Help!!! My wife wants a boat!!!

[Mcstealth]

Please give me advise on how to handle this. My wife has it in her mind to purchase a live on 40ft or bigger used yacht down in Corpus Christi, and go float around the Gulf of Mexico and live in it.... 

I was speechless. Of course I am saying, "yes dear", and obviously all I want is a Mooney. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by Mcstealth

[Greg Ellis]

Oh, you poor, poor bastard.  Not sure what to tell you.  I, personally, would go look for a new wife, if you truly needed one. 

[flyboy0681]

When you acquiesce to her wishes, you should demand that the name of the boat be "I Said No".

[WaynePierce]

Sail or power? I would entertain the Sailboat idea but a Power boat would not be satisfactory at all...

 

[DCarlton]

7 minutes ago, Mcstealth said:

Please give me advise on how to handle this. My wife has it in her mind to purchase a live on 40ft or bigger used yacht down in Corpus Christi, and go float around the Gulf of Mexico and live in it.... 

I was speechless. Of course I am saying, "yes dear", and obviously all I want is a Mooney. 

With the uptick in hurricanes, gotta wonder what the insurance is like.  Sooner or later, you'll have to run from one to keep it off the beach.  Unless you;re on a oil rig or fishing, floating around the gulf doesn't sound like my idea of a good time.  Now if you were in Florida, maybe.  

[whiskytango]

My brother and sister in law lived aboard a 65 footer for about 10 years, traveling from the Keys to Maine, in search of perpetual 75 degrees F.  If you think maintaining an airplane is a PIA, get a yacht.  As my sister in law said, "Everything on the boat is already broken - we just don't realize it".

[Hank]

Most people don't realize that BOAT is an acronym, not a word:  it stands for "Break Out Another Thousand". 

For a boat large enough to live on, that Thousand will only get you onto the marina's worklist, it won't pay for any actual work.

Rent a boat one weekend when the weather isn't great, see what it's like floating around, stuck inside that little cabin with a tiny kitchenette . . . .

[MooneyMitch]

You know, life is so short and you probably shouldn’t attempt to dissuade her from her desires.

Let her know you support her in this adventure and also tell her to please write occasionally, letting you know all is well ! 

[Will.iam]

There are yacht rentals in the bahamas for $8000 / wk. they check you out in it and let you go. Far cheaper to go this route to see if you both love it like it or hate it. And if you can’t swing 8k then that right there shows you shouldn’t get a yacht. 

[McMooney]

Hmm, think you should suck it up and buy a boat.  def think of worse things in life

[MooneyMitch]

58 minutes ago, MooneyMitch said:

You know, life is so short and you probably shouldn’t attempt to dissuade her from her desires.

Let her know you support her in this adventure and also tell her to please write occasionally, letting you know all is well ! 

Reminds me of one of my favorites.........

Husband says to wife.....honey, pack you’re bags, I won the lottery......wife says, pack my bags? Where are we going?...... husband says, we’re not going anywhere, you’re leaving! 

[aviatoreb]

Oh my.

[Hank]

You'll need a Vessel License, too. Much easier to.get.than a Pilot's License. I downloaded a thin book from the DMV website, read it 3 or 4 times then went to.the courthouse, paid the ~$20 or so and took the test. Now my driver's license has a "Class V" on it.

[Marauder]

As Will.iam mentioned above, I would try to convince her to check out a boat rental club first. A lot of people I know who bought boats end up selling within a year or two or they end up being dock queens. It's like the RV situation. Lots of people buy them and in a year you see them going up for sale.

[dzeleski]

I live on an island and always thought a boat would be an ideal thing to have. Wildly popular around here too. Then I started to look into the logistics of owning one.

Rough estimates I found for fuel burn:
30' 2-2.5 mpg
35' 1.5 - 2 mpg
40' 1 - 1.5 mpg

Assuming 20kts or so that 15-30 GPH depending on the boat. 20kts at 1 hour is 20nm. My Mooney does 150nm in an hour at 5-20 GPH less. I have no god damn idea why anyone would consider a boat for anything other then a lake, or if you were really into fishing. Otherwise as a means for transportation it seems like a giant waste of resources for very little gain.

Im sure most people dont see it this way, but after seeing the nonsense my friends deal with to own a boat around here the only way I would get one is if I had access to a lake. Also salt water kills them way faster then fresh.

 

https://www.passagemaker.com/technical/feel-the-burn

[MooneyMitch]

49 minutes ago, dzeleski said:

I have no god damn idea why anyone would consider a boat for anything other then a lake, or if you were really into fishing. Otherwise as a means for transportation it seems like a giant waste of resources for very little gain.

And that’s why airplanes were invented!  Much faster to get from New York to Paris (Charles Lindbergh) 

[GeeBee]

Tell her the rules are if it flies, floats or fs, rent it is cheaper. Tell her you never make more than two mistakes and you'll sure miss her. Me? Three time loser.

 

 

 

[A64Pilot]

We were living on an Island Packet sailboat until the Pandemic, and both knees are shot and I doubt I could have made recovery from total knee replacements on a boat. So I bought a house and a Mooney.

‘It depends on what your looking for, if it’s something that can move from one Marina to another, but always stay in a Marina, and your not really wanting to go very far then a power boat is fine.

However if you want to cruise the Caribbean and not stay in Marina’s then your far better off in a sailboat.

Sail boats are much safer in big waves and weather too, and far more stable as the wind pushing on the sails keeps the boat from rocking back and forth.

A thing you should understand is that the best islands to visit and stay even in the Bahama’s don’t have Marina’s, you anchor out, which means life is so much better if you have a watermaker, huge battery bank and lots of Solar. Satellite TV is an option etc etc. You don’t need Airconditioning in the Caribbean as the wind always blows, but in a Marina it’s a must have.

‘We spent Hurricane season up river from Jacksonville as it’s pretty safe there at this Marina.

https://www.ortegalanding.com

You’ll also be much better off with a large tender (RIB) and a 20HP or so motor, it will be the family car, the grocery getter, transportation or snorkeling spots etc, so you need something big enough to carry a load, large enough to stay dry in and fast enough to cover ground fast.

I miss living on the boat as the gypsy type of lifestyle is to my liking. Once in the Caribbean there are so many places to visit and things to do that you could spend years and not see the same thing twice.

‘Oh, and on edit if you have a few Million to buy a large Ocean going trawler, then you can go anywhere, but in reality no planing boat is actually a blue water boat, the hull design just doesn’t lend itself to storm size waves, and do it enough and you will be rather large waves

Edited September 9, 2021 by A64Pilot

[McMooney]

1 hour ago, A64Pilot said:

We were living on an Island Packet sailboat until the Pandemic, and both knees are shot and I doubt I could have made recovery from total knee replacements on a boat. So I bought a house and a Mooney.

‘It depends on what your looking for, if it’s something that can move from one Marina to another, but always stay in a Marina, and your not really wanting to go very far then a power boat is fine.

However if you want to cruise the Caribbean and not stay in Marina’s then your far better off in a sailboat.

Sail boats are much safer in big waves and weather too, and far more stable as the wind pushing on the sails keeps the boat from rocking back and forth.

A thing you should understand is that the best islands to visit and stay even in the Bahama’s don’t have Marina’s, you anchor out, which means life is so much better if you have a watermaker, huge battery bank and lots of Solar. Satellite TV is an option etc etc. You don’t need Airconditioning in the Caribbean as the wind always blows, but in a Marina it’s a must have.

‘We spent Hurricane season up river from Jacksonville as it’s pretty safe there at this Marina.

https://www.ortegalanding.com

You’ll also be much better off with a large tender (RIB) and a 20HP or so motor, it will be the family car, the grocery getter, transportation or snorkeling spots etc, so you need something big enough to carry a load, large enough to stay dry in and fast enough to cover ground fast.

I miss living on the boat as the gypsy type of lifestyle is to my liking. Once in the Caribbean there are so many places to visit and things to do that you could spend years and not see the same thing twice.

‘Oh, and on edit if you have a few Million to buy a large Ocean going trawler, then you can go anywhere, but in reality no planing boat is actually a blue water boat, the hull design just doesn’t lend itself to storm size waves, and do it enough and you will be rather large waves

BAM, just sayin

[philiplane]

All my friends who have boats and planes say that the planes are a far better value. Boats are money pits. Bigger the boat, the bigger the pit.

[Guest]

Might I suggest a compromise for you and your wife?

[ArtVandelay]

All my friends who have boats and planes say that the planes are a far better value. Boats are money pits. Bigger the boat, the bigger the pit.

I lived on a boat for 10 years, owned my plane for 7, and value is up to how much you use it.
Boat engine overhaul cost 1/4 of aircraft engine. I did all the minor maintenance on my boat, but not on the plane.
Like planes, a lot of them become derelicts from disuse.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BravoWhiskey]

If you go with the boat look into the Great Loop.  Thats a bucket list item for me... after I do something similar in the plane.  

[pirate]

I have owned planes for many years and my wife has always supported my flying, she enjoys taking trips or just a quick flight around the patch, I’m very blessed. 

Six years ago my wife said she wanted a boat so I bought her a 40ft Silverton SB, she’s very happy as am I. 

We typically take 40 - 300 mile trips on Lake Michigan or just hang out on the boat for a long weekend.

Naturally I love flying first and boating defiantly a second, since I’m based DKB I fly my wife weekly ( quick flight )  to KRAC Reef Point Marina  so I’m happy and she’s happy. 

 

 

 

[Will.iam]

I’d be happy too if i could afford both an airplane and a 40ft boat. Haven’t figured out how to swing that yet.