I have a sailboat.. it has been in our family for decades and in that time it has been a work in progress and it has progressed....... I am both experienced and skilled in how to sail, well and quickly. I used to race at a very high level, I still sail like I did when I raced, the right sails up, sails always well set and trimmed. Skilled sailors often compliment me on my sail trim.. I am also pretty good at optimizing the boat and its systems, making everything work well and making the boat modern and relevant despite it being nearly fifty years old. It has been constantly maintained and regularly upgraded... Old boat a lot of new systems and technology and loads of features... We USE our boat regularly and frequently.. I keep critical spare parts to a level that most boat owners never get to.. a spare engine, mast, sails, electronics, pumps and kits, refrigeration, power management, most key systems have back ups in inventory to prevent down time.. I like day sailing - I do not like cruising as I have found that cruising generally involves a lot of motoring and I prefer to sail rather than motor on a sailboat.. I am also a member of a good club and it is just more convenient and comfortable to come back to our dock before dinner and prepare a meal on board... I have a shore locker with extra freezer and refrigeration in it.. as our refrigerated storage space on board is limited. When we go out into the lake - we head way out into the lake and strangely very few boats head out as far as we do.. A days' sailing will typically clock 20-30 nautical miles round trip.. I prepare meals on board, I clean up after meals. The galley has a full function oven, an induction cook top, a dishwasher, tempered glass dishes, the cups and mugs are stainless, refrigeration, running water.. for power we have solar panels and an inverter... also an external regulator on the engine alternator that is very effective at charging the battery..
Even with family and others on the boat I typically sail it by myself - it is set up to do so easily... the deck layout is highly efficient, I have an auto pilot with wireless remote, the VHF radio has a remote station, I have an electric winch handle which I only use to hoist the main sail.. Our boat is stiff and quick, faster than boats ten feet longer in general.. it is a classic performance design... There are all sorts of comforts, heating, air conditioning, electric marine head, running water, LED lighting everywhere including all lockers and mechanical spaces... solid hardwood cabin sole, thick wool carpets... We prefer proper bedding on our bunks, with throw pillows... great sails and lots of them... anything that has not functioned well has been refined to work superlatively.. the boat is pretty close to perfection... it has custom features I invented... a mast head wide angle camera for collision avoidance... it feeds a flat screen TV that is seen from the helm while sailing - it covers all blind spots.. It truly is a great boat.. how good is it? My measure is that of the close to 400 boats at our club, I would not trade EVEN with one of them.
@Carazaa Let me presume that the real estate in rustic rural Scandinavia is extremely costly now? To replace our 48 year old boat with a new one of comparable quality would be about ten times what this boat cost us.. I am having my spare mast re-rigged and one repair done.. I asked what the all in price would be today to purchase that mast and boom rigged new... more than my Dad paid for the boat.. Everything I look at be it property or a car or a boat is on the order of ten times as much as it was forty to fifty years ago... The price inflation / the decrease in purchasing power of it - is insane only very few people make ten times what they used to on an after tax basis.. Yes it is depressing - I agree with you...
@pdqsailor1 Yes the ocean property is very expensive now.
Boats have lots of upkeep but its worth it if you love to sail. You probably doc it on land in the winter? My cousin has a steel boat and I think they leave it in the ocean in the winter.
@Carazaa Our boat is like an old horse knowing its stall in the barn.. I am almost superfluous to the procedure.. I put the boat near the dock, put it in reverse the prop walk tucks the stern up against the dock and I step off with the stern spring and the stern line in my hand and place them on the dock cleat... the boat is still creeping forward as I stroll to the bow and put the bow lines spliced loops (on the dock) on the bow cleat and tuck the lines in the fairleads.. My Wife will then tension the stern line as my Mother shuts down the engine - I have picked up the power cord and am walking back aft with it in my hand and I plug the boat in.. SO many people have run up to help at times and unless it is blowing out of the west at 30 plus knots there is no issue and even there - I come in a bit hot and power onto the dock with the stern spring.. I have been doing this for forty eight years - on this boat for forty three years, no drama.
@DDonde The TRUTH is that in the space of seven to ten days time I learned seventy to eighty percent of what I know about sailing.. and it has taken me the balance of my life to perfect the balance... It is not difficult to learn how to sail it is elusive to master how to sail...
@DDonde so to learn to sail, watch You tube video's, read books and take a sailing course - they are not expensive .. sailing is something that you can do your entire life... I take my 93 year old Mother sailing and she helps... she also likes I when I cook the meals... but she is an instigator because she likes telling her friends about her adventures when they are locked up in retirement homes..
