Lithium batteries, Starlink, big alternators, catamaran, trimaran, or mono hull, serial hybrid, parallel hybrid, endless “review1” videos of multi million dollar boats, which anchor is best…
On and on it goes. How is anyone new to cruising going to sift through all this and actually get out there?
Hi John,
Great advice.
And cruising is one of those skills where one really benefits from respecting the learning curve and working one’s way into cruising greater distances from home and into larger boats. Learn on a small boat where you can jump overboard, stand on the seabed and push yourself off when you run aground. Find local mentors who have been there, done that. And a bit of a fixer-upper allows learning boat repair and maintenance skills where re-doing a botched job and cosmetics matter less.
And have fun.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
All good points…and yes, I have jumped overboard to push the Sea Sprite off a bar I cut to close.
Matt Marsh
September 2, 2025 5:18 pm
Agreed 100%.
Right now, within a half-hour drive of me, there’s a beautiful Northern 29 for $5000 CAD and a well kept C&C 25 for $5800. There’s a Tanzer 7.5 for $3250, including trailer – the thing draws 2’8″ and you can haul it behind any old pickup truck, cutting your annual OpEx by 70% versus a marina-slipped boat. If that’s too dear, how about a Hughes 22, on a trailer, with a 9 hp Evinrude – just $1750.
None of the above are fancy boats. They have practically no “systems” and their maintenance requirements are all things you can do yourself in your spare time. You don’t need an M.Eng in network architecture to make their engine instruments talk to their remote monitoring gateways. You just show up, run through your pre-trip checks, and get underway.
And if you can’t afford the time to own a boat? Rent one. Not all charters are $7000 a week fancy 45-footers. There’s a base near me that’ll give you a professionally maintained, fully equipped, fully checked out Hunter 28 for six days for $2100 CAD (about $1500 American). Another company will accept $375 in exchange for twenty on-water hours in your choice of five small fun boats from 12 to 18 feet, mix-n-match as you like for two full seasons.
I see a lot of people at our Recreational Vessel Courtesy Checks who are taking this approach. They don’t have the cash or the time for a big fancy yacht. But they can toss a cooler and some sleeping bags into a $2000 Alberg 30 whose seller lists it as “need gone just don’t have the time”, and they have just as much fun on their adventure as the guys who spent $200,000 on their Catalina.
Great comment! Really fills in my Tip with some great value boats. The C&C 25 sounds particularly sweet for that little money, ditto the Hughes.
And about inexpensive charters. I had no idea that was a thing. Great to hear. Perhaps an even better solution in many ways, although the trade off is we don’t learn as much about boat care.
Rob Gill
September 2, 2025 6:04 pm
Agree with Matt, chartering is also a viable option which allows options with more space and comfort for those with partners who aren’t “sailors”. We chartered for about five years when the kids were younger and school sports plus dinghy racing restricted our sailing out of the main school holiday.
A spreadsheet I created at the time comparing chartering vs owning a marina based 12 metre cruiser, showed our break even at around 35 charter days per annum. Less days than this and it was better for us to put money into our holiday account and take off to different locations -> no long delivery sails to reach our chosen cruising destination…!
As the kids got older and we had less commitments, we went half shares in a 13 metre yacht for about three years, which was less successful. But I know some folks who made this work fine.
That trade off number of days is really interesting. And, as you say, you got to go anywhere you wanted too. And then there’s the less aggravation factor that skews for chartering on top of the money.
Hi John, yes less aggravation, but on the flip side less satisfaction that comes with having the boat just as you want it -> ie. no cheap CQR knock-off anchor up on the bow with hardly enough chain.
I should have mentioned my spreadsheet was on the basis of “like-for-like”, so say owning a 12 m yacht on a marina vs chartering one of the same era and standard. I included a charge for the cost of capital.
Eric Klem
September 3, 2025 1:40 pm
Hi John,
I love the message of this post.
Around here, my recommendation to people is usually to join one of the sailing clubs that have club boats. I can think of 4 right now around Boston and I am sure I am missing some. They range from little daysailors to actual cruising boats. We have 1 in particular that stands out to me as being great for people interested in going cruising: Boston sailing center. You buy a membership based on boat size and the larger memberships entitle you to take boats out overnight or even for a week at a time. When I last looked, the cost for a membership with the same size boat as ours was about equal to our yearly ownership cost (100% DIY maintenance) but you don’t have the upfront cost of buying the boat and you don’t have to put in all the sweat equity.
The pros of this:
No need to be on a long mooring waitlist or spend huge $$ for a slip which is owned by a PE firm
No need to do maintenance
They have instructors and classes so it is a 1 stop shop
Priced fairly
The cons are:
The cruising boats are a bit blah
They are not maintained to my standards
I want to cruise further than they allow
You don’t learn how to maintain a boat
To me, this is a great way to get started and if you really like it, you can then move to your own boat and have a much higher chance of getting it right the first time. Many people would be happy to do the sailing club thing forever. Our mooring fields are full of 30-50′ sailboats that function as daysailers and get used <10X a season which is nuts. If you are going to own your own boat, I totally think you should start small and simple as you suggest and then once you have the experience, you can move up but buying a first boat that is 40′ after completing a few ASA classes makes no sense to me.
Hi John,
Great advice.
And cruising is one of those skills where one really benefits from respecting the learning curve and working one’s way into cruising greater distances from home and into larger boats. Learn on a small boat where you can jump overboard, stand on the seabed and push yourself off when you run aground. Find local mentors who have been there, done that. And a bit of a fixer-upper allows learning boat repair and maintenance skills where re-doing a botched job and cosmetics matter less.
And have fun.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
All good points…and yes, I have jumped overboard to push the Sea Sprite off a bar I cut to close.
Agreed 100%.
Right now, within a half-hour drive of me, there’s a beautiful Northern 29 for $5000 CAD and a well kept C&C 25 for $5800. There’s a Tanzer 7.5 for $3250, including trailer – the thing draws 2’8″ and you can haul it behind any old pickup truck, cutting your annual OpEx by 70% versus a marina-slipped boat. If that’s too dear, how about a Hughes 22, on a trailer, with a 9 hp Evinrude – just $1750.
None of the above are fancy boats. They have practically no “systems” and their maintenance requirements are all things you can do yourself in your spare time. You don’t need an M.Eng in network architecture to make their engine instruments talk to their remote monitoring gateways. You just show up, run through your pre-trip checks, and get underway.
And if you can’t afford the time to own a boat? Rent one. Not all charters are $7000 a week fancy 45-footers. There’s a base near me that’ll give you a professionally maintained, fully equipped, fully checked out Hunter 28 for six days for $2100 CAD (about $1500 American). Another company will accept $375 in exchange for twenty on-water hours in your choice of five small fun boats from 12 to 18 feet, mix-n-match as you like for two full seasons.
I see a lot of people at our Recreational Vessel Courtesy Checks who are taking this approach. They don’t have the cash or the time for a big fancy yacht. But they can toss a cooler and some sleeping bags into a $2000 Alberg 30 whose seller lists it as “need gone just don’t have the time”, and they have just as much fun on their adventure as the guys who spent $200,000 on their Catalina.
Hi Matt,
Great comment! Really fills in my Tip with some great value boats. The C&C 25 sounds particularly sweet for that little money, ditto the Hughes.
And about inexpensive charters. I had no idea that was a thing. Great to hear. Perhaps an even better solution in many ways, although the trade off is we don’t learn as much about boat care.
Agree with Matt, chartering is also a viable option which allows options with more space and comfort for those with partners who aren’t “sailors”. We chartered for about five years when the kids were younger and school sports plus dinghy racing restricted our sailing out of the main school holiday.
A spreadsheet I created at the time comparing chartering vs owning a marina based 12 metre cruiser, showed our break even at around 35 charter days per annum. Less days than this and it was better for us to put money into our holiday account and take off to different locations -> no long delivery sails to reach our chosen cruising destination…!
As the kids got older and we had less commitments, we went half shares in a 13 metre yacht for about three years, which was less successful. But I know some folks who made this work fine.
Hi Rob,
That trade off number of days is really interesting. And, as you say, you got to go anywhere you wanted too. And then there’s the less aggravation factor that skews for chartering on top of the money.
Hi John, yes less aggravation, but on the flip side less satisfaction that comes with having the boat just as you want it -> ie. no cheap CQR knock-off anchor up on the bow with hardly enough chain.
I should have mentioned my spreadsheet was on the basis of “like-for-like”, so say owning a 12 m yacht on a marina vs chartering one of the same era and standard. I included a charge for the cost of capital.
Hi John,
I love the message of this post.
Around here, my recommendation to people is usually to join one of the sailing clubs that have club boats. I can think of 4 right now around Boston and I am sure I am missing some. They range from little daysailors to actual cruising boats. We have 1 in particular that stands out to me as being great for people interested in going cruising: Boston sailing center. You buy a membership based on boat size and the larger memberships entitle you to take boats out overnight or even for a week at a time. When I last looked, the cost for a membership with the same size boat as ours was about equal to our yearly ownership cost (100% DIY maintenance) but you don’t have the upfront cost of buying the boat and you don’t have to put in all the sweat equity.
The pros of this:
The cons are:
To me, this is a great way to get started and if you really like it, you can then move to your own boat and have a much higher chance of getting it right the first time. Many people would be happy to do the sailing club thing forever. Our mooring fields are full of 30-50′ sailboats that function as daysailers and get used <10X a season which is nuts. If you are going to own your own boat, I totally think you should start small and simple as you suggest and then once you have the experience, you can move up but buying a first boat that is 40′ after completing a few ASA classes makes no sense to me.
Eric