Man, old boats are a lot of work!

[LubeDude]

I have had my boat down here at the shop for about two weeks. Bunch of engine work, some opolstery work, some carpet work, lots of cleaning and polishing. Now all the good looking stuff makes the rest look shabby. It never ends, I swear its a never ending job and a bottomless pit.<br /><br />When I get rich I want at least one "NEW" boat in my lifetime. Only problem, the one I want is over $45,000.00.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Cars and aircraft are the same way. It never ends but being out on the water is wonderful!

 

[fireship1]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Alot of cash for a little splash! I feel the same way sometimes. It's never ending with boats. Things that worked fine yesterday fall apart tomorrow! But I never complain the first trip I take in the spring. Boating = $$$. Seeing the sun set while relaxing on your boat come springtime = priceless!

 

[LubeDude]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

I have allways felt proud of my boats, because I have done most of the work myself. So when someone says, "Nice Boat", Ya feel good inside. But, the older ya get, well, you all know what I mean. I was about done in by the time I was through polishing. Man, that grey was a b*tch to polish out. I allways try and tell people at the dock how nice there boat looks if it looks like they have taken care of it. Never fails to put a smile on there face.

 

[AJ168]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Yup, If I didn't have so much fun on the water there's no way I'd ever have a boat. Seems for every hour I spend on the water, I end up working at least 5 on the thing. And the stuff that I'm doing isn't even cosmetic. At least it keeps me busy.

 

[ladano]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

I don't even want to calculate the hours I have in mine. I haven't even got to leave the dock yet. I spent a week polishing the gelcoat, now I'm polishing all the trim down to the screw heads. New cables are coming in today, so maybe Sat. or Sun. I'll get to run it faster than at idle.

 

[f_inscreenname]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Never ending. You should know that by now aaaahhhh... whatever your name is now.

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

You made a good point BF. It takes a lot of work to keep a boat nice and a compliment makes anyone's day. Nice boat man!

 

[Terry Olson]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Old cars are the same way. Improvement here makes the rest look bad so you work on that, then it's the next thing. After you've done a few you decide that the only way to go is a complete rebuild from the ground up. That way when you're done it all looks great. In the end you'll find that it was less work to go at it this way. Problem is that most can't afford to do it this way so we work on it as we can afford to and wish we could do it "the right way". Seems like I'm always saying I'll do the next one that way. <br /><br />"I'll do the next one that way".

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Well I gave up boating and took up farming. Figured it was too expensive. Har Har..... Started collecting and restoring old tractors. Got them all fixed. What'd I do? You guessed it. Bought another boat so that "I'd have something to keep me busy in my retirement". Grin. It is.<br /><br />Mark

 

[JB]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Yes it is a lot of "work".<br /><br />If "work" was this much fun I wouldn't be retired yet.

 

[brownies]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

I've restored, driven, showed, cleaned, detailed, (getting the picure?)...at least 50 motorized objects. Those are the ones I can remember.<br /> NOT In the last five years though. In the last 5 years it's been strictly late model re-builds, and only a dozen or so of those. (I don't count that since they get put to use as transportation right away).<br /> In the last 5 years, I bet I've washed a vehicle 10 times. Five times my truck, the other five something my wife was driving. Now that's what you call BURNT OUT...<br /> In the last two years I can't count how many times I've DETAILED my boat. Seems it's all I care about AND it's a NEVER ENDING JOB...(which most days I actually enjoy).<br /> The 1st boat I resurected was easier than most vehicles, but, LOTS more than what I thought. <br /> Like LubeDude says....WOW, That's ALOT of work.<br />Especially for something that doesn't SEEM like it would be.<br /><br /> Turn a 19' bass boat upside down and start working the hull....Looks like a white football field.<br />You'de swear straightening out a school bus would be easier about half way through the job...lol.

 

[swist]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

One reason I downsized from a 24' Cuddy to a 17' Center Console, is that like many of the previous repliers, I too like my boat in first class shape and I don't trust other people to work on it ("don't trust" can also be read as "can't afford").<br /><br />With the bigger boat, there was truly always something to fix/clean/upgrade. I realize that working on your own boat is a lot more fun than most other kinds of work, but when it gets to the point where you never take the boat out because you're too busy fiddling with it, you gotta rethink your priorities. With the 17 footer, there's just so much less "stuff".

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Im sure you dont need me to tell you but the equation goes like this....The older the boat,the more the expense.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Man, old boats are a lot of work!

Was just thinking that yesterday...Currently putting in a new Teleflex steering cable. This boat is just the right size. Easy to get to things and work on, not too big on the trailer (around the house) and big enough for most waters if I watch the weather. Runs pretty good with a med engine and easy to trail/launch/load alone. I like that.<br /><br />Mark