The 12 "rules" of buying boats and equipment

Posted By: Bruce, C&C 27 MKIII, "Moonstruck"
Date: 7/19/02 11:12a.m.

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After seeing a number of threads bashing one boat or another, or advocating one piece of equipment over another, I came up with my own personal rules for buying boats & equipment. I hope you find this helpful & entertaining! 1). On the subject of "my boat's better than your boat": Anything that gets you out on the water safely is a good thing, especially if it's a SAILBOAT. Your choice of what works for you is NOT the choice I would probably make. That's a good thing, because if everyone only wanted Rhodes 22s, very few of us could afford them. 2). For MOST of the sailing conditions that most of us see, any of the boats we commonly see out there will get the job done reasonably well. Racing boats are much faster, cruisers slower, cheaper ones cheaper, and high quality boats will take more abuse. A Catalina or a Hunter 27 is not so poorly built that it is not a reasonable substitution for a Sabre 28, C&C 27 or Pacific Seacraft for the vast majority of situations. So, understand your particular model's strong AND weak points, and go buy what you like and what fits your pocketbook. If, you're likely to go out in poor conditions and rough waters, you have a lot more to learn about sailing before you need to worry about which boat will withstand the abuse. The SAILOR determines the safety, not the SAILBOAT! In short, you'll be fine & don't sweat the small stuff. 3. More doo-dads do not automatically equal more fun. They do, however, automatically mean more MONEY, leaving less to spend on beer. Beer = FUN, especially when sailing. OK, if you don't drink beer, don't complain - just substitute your favorite beverage. 4. Adding doo-dads to your boat does not pay off financially. Face it - you will not recover the $ when you sell the boat. Period. Therefore, make sure that the $200 you spend on a new whatsit will really give you more joy than $200 of BEER! (see rule # 3 above). 5. Added doo-dads take up space, add weight, and usually slow down the launching/recovery process. You WILL say "Where'd I put that *&^$#!" or "*&^%! I forgot to put out the XXXX." That's fine, if the trade off of more time to launch is worth the greater enjoyment on the water. BEER, however, is always worth the (temporary) space, weight and slowing of ALL processes! 6. Simplicity itself usually adds enjoyment - complication rarely does. Sure, it might be really neat to get that added trim from a cunningham, have the ability to instantly reef using your single or double-line reefing system, be able to tension your main just a little more using the multi-block outhaul, etc. But, unless you're racing, it might be even more enjoyable to have only a couple lines to pull on, and you'll probably never notice that 1/2 of 1/10th of a knot your missing. Your wife, however WILL notice the 64 different colored lines with 64 different purposes, positions & processes - and no, she probably won't be impressed with your PROWESS just your inability to sit still and enjoy the sunset - and your BEER! (see rule number 3 above) 7. Don't scrimp on the safety equipment. No, it won't add much enjoyment to the sail, you hope to never have to use it, and it may lay down in your bilge and just get dirty. But you know, that's a GOOD thing, and when you need it, you NEED it! BEER however, does NOT qualify as safety equipment! 8. I have yet to look out on a little daysailor or big boat and say to myself "Damn! he'd be having so much more fun if he only had a rigid vang!" or some such. I just look out, notice he's smiling and zooming along, and figure that's good enough. I also figure he has enough BEER, because he's SMILING! (see rule #3, above) 9. People have been sailing for thousands of years, on boats we would today consider decrepit, dirty and dangerous. Yet, they sailed the world. In the Bahamas a while ago I saw a "working" sailboat of fishermen who's mast & boom were literally not-very-straight, downright ugly tree branches, and the sail was an old stitched up, stained & ripped piece of off-colored canvas. But, they were moving along just fine through the harbor, thank you very much... And once I thought about it, it was a pretty cool looking boat. They did however, have BEER! (as always, see rule #3, above) 10. Sometimes it's best to add something for everyone ELSE's benefit. For me, I don't really care about the stereo - I'd rather listen to the wind. My wife, however, is another story. No ability to listen to tunes would drive her out of her mind. Do I care about a squirt-dispenser for hand soap? Nope! My wife, however, does, and you know what that means! My hand-dandy pocketknife is just fine for cutting cheese, but my guests, well... you get the picture. I don't drink wine - I drink BEER! (You guessed it, see rule #3 above) My wife, however, likes wine, so wine is also on board! 11. More complexity means more maintenance. I have a business partner with a 54 foot power yacht. Nice boat? You bet. He also has so much maintenance that either he has to take a week off to work on the boat, or pay some questionable yard staff to do it for him. He even pays to have the thing washed, because it takes 4 hours or more to do it right. It's also so big, he rarely takes it off the dock! He also, however, commonly runs out of BEER! (I have to tell him about rule #3!) 12. Set up your boat so that it is the easiest to get on the water fast. You'll use it more. You are much more likely to do more sailing, and have more enjoyment on a boat that is a little too small than one that is too big. When it becomes a "hassle" in your mind to take out the boat, it won't be as much fun. This sometimes justifies a boat on a mooring or slip, or a smaller boat, or even sometimes, a bigger boat you can actually sleep on. But, as many here will tell you who have owned bigger boats, they're not always better, and most look back fondly on days of simpler, smaller boats. Of course they also look back on the BEER! (didn't think I was going to let you get by without referring you to rule #3 above, did you?) Fair Winds, Bruce