I'm looking to buy a boat in the next year or so. Racked up a couple of offshore races, some around the bay racing, a little cruising, and built a few timber kayaks. All of that was about 20 years ago before kids and family life became the focus. So I know a bit but also know that I don't really know much of anything.

The thing that I'm noticing when discussing boats with some family and friends is that a lot of people have very strong opinions on how a person should do the boat thing. There seems to be some sort of a diplomacy vacum surrounding the subject for some reason. For example...........

Case 1: A bloke I know got a pretty solid redundency and the plan was to retire and go sailing. He got the boat, a lovely 43ft cruiser/racer, and then after a year or so more or less parked it to take up a job overseas that lasted 5 years. It was a big, expensive boat that needed at least two people for a day out (preferably 4). Overall end result being a boat that was too big for it's intended purpose, that sat and racked up bills, before being sold at a loss with great relief and bitterness by the owner.

Now when I talk about boats to him he is firmly of the opinion that nothing less than a 40fter will suffice and that if you can't afford that then you shouldn't do it lest you are not happy with the smaller boat. All this despite his own experience! I however tend to like the Pardeys view better (at least I think it was them) - "go small, go cheap, go now!". So I'm looking at 28-35ft boats. Maybe a Compass 28/29 or a nice older wooden boat up to say 35ft. Seems to me that if you want to sail, then it helps to stack the cards in your favour, that is to say, if I want to sail today I need to be able to do it at short notice, short handed, and on a budget (not cheap, but not expensive).

Case 2: On the subject of wooden boats, a mate who has sailed a bit, but never owned, built or maintained a boat is very firmly of the opinion that ownership of a classic means that you never sail, eat out or spend time with family becasue every minute and dollar you have will be spent on the boat. I don't doubt that maintainence could be onerous, but then again, if that's what I want to do then it's my mistake to make.

So to my point......

My question is not which boat should I buy as there's no one answer to that and it depends on what it will be used for, but this.........Why is it that people are so opinionated, or even invested, on the subject? If I was buying a car I would get opinions but they would not come with the same fervant zeal that sail boat preferences seem to.

And on a related subject, why is it that poeple who have lived and worked in the same city and job their whole lives are experts on why a cruising life would never work? Why are people who have never owned a boat the quickest to say that it will send you broke and make you cry? Of course that is possible (maybe even probable!), but living a life that misses good things for fear of the possibility of bad things is just not the way I think.

Just thinking about it now, maybe the real qustion is, why are people so offended by the rejection of "one size fits all" advice that is often only based on perceptions rather than experience? And why do people struggle so hard to keep those of us that would walk our own path tethered to lives that are based on their own structured thinking?

I dunno. Seems the older I get the more confused I become.


T2X