This is related to my “ever known someone who owns a Ferrari?” thread.
Summer is coming and around here in the midwest, the boat owners are getting ready for another season. For the rich that means getting their big boats ready for the lake. Lake of the Ozarks is very big and many people with money have these big cabin cruisers which I call yachts (although I’m sure you people in Florida know different) that they take friends out for the weekend. At the lake of the Ozarks there are these “party coves” which are basically big parties on the water.
Now boats in general are expensive. Like the old saying “a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into” but with these giants your talking slip rental, massive fuel costs, taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs. Its expensive enough here in the midwest, I cannot imagine how much more it is on the coast where one has to deal with saltwater and the threat of storms.
We dont see it around here but on the coast their are the mega boats which have a paid crew. A friend who worked for the Coast Guard said he saw alot of those being taken to the Bahamas (and owners getting lost and such) but that’s a different story.
My cousin has been on a friends boat and he said one question they are told to NOT ask is “where do they get the money”?
So I’ll ask, do you know anyone with a big boat and if so, where do they take it (or where is it kept) and how often do they take it out? And when they do take it out is it usually for whom or for what events? Ex. parties, fishing, sleeping out on the water?
When I was in the swing lifestyle in my younger days, I was acquainted with a couple who owned a large boat that they kept in a dock next to a waterfront bar called Donzie’s in Pittsburgh, on the Alleghany River.
It was maybe 30-40 feet long, with two decks/stories. I’m not sure how many people it could accommodate, but there were frequently as many as 15-20 present.
As you might expect, they held orgies on it, every few weeks during the summer. The husband was a surgeon, possibly a plastic surgeon, based on how much work his wife had had done.
I’ve been to parties in the Caribbean where attendees included yacht owners as well as simple vacationers. Surprisingly (to me) you couldn’t tell if someone was a yacht owner until it came up in conversation. The fact that the host was a Rastafarian dude and the attendees were his friends probably had something to do with it.
Then again, I met guys employed by the owner of the super yacht C2. They just worked for the owner, and yet they were snooty asswipes.
How big a boat is a yacht? Would you include specialized boats like super-fishing boats? I knew a neighbor (now deceased) who had an inboard dual-diesel craft that he took out for all-day fishing every week in the summer if the weather was good. He hired a 2-man crew to assist with lines and other sailorly tasks, and would invite a few friends to come fish. It had a pilothouse, flying bridge, partly covered deck, head, and they would hang multiple lines – as many as was legal – over the side.
I imagine it cost him a fortune, but as the ex-CEO of a large international company, he had unlimited funds.
I know some other people with small sailing yachts. It seems like they spend most of the time on the boat working on it, not sailing, but maybe that’s all part of the fun. Usually they go out for a day at a time, but sometimes they tour the Great Lakes for a week or more.
I know a person who used to own one of the shipyards nearby until it was sold off and he divested himself of all holdings. I don’t think he uses the yacht anymore due to his age, but it has made several around-the-world trips, so it’s pretty well equipped for long voyages and ocean going.
Our local shipyards are famous for building luxury yachts – the kinds with on-board theaters and swimming pools – including some very big aluminum ones, but I’m not personally acquainted with any of the owners. Most are Saudi prince types or super-rich International playboys.
Sure, I know a couple. In what social situation is “where do they get the money” EVER appropriate, though? That doesn’t seem like something people should have to be told not to ask.
One was my husbands boss, and after he sold the company he upgraded his sailboat to a racing yacht and spent most of his time on the water. He took us and the kids out a few times and is still a very awesome fellow.
He got married a few years ago and it sounds like his on the water time has decreased significantly but he’s got a friend racing it for him when he can’t.
Being right on the lake Toronto has a couple of yacht clubs. Close to home and easy access. Not a bad deal.
My understanding is that a boat used for recreation or pleasure is a yacht, as opposed to commercial uses. We’ve owned 5 sailboats ranging from 23’ to 37’ (all but one over 30’) and since the 23’ was on a trailer, I wouldn’t have called it a yacht, but the others were. We didn’t spend as much time sailing as we’d have liked, what with work getting in the way. And unfortunately, as retirement approached, the fiscal reality hit hard.
Even tho our boat was paid off, it still cost $6000 per year just to keep it in a slip, insured, and maintained. It was in need of new sails, a new water tank, and we needed to install a new propane tank and line for the stove. When your income drops to about a third of what it had been, something’s gotta go, alas.
There are times I really miss having it, but mostly, I’m glad we no longer need to deal with it. And living so close to the Chesapeake Bay, chartering is always an option.
A friend of mine has a 38 foot sailboat he keeps on the Solent at Southhampton (UK). He subsidizes the cost of ownership by doing commercial day trips to the Isle of Wight.
This. Most people use the word “yacht” to mean a large expensive boat that rich people own, but the term actually means pleasure craft and that’s how sailors use it. It’s just another nautical term and doesn’t mean fancy rich guys boat.
Case in point, I’m hoping to have my own sailing yacht soon, and I’m not fancy or rich. Since I’m landlocked and don’t need one ready to go offshore, I’m expecting to snag one that needs a little TLC for as little as $2000. I’ve seen them, just not near me and not exactly what I want either. I could get one in perfect shape for $6-10k, but hey, I’m a single dad, I can’t afford to spend that on a yacht!
My dad had a 53’ sail boat that he kept in California and sailed up and down the coast and to Mexico. That got sold and replaced with a 72’ Motor Yacht that splits time between Florida and the Bahamas. Both are money pits that spend the majority of their time sailing from one repair job to another, from what I can tell. Still, fun to sail on.
