The mega-yacht Ecstasea recently had problems getting through the St Martin drawbridge, going from the Caribbean into Simpson Bay. She technically could fit, but the crew accidentally left a port open. There was a guy in the bridge-keeper’s booth. His booth was destroyed, but he was not injured.
Video was shot from the St Martin Yacht Club, where we often breakfast and watch the boat traffic.
I don’t consider that a “yacht”. That looks like a typical cabin cruiser I’d see in pretty much any marina. A casual Google produces a price of around $90,000 to $250,000 (used presumably). A real “yacht” IMHO is a crewed boat with multiple decks and outfitted with all sorts of luxury. www.yachtworld.com, not www.boattrader.com.
Getting into international waters where anything goes!
It’s just you, and the sea, and the stars, and the absoluteness. And then the wind starts to pick up…
We owned a cabin cruiser (as they called it) when I was a kid. It was an Egg Harbor 30 (the boat here was about the same vintage. It was owned by my father and grandfather. My grandfather went out fishing on weekends, or just cruising around Southold Bay. The family would take trips across LI Sound to Connecticut; we’d dock at Old Saybrook (at the Terra Marr marina, which had a pool) or Essex Island or even Hamburg Cove (where you anchored and stayed on the boat).
There were two bunks, so the cabin slept four. Since there were five of us, I usually slept on a cot that was placed over the engines. It had a head (toilet for you landlubbers), which flushed right into the water so eventually it was illegal to use. Also a sink. We had some way of cooking, but I don’t recall the setup and the picture doesn’t show a stove (it does show the illegal head, though).
We enjoyed it a lot, but eventually got rid of it, since my father preferred a sailboat. He ended up getting a Pearson 26. So we often went out for a sail on it. We were able to keep boats at a dock in front of our house.
We also had a Sunfish, which I would sail in.
We lived in eastern LI, and there were plenty of bays for sailing, far enough away from the ocean so you didn’t have problems with big waves. Most of our usage was going out in the bay and just enjoying the sun and sailing around.
So we got a reasonable amount of use out of the boats. We were reasonably well off, of course, but nowhere near the top 20%.
OK, that looks nice. Like a small motorcycle, I think I can understand that: fast, for short excursions. But it is not what I would call a yacht. Though I reckon the horizontal bar would knock me unconscious at every turn.
Indeed. And with the (now not PC) advice not to get married, but to hire prostitutes.
And in addition to boats being money pits as we have discussed in other threads, you get a “sunk cost” feeling that because you spent all of that money on a boat which is sitting at a dock in the nearby lake, even if you wanted to travel to the beach, the city, fly across the country, go to Europe, etc. you have the urge not to “waste” your boat by going to the lake instead…where you use your boat, it breaks down, and you spend your weekend investing more time and money into getting it fixed.
If you like boats, rent one when you want one.
I’ve heard of people who don’t have money but like boating (particularly sailing), so they’ll hang out at the marina and try to get work on other people’s boats. I’ll bet that when the owners aren’t using their yachts, the crews have a nice time with the onboard amenities. Within reason, of course.
You know sex is free, right? That’s not why people get married. (Or hire prostitutes- note all the married johns). In fact getting married can get you tax breaks and other discounts.
Why they call it a boom…
Smuggling drugs.
Of course. I don’t think the original saying was seriously suggesting that. It was just a humorous quip that makes you remember the saying. That’s how I remembered it.
Not true, or at least it depends on the flag you fly. I’ve partied with a couple who were living aboard ship, and they smoked my weed and asked me to hook them up with a plug. They kept close to zero recreational drugs aboard ship out of fear their vessel could be taken during a customs inspection.
Nah, that’s for submarines. Then again, if submarines and cigarette boats are burned out, it might be time to go back to innocent-looking yachts and cruisers. (yarrr)
Do you like camping? Do you like the outdoors? Do you like the beach? Do you like pleasing scenery? Do you like freedom and adventure?
A lot of people like such things. They like them enough to put up with considerable discomfort.
Your main complaint seems to be that life on shipboard is somewhat less comfortable than life on land. Many people find that they enjoy the things I listed above enough so they outweigh the discomfort. Evidently, for you they do not.
As a kid, I grew up boating. My dad did pretty well for himself, so he was always buying or selling a boat every few years, and we regularly enjoyed the 40’-50’ cruising power boats.
Why? Well, for us boating was a lot like camping, except better. For one, whatever island (in our case, being in Florida, some small middle Key) we traveled to, we first had to drive there. That meant speeding along the water, in your bathing suit, with wind in your hair. And it meant, as a young teenager, that I got to drive. Fun!
When we arrived, we’d have lots of great food (for some reason, grilled meat tastes better when you are camping) while we splashed in the water, road around on a small inflatable dinghy, or just took a nap in the sun (with a persistent breeze to keep you cool).
As it got dark, things would get quiet and relaxing…since we were boating, we could stay off shore and avoid the bugs. With the gentle rocking of the boat, and the lapping of water against the side, you were always fast asleep, although lingering outside to look at the stars while away from city lights was always mesmerizing.
Also, while you were enjoying this getaway, you were also likely to encounter other boaters. Almost universally, boaters are friendly and welcoming to others similarly situated, so there’d be lots of sharing of food and drink and socializing, when everybody is open to having fun.
Now, to all that add “yacht”. What are you getting? More luxury. Depending on the size and scope of the boat, you might be fully air conditioned when you go inside (the ones we had usually were). Maybe there’s room for a full sized bed and shower. Or you have satellite TV/internet. Meaning, while you are ‘camping’, you are doing so with all of the creature comforts of home (‘glamping’, they call it). It’s your chance to be out in nature, to travel, to enjoy good food and recreation, to ‘unwind and relax’, without any discomfort or sacrifice.
Also, as boats get more expensive, they include lots of toys - satellite navigation and fish finders are just the basics - and are really innovative about making great use of space, with lots of things like chairs, tables and beds that fold up and stow away. For many boaters, this is a hobby and it’s fun to indulge in the new innovations or ideas that are developed.
And, of course, all of that is without getting into the fun some people (not me) have with fishing (especially in open water). Also, it’s another means of international travel (hell, in South Florida, a trip to the Bahamas is only about 50 miles, no big deal to a well built ‘yacht’).
Other than the costs (which is why it’s good that Mr. Fudd was a millionaire), what’s not to love?
Ooookaay… I see where you got your nick from and I respect that. 
No. Yes. Y…yeah, sort of. Yes. Of course.
[…]
Hmmmm… there is something to that. What you did not ask but points in the same direction: I do not like physically strenuous exercise. Example: Walking and strolling for hours is OK for me, running uphill as fast as you can for miles is not.
"To duplicate the experience of ocean-going yachting, stand under a cold shower tearing up hundred-dollar bills. "
If you like the outdoors, but don’t like camping, it sounds like discomfort is a deal breaker for you. And if you only sort of like the beach, being on the sea isn’t going to offer enough reward to compensate for the discomfort.
That’s kind of a non sequitur as far as enjoying boating goes, since it’s often one of the least strenuous outdoor activities you can engage in. Yes, if you’re crew on a sailing vessel and have to operate the sails yourself that can get strenuous, but not so much if you are a passenger. The most strenuous exercise I usually engage in on motor yachts is popping the tab on a can of beer or opening a bag of Doritos. 
Admittedly, if you encounter rough weather it can be a little tiring holding on so you don’t get tossed around too much, but that’s nothing like running.
That’s exactly what my yacht-owning brother told me when I asked him whether I should consider getting a yacht …
I live in a city with a very high level of yacht ownership - at work, I look out over a marina where superyachts and high-performance racing boats sit and sail every day.
A permanent berth in a marina has a cost similar to a small apartment, renting one is also pretty costly. Annual maintenance is more costly than maintaining a car, and every few years the boat has to come out of the water for de-fouling.
But for my brother and his wife, going sailing is what they do on weekends during the summer - and longer trips when they can. It’s like owning a caravan or a campervan - you keep it prepped and maintained, and then when you want to go away for a bit, you go.
