Jump to content

The Boat Fanatic Thread


Yarbr

Recommended Posts



My dream is to spend a couple of years cruising Mexico. Know quite a few people who've done it. Sailed to Cabo and back when I was a teen. But the Sea of Cortez and mainland Mex have some great cruising grounds. Gets really hot though. Not sure I'll be able to sell the wife on it. May be decision time when retirement rolls around.

Getting ready to head to Catalina in the am with 4 other HS buddies. Likely to be a bit of a shitshow. But fun. Weather is expected to be perfect. Hope I can snag a mooring. Southern Cross is locked and loaded.
f93db9faaecc189f9a459e173caba5b7.jpg


You should do it. We’d meet up with you on shore. We are strongly considering buying a place down here in the next few years and if we do I’ll be purchasing a motor yacht and trying to defray costs by putting in a charter fleet. Could be a fishing boat could be just a cabin cruiser not sure. But one thing for sure, the waters in the bay are easy and the beaches down the southern part are amazing. I could easily see sunset cruises and weekend anchors in coves like that for the rest of my days. Going back in October with a friend of ours that could go halfsies with us. Could get real soon. Hope so anyway.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, troph said:

 


You should do it. We’d meet up with you on shore. We are strongly considering buying a place down here in the next few years and if we do I’ll be purchasing a motor yacht and trying to defray costs by putting in a charter fleet. Could be a fishing boat could be just a cabin cruiser not sure. But one thing for sure, the waters in the bay are easy and the beaches down the southern part are amazing. I could easily see sunset cruises and weekend anchors in coves like that for the rest of my days. Going back in October with a friend of ours that could go halfsies with us. Could get real soon. Hope so anyway.

 

The numbers don’t work chartering out your boat to defray costs. Don’t let that be a factor in your boat decision.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It can work under the right scenario. I have several clients (3 in the Caribbean and 1 in Costa Rica off the top of my head) that do it on a limited basis and it works fine and covers some of the costs of the boat. However, they have very high end setups that have some exclusivity and they only do it because they use them 6-8 weeks a year. Personally, I don’t want to share my stuff. Beach house, boat, whatever, I don’t want to deal with someone using it. We’ve had a lady rent our house during high season for two years and this year will probably be the end of that. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It can work under the right scenario. I have several clients (3 in the Caribbean and 1 in Costa Rica off the top of my head) that do it on a limited basis and it works fine and covers some of the costs of the boat. However, they have very high end setups that have some exclusivity and they only do it because they use them 6-8 weeks a year. Personally, I don’t want to share my stuff. Beach house, boat, whatever, I don’t want to deal with someone using it. We’ve had a lady rent our house during high season for two years and this year will probably be the end of that. 
Yep. Nobody but me sleeps in my bed. If i can't afford it without renting it out, I'm not buying it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right but as @Chewbacca said, it usually ignores the cost of the wear and tear on your boat and pushes you much faster towards your engine service hours, which isn’t cheap at all on diesel inboard boats. Our service interval was cut in half when we were running even occasional charters. I’ve chartered my boat off and on for nearly 10 years and know a lot of people that do it. There are several reasons for doing it, but defraying the cost isn’t one of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I’m not as possessive. I also don’t need to cover all costs. But taking $7500 a month down to $4000 a month would be a big deal. That may be too much wear and tear though. I have a couple of leads in PV to reach out to. Maybe the point there is if I have a budget of $50k per year maybe I find a boat I like in a charter fleet and rent it when I want to go out and leave it at that. $50k will go a long way. Or bump up to higher and don’t buy real estate just live on a boat. Gf probs won’t go for that.

Long term goal if it’s achievable is to have a place on lake Travis, in PV and possibly something like Italy or Portugal all paid off as my retirement nest egg - could even partner with another couple - and rotate while renting the other two or three. I figure why not add a boat to that mix in at least PV? Maybe a bad idea. I know rent it if it floats fucks or flies well I’m a sucker for boats like I am girls so you know how it goes... all in when I see one I like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right but as [mention=1769]Chewbacca[/mention] said, it usually ignores the cost of the wear and tear on your boat and pushes you much faster towards your engine service hours, which isn’t cheap at all on diesel inboard boats. Our service interval was cut in half when we were running even occasional charters. I’ve chartered my boat off and on for nearly 10 years and know a lot of people that do it. There are several reasons for doing it, but defraying the cost isn’t one of them.

What are the reasons to do it. I’m really interested in your thoughts as an owner of a boat not unlike what I might look at.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, troph said:

Well I’m not as possessive. I also don’t need to cover all costs. But taking $7500 a month down to $4000 a month would be a big deal. That may be too much wear and tear though. I have a couple of leads in PV to reach out to. Maybe the point there is if I have a budget of $50k per year maybe I find a boat I like in a charter fleet and rent it when I want to go out and leave it at that. $50k will go a long way. Or bump up to higher and don’t buy real estate just live on a boat. Gf probs won’t go for that.

Long term goal if it’s achievable is to have a place on lake Travis, in PV and possibly something like Italy or Portugal all paid off as my retirement nest egg - could even partner with another couple - and rotate while renting the other two or three. I figure why not add a boat to that mix in at least PV? Maybe a bad idea. I know rent it if it floats fucks or flies well I’m a sucker for boats like I am girls so you know how it goes... all in when I see one I like.

I don’t know that I’m possessive as much as you just don’t know what you are getting with rentals. The lady that rents our house is an older lady and it’s just her. She sleeps in one of the kids rooms, so it’s not an issue. Right after we bought it we let someone else use it for a month and they ended up letting other people use it and it just wasn’t a good experience. From a boat perspective, shared ownership may be a reasonable option. I’m at the beach 2 months a year at most so I’m thinking about shared ownership now rather than buying a boat for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, troph said:


What are the reasons to do it. I’m really interested in your thoughts as an owner of a boat not unlike what I might look at.

I sort of lucked into one of the best tuna and billfish captains in the gulf and Costa Rica. Chartering my boat occasionally allowed me to pay him and the 2 deckhands a lower salary than market, because they are able to keep tip money from those trips. $500+ tips multiple times over the season adds up fast. Add to that the fact that the crew also got 25% of our tournament winnings and there are years when those extras were nearly equal or more than their salary.

Another benefit is “free” scouting trips for tournaments. We always try to book a charter 1 or 2 days prior to a tournament. So instead of our team having to pay for fuel to go check our potential areas to fish, our prefishing expenses were effectively paid for by the charter.

finally, it’s just good practice for the crew to be fishing fairly often and it’s good for the equipment to be tested regularly, and for the engines to be run regularly. But like I said with the engines it’s a fine line before you end up using them too much and need major service and overhaul, or worse a rebuild.

There are some tax advantages for some people to operate their boat as a charter, too.

I’m also with @Brew and @Chewbacca on really not liking people using my stuff and damaging a boat that we keep meticulously maintained. We were able to get around that because we were extremely picky on who we allowed to charter us and our price point is extremely high - 12 hour trips started at 3600. It also helped that I go along on probably 90% of the trips and people tend to behave better with the owner there. We also locked them out of the master stateroom.

 

 

Edited by justhookit
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting perspectives thanks guys. I doubt I’ll fish as much as you do justhookit so your reasons may not work for me. I was thinking of making sure it’s used enough to keep it in good working order. But it may be shared ownership or just charter when I want it. I’m probably not looking for $3600 per day boats though either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Troph, I’ve partnered on several boats, however always with the same person.   If you can find that right person, it should feel no different that just a split cost.  I can see where the wrong group would be an absolute disaster.  But for me, it has been nothing but positive going on 13 years now. Something to think about, anyhow. I wouldn’t charter my boats, but could possibly be talked into renting out the house to select groups. I’m not really a fan of strangers using my things. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Viking said:

"master recklessly contravening his duty" is a badass sounding charge.

Learning what is legally required of you when you operate a boat drained a lot of the fun out of boating for me.  It's damned near impossible to follow the letter of the law.  No one else on the water is either...  Oh, you want to go fishing?   Better bring a lawyer... It's cray cray

 

I've been pulled over countless times while operating a vessel, only got 2 ticket one was legit and the other was some Keys bullshit.  But I'm NOT going to fight the power.  I paid them.  Water cops are the lowest paid poor SOBs...  do NOT make them angry. 

(Protip...  1-2 hot chicks in Bikinis will help get you out of a ticket...  more than 2 will get you pulled over... all the time for "inspection")

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On August 15, 2019 at 2:21 PM, Loco said:

Learning what is legally required of you when you operate a boat drained a lot of the fun out of boating for me.  It's damned near impossible to follow the letter of the law.  No one else on the water is either...  Oh, you want to go fishing?   Better bring a lawyer... It's cray cray

This

I thought it would be fun to get my USCG Master Captains license for the knowledge, do a little chartering on inland Corp lake and helping out some friends that started a dinner cruise gig. Yeah, not so much. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A tornado in Auckland vs 56' catamaran. Fuuuuuuck.

 

 

I've been away from the boat the last 6 weeks but will be back in Florida in 2. I did get a nice email from the marina office shortly after I left that my shore power pedestal let out all of its smoke. Boats... they can't go 1 week without needing attention ($$$).

spacer.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 8/19/2019 at 1:33 PM, Viking said:

A tornado in Auckland vs 56' catamaran. Fuuuuuuck.

 

 

I've been away from the boat the last 6 weeks but will be back in Florida in 2. I did get a nice email from the marina office shortly after I left that my shore power pedestal let out all of its smoke. Boats... they can't go 1 week without needing attention ($$$).

spacer.png

That vid is nuts.  That cat blew over like it was a hobie.  and the big monohull looks like its mast hit some powerlines.

What caused the pedestal to fry?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Texaus said:

There is nothing on you boat that would do anything more than trip a breaker there, if they are holding you responsible for that I’d tell them to fuck off.

That's pretty much what I was thinking.  Their shitty equipment shouldn't be your fault.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You gotta love boat rebuilds.  I've been watching this series off and on for the last month or so.  These pro shops do some fantastic work but the guys doing their own work look pretty good too.  When I watch these for a while I get the urge to tyvek up and grab an air grinder and longboard and put some glass in the air.  Well, maybe not in the TX 95F heat but I'm sure ya'll get the meaning   

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, davidg said:

You gotta love boat rebuilds.  I've been watching this series off and on for the last month or so.  These pro shops do some fantastic work but the guys doing their own work look pretty good too.  When I watch these for a while I get the urge to tyvek up and grab an air grinder and longboard and put some glass in the air.  Well, maybe not in the TX 95F heat but I'm sure ya'll get the meaning   

 

 

My first "real" boat was a 23' Seacraft with twin 225s... it was a cool boat...  unless you're trying to get the last few pilchards out of the well on a stormy cold morning....  fuck!   but it's hard to beat the newer vacuum bagged composite construction.  I'll never go back to a wood boat.  mmmmm maybe an old Intrepid? ....na nope

 

 

Forward seating on that 23' Seacraft /facepalm

Edited by Loco
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not in S. Florida it's not.  The run from Flamingo to Islamorada, I had friends who were on their second round by the time we got there.  (They also have to wear paintball masks)

 

Have you seen what they put on boats these days?

Edited by Loco
Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, Loco said:

Not in S. Florida it's not.  The run from Flamingo to Islamorada, I had friends who were on their second round by the time we got there.  (They also have to wear paintball masks)

 

Have you seen what they put on boats these days?

I can’t believe they insured that boat. That’s insane.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Loco said:

Not common, but not unheard of.   I got a lot of comments...  23cc is a sexy beast and when the engines barely fit in the notch, people look.

Downside was the boat sat ass heavy scupper balls can only do so much

 

https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/646461-sea-craft-23-twins.html

I bet it did. 

 

I could run 50 with a 250, it was rarely flat enough to get wide open. But the Seacraft was excellent in the waves, could actually push a little harder than the Jupiter 32 we have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, davidg said:

You gotta love boat rebuilds.  I've been watching this series off and on for the last month or so.  These pro shops do some fantastic work but the guys doing their own work look pretty good too.  When I watch these for a while I get the urge to tyvek up and grab an air grinder and longboard and put some glass in the air.  Well, maybe not in the TX 95F heat but I'm sure ya'll get the meaning   

 

 

Kinda like classic cars. I would love to find a restored to "like it left factory" Aristocraft 19. We had one growing up an loved it. basically a small shop in georgia did a fiberglass version of the wooden Chris Craft ski boat and added a removable hard top. We took ours everywhere to scuba dive - like 20 miles out in the gulf or Atlantic Ocean. I actually found 4 or 5 of them around the Austin area but they were not in great shape

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Loco said:

Not common, but not unheard of.   I got a lot of comments...  23cc is a sexy beast and when the engines barely fit in the notch, people look.

Downside was the boat sat ass heavy scupper balls can only do so much

 

https://www.thehulltruth.com/boating-forum/646461-sea-craft-23-twins.html

Ha, looks like it was rated for up to 500 hp in some cases so insurance wouldn’t be an issue. I haven’t been on one in a long time but I do know it’s a great, proven hull.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, justhookit said:

Yeah those are gorgeous. If I ever just want to throw money away I’ve always wanted to rebuild an old Ryobovich. 

We had a 60 foot Rybovich named Bonte down the lake from us in the late 80s. I think its in Florida now. The main thing I remember is it had automatic doors to the salon, which was pretty Gucci on a boat back then. They also were perpetually broken.

 

bonte.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

KISS is my motto. If I'm cruising, I may step up to a water maker, but that's about it. If you don't know how to fix it, or at
Least understand how it works, don't have it. My autopilot crapped out on my last trip. Traced the electrical line and found a blown fuse. Problem solved. Now if if it blows again then there's an electrical issue, which I am not so skilled at. But I try to understand as much as I can so I can try to troubleshoot before paying someone $95/hr to figure it out.

Getting her ready for a Thursday departure to Catalina. Pretty much locked and loaded except for groceries. Now it's me time.
892d65abecf415387e70f79e37bfee2e.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

years ago I had clients in town so I chartered 2 boats to do some sail fishing off palm beach.   One boat was a beautiful old Rybo the other was a modern euro styled sportfish with a wider beam (nice but run of the mill).  At the dock we were divvying up the teams (friendly competition) and picking boats.   I had to convince my guys to get on the Rybo...  didn't look as flashy.  They had no idea we were on the MUCH cooler/expensive rig.  The captain overheard and set them straight as soon as we cast off.  IIRC he called the other rig a Clorox bottle.   

Also that old Rybo raised fish like mad....  we smoked em'

Edited by Loco
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spoiler
On 8/23/2019 at 5:23 PM, G650 said:

We had a 60 foot Rybovich named Bonte down the lake from us in the late 80s. I think its in Florida now. The main thing I remember is it had automatic doors to the salon, which was pretty Gucci on a boat back then. They also were perpetually broken.

 

bonte.jpg

 

It’s amazing that those boats still have a great look and lines of a modern custom boat. Yesterday I got a good pic of a friends 74 Spencer which is the nicest/fastest/best fishing boat I’ve ever been on.

529-EC991-0-A6-F-45-F9-82-B6-8782-BBE9-B

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...