostly on a trailer?

Though some of you shudder at the idea, I regularly beach Problemadela, and have no qualms about picking up and dropping off passengers in shallow water.

I'll probably move to a larger boat, maybe a 25 or TomCat, sometime in the future for comfort after my wife retires, but after 3 years, the CD-22 will probably remain my idea of the best all-around boat for truly traveling nearly anywhere.
 
dotnmarty":1ikmfrex said:
A friend of mine saw a photo of our 16 footer and asked me, "What's it like to be wealthy". My response, "It's wonderful".
Click to expand...


Ain't THAT the truth, Marty!

I try to remind myself every day to reflect on how wealthy I am. Just consider the lives of all the humans who have ever walked this earth. Those of us lucky enough to be making that journey here and now enjoy material well-being beyond the reach, or even the imagination, of most of the rest of our fellow beings.

I owned a boat!

Bill
Formerly on NORO LIM
 
NORO LIM":1de4euan said:
dotnmarty":1de4euan said:
A friend of mine saw a photo of our 16 footer and asked me, "What's it like to be wealthy". My response, "It's wonderful".
Click to expand...


Ain't THAT the truth, Marty!

I try to remind myself every day to reflect on how wealthy I am. Just consider the lives of all the humans who have ever walked this earth. Those of us lucky enough to be making that journey here and now enjoy material well-being beyond the reach, or even the imagination, of most of the rest of our fellow beings.

I owned a boat!

Bill
Formerly on NORO LIM
Click to expand...

When I was growing up (about age 8) I had an 8 foot plywood dingy up in Sidney BC, I would row up and down the rows of boats in the marina. I learned all the boat names, and as I rowed I determined that someday, When I got big enough, I would have a boat with a name. I have been so blessed to be able to not only have a boat with a name but to be able to take it to some of the most spectacular areas in the PNW, and maybe some day, some other places. For now, I'm happy with my 22.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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dotnmarty":2bcar7wh said:
A friend of mine saw a photo of our 16 footer and asked me, "What's it like to be wealthy". My response, "It's wonderful".
Click to expand...

"Wealthy" is a relative thing. I remember when I was in the Peace Corps, "wealthy" people in my village had less than I had. Most had nothing.

Just before coming back to the US I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. My guide, Faustino, always friendly and caring, encouraged my tired butt the last of the way. We talked a bit about how things were in the US vs. Tanzania, me focusing on describing grocery stores. I talked about backpacking and canoe camping in the Everglades and that I hoped to get my own canoe when I got back.

Faustino pointed at his pack and said "Everything I own is in this pack. You should be glad you don't have to carry everything you own today".

Faustino seemed the happiest person in the world. "Happy" is clearly a state of mind.

I guess I'm too American to consider poverty as a path to happiness, but I certainly don't lust after the cost and responsibility of a larger boat right now.
 
We recently spent a week doing some of the San Juans with a charter boat (not a C Dory) and I was really impressed with the flexibility of the 22's. We saw them in many places, frequently tucked into spots we couldn't moor due to size or draft. Certainly saw instances where size doesn't matter and gained an appreciation of what can be done with these boats.
 
When you've graduated from all your ego filled thinking,
you may come to realize,

as Grandpa used to say, "Less is more."

Aye.
 
I always look at boats that size and wonder of the owner likes anything about boating. The captain does an excellent job docking (as he should for the amount he is paid). The crew puts the gang plank out (using the aft crane). The owner gets in the waiting cab and goes sightseeing. What, if anything, does the owner understand about the vessel (other than length and cost)? Would the owner know a barnacle if he/she saw one?

"She." Hah, I wonder how many women purchase something like that.

It's just not possible to do what I like with something that size. It would feel like wearing reality goggles, (https://www.pcmag.com/article/342537/the-best-virtual-reality-vr-headsets) which is to say it might kind of feel like boating if one were easily fooled.

But then, the reason for ownership probably has nothing to do with boating.

Mark
 
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