Yachting: Trailer Parks for the Extremely Rich

richnota · #1 01-28-2008, 11:47 AM

My brother-in-law is a serious sailor (and a cool guy).

The Missus and I joined him and a small group on a sailing trip around the British Virgin Islands. We traveled on a 50 foot catamaran and visited places like Tortola, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke.

Beautiful trip. Nothing but relaxation, scenery and good food. The sailing experience (my first) is really exhilarating.

But i noticed something a bit curious. We'd moor for the night at marinas surrounded by gorgeous boats and quite a few mega yachts, or anchor offshore from funky little beach bars...

it seemed a lot like the classic "RV" experience (caravaning to you UK guys).

You pull up. Sit around and drink beer. Drive some more. sit around an drink beer. Drive some more. etc.

The guys in the 200 foot yachts just sit in nicer chairs and drink imported beer.

You spend twenty million on a boat and you end up doing the same thing on vacation that my uncle Moe used to do with his pop-up trailer.

I think that's kind of funny.

Mon Rominee · #2 01-28-2008, 12:06 PM

Funny, I always kinda thought the same thing...nice observance man.

My Bro-in-law and I restored his 27 foot crisscraft (inboard volvo vroom...dunno if it was too much motor, the bell housing kept "popping" and taking on water) and it was nice, we used to go all around the Mystic Seaport are and beyond up the coast, and whenever we would dock and hang we would joke about the same things....I miss those days.

mjolnir · #3 01-28-2008, 12:11 PM

Haha... Great observation...

Diggler · #4 01-28-2008, 12:13 PM

That's why I don't care to go on a cruise.

Recreational boating on the river is fun, though. If someone gave me a yacht, though, I'd take it.

A9X · #5 01-28-2008, 12:14 PM

Yachting: Trailer Parks for the Extremely Rich

Funny.

middy · #6 01-28-2008, 12:14 PM

But you're doing it on the ocean.

Duuh.

Matt_W · #7 01-28-2008, 12:20 PM

If I ever become really rich I would love a yacht, just so I could sale in warm waters, and be truly isolated for shorts amounts of time with only people I want to see around me. I find see life fascinating, so any chance to sale close to reefs and take photographs would be a chance of a life time.

That said, the sitting on a boat in a nice chair and drinking a beer sounds pretty damned good.

onewebfoot · #8 01-28-2008, 12:21 PM

Got to spend the last Spring and Summer yachting on other people's boats. It's a great strategy, crewing on others' boats. So I even joined a local yacht club, without a boat. Might go for certification (sailing), but boats, and the big boats in particular, live up to their "hole in the water into which one pours much money" paradigm, and sometimes quickly. Just in one season, on 27 and 42 footers, problems entailed: a broken boom-tang on the main mast (which required replacement), a torn clew (corner ring) on a jib sail, a non-working starter for the motor when out cruising, a leak in one heaad below deck that requires hand-drainage with nearly every outing, what else? Hull cleanings, and dog cr#p everywhere, given sailors don't control their dogs. Quite too much for me, as a prospective owner, but the owners of large boats are on a constant quest for crew, and even if you bring food or help with boat maintenance or cleanup as part of participation, it's a cheap model for some great experiences. There's nothing else quite like it.

Diggler · #9 01-28-2008, 12:22 PM

I hate it when I come across a broken boom-tang.

MakiSupaStar · #10 01-28-2008, 12:23 PM

I think there's a difference between sailors and yachters. Sailors tend to be more savvy, skilled, artisans, while yachters are often new money. I have rescued and dealt with many yachters on an emergency level as I work as a deckhand on our lifeguard vessel. Yachters are some of the nicest dumb people you'll ever meet, but man a couple of times I've almost lost my life because of them.

**SoComSurfing** · #11 01-28-2008, 12:47 PM

Excellent observation. The giant floating parties is one of my favorite things about fishing tournaments. It doesn't matter if you're on a 16ft. center-console or a 66ft. sportfisher, everyone's welcome to tie-up and socialize.
One of my bosses has an island down there between Tortola and Virgin Gorda. Beautiful country, isn't it? He's taken his big boat (44ft. and 52ft. Regals) down there a few times, but usually just runs on the 22ft. Whaler he keeps down there.

slugworth · #12 01-28-2008, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

I think there's a difference between sailors and yachters. Sailors tend to be more savvy, skilled, artisans, while yachters are often new money. I have rescued and dealt with many yachters on an emergency level as I work as a deckhand on our lifeguard vessel. Yachters are some of the nicest dumb people you'll ever meet, but man a couple of times I've almost lost my life because of them.

You should see the yachters out at SCI. They're the ones that the Navy is screaming at because they're too stupid to check the closure schedules...Down at Huntington Harbor there must be billions of dollars in yachts slipped there, and they never move...

msquared · #13 01-28-2008, 01:16 PM

I love the idea of a yacht as a way to travel to exotic places without having to use an airline. I hate the idea of anyone owning one without having several years worth of sailor-type experience though.

MakiSupaStar · #14 01-28-2008, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slugworth

You should see the yachters out at SCI. They're the ones that the Navy is screaming at because they're too stupid to check the closure schedules...Down at Huntington Harbor there must be billions of dollars in yachts slipped there, and they never move...

Oh man. Channel 16 is a riot sometimes. True on HH. We motor past them everyday. Many of them hire some dude to clean their boat and all the do is sit in it on 4th of July.

slugworth · #15 01-28-2008, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

Oh man. Channel 16 is a riot sometimes. True on HH. We motor past them everyday. Many of them hire some dude to clean their boat and all the do is sit in it on 4th of July.

Hhehe..Yeah, 16 is a blast. I always tune in after I get home while I'm cleaning up my boat with a few cold ones.

Late last summer I was out at SCI, fishin and chillin. It was getting late and the wind was picking up. I decided to head for the barn at about 2pm. I was one of the last ones to leave. There was a guy there with a little kid in an open bow 18 footer who stayed. Lemme tellya, It was so rough between SCI and Cat, I had my ass handed to me on a platter. I made it home ok, but when I got close to HH, I heard on 16 that an EPIRB went off in the SCI channel...Hope it was a false alarm, because if it was for real, and it was those guys, they were effin doomed....It's probably best that some of these Thurston Howell types just sit around on their sundecks sipping martinis..

MakiSupaStar · #16 01-28-2008, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slugworth

Hhehe..Yeah, 16 is a blast. I always tune in after I get home while I'm cleaning up my boat with a few cold ones.

Late last summer I was out at SCI, fishin and chillin. It was getting late and the wind was picking up. I decided to head for the barn at about 2pm. I was one of the last ones to leave. There was a guy there with a little kid in an open bow 18 footer who stayed. Lemme tellya, It was so rough between SCI and Cat, I had my ass handed to me on a platter. I made it home ok, but when I got close to HH, I heard on 16 that an EPIRB went off in the SCI channel...Hope it was a false alarm, because if it was for real, and it was those guys, they were effin doomed....It's probably best that some of these Thurston Howell types just sit around on their sundecks sipping martinis..

We get slammed pretty regularly on the ride home. It's about 35 minutes of hard windchop riding. I can't imagine doing that all the way back from SCI. I'm surprised we don't get more calls and more people don't die. You should see some of the stuff I see. We had to hook a boat up last summer because the owner, who was solo, decided to go for a swim in fairly windy weather. The boat drifted away from him and he couldn't swim in fast enough. Now we had a tired swimmer, and a 21 foot whaler drifting into the surfline on a crowded summer day. Friggin' idiot.

slugworth · #17 01-28-2008, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

We get slammed pretty regularly on the ride home. It's about 35 minutes of hard windchop riding. I can't imagine doing that all the way back from SCI. I'm surprised we don't get more calls and more people don't die. You should see some of the stuff I see. We had to hook a boat up last summer because the owner, who was solo, decided to go for a swim in fairly windy weather. The boat drifted away from him and he couldn't swim in fast enough. Now we had a tired swimmer, and a 21 foot whaler drifting into the surfline on a crowded summer day. Friggin' idiot.

Yeah, the SCI run can be a mutha and the Yellowtail there have a really bad attitude. Every month or so during the summer, there's another story of a big bad dude with a big bad yacht going down, or blowing up because of unvented fuel vapors...No I/O's for Slug....

Here's a shot of me with the good ship Overtime, taken in front of Chez Slug...

You'll have to come out with me one day this Summer.