Is it time to hang up the anchor and sell the boat?

[hostage]

Been a boat owner for about 7 years, though we didn't it use it last season, due to the fact the wife didn't want the baby on the boat, until she was at least one. Well she turned one in November and I am trying to figure out if we should just sell the boat. We both enjoy boating, though for different reasons. She likes relaxing, I want to use it for water sports.

Time is the biggest issue for the boat, I don't know if we will have the time to enjoy it to make the cost of the slip, winter storage, and maintenance worth it. We did trailer it for 4 years, slipped it for the last two years we used it. I don't regret getting the boat and I still love boating. I just don't know if it is worth it at this time.

Lastly both NY boat and trailer are no longer registered. I feel like an idiot having to pay $75 non-refundable to register the trailer just to sell it If someone wants a sea trial, I will have to register the boat. Any idea if I can get a temp registration, I am wondering if the DMV sees this a lot where people don't use it for a while, then just sell it?

Slip: $1500-1600/season
Indoor Storage: $270 for each 6months
Other boat related maintenance $500/year?

 

[Baylinerchuck]

Well, like they say, gotta pay if ya wanna play. Luckily I can trailer my boat and don't have to slip it so don't have near the expense. Anyway, to each their own, but I couldn't think of not boating. It is THE family activity that I will hold onto as long as possible. Many memories, and a mini-vacation every weekend in the summer. But that's me, and only you can decide whether or not the expenses justify. I've never heard of a temporary registration, but then again I live in PA. Guess I'm not much help.

 

[ajgraz]

I figure if you have to register it anyway, might as well use it few more times (trailered, I suppose), see if your daughter likes it, etc before making your decision.

At worst, you might now be selling it more like May or June, which IMO is the best time to sell a boat...lots more potential customers looking around in Spring/early Summer.

 

[Stingrayaxe]

My son was born in march, i bought my first boat in June. That was 28 years ago. My son and his older sister would still rather be on the boat with mom and dad than most anywhere else. Of course its now a different boat and they bring their spouses. We all still make time for it. Hopefully their kids will feel the same way. That first boat was one of the best things I ever did.

 

[JASinIL2006]

First couple years of having a kid are the hardest on non-childcare recreational activities. It gets better! Before long, you'll have more time for fun and nothing beats boating with your kid(s)! I don't know if I'd slip the boat for a year or two, but I sure would hang on to it.

 

[ziggy]

Time is the biggest issue for the boat, I don't know if we will have the time to enjoy it to make the cost of the slip, winter storage, and maintenance worth it.

for me, it's lack of money. i've been around boating most all my life. albeit lake boating.
what i've found is there are different kinds of boating. so far, i've done the jet ski thing for 9 years. then i moved onto a speedboat. i've been at that now for about 10 years. most recently i've found canoeing. i've been doing that for 3 or 4 years now. being a lake boater, i find i seem to get bored after awhile with the same kinda boating. since money is my personal problem, i've moved into canoeing. it's almost free and i'm still on the water. there is no maint. and there is no cost for storage or repair. it's easy. i've never fished but could do that from any of these platforms. i'm just a recreational boater. jet skiing was exciting. speedboating is great for lounging around. canoeing seems to be great for getting back to nature.
if i were you, i'd not hang up on boating. it's a wonderful way to spend time, and great for family time. if time were my issue, i would just think about going backwards towards something that don't take as much time. for me canoeing. i've considered selling my boat for a tin fishing boat too. w/ an outboard. again. less maint. would be the + plus it would be easier to store and transport to the lake. i also like to go in early spring and late fall. my i/o don't lend itself well to these extremes because of the high maint. issue with i/o's.
so sum up. there's lots of kinds of boats. maybe it's just time to change to a different kind of boating...
i with others. i'd find it hard to just stop boating unless i just had to for some unforeseen reason. like bad health i suppose would be a qualifier. good luck with your decision. hope ya stay with the boating crowd myself.

 

[Scott Danforth]

its one of those things, either make an effort and use it, or dont.

boating is a hobby, like all hobbies, some times you have to shelve them for a while.

 

[alldodge]

Maybe shelve now and come back when the kids get older. I wish I would have had a boat more with the kids. They don't want to spend time with ya when they get older, but bring a boat in and they and their friends all want to come

 

[airshot]

I have had a boat for more than 50 yrs so going without ain't gonna happen unless I physically cant do it anymore. When our kids came along we had a small playpen type of thing for the baby to lay in with a sun top to keep the sun off. The rocking of the boat most always put them to sleep, never had an issue with any of my kids while in the boat...now at home that was another story!!

 

[ezmobee]

I'll be honest with you, if your boating situation is that of launching the boat and basically being "stuck" on it all day until you decide to pull it back out then I would probably recommend taking a break for a while. When our kids were very small the only thing that saved boating was that we could use our boat at my uncle's waterfront cottage. That allowed us to launch it, dock it and just go out on short excursions throughout the day. We had the cottage and lawn as a land base to spent time on as well. My wife would have had no interest in spending the day on the boat otherwise. Now that the kids are older we can spend the day on the boat cruising and swimming and what not. You know your boat and its history so it may be worth hanging onto it for a year or two but skipping the slip for a bit. I'd hate for you to sell it only to try to get back into it later and end up buying a boat with issues.

 

[JimS123]

My youngest recollection was sitting in the front seat of Grandpa?s boat wearing an old orange Mae West covering my ears and nose. I believe I was still in diapers. That was in the early 1950's.

As a teenager I couldn?t afford a boat of my own so Grandpa helped me build one out of plywood. I had a boat before I had a car.

My first date with my wife was in my home-made boat. I proposed to her a year layer in the same boat.

My kids were born in November and March. Both were boaters by the next May, wearing proper PFDs of course. Babies sleep like a dream in the boat, so Sunday afternoons were MORE enjoyable, rested and relaxed than if we had stayed home. They both grew in the boat, always happy because they were allowed to bring their friends along. We were the kid?s friends favorite place for the neighborhood kids to be.

Our kids grew up to be fine adults and professionals. Now they have boats of their own. It was the family experiences that made them the men they are today. They always had a place to be and something to do so there was no time for them to get into trouble.

There were times we bought a used car (instead of new), or decided against remodeling the kitchen so we could use the extra money for a new boat or accessory. Kids remember the boat but have no clue about fancy kitchen cabinets.

If one of my boats get sold it?ll be because I?m moving up to a better one, I was just admitted to a nursing home, or because I?m dead.

If the wife is not onboard (so to speak), by all means sell the boat. If she is, the kids will follow because there is nothing cooler than having a boat. Be sure to leave all cell phones back in the towcar. If the rest of the family would rather tweet, text or play video games, then you have my sympathy?

 

[Toto7SC]

It's nice to hear about these memories that people will never forget. It makes sense that you get to spend a lot of quality time with the family when you are in a confined space like a boat. When you stay at home, the kids are on their cell phones or video games, your wife is doing something she likes or feels like she has to get done, and you are out in the yard or garage to work on stuff. And when you blink the weekend is over and you didn't spend much time together. On a boat there is not much else to do than enjoying each others company.

 

[hostage]

My kids were born in November and March. Both were boaters by the next May, wearing proper PFDs of course. Babies sleep like a dream in the boat, so Sunday afternoons were MORE enjoyable, rested and relaxed than if we had stayed home. They both grew in the boat, always happy because they were allowed to bring their friends along. We were the kid’s friends favorite place for the neighborhood kids to be.
…

I thought for a second, you were going to say your kids were born on a boat.

Lots of good memories and thoughts here, guess I took them for granite. I recall my fondest young memories of being pulled behind my grandfather's 1970s trihull. I can still picture him with his tongue sticking out the side of the mouth, while doing some task like boating.

I just recalled all trailers registrations expire at the first of the year, so when I renew it in May, it will be for about ~40% less. I think ajgraz has a point, so for under a $100 I guess I could see how it goes. Would be nice to see how the baby likes boating. She loves to be held upside down, loves to be startled, and chased. So I am hoping she loves boating. When it comes to giving her a bath, it is funny watching her desperately trying to swing her leg over the tub threshold trying to get in. She LOVES water.

I think my wife would be a little sad to see the boat go. We have a 2000 19ft Maxum Cuddy. so the baby could nap in the cabin and I guess we could just trailer it to a near by lake. I do have some friends that also boat and jetski, so they can always join us.

One of the motivators of selling it was to sell was I would like to move back down to TX from NY as my family lives there. My dad does have a nice 23ft boat at a lake house so I would not be bringing a Cuddy to Texas. Though I have been wanting to move for years, I could sell it for around $6,000 as it is in good condition and well kept.

Thank you for the pep talk!

 

[ajgraz]

...so the baby could nap in the cabin and I guess we could just trailer it to a near by lake...

Hopefully not at the same time!

 

[southkogs]

Find ya' a good sandbar - do a little runnin' around on the boat, then anchor out in the sandbar and play with your kid in the water (what kid doesn't love playing in the water!?). Then head back out for a little runnin' around.

Plan shorter boat rides for a while too. Little ones have a shorter timer, so don't let yourself get frustrated by a day on the lake being cut short. Over time, that'll all change. My kids have been on boats since they were 2 or so. Still go out with us now ... like the guys said, good family memories.

 

[211libwtfo]

Nothing new to add here except my kids are now 3 and 4 due to this thing we call winter we haven't been out on the river since October although we live right on it but several times a month we have to explain in great detail why we can't go to the beach. The 3 yro was so distraught over it I physically had to take him out on the ice to prove it. As most of you have said I hope they'll always remember boating on the big muddy Mississippi. Never get rid of only trade up.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

If it is a "budget" issue today unless something changes in the future my life experience tells me if you sell this boat it may be many, many years before you buy another. More children may be in the future, it gets more expensive to raise them as time goes on, not cheaper. Besides feeding , health care and clothing them sports activities, dance classes cost big bucks, and the list goes on. I have had pals that hockey cost them 10 grand a year for each kid 25 years ago, I could never get my head around that. Then saving for their education, then their weddings and helping them get a good start with some cash for a home.

Think carefully, this may be the last boat until you retire, maybe. It was 35 years for me between boats.

 

[jkust]

I was born at the end of February and was boating in May as soon as the ice was out, same with my boys. It's not just a hobby for us but is something that we have built our life around in the summers. I'm happy my parents did it that way for me and hope to heck to that continues with my kids. There will be no point that I can see not owning boats. Only you can decide if it is worth it or not and if you can make time for it. Your estimated yearly outlay isn't even a drop in the ocean to me versus how much we value boating but only you can take stock in this situation. Kids are very adaptive and even our strongheaded boy adapted just fine and now as a young teen, loves boating and the lake life.

 

[On Holiday]

Our boys were between 5 and 6 months old when they received their first boat ride, only because they are November and December babies. It was so easy for us as all they do is sleep. My wife is a relaxer and I am a skier which did make it difficult, I just cherished the times I did get to go even more. Now the boys are 9 and 4 and they LOVE the boat, swimming, tubing and hanging out on the hook.

 

[Toyelectroman]

I came really close to selling the boat last summer. If I had to pay for a slip it would have been good as gone. Last summer between constantly watching the baby to make sure he doesn't craw overboard and packing all the baby stuff kind of took the fun out of boating. Only reason we held on is I trailer the boat and the ramp is only 5 minutes away from the house. Hoping this summer will be better, but if not I might sell it and take a break until my son can appropriate it. It's not like you can't buy a new boat, there is always a ton for sale.