Gotta admit I amazed..

[Tspringer]

Originally Posted by Kai Nui

What's the world coming to? Here it is the kayakers that think it is fun to paddle between the ammas of the trimarans, and like to wedge against the boats to sit and watch the birds. It seems to apply to all ages, so I do not think it is generation specific. The fact is, "Bling" rules the world. For many, a boat is a status symbol (as it has been for years) but with average incomes for the upper middle class being more in the 6 figure range, dropping a few hundred K for a 50 footer to show off to your friends is a heck of allot easier than it used to be. Determining who are the weekend warriors, and who are the cruisers is easy. Just ask them why they chose the boat they did. If the answer is long the lines of wanting lots of deck space for all the bikini clad ladies, you have a pretty good idea of what you are dealing with. If it is along the lines of, "I need seperate cabins for my teenagers" or "I will be sailing with a crew" you can bet some serious thought went into the size of the boat.

I sure agree with this!

The entire "Bling" culture baffles me. Why such people think that other people give a crap about the stuff they show off is beyond me. I have a news flash for such people: nobody really cares, nobody is thinking about you or your stuff anywhere near as much as you think they are and one day your going to wake up wondering whether you own all this stuff or IT owns YOU.

But it can be difficult to judge. I own vintage sportscars because I have been a gear head all my life and playing with them is a passion. But I am sure some neighbors see a car in the driveway and think all sorts of silly stuff (though most probably have no idea what it is).

If I were planning on going cruising with just my wife, a boat under 40' would be my choice. But with 2 teenagers and active grandparents who will want to visit frequently a smaller boat just isnt realistic. If the family is uncomfortable or unhappy the cruising life wont last long. We DO plan to build as much experience as possible before buying a boat including probably joining the local lake based Sailtime group to have access to use their Hunter 33's frequently and doing 1-2 charter vacations per year. Competence is something I put a priority on and I WILL NOT be the idiot without a clue making a moron of himself regardless of the boat size.

My long term dream once the kids are gone is for my wife and I to run an adventure oriented charter boat. I honestly think that would be a blast and would hopefully prevent the need to return to the business that makes me good money but also sucks the life out of me! Im to the point where I dont want money... I want freedom.

Anyhow, great thread and I really appreciate reading all the opinions. This site is a tremendous learning tool and I hope to get more involved!



Terry

[senormechanico]

How do you get rid of the PWC'S???

Do what the folks did in San Juan County in Washington State.

They outlawed them in the county. The law banning them went to the State Supreme Court and was held consitutional. We now have a completely pwc free place to sail, and with the high cost of fuel these days it's also getting quite free of huge powerboat wakes as well.

Steve B.

[Tspringer]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

How do you get rid of the PWC'S???

Do what the folks did in San Juan County in Washington State.

They outlawed them in the county. The law banning them went to the State Supreme Court and was held consitutional. We now have a completely pwc free place to sail, and with the high cost of fuel these days it's also getting quite free of huge powerboat wakes as well.

Steve B.

Its wonderful when the Govt. starts banning peope from having fun.

Lets hope the commercial shipping lobby doesnt decide that sailboats are a pain in the butt....




Terry

Originally Posted by senormechanico

How do you get rid of the PWC'S???

Do what the folks did in San Juan County in Washington State.

They outlawed them in the county. The law banning them went to the State Supreme Court and was held consitutional. We now have a completely pwc free place to sail, and with the high cost of fuel these days it's also getting quite free of huge powerboat wakes as well.

Steve B.

While the attitude so prevailent among PWC owners is a problem, the solution is not to outlaw them. In the Montery Marine Sanctuary (Including Montery Bay), there is legislation in process to ban PWC's. In this legislation, they are discussing redefining a PWC as ANY vessel powered by machinery and less than 20' in length. I heard this on the local NPR station, and that is all the detail I have at this point, but I will start a thread on it as soon as I learn more. It's relevance to this thread is the fact that as soon as you start to legislate who can and can not be on the water, and what vessel they can operate on the water, the residual effects will hurt all of us. There are 4 anchorages in the bay. None of which will be usable if we can not dinghy in from the boat. I suppose we can stick with oar power, but we shouldn't have to.

[S/V Elusive]

http://www.surfline.com/community/wh...ws.cfm?id=1051

which led to:

http://montereybay.nos.noaa.gov/sac/...003/sacmin.pdf

These meetings, and results were in 2003 (July) - this was the ONLY July meeting in their history. The results were to be reported on by October 2006 - perhaps this is why we are just now hearing of this ?? FYI (Kai), Linda is on the board.

Although I have not been able to find it, the piece I heard is more recent (This month) I wonder if they are just bringing an unresolved issue back to the surface? Figures our illustrious harbor manager would be a part of that.

[ssullivan]

Wow, Kai... that is downright FRIGHTENING! I'm amazed that the elite are actually thinking of banning the less fortunate from the water (by not allowing watercraft under 20ft). I'll bite my tongue on this one, but had to express the shock.

Sadly, it is the greenies banning what they do not understand because a few morons like to scare the harbor seals. It is not a class thing. In fact, our harbor manager who was mentioned, wouldn't know a bow from a stern if someone hadn't recentlytold her where to put the pointy end. While she is a bit of an ivory tower type this decision realy is about legislating a general group due to the bad habits of a few.

[Octopus]

I guess we are guilty of this charge of buying big without sufficient experience. We have ordered a new Lagoon 420 catamaran.

• Having never sailed anything larger than 30ft
• Having not sailed for nine years.
• Having never handled a big boat in a marina.

Why have we done it? To save time and money. The upgrade/upsize route is too slow and expensive. We figure we have to learn sometime and the most economic way to do that learning, in terms of both time and money, is to do it on a boat that fits our needs (i.e. can accommodate our family in safety and comfort). Hopefully we will not hit too many other boats while learning!

I confess that handling our boat in a crowded marina or anchorage, dealing with difficult tides, currents and winds, is one of our greatest concerns, so we will keep out of harms way until we have gained sufficient confidence and expertise. Fortunately the Lagoon 420, with its twin electric props is reported to be easy to manoevre.

Are we stupid, foolish, crazy, uncaring or thoughtless? I don't think so - but then who am I to judge.

[markpj23]

Originally Posted by Tspringer

Its wonderful when the Govt. starts banning peope from having fun.

Lets hope the commercial shipping lobby doesnt decide that sailboats are a pain in the butt....

Terry

Hear hear!! Be careful what we wish for! Previous attempts to legislate personal responsibility have failed miserably... from Prohibition through helmet laws.

Wonder why we're such a litigious society? The theme of this thread says it all... it seems as if personal responsibility and / or civility is no longer taught to our children... and perhaps US as well.

Good time to be a lawyer eh?

[Vasco]

420hull58,

Congrats on the new boat. You raise a good point the big boat bashers have not mentioned - sooner or later you have to run the "big" boat. There's always the first time, whether you didn't have a boat before or moved up from a 30 footer you still have to learn the idiosyncrasies of the new boat. There's always the first time. Of course the more experience you have, the easier this should be. I can understand the rationale for going to one right away. "Time and money" two great reasons!!

[southernman]

My 2 cents - look it has nothing to do with the size of the boat - it comes down to how easy it is to sail/power in various conditions. Our 38 foot steel Koopmans weighed 11 ton's and with a long keel was a pig to back out of the berth or man into a tight spot. It was differcult to sail and had small sheet winches which made it a differcult boat for the inexperienced. Compare that to our new Farr 55 footer which some people would call a bling yacht. It is a LOT easier to dock, a lot easier to sail and has a huge wheel which means my wife can helm with ease. It also has a bow thruster. Frankly in these days of cheap big yachts why wouldn't you get a bigger yacht?

[Canibul]

When small boats are outlawed, only outlaws will have small boats. I plan to be one of them.

[cardiacpaul]

Wow, I love this thread.
big vs small, ease of use & experience vs. "learning the right way".
My S/O aka "The Cuban" has a wonderful outlook on all of this.
There is your way, and the right way, which just happens to be hers.
So, my favorite way to get her wound up is to respond...
"Why don't we compromise and do it your way?"
it never fails

I believe that if a person is willing to learn, go big or stay on the porch. I can't, and don't want to care about what tub people buy as long as I'm safe around them. If I'm not, I back away.

While I'm at it however, heres something that just brings a smile to me ugly mug.
Lets say a person is going to buy the boat they just have to have. The call me for a survey and ask "how much will you charge me?" Ok, my prices are on my website, so I just quote them. The next question is...

"Can I get a discount?"
you're looking at laying out 100k for your dream, and you're cranking on me for less than $600.00???
LOL, Sure, I say, which part of the survey do you want me to leave out.

[Connemara]

well, that's our plan.... just bought a Mirage 27 (as it came out of the water for winter, sigh) and plan to spend a few years learning how to sail/cruise a small boat before stumping up the cash for something with three staterooms, a formal salon, and a billiard room. But we do want the big boat one day soon


MS