Biggest reason I want out of my motorboat, gas costs.. A day on the water usually cost me at least $50. Thats launching for free and whatnot.
Biggest reason I want out of my motorboat, gas costs.. A day on the water usually cost me at least $50. Thats launching for free and whatnot.
mad_machine wrote: no pics anymore.. but here is the story on True Path True Path refit
Ahh BERKELEY you! Damn that makes it sound sooooo easy.
Apexcarver wrote: Biggest reason I want out of my motorboat, gas costs.. A day on the water usually cost me at least $50. Thats launching for free and whatnot.
One of work buddies is ex-army corps of engineers. Said his tugboat once refueled for a cost of almost half a million dollars
Apexcarver wrote: Biggest reason I want out of my motorboat, gas costs.. A day on the water usually cost me at least $50. Thats launching for free and whatnot.
This is how I got into sailing. I had a sweet jetboat, was given a beat up hobie 14. Now I very actively race a hobie 16.
I grew up living on a lake. Nearly done it all. I have never had more fun than on fast cat
Motorsports have their place though. Ya know setting the marks and a comittee boat. LOL
Heck I even pull skiers with the h16. :)
Since you are planning a winter of "liveaboard" on this small boat and since we are talking sailing here, I will throw up a favorite of mine. I discovered it on SA a couple of years ago.
Video: Hold Fast: Stories of maniac sailors, anarchist castaways, and the voyage of the S/V Pestilence
To say it is a favorite is an odd thing because on one hand I do not agree with the lifestyle and the disregard for safety/preparedness. On the other hand, I am jealous of the freedom from the lack of the conventional thinking constraints.
This video is over an hour long. It starts out rough and choppy but stay with it. As one reviewer writes, PBS could have hardly done better. The reality is, the creator claims to have done the video editing in 14 days using a high power laptop bought with a 15 day return policy.
After finding this, I dug deeper into Moxie (the main character - who is quite the character!)
Here is his written account of buying a Catalina 27 sailboat while living in San Francisco. Not knowing how to sail, he took it out of San Francisco Bay and the engine quit! He sailed to Mexico and that engine never did start again - the whole way.
http://www.blueanarchy.org/cruising/
I enjoy reading this account because I have sailed into and around most of the ports mentioned within. I especially like his account of Santa Monica.
I also like his spirit and style of building this boat by himself, out of scrap, while homeless.
http://www.blueanarchy.org/sealouse/
Fear not for Moxie, he just sold his company to Twitter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxie_Marlinspike
Or, fear him, since he is on the Federal Watchlist. Much of this stems from his association with Jacob Appelbaum and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks.
ransom wrote: In reply to mad_machine: Wow... that doesn't seem like much money for a boat like that. So boats are totally like drugs, huh? First step is free (or cheap), then everything spirals from there?
10' flat bottom, free. 12' "watercraft", free. 14' Kayak, $1000(with paddle/life jacket/car top carry)
God forbid I get into sails or a motor.
Buying boats is the cheap part. Keeping and maintaining them is the part that will kill you.
In reply to JohnRW1621:
BERKING HARD CORE, makes all those Bear Grylls types look like a bunch of Bob Costas a thousand times more than they normally appear.
JohnRW1621 wrote: Since you are planning a winter of "liveaboard" on this small boat and since we are talking sailing here, I will throw up a favorite of mine. I discovered it on SA a couple of years ago. Video: Hold Fast: Stories of maniac sailors, anarchist castaways, and the voyage of the S/V Pestilence
Thank you for this link. It brought back a flood of 30 year old memories from my hippy-dippy, flat-broke sailboat bum days of hanging on a hook in sketchy anchorages because of no funds for mooring fees, sneaking into yacht clubs for hot showers, eating rice and what you caught, etc. While my boat and my circumstances were slightly more respectable, the vibe was largely the same and while I don't want a 'do-over', I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.
You guys are horrible, between that video and quick spin through the local CL, used sailboats are chhhhheeeeeeeep as long as you stay with something less than 26'. Now that said I want something bigger, and I have ZERO experience with em. 
What an awesome video. Thanks for sharing it and the links. I haven't done much offshore sailing lately and this will help stoke that desire to do it again soon.
Apexcarver wrote: Biggest reason I want out of my motorboat, gas costs.. A day on the water usually cost me at least $50. Thats launching for free and whatnot.
At $9/gallon for 100 octane and 8-9 mpg on the track, $50 worth of gas is like 22 laps at Laguna Seca...
Glad y'all liked the video. The first time i saw it i found myself thinking about the video and mentally reviewing it for weeks. I rewatched the whole thing again last night after posting it. I think the actual trips were the winter of 07 and '08. I think he released it in '10
While some of the things they did (or didn't do) safety wise give me the chills.. I admire and envy them for doing it
JohnRW1621 wrote: Glad y'all liked the video. The first time i saw it i found myself thinking about the video and mentally reviewing it for weeks. I rewatched the whole thing again last night after posting it. I think the actual trips were the winter of 07 and '08. I think he released it in '10
I watched that whole damn thing and the good looking one didn't get naked once.
Spent the summer of '79 in the Bahamas. My mom quit her job as a teacher, and my dad sold his half of a very good import car repair shop (mostly German), and bought a Morgan 34. The plan was to live over there on the boat, but it was a much more expensive proposition than was expected, and we returned to the states after only three months. But some of the best memories I have are from that trip. Hmmm, time to scour the ads for a cheap sailboat that can make a short trip...
racerfink wrote: Spent the summer of '79 in the Bahamas. My mom quit her job as a teacher, and my dad sold his half of a very good import car repair shop (mostly German), and bought a Morgan 34. The plan was to live over there on the boat, but it was a much more expensive proposition than was expected, and we returned to the states after only three months. But some of the best memories I have are from that trip. Hmmm, time to scour the ads for a cheap sailboat that can make a short trip...
Just curious which is more expensive, cheap sailboat or free (insert make here)? I haven't been sailing in years and do miss it.
lewbud wrote: Just curious which is more expensive, cheap sailboat or free (insert make here)? I haven't been sailing in years and do miss it.
Both are a pretty bad choice but free is probably worse. Not to say that you can't find good cheap sailboats, just REALLY do your research on what you are buying and the cost of the wear items (shrouds, sails, sheets, replacement engine).
exactly. My boat is not exactly in bad shape.. but it does need work. As you would expect from a 50 year old boat. If I had a marina or "professional" fix the cockpit sole and the gelcoat cracks, I would be out thousands.. but I can do all that myself.. so it is just my time and materials.
The Sails ar newish, the rigging is newish (5 or so years old) and I need an engine
One of the great quotes from the film I posted is, "...we discovered that much of sailing is just working on your boat."
Be prepared for much work, done yourself, because as MadMachine says, it is financially not feasible to have someone else do it.
When they talked about losing their forestay my stomach dropped. Not been there specifically but I HAVE lost a side stay, once leeward (whew, glad we saw that missing shackle) and once windward, "BOOM, WTF!! (mast in water)". That being said, we were on a beach cat NOT a 38' sloop with a deck or keel based mast. Scary stuff. When they were showing the bow plate that needed repair all I could think about was how weak their wood repair of that exact section had looked from earlier in the film.
His point about a boat being able to handle most storms and that all you have to do is "hang on" rang true. It is absolutely amazing the crap a boat can withstand. It may sound like the world is coming apart but if you can somehow keep the bow pointed into the winds and the waves (hopefully they are coming from the same direction) then you should make it through.
Boats can generally handle more than you can. Most Coast Guard Rescues are not from boats in danger of sinking.. but from people getting the E36 M3 beaten out of them trying to ride a storm out
Any updates?
hobiercr wrote: When they talked about losing their forestay my stomach dropped. Not been there specifically but I HAVE lost a side stay, once leeward (whew, glad we saw that missing shackle) and once windward, "BOOM, WTF!! (mast in water)". That being said, we were on a beach cat NOT a 38' sloop with a deck or keel based mast. Scary stuff. When they were showing the bow plate that needed repair all I could think about was how weak their wood repair of that exact section had looked from earlier in the film. His point about a boat being able to handle most storms and that all you have to do is "hang on" rang true. It is absolutely amazing the crap a boat can withstand. It may sound like the world is coming apart but if you can somehow keep the bow pointed into the winds and the waves (hopefully they are coming from the same direction) then you should make it through.
You mean like this? This was the first sail....
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