Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What's it like having a boat?

41 replies

VikingNorthUtsire · 05/09/2021 13:03

Hoping MN is big enough that there will be some boaty people on here.

This is DH's latest plan. If you have one, do you spend most of your free time out on it, and dies that cause any tensions? Do they take a lot of maintenance, and is that very time consuming?

OP posts:
VaguelyInteresting · 05/09/2021 13:31

Former boat owner here. They’re a hole in the water you throw money into, frankly. Now don’t get me wrong- good days are amazing, when the suns shining and the maintenance is up to date, and your mates come round with wine.

Days when it’s pissing with rain, the engines misfired and bananad a push rod, and nobody wants to come and hang out then while you throw hundreds of pounds at a problem then sit and weep at the madness of it all.

Less good.

It depends on your tolerance for the bad stuff, really.

KonTikki · 05/09/2021 13:35

I got my boat after I retired so as to have the time to justify the costs of running it.
Sailed it to the Med after 3 years in the UK for sunshine sailing.
The costs are just the same - as a rough guide it probably costs me about 8000 euros per annum, (that includes marina costs of 6000 euros).
I live on it during the summer, June to September to make the expense of having a boat worthwhile.
It is very definitely a lifestyle choice.
Personally, don't think it's great for young families. Too much else has to be given up.

EIIa · 05/09/2021 13:35

My dad had one, it slept ten and was pretty big

Caused tensions between him and my mum

I personally loved it, loved everything about it it would never own one as an adult. Me and my kids do RYA lessons and like messing about on the water but that’s it

FinallyHere · 05/09/2021 13:36

Love messing about on the river.

Know from experience that a boat is a hole that you pour money down.

BlackberrySky · 05/09/2021 13:37

I once had a partner who owned a boat. His boat ownership was the main reason we broke up 😂

FinallyHere · 05/09/2021 13:38

Definitely go out together on a hired boat before you buy one. Bad enough for him to buy it, even worse if all your money goes on looking after a boat you don't enjoy.

Antinerak · 05/09/2021 13:40

We spend a lot of spare time on it, and we usually stay on it 1-2 nights a week if not more.

We fix it up and maintain it ourselves so although parts and resources can be expensive, labour is free.

Our mooring fees are £1000 a year which means we don't feel we have to use it for the sake of it, and it pays for itself when we save money holidaying on it.

We're looking into turning it into an AirBnB

RosesAndHellebores · 05/09/2021 14:00

DH did the RYA course and had earlier yachting experience. His sis and her dh sailed half the world on a 47 footer now moored in the antipodes.

I just asked DH, with some rentals through summer season, through a holiday Co local to our house it costs about €650pcm. Any rentals have to provide proof of sailing expertise or hire a skipper as well as the boat.

ShingleBeach · 05/09/2021 14:25

My folks had a boat, luckily in an area with free mooring but they paid the local boat co for mooring on a pontoon, otherwise the wait for the tide was longer. Will you want it lifted out of the water, hull cleaned, and stored over winter?

Factor in bouyancy jackets incl spares for guests. Good waterproofs that are built for seawater. A good cooler. A porta potti if none on board.

I agree it isn’t ideal if you have young kids. Once they are over the initial excitement of a couple of boat trips there isn’t a lot for them to do, if you want to spend all day on the boat. A nightmare if you need a tender to beach on beaches you might visit.

PrimeraVez · 05/09/2021 17:47

I had a boyfriend with a yacht and when it was good, it was amazing (bank holiday weekends, sunshine, wine, bliss) but when it was shit, it was shit (cold, miserable, took up all his spare time and cash)

I’m not in the UK but here we have a kind of club you subscribe to with different levels of membership and it gives you access to a variety of boats to use on a temporary basis. Does that kind of thing exist near you?

coldwarenigma · 05/09/2021 18:09

I learnt to sail at the age of 40..I would love to have a boat but can't afford all the costs associated..

SirVixofVixHall · 05/09/2021 18:10

@BarbaraofSeville

I don't have a boat, but I've spent enough time with boat owners to know that the Viz top tip of 'recreate the experience of owning a boat by standing in the shower ripping up £20 notes' is based on the reality of having one.
Absolutely this.
SirVixofVixHall · 05/09/2021 18:10

Db had a boat, it cost a small fortune. He did really enjoy it though.

urbanbuddha · 05/09/2021 18:15

Like standing in a cold shower ripping up money.

TheBlessedCheesemaker · 05/09/2021 18:29

Suggest you join a shared ownership club for a few years - expensive but it takes the hassle away and gives you time to decide if this is what you really want. It’s not a good idea with kids of any age unless they already have the bug. I got all of mine qualified, thinking they’d spend gap years having a riot working on boats, but reality is that it was money down the drain - kids have no interest unless they can rock up to a fully equipped (ie full fridge) yacht, preferably with crew.

shmashing · 05/09/2021 18:41

We always had boats when I was growing up. I had a sailing dinghy and the family had speedboats and a cabin cruiser. My memory of those years were about five days spent on the water each summer. Then months and months of scraping off barnacles and rubbing down woodwork in preparation for the next season.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page