Buying a boat?

[Eug]

I probably won't, but my sister wants to buy one. She has taken sailing lessons and has friends with a sailboat. She loves it out on the water. She thought about getting a sailboat but in the end started getting more interested in a powerboat instead.

Then she asked me if I wanted to split the cost with her. Problem is I know nothing about boats. In fact, I don't even know much about the specific boat in question except that her boating friends say it's in good condition and it's about 30 feet. I'm not so concerned about the up front costs, but I'm told that the yearly costs are about $8000 including gas for weekend warrior usage and dockage fees, etc. in our area. (It would never be on land. The marina where it is currently located is about half-way between my sis's place and my place, about a 15 minute drive for each of us.)

How many of you bought boats and regretted it? Where are the best beginner boat owner sites?

Like I said, I most likely will not buy into it. I see it as sort of like owning a cottage. Expensive to maintain, and with my busy life I wouldn't actually use it very much. I'd rather just rent a cottage/boat if I want to. It would be cheaper (since I would only use it occasionally), and it would definitely be a heluvalot easier.

 

[blackdogdeek]

If you do a search on this forum I remember there was a thread where someone thought about living on a boat instead of in a house. A lot of members commented on how expensive it is to maintain a boat and some detailed those expenses.

 

[Eug]

I definitely don't want to live on a boat... unless someone can give me a 200 foot yacht and a bunch of servants, as well as a few million $ a year to maintain the thing.

 

[DesiPower]

There is nothing to regret, having boat can be fun, a lot of fun, if you can spare $700-$800 a month for "occasional fun" then sure, go for it. you will have 8 to 9000 $ a year and will probably take it our 5-10 times a year, sure first year you will do a lot more but 2 years down the line, 5 times will be a stretch. Lets say at an ravage 10 time a year, so you will be paying $800 - $1000 per trip... you do the math and see if you can afford.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Couldn't tell you about saltwater usage. I have a 20 foot pontoon boat that is on a freshwater lake. Goes in Memorial day weekend and gets pulled Labor Day weekend. May keep in in the water longer thing year, but haven't decided yet.
Yearly maintenance for me is cheap. I do pay about $800 a year for storage since the last boat I had that I stored in the garage was destroyed by squirrels. Oh and winterizing an outboard engine is so much simpler, and cheaper, than an IO. Never again.

 

[Imp]

Gas has me the most worried.

 

[K1052]

 

[GagHalfrunt]

The 2 happiest days in a boat owners life: the day he buys it and the day he sells it. If you have to ask about the pros and cons of boat ownership you should not get a boat because the cons are going to bite you on the ass and the pros are not nearly as good as you imagine they're going to be. The only people who should buy boats are people who know that it's going to be expensive and who know their life is not going to turn into an idyllic beer commercial and who know that a boat has the worst fun to cost ratio of any toy imaginable and still want one anyway.

 

[Eug]

There is nothing to regret, having boat can be fun, a lot of fun, if you can spare $700-$800 a month for "occasional fun" then sure, go for it. you will have 8 to 9000 $ a year and will probably take it our 5-10 times a year, sure first year you will do a lot more but 2 years down the line, 5 times will be a stretch. Lets say at an ravage 10 time a year, so you will be paying $800 - $1000 per trip... you do the math and see if you can afford.

I can afford it, but it's a matter of whether or not I'll feel it's worth it. But yeah, I probably wouldn't get out more than a half a dozen times per year. If it cost me $4000 a year (and my sister the same), then the cost to me would be your $800+ per trip.

To put it another way, it'd cost me around $350 a month to maintain it plus up front costs, plus my time, for less than a week total time on the boat.

Couldn't tell you about saltwater usage. I have a 20 foot pontoon boat that is on a freshwater lake. Goes in Memorial day weekend and gets pulled Labor Day weekend. May keep in in the water longer thing year, but haven't decided yet.
Yearly maintenance for me is cheap. I do pay about $800 a year for storage since the last boat I had that I stored in the garage was destroyed by squirrels. Oh and winterizing an outboard engine is so much simpler, and cheaper, than an IO. Never again.

I live in Toronto. So, freshwater: Lake Ontario.

Since in Toronto:

Yeah, I think I'm going to tell her to leave me out of it.

 

[BoomerD]

BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand

 

[Eug]

The 2 happiest days in a boat owners life: the day he buys it and the day he sells it.

BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand

I just saw those two quotes on a boating site. Lots of regrets out there with boat purchases.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Boats are tough. My family has a lake house with a freshwater boat and every year hundreds get dumped into some sort of maintenance on either the boat or the dock. It has gotten to the point I pretty much give up on the boat and instead just use our jetskies.

 

[MrPickins]

I just saw those two quotes on a boating site. Lots of regrets out there with boat purchases.

How about:

"A boat is a hole in the water into which you throw money."

 

[darkewaffle]

You know what they say about buying a boat.

"Don't."

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Wise man once said...

"If it floats, flies or fucks... rent it."


/boat owner

 

[Cappuccino]

Hello Kitty on a boat? Seems false.

 

[DrPizza]

I have a boat, 18.5 foot Glastron ski/fish combo, 190HP Volvo Penta I/O. At the place we stay, definitely smaller lake than Lake Ontario (though, just a few miles from the 1000 Islands), it's one of the nicer boats. And, from a conversation over a few beers, it seems some people sort of envy the nicer fiberglass boats, instead of their lighter, more barebones aluminum boats with outboard motors on them (same length of boat). As we discussed, we compared the gas costs - I spend nearly 3 times as much on gas for the same amount of riding around. We discussed maintenance - ditto, much more for me. We discussed the upfront cost - ditto again. I don't regret having my boat at all, and am glad I can afford to actually use it. It's a piece of cake to burn through a 30 gallon tank of gas in a day (or more) - and most of the time, if you're on the water, your choice is non-ethanol gasoline, about $1 per gallon than at a regular gas station. And, that's the perfect price point - to save $30 on a fill-up, are you going to drive to a boat launch, wait in line, pull the boat, drive to a gas station, back to the boat launch, launch the boat (2nd person required to drive vehicle)? Or, are you going to drive to a gas station and bring back a load of 5 gallon gas cans? Nope.

Last two weeks: promised my son he could have the boat for a week, and especially didn't want him to miss the first couple of days, since he was taking a Marine friend who was home briefly from Afghanistan, out fishing. So, I overnighted a $300+ part to get the boat on the water. Wrong model. So, I drove a little over 5 hours to the only Marina in NY (apparently) that had the water pump in stock; payed an extra $100 over the online price. Had to replace the bilge pump a day later; it was old and the motor went. Cheap - $25 - but a major pita to put in, unless you're anorexic and a contortionist. When I replaced the water pump, I wished I had told them I wanted the belts too; the store was open, but the parts department was in a different building and closed the day I picked up the water pump. Two or three times, the belts started squealing; I tightened them up. On the way to the dock in the middle of the week, they started squealing again; nothing I could do in the middle of the lake; 1 mile to go. Didn't make it. One of the belts self-destructed. Had to be towed in to the dock. No local dealer to get the v-belts. None of the marinas with parts had the right size - they serviced other brands; not my brand. So, a 30 minute (each way) trip to an auto-parts store. They couldn't look up the size either. So, we tried to match as closely as possible; it took three half-hour trips (each way) before I had a pair of belts that would work; missed half a day of boating/fishing as a result. 2nd week: needed to replace the sending unit for the gas gauge; the old one was reporting "full" the entire time. Again, no local dealer, but at one of the marinas, "they're fairly universal" - the 5 mounting holes matched up perfectly, though the unit was about 3/4 of an inch shorter. No problem - when it says "empty," that means I still have another 3/4 of an inch of gasoline in there, right? Great! No one will every allow it to get close and run out of gas. Well, (duh), it works on resistance. Apparently, the resistance when the new one was empty = the resistance my old unit had when it was 1/4 tank. That is, 1 mile from the dock (coincidentally, about 100 yards from where the v-belt broke), I ran out of gas, with a gauge that said 1/4 tank.

So, that's 2 weeks of boating. We could pull water tubers, skiers, etc., we could outrun most boats on the lake. Livewell (pump doesn't work; and nearly impossible to replace since it's behind the engine; so I have a secondary pump that requires me to put a hose over the side of the boat & can only be used when stationary) for all the fish we kept (all were released though), built in tackle-boxes (that I've never used in the past 8 years), trolling motor that I never use, etc. I can't wait until this weekend to get back to the boat. HOPEFULLY, I can go a couple of days without needing to work on something in the boat, but it looks like a slight ding to the prop when some large waves nailed us when we were anchored in fairly shallow water (bounced the boat) might mean I need to replace the prop (and have this one remachined for only about $100).

 

[Imp]

Get a jet ski and a cottage on a lake?

 

[poofyhairguy]

I have a boat, 18.5 foot Glastron ski/fish combo, 190HP Volvo Penta I/O. At the place we stay, definitely smaller lake than Lake Ontario (though, just a few miles from the 1000 Islands), it's one of the nicer boats. And, from a conversation over a few beers, it seems some people sort of envy the nicer fiberglass boats, instead of their lighter, more barebones aluminum boats with outboard motors on them (same length of boat). As we discussed, we compared the gas costs - I spend nearly 3 times as much on gas for the same amount of riding around. We discussed maintenance - ditto, much more for me. We discussed the upfront cost - ditto again. I don't regret having my boat at all, and am glad I can afford to actually use it. It's a piece of cake to burn through a 30 gallon tank of gas in a day (or more) - and most of the time, if you're on the water, your choice is non-ethanol gasoline, about $1 per gallon than at a regular gas station. And, that's the perfect price point - to save $30 on a fill-up, are you going to drive to a boat launch, wait in line, pull the boat, drive to a gas station, back to the boat launch, launch the boat (2nd person required to drive vehicle)? Or, are you going to drive to a gas station and bring back a load of 5 gallon gas cans? Nope.

Last two weeks: promised my son he could have the boat for a week, and especially didn't want him to miss the first couple of days, since he was taking a Marine friend who was home briefly from Afghanistan, out fishing. So, I overnighted a $300+ part to get the boat on the water. Wrong model. So, I drove a little over 5 hours to the only Marina in NY (apparently) that had the water pump in stock; payed an extra $100 over the online price. Had to replace the bilge pump a day later; it was old and the motor went. Cheap - $25 - but a major pita to put in, unless you're anorexic and a contortionist. When I replaced the water pump, I wished I had told them I wanted the belts too; the store was open, but the parts department was in a different building and closed the day I picked up the water pump. Two or three times, the belts started squealing; I tightened them up. On the way to the dock in the middle of the week, they started squealing again; nothing I could do in the middle of the lake; 1 mile to go. Didn't make it. One of the belts self-destructed. Had to be towed in to the dock. No local dealer to get the v-belts. None of the marinas with parts had the right size - they serviced other brands; not my brand. So, a 30 minute (each way) trip to an auto-parts store. They couldn't look up the size either. So, we tried to match as closely as possible; it took three half-hour trips (each way) before I had a pair of belts that would work; missed half a day of boating/fishing as a result. 2nd week: needed to replace the sending unit for the gas gauge; the old one was reporting "full" the entire time. Again, no local dealer, but at one of the marinas, "they're fairly universal" - the 5 mounting holes matched up perfectly, though the unit was about 3/4 of an inch shorter. No problem - when it says "empty," that means I still have another 3/4 of an inch of gasoline in there, right? Great! No one will every allow it to get close and run out of gas. Well, (duh), it works on resistance. Apparently, the resistance when the new one was empty = the resistance my old unit had when it was 1/4 tank. That is, 1 mile from the dock (coincidentally, about 100 yards from where the v-belt broke), I ran out of gas, with a gauge that said 1/4 tank.

Nailed it. That is boat ownership.

 

[blackdogdeek]

I have a boat, 18.5 foot Glastron ski/fish combo, 190HP Volvo Penta I/O. At the place we stay, definitely smaller lake than Lake Ontario (though, just a few miles from the 1000 Islands), it's one of the nicer boats. And, from a conversation over a few beers, it seems some people sort of envy the nicer fiberglass boats, instead of their lighter, more barebones aluminum boats with outboard motors on them (same length of boat). As we discussed, we compared the gas costs - I spend nearly 3 times as much on gas for the same amount of riding around. We discussed maintenance - ditto, much more for me. We discussed the upfront cost - ditto again. I don't regret having my boat at all, and am glad I can afford to actually use it. It's a piece of cake to burn through a 30 gallon tank of gas in a day (or more) - and most of the time, if you're on the water, your choice is non-ethanol gasoline, about $1 per gallon than at a regular gas station. And, that's the perfect price point - to save $30 on a fill-up, are you going to drive to a boat launch, wait in line, pull the boat, drive to a gas station, back to the boat launch, launch the boat (2nd person required to drive vehicle)? Or, are you going to drive to a gas station and bring back a load of 5 gallon gas cans? Nope.

Last two weeks: promised my son he could have the boat for a week, and especially didn't want him to miss the first couple of days, since he was taking a Marine friend who was home briefly from Afghanistan, out fishing. So, I overnighted a $300+ part to get the boat on the water. Wrong model. So, I drove a little over 5 hours to the only Marina in NY (apparently) that had the water pump in stock; payed an extra $100 over the online price. Had to replace the bilge pump a day later; it was old and the motor went. Cheap - $25 - but a major pita to put in, unless you're anorexic and a contortionist. When I replaced the water pump, I wished I had told them I wanted the belts too; the store was open, but the parts department was in a different building and closed the day I picked up the water pump. Two or three times, the belts started squealing; I tightened them up. On the way to the dock in the middle of the week, they started squealing again; nothing I could do in the middle of the lake; 1 mile to go. Didn't make it. One of the belts self-destructed. Had to be towed in to the dock. No local dealer to get the v-belts. None of the marinas with parts had the right size - they serviced other brands; not my brand. So, a 30 minute (each way) trip to an auto-parts store. They couldn't look up the size either. So, we tried to match as closely as possible; it took three half-hour trips (each way) before I had a pair of belts that would work; missed half a day of boating/fishing as a result. 2nd week: needed to replace the sending unit for the gas gauge; the old one was reporting "full" the entire time. Again, no local dealer, but at one of the marinas, "they're fairly universal" - the 5 mounting holes matched up perfectly, though the unit was about 3/4 of an inch shorter. No problem - when it says "empty," that means I still have another 3/4 of an inch of gasoline in there, right? Great! No one will every allow it to get close and run out of gas. Well, (duh), it works on resistance. Apparently, the resistance when the new one was empty = the resistance my old unit had when it was 1/4 tank. That is, 1 mile from the dock (coincidentally, about 100 yards from where the v-belt broke), I ran out of gas, with a gauge that said 1/4 tank.

So, that's 2 weeks of boating. We could pull water tubers, skiers, etc., we could outrun most boats on the lake. Livewell (pump doesn't work; and nearly impossible to replace since it's behind the engine; so I have a secondary pump that requires me to put a hose over the side of the boat & can only be used when stationary) for all the fish we kept (all were released though), built in tackle-boxes (that I've never used in the past 8 years), trolling motor that I never use, etc. I can't wait until this weekend to get back to the boat. HOPEFULLY, I can go a couple of days without needing to work on something in the boat, but it looks like a slight ding to the prop when some large waves nailed us when we were anchored in fairly shallow water (bounced the boat) might mean I need to replace the prop (and have this one remachined for only about $100).

holy crap

 

[slag]

I just saw those two quotes on a boating site. Lots of regrets out there with boat purchases.

As with most things, boating comes down to what you put into it. If you think that you'll pull up to the marina and just hop in your boat and take off, have a cooler full of drinks, relaxation, etc, then take it back to the marina, drop it off, and then go home, you better have a big wallet. This is unrealistic for most of us.

Boating can be fun. I dry store my boat about 2 miles from the lake. Its an 18.5 foot bowrider that I have a walmart cover on. I change the oil, outdrive lube, and fuel filter yearly. Every 2-3 years, I replace the water pump impeller and spark plugs and also the bellows if needed. It's relatively cheap as I can do these things myself.

If I had to pay someone to do it, I don't know if I'd have a boat. I've been out two times this year due to scouts, ball practices, ball games, etc. Now that ball season is winding down, I plan on going out to the lake (a 10 minute drive from the house), a few times a week at least.

What I do know is that as a family, we enjoy boating. We like to tube, water ski, anchor and dive off the swim platform, and just plain explore the lake. It's relaxing, its enjoyment, and its excercise for all of us.


EDIT for DR Pizza. I'd love to have a volvo penta setup. The only drawback (to me), is that while I consider the quality of the volvo better than that of mercruiser, there are 10x more mercruiser dealerships and parts available than volvo and, as you stated, parts seem more expensive. Everyone knows someone with an old mercruiser motor lying around or has access to parts for one it seems.

 

[DesiPower]

I have a boat, 18.5 foot Glastron ski/fish combo, 190HP Volvo Penta I/O. At the place we stay, definitely smaller lake than Lake Ontario (though, just a few miles from the 1000 Islands), it's one of the nicer boats. And, from a conversation over a few beers, it seems some people sort of envy the nicer fiberglass boats, instead of their lighter, more barebones aluminum boats with outboard motors on them (same length of boat). As we discussed, we compared the gas costs - I spend nearly 3 times as much on gas for the same amount of riding around. We discussed maintenance - ditto, much more for me. We discussed the upfront cost - ditto again. I don't regret having my boat at all, and am glad I can afford to actually use it. It's a piece of cake to burn through a 30 gallon tank of gas in a day (or more) - and most of the time, if you're on the water, your choice is non-ethanol gasoline, about $1 per gallon than at a regular gas station. And, that's the perfect price point - to save $30 on a fill-up, are you going to drive to a boat launch, wait in line, pull the boat, drive to a gas station, back to the boat launch, launch the boat (2nd person required to drive vehicle)? Or, are you going to drive to a gas station and bring back a load of 5 gallon gas cans? Nope.

Last two weeks: promised my son he could have the boat for a week, and especially didn't want him to miss the first couple of days, since he was taking a Marine friend who was home briefly from Afghanistan, out fishing. So, I overnighted a $300+ part to get the boat on the water. Wrong model. So, I drove a little over 5 hours to the only Marina in NY (apparently) that had the water pump in stock; payed an extra $100 over the online price. Had to replace the bilge pump a day later; it was old and the motor went. Cheap - $25 - but a major pita to put in, unless you're anorexic and a contortionist. When I replaced the water pump, I wished I had told them I wanted the belts too; the store was open, but the parts department was in a different building and closed the day I picked up the water pump. Two or three times, the belts started squealing; I tightened them up. On the way to the dock in the middle of the week, they started squealing again; nothing I could do in the middle of the lake; 1 mile to go. Didn't make it. One of the belts self-destructed. Had to be towed in to the dock. No local dealer to get the v-belts. None of the marinas with parts had the right size - they serviced other brands; not my brand. So, a 30 minute (each way) trip to an auto-parts store. They couldn't look up the size either. So, we tried to match as closely as possible; it took three half-hour trips (each way) before I had a pair of belts that would work; missed half a day of boating/fishing as a result. 2nd week: needed to replace the sending unit for the gas gauge; the old one was reporting "full" the entire time. Again, no local dealer, but at one of the marinas, "they're fairly universal" - the 5 mounting holes matched up perfectly, though the unit was about 3/4 of an inch shorter. No problem - when it says "empty," that means I still have another 3/4 of an inch of gasoline in there, right? Great! No one will every allow it to get close and run out of gas. Well, (duh), it works on resistance. Apparently, the resistance when the new one was empty = the resistance my old unit had when it was 1/4 tank. That is, 1 mile from the dock (coincidentally, about 100 yards from where the v-belt broke), I ran out of gas, with a gauge that said 1/4 tank.

So, that's 2 weeks of boating. We could pull water tubers, skiers, etc., we could outrun most boats on the lake. Livewell (pump doesn't work; and nearly impossible to replace since it's behind the engine; so I have a secondary pump that requires me to put a hose over the side of the boat & can only be used when stationary) for all the fish we kept (all were released though), built in tackle-boxes (that I've never used in the past 8 years), trolling motor that I never use, etc. I can't wait until this weekend to get back to the boat. HOPEFULLY, I can go a couple of days without needing to work on something in the boat, but it looks like a slight ding to the prop when some large waves nailed us when we were anchored in fairly shallow water (bounced the boat) might mean I need to replace the prop (and have this one remachined for only about $100).

Damn, don't you wish Dodge or GM made boat engines, all parts available at neighborhood Autozone...

 

[Markbnj]

Nailed it. That is boat ownership.

Yep, but for plenty of people it is worth it as a way of life. The trouble is how expensive it is for people who don't think it is worth it to find out they don't think it is worth it.

The rule of thumb, which has been stable for as long as I've been around the water, is to figure on 10% of hull value per year in various maintenance costs.

 

[slag]

Damn, don't you wish Dodge or GM made boat engines, all parts available at neighborhood Autozone...

GM blocks are used for mercruiser engines. There are differences, (brass plugs, different cams, etc), but yeah, you can run down to the auto parts store to get many parts for these engines.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Yep, but for plenty of people it is worth it as a way of life. The trouble is how expensive it is for people who don't think it is worth it to find out they don't think it is worth it.

The rule of thumb, which has been stable for as long as I've been around the water, is to figure on 10% of hull value per year in various maintenance costs.

Sure if I lived on the water it would be fine. For a weekend activity it sucks having to always fight boat problems.

In a decade plus of having jetskies the worst thing is I have to replace the battery every couple of years.