OWNING A BOAT CAN BE A BITTERSWEET PLEASURE

Powerboating is enjoyable, no doubt about it. Zipping across the water in a sleek sport cruiser with a group of friends can provide such a high degree of pleasure that you can actually justify the expense involved. This is living! So what is it about boats that can also make owning one such a royal pain?

Boats are unbelievably demanding. And not just of money; a boat also demands huge commitments of time, which is equally important. So even if you have deep pockets, you may learn that a boat you don't have time for can become a serious problem because boats don't wear out; rather, they too often rust (or corrode) away from lack of use. The damp salt air that abounds in so many of our favored boating areas can quickly ruin a boat's mechanical systems if they remain idle for too long.

Use It or Lose It

If you don't give your boat regular "work-outs," you may discover that the boat you intended to use and care for but didn't will rebel by working improperly (or maybe not at all!) when you finally do manage to get some time aboard.

But do you really need to own a boat to enjoy the sport to its fullest? In a word, no. There are many other ways to go power-boating, and I'll outline alternatives later in this chapter. But there are also some other aspects of boat ownership that may be important to you, so before we dismiss the idea completely, we'd better consider them. You can always hire someone to care for your boat and keep everything in a ready-to-go state if you don't have the time to do it yourself.

So here are some very good reasons for buying a boat even if you can't really use it that much.

Five Valid Reasons for Owning a Boat (Even When It Really Isn't Practical)

1. Perceived status. People who own boats—"yachtsmen," if you will—seem to be a distinguished lot, so it's reasonable that you might wish to join them. (Understand that in calling them yachtsmen, I'm not being sexist. It's a customary term, just as boats are traditionally referred to as "she," though I'm going to be politically correct and use "it" throughout this book. And while we're on the subject, also know that wherever I use "him" or "himself," it is strictly for simplicity and to save space; the words always also mean "her" or "herself" as well. For the same reason, I'll use "s/he" to mean "she or he." But we also have to face the truth: the majority of boatowners are men—we'll just overlook the reality that more than a few of them had to get a wife's permission to make the purchase.)

Yachtsmen are generally friendly enough, but they do often make a distinction between fellow boatowners and the rest of the world. If being a part of this seemingly exclusive group is important to you, then yes, you need to buy a boat of your own.

2. Pride of ownership. This is different from the previous reason in that it is less about what other people may think and more about what is important to you. If you live in a house or condo you purchased rather than in a rented dwelling, not for its probable appreciation and your growing equity but because you need a place you can call your own, then owning your boat is probably your best bet, too.

3. Lack of desire to share. This is not about greed. It is simply accepting that sharing a prized possession involves being able to live with knowing that at least a few of those with whom you share won't give it the care and respect you know it deserves. If you can't do that—if the thought of having others use (or, in your mind, possibly abuse) your precious "baby" bothers you—don't choose any of the nonownership options discussed later in this chapter.

4. Tax advantages. If your boat has a galley [kitchen], a head [toilet], and at least one berth [bed], it can qualify as a second home under current IRS rules and whatever interest you pay on your boat loan becomes tax deductible. I'll outline current regulations in Chapter 5. But because the regulations are always subject to change, you should check with your tax adviser for specifics as to how they may apply to your situation.

5. You just want it! I'm sure there are those who would question the validity of this reason. "You can't have every-thing you want!" is one of our earliest lessons in life. But to quote my father's sage advice again, he once told me, "You know, son, it actually is possible to have everything you want; well, almost, anyway. You just have to be willing to pay the price, which is often simply giving up something else you also want—just not as much. That last aspect is so important because you have to remember that the real cost of things can't always be measured in dollars." So I suggest that if you want to own a boat and are both able and also willing to meet all of its attendant costs, go ahead and buy one, even if doing so might seem irrational.

Buying Is Just the Beginning

Those "attendant costs" are by no means trivial, so when making the decision to buy a boat, remember that the purchase is only the beginning. You'll also need the funds to enjoy the boat after it's yours. To help you determine what sort of boat fits your budget, I'm including a blank table you can use to work out the figures for yourself. If you are looking at several boats, you should do a table for each to compare the costs. The shaded boxes don't apply and can be left blank. Initial (or down) payments, for example, don't apply to all categories, and only the total cost of a boat needs to be allocated more extensively. The shaded boxes under the "monthly" column are for items that usually don't involve monthly payments; yet they are shaded lightly so that, if you want to analyze your budget on a cost-per-month basis, you can use them to enter one-twelfth of the annual total.

Fixed costs vary depending on the boat. Insurance premiums usually increase with horsepower and also with length. Dock-age, off-season stowage, bottom cleaning and painting, and haulouts and other yard expenses (as well as, in some states, registration fees) also increase with length. The best and worst part of fixed expenses is that they are fixed; they remain the same regardless of how much you use the boat. Use it a little, and the cost per hour can be ridiculous. But go boating often enough, and these fixed costs become miniscule on a per- hour basis.

Variable expenses, however, depend entirely on how much you use the boat (though more horsepower usually means greater fuel consumption, so even a few hours on a more powerful boat will cost more). Spend more time aboard, and the variables can't help but increase. The good news here is that the more you use your boat, the more fun you have. So the higher costs are usually worth it.

Also remember that whatever the total cost, you will get some...