Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

[moosehead]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

If I had more time and money, it would happily go towards more boating.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

Sounds like you bought a used boat.

Nope, its a bran new 2013. Just going from a bow rider to a cruiser so there is some effort in to putting together the 2nd home. As for things breaking some things I caused myself some things not. The bravo replacement was a defect and the fresh water pump is a defect. I expect that next year the 2nd home will have all of the lighting, dishes, sheets, towels etc and the mechanical bugs will be worked out. At least I hope.

 

[theBrownskull]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

Enjoy the boat, even with the small problems which sometimes happen, I would...it is worth it!!!!

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

Sounds like you bought a used boat. That's your problem.

Nope, its a bran new 2013. Just going from a bow rider to a cruiser so there is some effort in to putting together the 2nd home. As for things breaking some things I caused myself some things not. The bravo replacement was a defect and the fresh water pump is a defect. I expect that next year the 2nd home will have all of the lighting, dishes, sheets, towels etc and the mechanical bugs will be worked out. At least I hope.

Yup, plenty of stories about issues with a new boat. Also, with a new boat, or even new-to-you, there is a fair amount of time and $$$$ spent making it 'your own'.

Then once you get things the way you like it, stuff starts breaking . . . :facepalm:

One year, I kept track of the time and $$$ spent fixing, enhancing and maintaining the boat versus how many hours of use it got (engine hours). It was something like 4 hours of work and $50 of related expense for every 1 hour of engine time

BTW - Drew, I like your blog . . . do you routinely add more to it?

 

[04fxdwgi]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

They do, but it costs significantly more. Cobalt, Chris Craft, Formula, Chapparal, etc all use composite stringers/transoms now, and have been for the past decade or so. It's about price points, and the higher-end boats could justify the higher costs of composite materials.

Also, plastic impeller housings is kind of a moot point, as the impeller housing isn't generally what needs to be replaced, it's the rubber vane impeller itself that wears down. Also, salt water eats metal, so unless everything is made of SS (expensive), the plastic is fine.

Actually, installed a Hardin Marine S/S raw water pump on my Bravo-1 setup. Cost about the same as 3-4 cheaper after market plastic ones. Have had 2 plastic ones crack on me, so I figure is now costs the same as replacing a single plastic unit that has worn out (which they do quite easily is any sand is introduced) and this one needn't be replaced, as the wear surfaces are easily swapped out plates. It is now saving me money.... LOL And it's almost a work of art in polished Stainless Steel.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

They do, but it costs significantly more. Cobalt, Chris Craft, Formula, Chapparal, etc all use composite stringers/transoms now, and have been for the past decade or so. It's about price points, and the higher-end boats could justify the higher costs of composite materials.

In my recent discussions with Scott Smith of the Formula tech support dept, he indicated that they still use wood in some of their boats. I have also had owners of a composite stringer boat tell me that they were surprised to find that the bulkheads were wood, etc. So, the composite usage is not a blanket statement by any means, even though many boats are using composite for some of their structure and/or models.

Manufacturers tend to be vague about their construction details, except for a few that explicitly adverstise "no wood" or "wood-free", as opposed to "composite stringers" , etc. Often "composite stringers" gets mis-interpreted as "wood-free".

i wish more boats were completely wood free . . . But it seems hard to tell from the available information.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

Manufacturers tend to be vague about their construction details, except for a few that explicitly adverstise "no wood" or "wood-free", as opposed to "composite stringers" , etc. Often "composite stringers" gets mis-interpreted as "wood-free".

i wish more boats were completely wood free . . . But it seems hard to tell from the available information.

A "composite" is a material made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties, that when combined, produce a material with characteristics different from the individual components. The individual components remain separate and distinct within the finished structure.

Fiberglass and wood is a "composite". Fiberglass and extruded plastic sheet is a "composite". Fiberglass and foam is a "composite". Saw dust and glue is a "composite". Which of these "composites" do you want your stringers made from? All four as currently in use.

 

[Roberthill]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

A person's boat is personal its a love/hate relationship .

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

Try owning a 1984 boat! There's always something I should or could do to it. But when you get it just right (never done) its a lot of fun!

 

[chconger]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

I know I spend many more hours maintaining the boats then using them. But for me, that's a big part of the hobby; learning new skills, making things better, becoming independent.

And its comforting to know the boat and motor inside and out when your out there....

 

[nrende]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

I completely understand where you are coming from with the rant. My father bought a new sailboat and we felt like we were fixing the engines and such more than we were actually boating. Every stop we made, it felt as though we had to take a day out of our vacation to get it fixed. We finally decided to sell it because it was doing us no good. I thought my father would never buy a boat again, but we tried again and he has had this boat for 4 years now and has had no trouble.

SOO....I want to suggest that you sell the boat that keeps breaking and buy from a completely different company. You may be surprised as to what you find!

Not a question as much as a rant but I was thinking of my new boat that I bought in Fed 2013 and what has been done to it this year so far. Lets see

Things that broke:
Fresh water pump
Thermostat got clogged with sand
Top end of Bravo3 had to be replaced
Flat tire on trailer

Things I have done:
Replace all light bulbs with LED bulbd
install LED accent lighting in cockpit and cabin
Install 15" TV in cabin
Buy dishes, sheets, pillows and decorations for cabin
Install chart plotter
Always cleaning the boat
Make snap on cover for boat
Relocate A/C pump to below water line so it does not need to be primed
Install underwater LED lights on transom
*** 60 feet of chain
add additional CO detectors


You really have to love tinkering with things and have some real free time and cash to own one of these things.

 

[frantically relaxing]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

We must be lucky, we've had less issues with our houseboat in eight seasons than the OP has had with his new boat in one.

Knock on my head.

 

[500dollar744ti]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

Owned a 28ft. cruiser and a 31ft. Cruiser. after 8 years of owning them, I would not want one again. The cash, time, maintenance, eventually
took over the novelty of owning these type boats. Having much more trouble free fun, less expense, easier maintenance with the 20' bowrider.
We did enjoy our years with express cruisers, but things and priorities change, and we are so happy to be out of that type lifestyle.
So enjoy the boat while your enthusiasm and finances are still available.

I find this to be good info. I have a 22' cuddy cabin and with thoughts of upgrading to a cabin cruiser, I may just keep it for a while.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

Yes there is always something. Ive finally put my foot down and have said enough is enough.....I repaint every two years now....except this year i need to add a little bit of red to her.....bright red.......i hope it doesnt require new trim molding's to make it look truly finished.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

I find this to be good info. I have a 22' cuddy cabin and with thoughts of upgrading to a cabin cruiser, I may just keep it for a while.

Its hard to say. I will give the cruiser a few more years. If it becomes a PITA because you always have to plan a trip and only take a few of them then I will dump it and get a bow rider again. Its not a great lake boat, you can't do water sports and its not really laid out for having many people on or laying in the sun. Well see.

 

[CR CRUISER]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

If you love work but hate money............................Buy a boat.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

Manufacturers tend to be vague about their construction details, except for a few that explicitly adverstise "no wood" or "wood-free", as opposed to "composite stringers" , etc. Often "composite stringers" gets mis-interpreted as "wood-free".

i wish more boats were completely wood free . . . But it seems hard to tell from the available information.

Completely agree, tpenfield. The manufacturers use an intentionally-vague description of "compisite", which may or may not be wood-free. It really is odd that they just don't have completely vacuum-formed fiberglass (or other non-wood material) hulls/bulkheads/stringers. Seems like that would be a quicker process than having to install stringers/bulkheads into a vacuum-formed fiberglass hull. Maybe someday . . .

 

[Slip Away]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

I find this to be good info. I have a 22' cuddy cabin and with thoughts of upgrading to a cabin cruiser, I may just keep it for a while.

Our first boat was a 20ft. cuddy we kept that for 9 years, then did the Cruiser upgrade. Being a trailer boater now is working out great for us. Taking the bowrider to a beautiful lake for a full week coming up. Have a private dock behind the cottage, so we will get a lot of boating in during the week. The whole week long trip costs less than two weekends of cruising and slip rental at marina's with the cruiser.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

The cost is going to be different for everyone. Our 1976 runabout didn't cost us anything other than oil changes and general maintenance for about 18 of the 20 years we've owned it. We then had to replace the transom and re-power the engine. We did all of the work ourselves, but upgraded everything at that time, so the cost ended up being around $3K all together. We basically figured that we could sell our boat as-is (with bad transom) for $2K and take that money to find another used boat, or we could repair it for the $3K and have basically a new boat. We decided that there was no way to find a boat in as good a condition as ours for the $5K overall outlay, so we just put it into our boat. She's been great since then.

As far as the upgrading issue, there's not a single boat out there that will do everything I want to do on the water. We like a cruiser for overnights or just dealing with chop on bigger lakes, but need a runabout or watersports tow boat for our recreational water sports. We occasionally like to fish, so a bass boat comes into play. We even have a jetski to keep people entertained. The best solution is to have boat and/or boats that suit your needs.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Boats are very time consuming and expensiave

In terms of cost, I just think back to my days of owning a mid-sized sailboat (22 feet) . . .

The boat and trailer cost me $5K . . . I used 5 gallons of gas per year . . . parts that needed replacing were $50 instead of $500 . . . 4 foot seas were no problem. . . . I kept the boat for 7 years and sold it for the $5K that I had originally put into it. :thumb:

Oh well, the down side is that it used to take a couple of hours to cross the bay . . . in the power boat(s) it is about 20 minutes.