I will second Steve's comment. 14 years ago a friend with a Laser 2 was looking for a part and we stopped at a chandlery I remembered from being a kid when Dad paid for boats. Was an ad on the board for a C&C24 for $10,000. I had always assumed that buying a "yacht" with sleeping accommodations was the same price as buying a cottage and therefore well beyond even thinking about. That one day started the juices flowing and 2 months later we owned a C&C designed Paceship P-23. Further to that the otehr friends who had a Laser-2 (and were the reason the first friend had one) came sailing on the P23 with us and that started their search which became a C&C25 at the same time our P23 became a Niagara 26. The C&C 25 later turned into a C&C99 Bottom line is that to someone not in the scene a keelboat seems like a very very expensive purchase available only to those with lots of disposable income. .. of course the other end of the stick is that even with inexpensive purchase prices these things cost a lot to maintain and run - unless you have a free method of hauling/launching/mooring and the boat came equipped with new sails and gear .... as for the 35 comment - I wish I were 35! Mike
________________________________ From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Stevan Plavsa Sent: Friday, November 01, 2013 9:16 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List Getting young people into sailing? I'm one of the youngest at my club, I'll be 35 this month. I got into sailing at 30. To me, it was always inaccessible. I had no friends or family that sailed growing up so it was never even a remote thought. In my mid twenties I purchased a condo close to the waterfront and that was the eye opener. I've always loved being in or near the water. Riding my bike along the waterfront regularly I'de see all these sailboats .. I could tell that a lot of them were old. I went online and started looking at used prices and I was surprised that you can get a "boat you could sleep on" for under 5k. That got the wheels turning for me. It wasn't someone introducing me to the sport, that never happened. Now I try to take as many people with me as will bear my company! My favourite part about boat ownership is sharing the experience with people who never saw themselves on a sailboat. They always say "you must be rich!" and I reply .. "not really, I drive a 22 year old car that I paid $1400 for so that I could afford this boat .. it cost less than a Honda Civic!". Sadly, that car was totalled on Wednesday night, I really loved that car. But I digress.. Owning a boat is stupid expensive and sort of kind of not worth it. I'm seriously considering selling the boat and simply crewing here in the summers and chartering in the winters. I would save money and I could cruise in exotic destinations .. while still getting my weekly fix in the summer. Let someone else worry about buying new sails! But I'm a sentimental sap and I sure do love my boat. All those cottage owners leave work on a Friday, drive 3 hours through traffic ... not me, I drive 10 minutes from work and I'm "out of town". Steve Suhana, C&C 32 Toronto
_______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com
