Buying a Boat vs. Taking Ferry

Lots of people who live here need to work and discover that that takes up a great deal of their available time. You end up having one weekend every three months that you can do something. Then maybe the ferry or a kind friend with a boat would be a good option. Some folks clip coupons and call the captain to bring the boat around for them when they want to travel!! 😉

It really does depend on your work schedule, your bank account, whether you know people who already have boats who might share, etc. Boats can be nice to have when they are working right, but they can be heartbreaking to have when they go down for maintenance just when you have vacation time scheduled to go on a great trip.

I'd suggest checking into some of the day and week bareboat charter options and prices to see if you might be better off having someone else pay for repairs so you always have a working boat available when you want one. The type and size of boat you would want to buy is also an important factor. Would you want it in a marina or would you put it on a hook or would it be small enough to pull out on a trailer between uses? Some boats make more sense than others financially. If you are independently wealthy and simply want a boat available on a moment's notice, then by all means go boat shopping.

I looked into buying one for myself...but, after weighing the cost of the boat, maint., insurance, dockage, etc., I decided that it was cheaper and easier to just rent one from Sea & Ski every week-end that I wanted to go...which was usually 2 or three week-ends per month. Worked great for me....always had a clean, well-maintained boat, didn't have to worry about doing any of the 'work' (never even had to put gas in it! Haha! Just pay them to do it!), just show up, go out, come back, pay...worked real well...