never lend your boat!

[Kiggsia]

Re: never lend your boat!

I sold a guy my favorite boat because it was getting too expensive to keep it up. I tried to be content with boats that require less expense, but felt I needed to have my favorite back. Just so happened that the guy wanted to sell it back to me anyway because he got injured and can't boat anymore. He had loaned out this boat while he had it. When I bought it back, I found general neglect and deterioration but also all the wooden seats were broken up! I did find a clue as to what caused someone to do this, several empty beer cans under a seat! Spent all day yesterday making new seats and priming them, today I topcoat them and "continue ship's work" (as they used to say in the navy), making repairs and cleaning.
I am called a Seaman Apprentice here, but I started out my navy career as a Fireman Apprentice

 

[BeaufortTJustice]

Re: never lend your boat!

How people treat other people's property says a great deal about their character. I was raised in a manner to bring back borrowed property in a condition better than when I received it. E.g. when I borrow someone's pickup to haul something, I bring it back washed and with more gas than it had when I got it, and at the time I say it will be returned.

Along the same lines, when I let people borrow my stuff (small stuff at first) I pay attention to how it is returned. If I have to chase them down to get it back, or it is returned needing repairs, etc, then that person goes in my mental rolodex on the "do not lend" list.

That being said, very few people would be on my ok to lend list for my boat. I do have two friends that have "shared a foxhole" with me that I would not hesitate lending my boat.

 

[lonesouth]

Re: never lend your boat!

I'm not tooting my own horn, but here is how things should be returned. I had borrowed a 1/2" drill bit from my dad to install my tongue hinge. In the process, I managed to break the bit. A quick trip to Home Depot presented me with a problem. The exact bit I borrowed/broke cost $15, whereas the set was only $19 and included a 1/2" bit, but the bit set was 1" shorter. I sure could use a new set of bits even if it is missing the 1/2", but that is not what I borrowed. I ended up buying the $15 bit instead of the set. I would hope that others would treat me with the same respect when borrowing things, but that hasn't been the case.

 

[Thad]

Re: never lend your boat!

Ok, I was trying to stay away from this one, but what can I say...

I have said it before, there is one person I would let borrow my boat. But I got thinking about it while following the replies on here and I realized there is one other person I would let take my boat. My brother-in-law. So now there are two. My best freind, the one who can but never will take my boat. And my b-i-l who could but would never ask.

Then there are the two freinds I have that would be the ones "sitting beside me in jail" that I would actually GIVE money to if they needed it, but would NEVER let take my boat.

 

[korygrandy]

Re: never lend your boat!

The exact bit I borrowed/broke cost $15, whereas the set was only $19 and included a 1/2" bit, but the bit set was 1" shorter. I sure could use a new set of bits even if it is missing the 1/2", but that is not what I borrowed. I ended up buying the $15 bit

I lent a friend my 80pc milwaukee bit set, and my hitch receiver. The bits came back with half missing and rusted, and the receiver came back rusted as well (4 months and a snowy winter later). I didn't even get a sorry. In fact when I started making my argument that he didnt respect my property he blew up on me. Why are you such an angry person blah blah blah.

I'm thinking does this guy realize I did him a favor and does he really think I will lend him something ever again? He should've replaced my damn bit set but of course it wasn't his fault it was mine.

Hard to walk away from a friend of 15 years though.

On the flip side a guy from my work just lent me an engine hoist and I really don't know him very well. Now I need to find something creative to do to thank him. Maybe a gift card to home depot or something.

 

[gibletts]

Re: never lend your boat!

Yep..... lending your boat to someone is like lending your missus to someone....it will come back #####d!

 

[SangerTom]

Re: never lend your boat!

When I had my Seadoos I had a couple of friends ask to borrow or rent them for a vacation they were going on. Told them no because I didn't want to have an issue if something broke or got damaged. I know they were dissappointed with my answer but they are still my friends.

My boat - I'm still nervous letting my wife and kids drive it with me next to them!

 

[roncoop75]

Re: never lend your boat!

Let's reverse the issue. You borrowed someone else's boat for the day.

No, no I didn't. I never would. Ever. There is no reason I would NEED to borrow a boat. A tool to fix my car to get to work or my home AC so my kids don't roast or something to fix a water pipe that's flooding my basement. Those are the types of things that are "loanable".

No one NEEDS to borrow my boat. Consequently, I don't NEED to borrow a boat from anyone.

If you really want to get out on the water that bad, work hard, save the money and buy your own.

 

[wbc1957]

Re: never lend your boat!

There is no reason I would NEED to borrow a boat. A tool to fix my car to get to work or my home AC so my kids don't roast or something to fix a water pipe that's flooding my basement. Those are the types of things that are "loanable".

No one NEEDS to borrow my boat. Consequently, I don't NEED to borrow a boat from anyone.

If you really want to get out on the water that bad, work hard, save the money and buy your own.

My whole point exactly! People here wish to defend their opinion of lendng out their boat, but in the end, they fail to see that nobody will understand the lengths you took to afford and maintain this boat. Therefore, they risk the relationship they hold with you, yet don't realize this risk until the issue is front and center between the two of you. Who's fault is that? BOTH!

 

[scipper77]

Re: never lend your boat!

No, no I didn't. I never would. Ever. There is no reason I would NEED to borrow a boat. A tool to fix my car to get to work or my home AC so my kids don't roast or something to fix a water pipe that's flooding my basement. Those are the types of things that are "loanable".

No one NEEDS to borrow my boat. Consequently, I don't NEED to borrow a boat from anyone.

If you really want to get out on the water that bad, work hard, save the money and buy your own.

I just got back from a weeks vacation with my family and my best friends family. We didn't bring my boat, only his as I don't have a hitch yet on our new van (that's another story). Around day three he tells me to take my family out on his boat. I immediately think of this thread. Ironically when I posted that I would loan my boat out to only two other people he is one of them.

Well I do the polite decline on taking out the boat out, leading to the friendly debate over if it's a good idea or not. He told me that I am the only person he knows who is more careful than he would be with his boat (which is true).

I ended up taking my wife and children out on his boat and had a great day on the water. It was so much fun to drive a different boat from my own for a change. We both have 17' open bows but his takes the big water much better, where mine is much more powerful feeling.

Sometimes it's good to put people first and possessions second. Just don't risk more than you could handle loosing be it the friendship or the boat that is the bigger loss.

 

[Bumbee]

Re: never lend your boat!

Seriously????? #^&$ Happens. Material things are just that. They can be replaced and if you feel more stongly towards a thing over a friend??? Maybe you should look at how you classify your friends.

Yes it sucks when something goes wrong out there, especally when you aint there. Twice as much when you aint. I have alot of friends that are closer than anyone in my family. If they asked, I would ask them a few questions about this and that and then show them how the boats works and let them go. If it something happened out there and it was terminal, well then so be it. It was time for it to happen. Regardless of you being there or not. As long as they come home alive.

Maybe its just me, maybe not. But if a close friend I trusted asked, he would get. Be it my boat, my bike or my truck. Friends are more important than anything that runs on petrol.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: never lend your boat!

around here, a major boating community, there are many examples of shared and loaned boats that work out fine.
One thing you both have to understand from the start: what if, on the borrower's watch, one of those unavoidable but major events happens? Hit a submerged object in the channel; mechanical failure such as water pump fails and engine seizes? Could have just as easily happened to you. Who pays, who doesn't, and who feels bad about it?
Add to that--something tha tyou know needs fixing but you haven't gotten to yet.
The key is, have the conversation before handing over the keys.

 

[six sandy feet]

Re: never lend your boat!

When I was 12 in 1974, my father swore he'd never lend me his boat. By the time I was 14, I was single-handing that very boat for a week at a time on the Great Lakes. In those two years, I earned my operator's license on my own, learned and taught marlinspike, opened and closed the boat each season, earned enough $ by repairing lines and helping out other boaters at the marina - once replacing hordes of stainless that was stolen during winter storage - brought us to port in a midnight storm in which we'd lost our running lights, and passed a thousand mock emergency "drills" that dad threw at me on the water out of the blue. That summer that I was 14, dad gave me a legal pad listing work to be done on the boat and told me that as long as I did all those chores while I was on it, I was free to use it.
Turns out that the choices we make about lending our boat have everything to do with our choice of "lendee." I've known my best friend - also a boat owner - for almost 40 years. I trust him with my wife, my kids and my life, but might hesitate where my boat is concerned. I've another friend that I've known for just 3 years - but in those 3 years, he's restored 2 beautiful, classic boats, has demonstrated a care for his boats that embarasses my own, and is the single most knowledgeable and disciplined seaman that I've met. I learn something any time I'm on his boat. If he wished to use my boat, I wouldn't hesitate - and I'm sure he would return it better than he received it. Turns out that the decision to lend a boat depends an awful lot on the "lendee." Trust and depth of friendship are one thing, but proven demonstration of responsibility is quite another.

 

[scrat]

Re: never lend your boat!

I have a friend that over the years I loaned a tractor plow anda hydraulic post driver to. I had to go them both myself after 4 - 6 months each. When I did, they were both broken. What's more when I went and got them, no one was home. He never told me they were missing. about a year later I needed to borrow something of his, he said he'd 'rent' it to me for 50.00 a day. (some friend). I said no thanks and went out and paid 1000.00 for the tool. 6 months after that he asked to borrow my camper. we had words - nuff said. These days I don't borrow anything or loan out anything that I care about getting back becasue it will come back either trashed, broken, or filthy.

 

[adamjr]

Re: never lend your boat!

I mentioned in my previous post on this topic I have 1 friend that I would not ever hesitate to loan anything to. He just slipped his boat about 15 minutes from my house. We went out tonight for a little over an hour after I got off of work. He and my wife and another friend of his had already been out for about an hour.

After boating we stopped at the little tavern in the marina for some chow. While we were chatting over dinner he's going through his key ring and says "any idea where I can get copies made of a key like this? I want to make a spare so if you and Tammy want to go out when I am not using it you can." We discussed it for a while and I suggested a couple of good boat shops and Ace hardware.

As a matter of fact I was trying to get spare keys made for our boat this weekend with the same purpose in mind.

Like someone else said it's the relationships that are far more important then the posessions. Not that i'm saying I'd loan the boat to my own brother, I wouldn't. Knowing whom you can trust is important.

 

[Sean-Nos]

Re: never lend your boat!

A new friend of mine was dew to take his boat from Ireland over to England for a classic boat show but his boat broke down on the test run before the trip.
I had only meet this guy 3 times in the year that I have known him but we chatted on the net a lot and I just knew he was a good guy with his head on his shoulders so I offered him my boat to take over as I was not using it that weekend.He came back yesterday after a great weekend on the water and a prize for my boat "Best in parade 2010" What goes around comes around.


http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj228/knarloid/Cardiff 10/SonyCameraJulyAug2010257a.jpg

 

[jonesg]

Re: never lend your boat!

Apparently a lot of us feel a need to justify why we will or will not loan our possessions out.

Anytime I'm qualifying my decisions to other people,
thats just me sayin I'm unsure.

Loan your stuff, don't loan your stuff, its your business only.
But good fences still make good neighbors.

As far as "my best freind" stuff, at my age they're all dead.
Its kinda self solving these days.