The Key! Or maybe just some self-awareness

Roger Taylor in his book Good Boats wrote “the key to choosing the right boat is perhaps self-knowledge more than it is expertise in naval architecture”. In the world of boat shopping, we are always trying to understand where you are trying to go-not physically but emotionally. Yes, boats take you somewhere physically, but you are going to that place because it does something for you emotionally which is why we focus there first. To understand where you are headed on the emotional side may take a little soul searching. You also need to know yourself well enough to understand what price you are willing to pay in time, money and mental bandwidth. Toss these things into the hopper and perhaps the right boat will pop out. The following three steps assume you want to go boating soon, not some undefined date in the hazy future.

First, try to understand the “why you are going to boat”. It may be as simple as it is a fun weekend activity with family and friends, or it might be as epic as trying to instigate a significant change in your life. Whatever your reason, figure it out.

Next let’s “know how you are going to boat” Do you have visions of cruising from Alaska to Mexico yet your current and foreseeable future is a work and a life structure that requires you to be in one location 50 weeks a year? Time to realize that you can boat on the weekends and short holidays but not for months at a time. This may require a speedy cruiser vs. the slow passagemaker you had been envisioning.

Finally (and most difficult I think) lets decide if we are “willing to pay the price”. We all have a mental picture of what our “boating” will look like. We then have to figure out how far our current situation is from that picture. So ask yourself, how likely are we to put in the effort, and make the sacrifices in time and money to achieve that picture? Highly likely? Then carry on…not so much, then time to redraw the picture. And there is no shame in redrawing the picture-it is the right thing to do.

Nothing new here. Take the why, add the how and then decide if you are willing to pay the price. A little self-knowledge will give you a chance at finding the right vessel for you.

The Gripers#$@&!

Boaters are Gripers. I do it, other boaters do it, it’s a thing. And we are griping about a completely optional activity! It is not like someone is forcing us to be boaters.

We complain about insurance -they require too much training, it’s too expensive, they want a periodic insurance survey. Granted we ask them to pay for the results of our, and every other boater’s bad decision and even deferred maintenance-but still!

We complain about our maintenance team- Yep, this is the group that were sitting around all winter while we were skiing, or in the desert. Now we are trying to leave for the Memorial Day Cruise, which we clearly told them about 3 days ago and they are still not done with the annual maintenance! It is so hard to find good help these days that can READ MY MIND.

We complain about the boatyard-those goofballs! I called and gave them a brief 30 second description of a complex problem and now they are late and over budget! And to heap more hardship on me, the coffee I am swilling for free tastes like tar! Why don’t they have a De’Longhi Magnifica Evo Espresso machine!

We complain about our marina- the money grubbers, they raised my rates 3% this year! Can you believe it! Sure, their expenses went up 25% but they should absorb that!

We gripe about the weather, sailors complain about powerboaters and powerboaters complain about sailors. We whine about the wait at the Ballard Locks and the wait time on the Garmin support line. We vent at length about the latest whizzbangy gizmo we bought on Instagram that turns out to not be very whizzbangy. You name it, we’ve got something to say. We train in the art of griping like elite athletes.

I used to think that boating was a chance to see the beauty of nature and spend time with family and friends, but I have finally realized it is even better than that. Boating gives us the chance to enjoy human’s favorite pastime-griping!

A Little Self-Reliance= Less Boating Stress

Boats are complicated and they have gotten more complicated as time moves on, just as everything else has. When was the last time you looked under the hood of your car, I mean, why would you, what is all that stuff? If it quits working just call AAA or the dealer.

With boats, we do have some resources to call upon when our boat quits boating. But it is not quite as easy as your car and for many of us part of the allure of boating to get a bit remote. If you are boating in a remote area and something stops working, then what do you do?

I recommend you spend a little time understanding how your boat works. At this point, I could give you a long list of technical items to review, document, become familiar with. Don’t worry, I won’t, simply try to think of your boat as a floating city. They have their own source of power and water. It has a system to dispose of waste and a system that moves you from point A to B. And finally, a structure that keeps you out of the water below and hopefully shields you from the water above.

Depending on the size and age of your own Little Toot, these systems may be simple or complicated and highly technical. There may be duplication-if you have twin engines, that’s easy to identify, but you may also have two or even three sources of electricity (shore power, batteries, generator) which is less easy. Some items have two functions. Your engine can push you through the water AND charge your batteries.

Now the homework, take the time to identify which components belong to which system and what it does. Not how it does it, leave that to the technical folks, but simply what is the thingamajiggy supposed to be doing. Again, depending on the complexity of your boat, you may need some help identifying and understanding what everything is, and it may take some time, but I promise, it will make your boating less stressful. There is nothing less fun than getting away from it all and suddenly having your boat stop doing what it is supposed to be doing, and you have no idea why. A little knowledge may make the difference between resolving an issue on your own or with a little phone support- or having to call for someone to come out and assist.

Six-percenters & Somedayers

There is a common stat out there that only 6% of people follow through on their goals. Which means there is a whopping 94% of people who think about having a boat and never will.

That is a pretty staggering number when you think about it. Only 6%! Some will decide that a boat is not right for them and will move on to other things they will accomplish. Those are not the folks we are talking about. We are talking about the Somedayers- they will move forward, then back off deciding that right now is not a good time for them but someday… And as we have all heard, “Someday” is not a day on the calendar.

Somedayers do hours of research, they call broker after broker to discuss a variety of boats. They build spreadsheets comparing costs and features and they haunt the boat shows.

Somedayers set impossible criteria that no boat could ever meet, which absolves them of any responsibility for not making the final decision.

Somedayers spend hours on the internet sending in request after request for “additional information” which they never act upon.

So far this sounds like I am on my high horse and that I could never be a Somedayer, but here is the kicker, we are all Somedayers about different things. And the sooner we can realize what we “someday” about, we can take the efforts we are wasting and put that energy towards goals we will achieve. After all, wouldn’t we all prefer to be a Six-percenter rather than a Somedayer?

Is it Really Work?

One of the constant refrains I hear from folks looking for a boat is that they want zero wood on the exterior and certainly do not want to see any varnish. They are looking for minimal maintenance because maintenance conflicts with the boating experience. I have an older Grand Banks with a varnished transom, rails and trim on the exterior. It takes 40 hours a year to scuff, tape and topcoat all that varnish. And once done, there is some light maintenance throughout the season, which some would consider an annoying hinderance to enjoying their boating hours. My take is a little different

I am enjoying an early morning cup of coffee in the salon while the boat drifts around at anchor on glassy water. It rained last night, and the rails are covered with drops. The clouds are starting to break up and soon it will be time to wipe down the rails. I finish up, put on my rain boots, grab a towel and squeegee. As I get started on the “miles” of varnished rails and trim, the sun breaks through and lights up each drop before the towel takes it away. Too soon I am done and this post-rain-ritual that is so important to my boating experience is complete. Oh well, I console myself, the ship is well cared for and there is another cup of coffee waiting.

I wonder, in an effort to reduce the boat to just a vehicle to take us to the experience, do we skip experiencing the bond forged between ship and caretaker? I think author Kathrene Pinkerton said it well in 1940.  “We thought a home afloat would only be an instrument for comfortable living while we wandered. ..for a ship comes to dwell in the hearts of the men who serve her, and for them she becomes alive. When that has happened, man and boat possess one another, and sacrifice and service are the expressions of that love.

Whimsical fantasy I know, but in our hyper-hustle-achieve-much world, perhaps a little whimsy isn’t so bad. And I know that for at least 40 hours every spring, I get to disconnect as another coat of varnish rolls on and another strand in the bond, is created.

Expectations-By the Numbers

In May we discussed setting your expectations correctly when looking at an older boat. Again, for this discussion, “older” is a boat built in 2005 or before. (sounds so new! Jeez I am getting old!). A reader quickly came back with a question-what does that look like in actual numbers?  Which prompts the question, which numbers? There are two sets of numbers, the buyer’s and seller’s

First, take a look at my favorite graph. You start with a new boat that gets its maximum price with an expectation of a minimum of repair costs. As time passes, our selling price goes down and as the potential for repair costs goes up. The key factor is the “potential”.  This  is an unknown and creates a concern that drives buyer’s numbers. Seller’s tend to not see the potential as much of a risk so they either discount it or ignore it completely. Ultimately, it is not that the numbers are complicated, but rather, the complication lies in who’s numbers you are looking at.  For example, a survey notes that a cooling system needs to be serviced. A seller may think, “You just pop the ends off the heat exchanger and run a stick around in there and get the salt out, 2-3 hours tops”. The buyer is thinking, “Holy smokes, what if I find out the heat exchanger and gear cooler needs to be replaced, and maybe all the hoses!”. That is a much higher number, and this calculation is repeated for each item on a deficiency list. Buyers are planning on writing two checks, one for the purchase and one for the repairs. As the repair check gets larger, they want the purchase check to get smaller. Sellers are very eager to help buyers understand their numbers are wrong, but that has little impact. Sellers need to be aware that their numbers do not matter, only the buyer’s numbers do, regardless of which is more accurate. 

Finally! We are down to one set of numbers-the buyers. So how do we understand them? That depends on the buyer’s tolerance for risk. When it comes to numbers, we all will try to quantify risk with a “worst case” number. For a simple item this might mean a buyer looks at a $100 item and adds half again to “be safe” and calls it $150.00. For a large, complicated repair a buyer could multiply 2, 3, times or higher just to “be safe” depending on how much risk they can tolerate. A large number of items on a deficiency list can rapidly drive a sales price down or cause a buyer to head for greener pastures.

As with so many things, even cold factual numbers turn out to be a jumble of buyer’s feelings about risk and a seller’s frustration with repair numbers they don’t agree with.

There is a solution-sellers need to make sure they bring their boat to market with the least amount of deferred maintenance possible. If you are going to “let the next owner handle that” (which I hear a lot!) then do not be surprised when your buyer starts adding up those ‘worst case” numbers and asking you to take it off your sales price. And buyers need to understand that if they assume the worst case for everything, their search for that 50’ trawler for cheap may result in them staying ashore.

Set Your Expectations

Let’s switch back over to one of my favorite topics-older boats. Not the first time I have discussed the great opportunities that you can find here, however, you do need to set your expectations correctly. One of the main attractions of an older boat is price-they have depreciated and will cost less to purchase. But while they were depreciating, well, they got older. Sometimes they are a lot older, and you must set your expectations as to what that means. It means that at the end of your survey you are going to have a list of things that will need to be resolved. Systems and components will be nearing end-of-life. And any older boat will have some of the cosmetic issues that come with use and time. Buyers are usually pretty good about doing their research. They will create lists of features and write down pros and cons of various hull types or designs, but they struggle to grasp the impact time has on a vessel. Time sitting in the weather, time on the systems, time on the finishes, time slamming through the water- it all takes a toll. Once buyers are actively shopping they are shocked when boats do not look new. Or worse yet, they are standing there with their surveyor with a list of items that need to be dealt with and they are surprised that there even is a list. When you are shopping in this portion of the market you need to be prepared for the impacts of time and age. And don’t expect the first boat you look at will be the one. It can happen, but it is likely you will have to sort through several to find the right wear/tear/repair combination for you. But with proper expectations and patience, you will find your new vessel and soon be on the water.

Quit Moving the Goal Posts

Back in January we discussed a variety of barriers that can slow down your boating adventures. Now let’s look at how we derail our boating before we even get started. We all know it as “Moving the Goal Posts”. A technique we employ from time to time to avoid making decisions. Owning a boat is a dream for many folks and no one wants to give up on a dream. Instead, we just move the goal posts. I will buy that boat when the kids are older! And when that milestone is reached it is, When I have a bit more money! And when you achieve that we switch to, When I have more time! And you keep moving the boat buying goal posts further out. I completely understand the process of looking at boat ownership, doing your investigation and then deciding it is not for you-that makes complete sense. But year after year of promising yourself you will take that step and never doing it takes up too much of your bandwidth. Bandwidth you could be using on something you actually can or will do. I am as guilty as the next goal-post-mover and had to recently pull the plug on a decades long goal. It was tough, but ultimately a relief. So stop moving the goal posts and decide. You might discover it a bit easier to focus on what you really want to be doing… or you might find that this is the year you start boating.

The Weather #$%&!

Unfortunately, most of us do not have 100% flexibility with our time, we make commitments, or our place of work expects us to show up. When I see a day or two that looks like it might be “free” I start to think about heading out on the boat. First, “free” means I can clear the day with a few emails/phone calls. Then I check with my wife on her schedule and see if she can clear some space. If both those things happen, then I check the weather. Not that I need perfect weather, but if we are just headed out for a short time it might as well be decent weather. If the weather is not great, we might decide to keep our noses to the grindstone so that we will be able to clear some time in the future. For the purist that says boating in the rain is just as good as boating in the sun, I salute you. I have spent enough of my life in rain gear or shuffling work crews around rainy weather to have a less enthusiastic response. The problem with the weather is that it is so dang fickle, especially in the spring. Case in point, last mid-April, early in the week, the weather on Saturday was looking sunny and calm so we did the schedule clearing thing. For the following four days the forecast flipped back and forth from sun to rain to wind to some combination of the three. Saturday morning came and the forecast for the day did not look good and we finally decided not to go out. Instead we went down to the boat and finished up some spring chores. By mid-morning it was windless, sunny and warm, and we pretended to not be irritated at our incorrect decision to stay at the dock. By early afternoon the clouds came in, the wind started howling, the rain began, and we smiled self-satisfied smiles having made the right choice after all! What did we learn from this? Not a dang thing other than the Weather likes yanking our chain!

Barriers in Boating

I was at a boating event (yes even in January!) and got into a discussion on the different barriers that boaters on the Inside Passage typically talk about. If you are starting in the Puget Sound the first big step is getting to the San Juan Islands, then it is crossing the border into Canadian waters. If you continue to venture north, you will have to cross the Strait of Georgia and then work your way up to Chatterbox Falls or Desolation Sound. This list goes on and on until you cross Dixon Entrance to finally arrive in Ketchikan AK. Along the way you will have to anchor, account for the rise and fall of tides, read a current table to hit slack water at a number of tidal rapids, learn to judge how the wind will impact the water you will be traveling on in a given day and the list goes on. All barriers, all legitimate and clearly, all surmountable. With some planning and research, you will find that these barriers are soon behind you. This discussion of barriers also applies to the beginning-how to get started in boating. Which boat to buy, how much will it cost, how to deal with insurance and moorage. All legitimate barriers and again, all can be overcome.   It is January and that is the time for a fresh start and new goals. Decide where you want to be in your boating journey by the end of 2025, do the research, ask for help (remember boaters are friendly!) and most importantly, take that first step. I find that the mountain I just climbed over, when I look back, was really more of a speed bump.