Do I Charter, Buy or Rent

[JPA Cate]

#4, of course!

Buy a trailer sailer! Sure, it's camping out, but it's also Southern California. Keep the sucker in your driveway! Sail the pants off it. Might move it to a marina for convenience, later on. Then move up to a new 30 footer, when and as $$ becomes available. Limits the investment, and you can have heaps of fun! My Jim's second boat was a Catalina 22, called Kookaburra, and he had great times with it. In San Francisco Bay, and elsewhere. Took it on the trailer to Port Angeles, WA, and sailed into Canada, with his first wife and their kids.

Ann

[mwmsea]

I agree with most others views. Get more experience and go race crew with others. Racers always looking for enthusiastic crew.
until you have experienced a lot of boats and most importantly decide how you will use a boat if you own it, I would definitely charter and pick the brains and experience of knowledgeable sailors with loads of experience doing coastal as well as ocean crossings.

Buying a boat, one always wants/wishes for something newer, better, faster, more comfortable etc....Until you plan to really go cruising and make it your residence, I would not buy a boat. All boats are expensive to own and maintain.

Hope this helps. Oh and by the way the least amount of equipment the better if you are just coastal day sailing. Boat dealers will try to sell you on all the options and gadgets. Most are expensive and not worth having unless you plan on living on the yacht and long distance cruising.

capt.Mike

[Jim Cate]

If your ultimate goal is to go cruising, buying your own boat, while not economically the best option, IMO is the best way to get the experience that you need to be a successful cruiser. Charters and rentals get you some on the water time, and can hone your sailing skills, as can racing on OPBs. But the skills that will be needed cruising are not addressed in these approaches. It is an oft-ignored fact that cruising tests far more skill sets than mere sailing. If you look at the many posts here on CF, far more are asking for help in what are basic maintenance and repair affairs than those asking about sailing skills. Hands (and checkbook) on experience isn't fast acqired, so the sooner you engage that part of the life, the better off you will be when you cast off the dock lines and go "out there".

A few posts ago, Ann suggested that a mid size trailer sailor is the obvious answer to your question... and I agree. It will not have all the systems of a full blown cruiser, but it will have the basics, and they will need maintenance and repair in time. Having the boat parked in your back yard will give you the time and access to deal with these things, and the learning process will be all the quicker for you.

If you buy a boat that is at least 5-7 years old, and simply do the normal maintenance whilst sailing the hell out of her, you should not have much capital loss when you move up to a larger boat... much less than the cost of one two week charter in some exotic venue. In fact, the initial cost of the boat and trailer is likely to be less than that charter!

Chartering can be fun and can expose you to some interesting locations, but it isn't much of a learning spike... it's a vacation! All your needs and most of your wants are prepackaged and presented on a platter. If there is a problem with the boat, you call the office and they dispatch a fixer. You have another beer and wait...

Anyhow, that's how I see it!

Jim

[mindwip]

Way more comments then i was expecting!


Buy a trailer sailer!
Did not think of this option. I have a few issues, no truck to tow it and no place to store it, ie no driveway. Of course not opposed to a truck either! i am sure i could find a place for storage cheaper then a slip. Heck a truck and sailboat and trailer might be cheaper then option 1 and 2 lol! Dont mind small fast sailboats, one of the reasons i took the lido 14 class 3 times.

Crew in races
Did not think of this one at all! Will ask around. Free sailing and beer... Cant argue with that.

Depreciation/work
Not worried about, accepted as part of sailing. Charter company does a lot of the work at a "discount". So that "helps"

Fractional ownership
Looked at a couple companies that do this and really only liked it as being the owner, then splitting it with others. But most want a new sail boat while my charter company is ok with just newer. Maybe done with just an informal group, that would be better. but i did sorta give up on this one in favor of others.

Options 3/4 seem to take the win by a huge margin! Never crewed in a race and not sure where to start but i will start to ask around. I agree that this would be a good path to go down before buying a sailboat. At the very least will be on more sailboats and of course learn learn learn. Internet shopping is fun so i might have to start looking at trailer sailboats this year too. Admit only really looked at 30plus sailboats so far

Thanks all!

[UNCIVILIZED]

Buy a used F-31 trimaran, or 2nd choice, a sub 30' trailerable mono. You can use it whenever you like, as well as tow it anywhere in N. America in a couple of days. Tri's are light, so towing's easy. Plus F-boats are plentiful on the used market, & have decent resale. Also, they're a blast, are decent short term cruisers even with the family. Friends will help you maintain one, enthusiastically given their fun factor, & sometimes in exchange for sailing on her & or borrowing her. Plus this option frees you up to sail on other folks boats when you so choose. And you can charter something bigger for extended family vacations in exotic locales. At least until you step up to a big cruiser. By which time you'll have enough experience to know what'll work for you.

[markwesti]

Originally Posted by Ann T. Cate

#4, of course!

Buy a trailer sailer! Sure, it's camping out, but it's also Southern California. Keep the sucker in your driveway! Sail the pants off it. Might move it to a marina for convenience, later on. Then move up to a new 30 footer, when and as $$ becomes available. Limits the investment, and you can have heaps of fun! My Jim's second boat was a Catalina 22, called Kookaburra, and he had great times with it. In San Francisco Bay, and elsewhere. Took it on the trailer to Port Angeles, WA, and sailed into Canada, with his first wife and their kids.

Ann

Keep in the drive way , there goes the neighborhood .

[markwesti]

mindwip , sounds like you want a race boat ? Alamitos Bay Marina is under going a rebuild as I'm sure you know , they kinda messed up , well no, they messed up big . They will only have one and a half gang ways for 30 footers I hope I'm wrong but I don't think so but there will be a years long wait list for a 30 foot slip . However they will have excess 25 foot slips . In a 25 foot slip you are allowed up to 29'11" . IMO get a 29 something PHRF boat . A good friend of mine has a 29 Ranger he races it all summer long also he does what they call the Island series , they race over to Catalina and then race back the next day . It is a hoot . Also you could pick up something like the Ranger for a song . Good luck , maybe I'll see you around .
PS Back in the mid 80s' we (I) were contemplating a trailer sailor Ms. would not have any of it , to much work for a day sail . Over the years (beers) I have known a few trailer types they always complain about what a long day it is dealing with all involved . They either get out of the sport or get a slip .

[jkindredpdx]

#5 Go in with a couple partners... something like a Catalina 22 should cost <$10K and would be ideal day sailor/camper, then graduate up to an older <$50k 28-36 foot depending on your goals.