Splitting the season: riding vs boating

[GreyGhost]

I',m not a fan of storing a boat mast up, mine always comes out. Especially Bronte harbour. A CS27 suffered some serious deck damage saturday and a Catalina 36 actually shifted in the cradle and had to be re blocked. Static loads on boats that cant rock in the water is a terrible idea. Sure buddy saves $400 not pulling the mast out , thats about 3 hours labour for a fiberglass repair guy.
I miss the chriscraft 34 we had for a couple years , if you kept the throttles back it was cost effective for cruises , but I race the sailboat 2-3 times a week and we could not afford both and felt guilty using one while the other sat at the dock.
I'm no sailboat snob , I'll gladly get on a powerboat and enjoy the day. At some point we will buy a Limestone ( original not the new US version) or a Bruckmann and be very happy.
Ordered new spinnaker for next years racing , that's about 2000 L of marina gas LOL

A family member loves to race sailboats. He could have retired decades ago if he didn't sail. He works enough to cover his sailing expenses. Most years that is low six figures. He ships his boat to NE US in the fall for a race, it lives there over winter, race there in the spring, then shipped back for the summer of racing in ontario. Much of the expense is flying crew around to allow him to race.

 

[crankcall]

You can play at a lot of different levels , which is really great since its "affordable" to do local club races and you can go up the totem pole to whatever you can afford. When i was younger and had spare time I was racing internationally , considered a professional by the governing bodies and the budgets were on the moon.
Even doing an event like Charleston or Key West was 20K for the week. Winter caribbean circuit was 80-100k for a bunch of hacks on a 40ft boat. The serious boats , 80ft maxis were looking at 60-80K per event, minimum
A lot of marriages , businesses and partnerships dissolved over boat racing.
My 4knots shitbox costs about 10K per season to covering everything , and that's just fine. I'll do guest spots on other peoples boats ( I'm a foredeck guy and there is always a shortage of them) , but my eventual retirement budget does not include anything over 40 ft registered in my name again.

 

[nobbie48]

I like to be in the water April 1st, and out Oct 31. My club is in the east end -- there's an initial equity chunk, I had to buy a proper cradle, and a fair $50/mo clubhouse minimum. But the annual is quite reasonable at $70' and includes sprong/fall lift/launch and winter storage on the hard. I can also leave her in, the club is bubbled, but I don't see much value in that.

I'm thinking about trying Ontario Place next summer. Apparently, a small cruiser docked cruiser downtown can fetch $100-150/night as an Air BNB. 3 nights will cover my gas bill on the weekends.

I agree a sailing yacht could cost more in the long run. Fuel is one consideration, then maintenance and broken stuff. A good sailing day finishes with a stop at the chandlery for things that I broke or wore out.

Since switching to power, I do spend more on fuel, less time working. I also dropped the spending on watches, footwear, and jackets, food and bev. It's OK to serve hamburgers and beer at sea on a powerboat.

To me the difference between sail and power is that a sailboat is far more of a work boat. With wind power there is tending of the sails, compensating for ballast, non-crew have to stay out of the way of working crew and be able to duck booms.

On a power boat just don't touch controls or or block the captain's view.

I like cruising canals and bridge clearances for sail rule out anything bigger than an Optomist dinghy.

I don't know what has happened to the price and availability of slips or the crowding of mooring points at the locks.

 

[crankcall]

price of slips hasnt gone up much , availability is a problem , especialy with bigger boats , stay under 30ft and its better.

Reality is a cruising sailboat will spend at least half its time moving under power, that's just how it is. Your often under a timeline , or the wind is just 'wrong' to get where you want to be . A really good diesel engine is more important than fancy sails on a cruising sailboat.

 

[klr_guy]

Bloody ballers on here.

 

[Mad Mike]

price of slips hasnt gone up much , availability is a problem , especialy with bigger boats , stay under 30ft and its better.

Reality is a cruising sailboat will spend at least half its time moving under power, that's just how it is. Your often under a timeline , or the wind is just 'wrong' to get where you want to be . A really good diesel engine is more important than fancy sails on a cruising sailboat.

That 30 foot thing is getting smaller. I dont think you can get a slip over 28 in the harbor any more.

For the non mariner, think of sailing like horseback riding, power boating to motorcycling. Both will get you there, the journey and the community is different.

 

[mimico_polak]

That 30 foot thing is getting smaller. I dont think you can get a slip over 28 in the harbor any more.

For the non mariner, think of sailing like horseback riding, power boating to motorcycling. Both will get you there, the journey and the community is different.

But do they wave to each other when passing? This is important.

 

[crankcall]

But do they wave to each other when passing? This is important.

actually yes , like every sport you meet some old gits that think sailors wear tweed, smoke pipes and like volvos and powerboaters like to wash out the shoreline, dont know the rules of the road and are usually naming the boats after some drinking reference. Stink pots vs. rag baggers .
a suzukiGSXR vs Harley type .

now that sailboats have hit well past 80kmph , and foiling sailboats are becoming pretty common , its more like flying a small plane than horseback riding. We had to buy 70hp coach boats for our sailing school , the kids race team boats can do 15-18kts per hr and our old 20hp zodiacs cant keep up on a windy day .
Surprising numbers of sailboat guys ride motorcycles in our harbour, fly gliders or motorplanes and downhill ski. Adrenalin sports.