What are the two best days in a boat owner’s life? The day they buy the boat, and the day they sell it.
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$5k isn’t all that out of line for an older, small Catalina. Its kind of the point of the thing. Hell where I am its not uncommon to see them for less than a grand. They’re typically gutted, but if the hull, rigging, rudder etc are all present and in decent shape it doesn’t cost too much to toss together a usable boat.
Having been in a situation where major engine problems occurred while making a passage I’ll verify, it’s scary but not terrifying, and the story gets better every time you tell it (There was a kraken, I swear! Poseidon himself arose from the foam to blow us into the rocks!)
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A Cal 25 is one boat to consider in your search. There’s a strong community with lots of support and the boat is good for all levels of experience. The rig is over sized, and, as a keel boat it’s very stable with a good, controllable spin on the vertical axis. For inland sailing a Cal 25 with a long shaft electric outboard is cheap to buy and maintain. Sorry, no hilarious text, I can’t compete with that ad.
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Well, if you read the entire ad it does say you’re buying a “money pit.”
Sounds like a good deal. It’s the Dr. Bronner’s soap label copy that totally sells it.
Always debated between getting a pilot’s license and a small plane, or setting sail as captain of my own boat.
Of course my income is nowhere near commensurate with my fantasies. Might as well dream about having my own aircraft carrier.
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Okay, I’m sold. This one’s too far away, but I want to buy a boat. Any boat.
Canoes give an outstanding bang for the buck.
…“Nice? It’s the only thing,” said the Water Rat solemnly as he leant forward for his stroke. “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,” he went on dreamily:
-The Wind In The WIllows
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$5K is not bad for a Catalina 27. I wouldn’t sail one to Fiji (though it can and has been done), but it isn’t bad and there is a lot of exploring that can be done without getting out into the middle of an ocean.
Diesel is better, sure. So is a bigger, nicer boat. But a $5K Catalina and a couple thousand in pocket change, and a fishing rod or two, is all you need for a few months of stupendous cruising (if you are alone and don’t mind anchoring and rowing to shore).
Boats go up in cost exponentially, however. A 30 foot decent boat will be $20K. A 34 will be 60K. A 40 will be 130K. And so on. (or you could buy a $1M 35 if you want).
We have a Crown 28 and love it. Old, sturdy, well maintained, the motor is almost as old as I am, and we have a grand time without going broke.
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From the article…
They certainly beat sitting in car traffic towing your sand rail or three wheeler past a bunch of meth labs to glamis[sic]
As an adolescent I had an ATV, as did my younger brother and my father. We didn’t really bother with long trips to the dunes, we drove out the BLM land and rode around out there, 30 minutes from home. We could prep and load up the ATVs and supplies the night before, head out first-thing in the morning, ride for several hours getting away from everyone else, return to the truck and trailer in the afternoon, stop by a carwash to clean the quads, and be home by dusk. Or, we could take them up to the mountains for a long weekend and be home and ready to go to school or for Dad, to work, the next day.
Once I got a driver’s license the excitement of the quad wore off, but I still enjoy getting out into the desert from time to time, and unlike a boat, I don’t have to spend a considerable amount of time or money on maintenance.
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“It’s so beautiful out here, I just have to make sure I keep my eyes on the horizon. I mean, if, for example, I was to look at that amazing lighthouse - blergh!”
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I’m a huge fan of flat bottom canoes and small john boats for the messing about aspect of boating. They make moving around the marshes and creaks here in the northeast so much more pleasurable.
I share this idea with the same limitations. Oh, look, it’s a wave [pukepukepuke]…
An old friend of mine regularly sails with one of the two Sea Education Association ships, and she tells me she’s always horrendously sick for the first two days at sea, and then it’s all good. As a person who avoids nausea at nearly all costs, this would not be acceptable…
The number of bimbos also seems to go up exponentially with the size of the boat, so there’s always that.
…
Well, thus far my boat has been remarkably bimbo-free.
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The two greatest days of a boat owners’ life: The day you buy it and the day you sell it.
I used to work on offshore fishboats and learned a thing or two about seasickness. I used to get sick for the first day and recover. I had friends who would get horribly sick. There are remedies that work:
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Ginger. Candied ginger, cooked ginger. I used to start eating that spicy ginger candy a few hours before heading out, and have more every couple hours of the first day, and then I would be fine. This is in winter weather, deadliest catch sort of waves.
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Vitamin B. Vegetarians had some real problems with seasickness, but if they took vitamin B they were usually OK. On that note, lots of red meat works too.
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Fresh air and a horizon make a difference. Going down below is a recipe for barfing.
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Think carefully about what you eat before going out to sea. A big greasy breakfast is probably not the best choice.
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BOAT: Bust Out Another Thousand
Hope that joke has not been told too many times.
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I’m planning to acclimate myself as well in the near future with some sailing out on the Chesapeake, but I’ll take your recommendations. Took a three hour tour (♪ a three, hour, tour ♪ ) on Monterey Bay at sunset a few years back and kept my eyes glued to the horizon while 40% or more of the other whalewatchers had become rather ill. They also made the crucial mistake of sitting to the rear of the boat which was also filled with diesel exhaust. As rough as that was to watch, I did feel the inner glow of un-sickness but absolutely did not take my eyes off of the horizon the whole time, whales or no.
