Just spent an unexpected 3-day weekend on our boat in Channel Islands Harbor, about 90 min. from L.A.  We always wonder when we are out there where everyone IS?  All those boats lying there in their slips & no one ON them. 

I read a book on simpler living once, & one of the suggestions was "get RID of your boat becaz you are never on it".  I have told my husband that & we look at each other puzzled, because we love our boat so much that we spend as much time on it as possible!  Sure there are slip fees, and so on.  But my husband, luckily LIKES to putter around and maintain the boat - to shop for supplies and so on.  And when you calculate how much it would cost for even basic MOTEL rooms the days we are on the water, the slip fee seems to be a bargain.!

We are always astounded at the prices that the boat brokers put on the pix they post of boats to sell.  But of course, they have to make a profit.  Boats DEpreciate so much, that if you know anything about them, buying a new one doesn't make any sense.  The "new" fiberglass boats if maintained hold up very well - (Altho once they are damaged it's curtains) and no one really knows how long the fiberglass hulls of the 70's will hold out - 30 years and going...

We got a really good deal on our sailboat & have gradually acquired the equipment for it - mostly used - Now we have a ship radio, and running lights and life preservers, and FINALLY a good outboard motor...But even the gov't thinks the boat is worth twice what we paid for it & that's the value we pay taxes on.  But we have seen boats of our vintage go for literally 10X as much as we paid....They must be in peak condition, but still....

We didn't have to pay 10X for us to have the totally satisfying boat experience we have.  It's big enough to sleep on & for my husband to stand up in - so we have made comfortable sleeping quarters - and there's a little fridge & a radio & even a heater which makes it really cozy when it's cold.  Sort of like camping.  But we enjoy sort of roughing it.  It makes such a nice change from city life.

But I suppose the bargain attitude shows up here, too.  For example, in the chandlery you can buy incredibly expensive boat curtains - lined - whereas I made curtains out of 99 Cent Store valances - which serve us perfectly well & cost a fraction of those other ones.  And we use 99 cent rectangular plastic planters as keepers for our boat stuff...And get bargain sunscreen - you get the picture....

But it makes NO difference in the pleasure we have from the water - the birds - cormorants and Calif. gulls and the ducks we feed....Or the sunsets which are so brilliant - or the sound of the surf...And the boat which serves so well as our seaside cottage also cuts thru the waves smartly and sails quickly along the coast, showing off its stuff....as the waves dance about us.  How nice it all is.  And that's the goal of all our finagling - to have a nice life, isn't it?

Images:

0 Comments | Post Feedback