Boaters, tell me about it, cost, fun, lifestyle

Some of my best times on the water. Nothing like cruising around in the Ol' sweetwater music playing , cold drinks.

14 foot flat bottom. My own lake. Cost ,zero. Fishing is great.

BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand....unless it is a simple, flat bottom. Everything else is a money hole.

Terrible, terrible place to hide your silver it only invites disaster.

Cost zero?



Flat bottom

You running a scarab???

True story

Go with a bass tracker

As cost effective as it’s gonna get

Op

There’s hundreds of sailing/ boating channels on YouTube

They’ll tell ya straight

It’s a passion and cost a lot of money with plenty of work

If you’re gonna buy a boat

Start small

Decent boat? $200 everytime you turn the key.

The happiest day of your life is the day you get a boat,
the second happiest is the day you sell the bastard

a boat is a hole in the water you fill with money

I don't count the bourbon. I would have had that on shore anyway.

My sailboat has a flat tire.

Don’t drink and boat

Get you a DUI

I've been looking at the 2019 G3 Angler 16 footers. Seems like a sweet deal...

This.

"B-O-A-T" definition from above is accurate.

VERY expensive for anything that isn't a very small generic flat bottom fishing boat or canoe/kayak.

On the other hand .... LOTS OF FUN ... if the boat you get FITS your recreational desires.

I am a sailor, and even without the expense of fuel, it is still EXPENSIVE to buy and maintain a decent "small" sailboat that is safe for big water (30'+- or larger). I love it, have done it for decades now, and for me it has been well worth the cost.

I have friends who have Speed Boats and water ski with them, socialize in groups with them, etc., but even the ones that buy much older "used"Speed Boats still spend as much per year on them as I spend on my sailboat. They have LOADS of fun with their boats, but that is a different kind of boating than what I want to do.

Dedicated Fishing Boats (Bass Boats) ... OMG, they put the cost to buy and maintain the other types of boats to shame. Expensive as Shit!! (same with open ocean going "Fishing" boat)

Pontoon Boats overall are probably the cheapest motorized boat to buy and run, except for generic 12'-14' aluminum flat bottom skiff ... basicallly that kind of boating is like sitting in one's living room with a bunch of friends cruising around at about 5 knots for a relaxing day on the water. They used to be a great way to relax and drink while on the water, but alas at least around here they have gotten so enforcement minded that you can't even drink on them anymore while you are cruising around.

B-O-A-T ... if you have the money and want to do what the particular boat does then they can be a lot of fun during the warmer months of the year.

Best way to go

Best bang for your buck

Outboard, easy to work on and service

Boats are a ton of fun but you need to be ready for the inevitable costs associated with them. They are complex pieces of machinery that operate in a harsh environment so therefore, stuff goes wrong with them from time to time. If you cannot handle the maintenance and repairs yourself, then be ready to (as another poster said) "bust out another thousand".

Before I bought one I just rented a boat whenever I needed one. That way you can try a bunch of different types (fishing, pontoon, ski, etc) and different horsepower, I/O versus outboard, etc. For the $300+ per day, it ended up being more cost effective to rent one 5 or 6 times a year than to buy, maintain, store, register, insure, trailer & repair one of my own.

Most importantly, take a safety course and never drink while boating. Once you crack open a beer, keep it on the dock.

Well here’s my advice and I’ve got a lot of experience with this. I make about $300,000-$500,000 most years and live about a quarter mile from the ocean and our marina so I can get plenty of use if need be but here’s the thing.

If you live in a cold climate your boat season is about 4 months, maybe 5 if you put it in early. You need to pay for the boat, the dock fees, fuel, constantly cleaning it, if you aren’t towing it back to your home in the winter you need to pay the marina to winterize and store it. These fees add up quickly and we aren’t even talking about repairs which are always popping up here and there and this is for a boat that you may use 10-15x a year max for most people. Most generally use it even less then that if they work full time.

It’s a huge waste of money to purchase your own boat and do this but on the flip side you can look into boat club memberships where you pay an entry rate usually $2,000-$3,000 to join and then an annual rate usually anywhere from $3000-$5000 a year and you can use hundreds of boats in different lakes, oceans, salt ponds most of these boats are $80,000-$200,000 retail and are kept in great condition and have all the toys, floats, yacht wood interiors and you can use them as often as you want. Usually you just need to put in the requests online for what boat you want to use on what day and on what water body to reserve it. No fuel charges, no needing to clean it, no boat payments, no dock slip fees and the memberships are year by year so if after 2 years you decide you don’t boat enough to get your moneys worth then you drop your membership.

That’s the way to do boating unless you want a little small tow behind fresh water fishing vessel that costs peanuts.

Not on my lake.

Make a friend with a boat. Never buy one

Depends on what you are going to use it for and what kind of waters you will be on. Do some research before you decide how much money you have for upkeep.

Anyone want to buy mine? Seattle area.

I did that and the message I got was - "The best day of my life was when I bought my boat and the second best day of my life is when I sold my boat."

drowning.

Watch, Cabin Boy. It’s a fine tale of the sea.

Maybe you can get one of Phil Swift's previous rides for a deal, he keeps making new ones.

Two best days of my life, the day we bought our boat and the day we sold it...

Here is the best financial advice you’ll ever get - EVER...

READY????

WAIT FOR IT...



WAIT FOR IT...


WAIT FOR IT...



If it flies, floats or fucks, RENT IT, DO NOT BUY IT.

When you rent it, use it and pay for it, you’re DONE writing checks.

When you buy it, you’ve just BEGUN writing checks.


Hope this helps.

Here is the best financial advice you’ll ever get - EVER...

READY????

WAIT FOR IT...



WAIT FOR IT...


WAIT FOR IT...



If it flies, floats or fucks, RENT IT, DO NOT BUY IT.

When you rent it, use it and pay for it, you’re DONE writing checks.

When you buy it, you’ve just BEGUN writing checks.


Hope this helps.