I hate being broke. Not only years to the houseboat (if it EVER get here) but even the pool. a hundred buck spent on hairdos and another hundred on 2 meals out, but looking aroun d, it looks like we can't afford chlorine and supplies for a freaking tiny swimming pool.
Of course the $60 or $70 fixing the leak in the bathroom didn't help either.
I'm sick of hanging around the house, but the only chance I had to go out was canceled due to a power outage and I can't afford to go anywhere else. Can't even afford a drive or motorcycle ride.
I need a new life.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
swimming pool
We can't afford a houseboat yet, so we got a swimming pool. Nope, don't think nice big 5 foot deep beauty, think over grown wading pool. 12 foot diameter and 31 inches deep. Instructions said 30 minutes from box to swimming. 30 MINUTES MY ASS!
I spent over 3 hours assembling the frame/liner part, and had the water hose running full force into it for about 4 hours. It's still not even full enough to turn on the filter!
I can understand that it's hard to estimate the time to do something like build a pool, but 30 minutes?!?! That's just a flat out lie. It's not even possible to FILL the already assembled pool in 30 minutes.
Don't get me wrong. I thought it was ridiculous when I saw it, but the more I think about it the more pissed I get about it. At one time there was at least the pretense of honesty in advertising. Now can we just make any claim we want? Bring on the snake oil!
I spent over 3 hours assembling the frame/liner part, and had the water hose running full force into it for about 4 hours. It's still not even full enough to turn on the filter!
I can understand that it's hard to estimate the time to do something like build a pool, but 30 minutes?!?! That's just a flat out lie. It's not even possible to FILL the already assembled pool in 30 minutes.
Don't get me wrong. I thought it was ridiculous when I saw it, but the more I think about it the more pissed I get about it. At one time there was at least the pretense of honesty in advertising. Now can we just make any claim we want? Bring on the snake oil!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Other options.
These are options we've thought about, and if we lived somewhere else they might even be considered still, but from St. Louis? Nah...
It's a safe bet that even going bargain, we're looking at $20k to get into a boat. A cheaper boat will need more to get it ready. If the money were available, we'd easily be able to spend 3, 4 or even 10 times that much. Considering that a 2001 Gibson on BoatTrader was listed for $134K and a 1990 model (granted, 3 feet shorter) was only $57,500, there is HIGH depreciation on a houseboat.
A cabin or house on the lake would have less depreciation, would weather storms and such better, and would be usable year round (in our region, most houseboats are only usable in the summer, at least on the lakes) . The cost might be a bit higher than the low end boats, but the better depreciation and easier loans for realestate would make up for that, and resale would be closer to getting your money back. With a house on the lake, a smaller boat or even a jetski could take care of water fun, and a dock off the house could serve as your own marina!
The problem around here is that the population is so high in relation to the recreational facilities, the lake front is expensive, and many lakes have none at all!
Something else we looked at before we bought our last boat was an RV. In our case, a travel trailer. Cheaper than a boat, and it has the advantage that you can move it easier. Many folks around here rent year round or seasonal lots at various lakes and resort areas so they don't have to tow. Before we decided to get another boat, I had even brought this up to Kay since she never seemed that thrilled about the lake anyway. The RV would give us a bit more options.
The problems with the RV route is that with gas at $4 a gallon (or at least threatening) we wouldn't be able to drive a motorhome, or even pull a trailer often, and frankly, most of the parks we looked at were over crowded and noisy. Not what I want for a weekend. A trailer would require a bigger car (truck) than we have, so unless we keep a car only for towing (EXPENSIVE) we would be paying through the nose for our daily commute (EXPENSIVE). If we had some land on a nice secluded lake, a trailer parked there long term might be an option, but see above. There ain't those lakes round here.
But we decided on the houseboat. In some ways, I wish we hadn't, because 3 years is a LONG time to wait, but at least I have time to research the market and options. It is real frustrating when those great deals come drifting by and you don't have the ability to act on them. At least with trailers there are places around here I can go look at them and window shop, but most of the boats require at least a short road trip, and many require setting up appointments to see, which make me feel kind of guilty since I know I can't buy at the moment, and what are the odds of any boat for sale now, being on the market in 3 years? I think it's made worse by this oppressive heat wave the midwest is gripped in. Everytime the heat hits me I think of floating beside the boat in the nice cool water, or sitting in the AC watching my fishing pole on the deck.
What are my odds on the lottery??????????
It's a safe bet that even going bargain, we're looking at $20k to get into a boat. A cheaper boat will need more to get it ready. If the money were available, we'd easily be able to spend 3, 4 or even 10 times that much. Considering that a 2001 Gibson on BoatTrader was listed for $134K and a 1990 model (granted, 3 feet shorter) was only $57,500, there is HIGH depreciation on a houseboat.
A cabin or house on the lake would have less depreciation, would weather storms and such better, and would be usable year round (in our region, most houseboats are only usable in the summer, at least on the lakes) . The cost might be a bit higher than the low end boats, but the better depreciation and easier loans for realestate would make up for that, and resale would be closer to getting your money back. With a house on the lake, a smaller boat or even a jetski could take care of water fun, and a dock off the house could serve as your own marina!
The problem around here is that the population is so high in relation to the recreational facilities, the lake front is expensive, and many lakes have none at all!
Something else we looked at before we bought our last boat was an RV. In our case, a travel trailer. Cheaper than a boat, and it has the advantage that you can move it easier. Many folks around here rent year round or seasonal lots at various lakes and resort areas so they don't have to tow. Before we decided to get another boat, I had even brought this up to Kay since she never seemed that thrilled about the lake anyway. The RV would give us a bit more options.
The problems with the RV route is that with gas at $4 a gallon (or at least threatening) we wouldn't be able to drive a motorhome, or even pull a trailer often, and frankly, most of the parks we looked at were over crowded and noisy. Not what I want for a weekend. A trailer would require a bigger car (truck) than we have, so unless we keep a car only for towing (EXPENSIVE) we would be paying through the nose for our daily commute (EXPENSIVE). If we had some land on a nice secluded lake, a trailer parked there long term might be an option, but see above. There ain't those lakes round here.
But we decided on the houseboat. In some ways, I wish we hadn't, because 3 years is a LONG time to wait, but at least I have time to research the market and options. It is real frustrating when those great deals come drifting by and you don't have the ability to act on them. At least with trailers there are places around here I can go look at them and window shop, but most of the boats require at least a short road trip, and many require setting up appointments to see, which make me feel kind of guilty since I know I can't buy at the moment, and what are the odds of any boat for sale now, being on the market in 3 years? I think it's made worse by this oppressive heat wave the midwest is gripped in. Everytime the heat hits me I think of floating beside the boat in the nice cool water, or sitting in the AC watching my fishing pole on the deck.
What are my odds on the lottery??????????
My Kingscraft
I thought I should post a photo of our boat. We sold it for $8000 dollars because we needed to sell it before we ran up another years of slip rental. With 20/20 hind sight, we should have sold it as scrap metal and would probably have made more.
When we sold it we included a Honda EU3000IS generator that cost between $2000 and $3000 so I guess we really sold the boat for $5-6000. Makes me kind of sick now. Don't get me wrong, it was an old boat and could do with a complete remodel and new AC, but the motor ran, it stayed relatively cool even on the hottest days of the summer, and didn't have a leak. Why don't I ever find deals like that when I buy something??
I hope the people that bought it appreciate the deal they got.
When we sold it we included a Honda EU3000IS generator that cost between $2000 and $3000 so I guess we really sold the boat for $5-6000. Makes me kind of sick now. Don't get me wrong, it was an old boat and could do with a complete remodel and new AC, but the motor ran, it stayed relatively cool even on the hottest days of the summer, and didn't have a leak. Why don't I ever find deals like that when I buy something??
I hope the people that bought it appreciate the deal they got.
Group
21 views in a week. I thought no one was reading it. If anyone is interested in houseboat stuff, I have a new houseboat group on Yahoo. NO SPAM ALLOWED!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/everymanshouseboat/
It's called Everymans Houseboat because I wanted a forum for those of us that don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on a boat. Sure, I'd love Al Gore's 10
0+ foot boat, but my budget wouldn't pay the gas on that monster. Does that mean I'm out of the game? Nope. I sold a great 33 foot Kingscraft for less that $10,000 that was a turn key boat. We used it up to the point we had some problems and had to sell.
The group is dead right now, but it's a VERY new group (4 members?) and summer is usually a dead time for boat groups. The folks with boats tend to be playing with the boats, not the computer. Join me!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/everymanshouseboat/
It's called Everymans Houseboat because I wanted a forum for those of us that don't have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on a boat. Sure, I'd love Al Gore's 10
0+ foot boat, but my budget wouldn't pay the gas on that monster. Does that mean I'm out of the game? Nope. I sold a great 33 foot Kingscraft for less that $10,000 that was a turn key boat. We used it up to the point we had some problems and had to sell.The group is dead right now, but it's a VERY new group (4 members?) and summer is usually a dead time for boat groups. The folks with boats tend to be playing with the boats, not the computer. Join me!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Been looking at ads for houseboats, and discovered that sometime between when we bought the last one and now, people decided to start calling them "yachts". OK, granted, there is an area that is grey. A 150 foot luxury vessel with swimming pool and marble jacuzzi probably is as much yacht as houseboat, but a 30 foot 40 year old Nautiline????
So I search for "Yacht". Even bass boats and cuddy cabins are coming up! FOLKS, A 16 FOOT BASS BOAT IS NOT A YACHT!!
BUT that and a couple other things I stumbled across have made me wonder if maybe I should be looking at cruisers or even sail boats. Kay (the wife), insists that if I get a cruiser or sail boat I'll be going by myself, but she hasn't looked at these. At least from the pictures (which can be misleading, I know) some of these seem to rival the older houseboats. As an added advantage, they seem to run cheaper, so I can look at newer and/or larger vessels.
Granted, a 36 foot cruiser won't have the space of a 36 foot houseboat, but some of them look like the interior is close, and in the heat of the summer, I'm the only one that will go outside anyway! While I tend to be a leisurely cruiser, it would be nice to know that if I need to beat a storm in to the dock I have the capacity for speed. Also many of the cruisers can handle rougher water and even open water, so maybe if I ever get to retire the boat could go to the gulf with me??
Even smaller would be the sailboats, but even these seem surprisingly roomy from the photos. At $5 + a gallon for gas at most marinas, a trip down the lake in a houseboat or even cruiser can be an expensive proposition, but the wind is free! Even if you travel under power, the sleek design or the sailboat combined with generally small motors would make an afternoon cruise much more affordable.
Is it worth the reduction in space? Can Kay be convinced to even look?
So I search for "Yacht". Even bass boats and cuddy cabins are coming up! FOLKS, A 16 FOOT BASS BOAT IS NOT A YACHT!!
BUT that and a couple other things I stumbled across have made me wonder if maybe I should be looking at cruisers or even sail boats. Kay (the wife), insists that if I get a cruiser or sail boat I'll be going by myself, but she hasn't looked at these. At least from the pictures (which can be misleading, I know) some of these seem to rival the older houseboats. As an added advantage, they seem to run cheaper, so I can look at newer and/or larger vessels.
Granted, a 36 foot cruiser won't have the space of a 36 foot houseboat, but some of them look like the interior is close, and in the heat of the summer, I'm the only one that will go outside anyway! While I tend to be a leisurely cruiser, it would be nice to know that if I need to beat a storm in to the dock I have the capacity for speed. Also many of the cruisers can handle rougher water and even open water, so maybe if I ever get to retire the boat could go to the gulf with me??
Even smaller would be the sailboats, but even these seem surprisingly roomy from the photos. At $5 + a gallon for gas at most marinas, a trip down the lake in a houseboat or even cruiser can be an expensive proposition, but the wind is free! Even if you travel under power, the sleek design or the sailboat combined with generally small motors would make an afternoon cruise much more affordable.
Is it worth the reduction in space? Can Kay be convinced to even look?
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Houseboat
I don't remember if I blogged about it before, but we used to have a houseboat. A 33 foot Kingscraft. Unfortunately, we had to let it go, at a fraction of what out was worth, due to some financial issues.
Well, in about 3 years our finances should be cleared up, and we're considering another boat. If I had their phone number, I'd be tempted to contact the people that bought the old boat and see if they wanted to sell it back.
At any easy, I've been looking on the internet at boat stuff (call it market research). I've made several discoveries:
Most of the forums and groups that I visited when we were looking for the last boat have been taken over by spam. There were lots of activity on them in the past, but now they're worthless. Did everyone give up on forums? Is there a new medium I don't know about? I started a new forum, but my history with forums doesn't make me confident.
While there are some gems out there, there is a lot of crap on the market. I'm seeing a lot of boats on Ebay that aren't getting a single bid. Out may be a good time to but. To bad I don't have the money yet.
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