Some documentary work of interest, a needful read, and a good reason to avoid AI in your writing…
Wherever you happen to live or, within a days’ travel, there’s a bunch of affordable boats that will take you wherever you want to go. You might even say there’s a glut.
Which, considering, there appears to be more boats for sale than buyers, now’s a good time to buy, not sell.
That being the case, I have to add that there are some issues that can be problematic. For starters, one reason boats are for sale is that there are bugger all affordable places to park a boat once you’ve purchased one. A lot of marinas won’t even allow older classic plastic these days. So, there are few spaces available at inflated prices. As far as I can deduce, the most affordable way to own a boat these days is to cruise where anchoring is the norm and just keep going.
It’s all about moving.
Which explains why so many boats are selling so cheap. Their owners can’t afford to pay the marina and insurance bills. The problem for wannabe VolksCruisers run into is those monthly costs tend to make even the cheapest boats unaffordable and kill even the simplest projects.
I follow the cost of used windvane self-steering gears and I’ve noticed the current selling price has doubled in the last year or so. For other marine “stuff” it’s even worse. So the days of throwing money at problems where boats are concerned is now something of a FUBAR situation. Unless you’re wealthy, of course.
Kind of depressing with no sign that it’s going to get any better anytime soon.
On the other hand, as the Chinese and Scots say, interesting times with so many boats can also bring opportunities.
More about that come soon…
I gave up my marina berth. Keeping a boat for “recreational” use is expensive. They make sense, as you point out, all the time you are moving and in the process of a journey. Even my old berth alongside an old wall would pay rent for a comfortable place ashore. I still maintain a sense of adventure, but living on a boat in a damp environment over winters is not something i would be in any rush to repeat. Still, having affordable berthing options might actually stop people from dumping boats in creeks and rivers! I saw many “Admiralty Warrants” pinned to yachts in Gibraltar many years ago, when the bills did not get paid and the vessels seized. All about the Bennies.
The less than $50,000 sailboat market used to be my bread and butter when marine surveying. Full of interesting boats and plenty of dreamers and gunnas. Now even the biggest optimist knows that the maths doesn’t work unless you’re in the financial position to write off a large chunk of change on a hobby.
Cheers
Curious if there are still places in lower 48 waters where anchoring out is the norm (without getting pestered by the “authorities”). Or if contemporary “cruising” is now relegated to 3rd and 2nd world options. As a vital part of inexpensive cruising-living I’d think this a serious consideration if one desires a home port of sorts.
I’m afraid that the best one might find is a home port of sorts. The proper nomadic mindset is home is wherever you happen to be.
As it happens, I spent part of the weekend looking into re-flagging our boat in Poland.
Will you be writing something about that? Pros and cons?
Yes, that would be an interesting discussion and something I have been looking into.