[emcentar]

When I was considering my sailboat purchase, so many people warned me away from getting a boat. "Boats eat money", "You won't use it as much as you think you will", and "The two best days are when you buy the boat and when you sell the boat". So I worried I might be making an irrational decision, but decided if I was going to have mid-life crisis a sailboat was far better than a BMW, a house, a baby, or a start-up (which seemed to be how most late 30-something crises were manifesting themselves around me).

Instead, I find that I highly underestimated the benefits of owning a sailboat. Here are the things that really surprised me:

1. A sailboat makes an excellent weekend vacation cottage, even if you don't leave the slip.
2. Other people find sailing and sailboats interesting and are always asking about your sailboat. If you are bad at small talk, a sailboat offers an endless source of conversational material.
3. Everything on a sailboat is more fun. Even cleaning a sailboat is way more fun than cleaning your house.
4. New car smell has nothing on sailboat teak smell.
5. Watching birds catching fish and other people docking their boats is better than 99% of television.

What pleasant upsides have you found about having your sailboat?

E.

 

[jimgo]

I'm hoping to get past the "boats eat money" stage this season, then I should be able to answer your question.

 

[aelkin]

There is an endless list of things to do!
I love the Marina atmosphere - so any excuse to hang out at the boat - painting, bedding hardware, sanding, varnishing, maintenance, canvas projects.

All of these things are infinitely better than mowing the lawn or folding laundry!

PLUS, when you actually go sailing, the boat feels better for your efforts!

I'm pretty sure after I replace the joker valve on my head last year, the boat sailed 1/10th of a knot faster. True story.

Andy

 

[tempest]

All great points..and true

I live in an extremely densely populated part of the country. ( working on changing that) Sitting in traffic is almost a part-time job. Yet there are times, (especially on a weekday) when I can be the only boat out on the water. There are few places here where one can be alone anymore. It's what restores me.

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

Privacy.

Even in a crowded anchorage a boat is quite private.

 

[rockDAWG]

6. You can name your boat
7. You are the king or queen, your make the rules, you can change the rules anytime you like.

 

[Andrew65]

All of the above, plus 1.

The rent living on my bouy is 1/10 th cost of my old apartment, plus I can sail or row my dingy to work and laugh at the traffic.

 

[SVTatia]

Want to be happy for day? Get drunk
Want to be happy for a week? Get a vacation
Want to be happy for a month? Get married
Want to be happy for ever? Get a sailboat

 

[T37Chef]

- family bonding & making for childhood memories
- time to reflect on other things
- multiple teaching moments

and why is cleaning the boat more fun than the house?

 

[krisscross]

You can marry people because you are a captain.

 

[SailingJackson]

Sail to work

For years I lived on the west side of Madison, Wisconsin and kept my boat at a mooring field on the western short of Lake Mendota. I worked downtown Madison, just 3 blocks from the pier and breakwater at Tenney Park in Madison. During the summer I would sail to work in the morning and sail home in the evening. Sweet.

 

[T37Chef]

Madison has the best farmers Market!

 

[gamayun]

There is such a deep satisfaction when I'm sailing (especially when I'm alone and my senses are super heightened), and I have everything dialed in, can even take my hands off the wheel and she steers herself, and I'm just filled with this feeling that I can't describe -- supreme happiness? bliss? Maybe if I were religious, I could describe it in rapturous terms, but it never fails to overwhelm me in the moment, and I just grin and go with it. Many questioned my sanity about buying a boat and there were moments of doubt myself. I've been lucky to have done many things right in my life, but nothing was more righteous than my own boat.

 

[Donna_F]

...

What pleasant upsides have you found about having your sailboat?

E.

Wait until you discover how to do the Naked Lightning dance. Pure joy.

 

[FirstCandC]

1. The boat and learning to sail it has been a great, rewarding challenge.
2. Sailing on my own boat has been much more fun than on others. In fact, it is so much fun that I am finding that I lack the discipline to work on it, I just want to sail it every time I go down to the marina.
3. The boat provokes thought- from learning how to fix things, to planning trips and long-term upgrades, wondering about its history, and dreaming of how far it will someday take me from this hectic, chaotic land life.

 

[mrvideo]

Its much quieter than a Motor boat !

 

[Barquito]

I find that I really like planning new projects for the boat. Actually getting them done is icing on the cake (sometimes I am forced to eat my cake without icing).

SailingJackson - I miss having my boat at Marshall park. Was 5 min drive to the boat. Now it is in Milwaukee. We would get food at Imperial Garden and take it out to the boat to eat.

 

[jhgreen]

The Silence of moving with out the humm of an engine
the ability to be truly unreachable for extended periods of time.

Jeremy G
Pearson 10m

 

[SHNOOL]

* The remarkable sound the hull makes through the water at 6 knots, has an almost therapeutic effect.
* The unmistakeable feel of the boat when your just perfectly set trim, and the boat "clicks" into a groove, its a satisfaction you cannot get easily from other hobbies.
* People are no longer questioning your sanity, they are now sure you have none.
* The response of "I'm busy sailing" for some reason seems like a perfectly acceptable response for some people. And "I'm sorry I have a race, I can't let my crew down."
* The required attention to detail in both sailing, and repairing the boat, somehow in a very welcomed fashion, pulls away all focus from other stresses/worries in life.

Best quote ever. "...sailing isn't a sport. Sport should be so lucky."

 

[killarney_sailor]

23. Getting to take apart the head when it gets plugged - but I digress.