SAD Decision I Have to Make

[Scout Sport Fish]

Well, my last summer before I go off to college in Agust 2009. I keep my boat in a slip and feel, sadly I might have to sell it. Im the only one to clean and maintain it and it dosent seem reasonable for me to keep it in a slip for over 300 bucks a year. Im thinking about getting a Wave Runner or Jet Ski instead. When I come home occasionally from college I can just throw the ski in whenever I want and its not nearly as a hassal to throw a boat in. Its a 2001 Center Consol 18ft Scout with a 130 HP Yamaha.

Mind you I LOVE THI FRIGGEN BOAT TO DEATH!

But I cant stand to see it sitting in brackash water unused with brown alge growing on it. What you guys think I should do?

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

Thats a hard question.I take it you do not have a trailer or a place to store it.
I would not leave it in the water while your gone.

 

[bjcsc]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

Well, I agree that it is sad, but the best thing to do is just sell it and focus on school. I don't know your age, but don't underestimate the demand that college will put on your time. You'll be able to buy a better one when you're done if you want to...

 

[scoutabout]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

Is it paid for? Have you got any place to store it cheap? Behind the parents' place or some such? I'm thinking if you invest in a cheap trailer and prepare it properly for long term storage, it might pay to keep it provided the financial drain isn't too much. I mean, launching a boat isn't exactly the world's most time consuming task. Besides...fiddling with the rig is half the fun.

Probably not really practical advice but I hate to see a fellow Scouter go without his Scout!

 

[bhammer]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

That's a nice boat to have to let go, especially in this buyers market. Check with the local marinas and see if they can help you out. One of our local lakes offers long term dry storage for several hundred a year, so long as they don't have to get it out more than twice (I think) a year.

If you don;t have a trailer, ask around at the dock and see if someone will let you borrow on and then you could block it up at some storage lot.

Just a couple thoughts for you.

 

[Scout Sport Fish]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

I got the trailer and space in the driveway but no one will be able to maintain it. Its just I dont want to deal with maitnence on a bigger boat and cleaning it everytime I want to take it out. With a PWC its just throw it in and have fun!

After college there will be plenty of time to buy bigger and better boats.

 

[ziggy]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

pwc are easier to care for because they are smaller.... however they too require proper maintenace. it's just that they're small that the hull cleanup goes much faster... + take up less space to store.... the new 4 stroke engines these new pwc have to are high tech. too. so ya can only do the bare minimum of general maint. anything wrong with it and it may end up at the dealer.... $$$$

With a PWC its just throw it in and have fun!

that's about all there is to it for trailer boating too. pull the cover at home, pull the tie downs at the ramp, put in the plug, unplug the trailer lights and launch..... same routine ya do with a pwc... the boat is more cumbersom is the only difference..... i did 9 years of pwc only and will agree, pwc are less work strictly because of size.

as for boating and school. do the school first.... ya won't be sorry ya learned to make a lot of money if yer into boats.....

yer mighty lucky to own a boat prior to college. specially one that's payed for... so i'd vote for storeing what ya own on a trailer in the driveway.... besides, being a boat owner. ya'll probably make lots of new girlfriends at college..... just think, ya can take a whole bunch of girls out for the day.......

 

[wca_tim]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

not sure where you're going to school or what you're planning to study eventually, but you seem like a smart guy and I'm betting it's not basket-weaving (no offense intended to any basket weavers out there).

Sure you can maybe have some fun once school starts, but I would wait and see before taking any toys along or counting on having time to do much beyond study. you might be able to ace all your classes without studying... but that is really not the norm and many of the kids that were smart enough in hs that they didn't need to study, find themselves in real trouble the first year or so in college. Of the others, many simply are not prepared for the dramatic increase in both course difficulty and work load... drop out rates are really high and if you counted the people who didn't do well enough to stay with the major they started with.. it is frightening... and virtually none of them do poorly because they're not smart enough, it is always because they don't put in the time and energy required to do well or don't do so until it's too late.

OK off my soap box! what do your parents think?

 

[amynbill]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

I got the trailer and space in the driveway but no one will be able to maintain it. Its just I dont want to deal with maitnence on a bigger boat and cleaning it everytime I want to take it out. With a PWC its just throw it in and have fun!

After college there will be plenty of time to buy bigger and better boats.

Not sure what maintenance will have to be done.

Well, quantify this a bit, what part of the country are you in? What state...will it need to be winterized etc...

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

there is next to nothing to winterizing a outboard. change the lower oil, give it a shot of fogging oil, and lower the motor into running postion. put the battery in the garage, with a battery maintainer on it. cover the boat. and it is good to go. some mothballs to keep the rodents out.

PWC's are fun, but are the same maintenance. and much harder to work on. believe me, i just sold the last of my PWC's. keep the boat. this is a horrible time to sell.

 

[INJUN]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

The heck with college, keep boating!




Just kidding.


I'd consider the best of both worlds. Keep the boat in storage and get a PWC too.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

As soon as I saw the title of this thread, I came in here to say "Let the woman go, keep the boat!"

But college... ahh, college. If I had only had a boat in college.... man, the bikini clad babes, times on the water.... ahhh... do both if you can.

If you can't, then put the boat in storage until you get your college feet under you.

Erik

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

Scout, your choice, but there's no harm and very little cost to putting the boat on the trailer and then putting a cover on it. Like a faithful old dog, it'll be there waiting for you when you return. If you're not in school during the summer, you're going to be oh so happy that you kept the boat. The fact that the boat is on a trailer instead of in a slip is really no big deal. After all, the PWC would be on a trailer too.....

PWC are lots of fun, but in a totally different way - Lots of cruising, but probably not much fishing. Of course your friends might like you to go for the PWC, but remember, you're the guy doing the maintenance everytime it leaves the dock ($$).

Honestly, there probably isn't a right or wrong choice in this case. I went to a Maritime Academy and I had a boat, and one heck of a good time. Enjoy college, enjoy your watercraft - whatever it is - and for crying out load, stay serious about school!

 

[Scout Sport Fish]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

Hmmmm, which Maritime, thats what Im going too! (SUNY Maritime) I live on Long Island so it will need to be winterized.

Thanks guys for all your input, I guess I can keep the boat and still go to college. Maybe if I work my *** of this summer I can get both!

...but Im planning on getting a Yamaha R6 becasue of gas recently.

 

[arboldt]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

Some questions to consider...

Where are you? How long is the boating season? What will the college calendar be where you're going? For example, if you'll be in school from Labor Day through Memorial Day, and the boating season is Memorial Day through Labor Day, what have you missed? On the other hand, if you're going to be in school 12 months, that's a different story. Are you going to have to work two jobs all summer to pay for college? If so, then you probably won't have time for the boat.

What is the distance between home and school -- will you be a commuter student or are they on opposite sides of the continent? Don't count on being able to use it during the school year, but if it's close by, you might be able to squeeze in a late / early season Saturday once in a while.

Exactly how much engine maintenance is needed to winterize it? For me, it's making sure the gas tank has stabil, changing lower lubricant, fogging the engine, and pulling the battery. That doesn't take long.

Might you need the cash from the boat for school expenses?

An 18' boat is very trailerable, and the effort to launch an 18' boat is not that much more than a jet ski (yeah, a little more, but not significantly).

IF I thought there was a reasonable chance to use it during the summer, I'd probably get a trailer for it and a place to store it. I would not store it in the water.

The one suggestion I really hope you heed -- seek your family's advice. You may discuss and/or disagree, but please seek their advice. There's probably a lot of wisdom that years from now you'll wish you'd sought.

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

Sounds like you got a lot of money. Or someone does.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

Texas Maritime Academy (1977)
a.k.a.
Moody College Of Marine Sciences and Maritime Resources
a.k.a.
Texas A&M University at Galveston, Texas

 

[wacandahusky]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

that's a mighty fine boat for a highschooler. consider yourself very lucky. and an r6 in one summer's job. Shoots, i wish i got paid that well for summer jobs. What are ya, a gigolo?

anyways, my 2 cents. keep the boat, the babes will be flocking in college. all you gotta say in class is "what are you doing this weekend? i got a boat, and we can go drink some beers." Then you are in it to win it! easy money

 

[Dakota47]

Re: SAD Decision I Have to Make

I will take it off your hands