It’s a hard question to navigate. Since boats are memory-making machines, it’s easy to get emotionally attached to them and even become irrational about making the decision to light the torch on their Viking funeral, if you will. But when it’s time, it’s time, and there’s no turning back the clock.
To help make the obvious a little clearer, here’s a list of a few clues to elbow you in the ribs that the time has come to begin shopping for something different.
Okay, so this does sound a bit like a breakup in progress, but the whole point of having a boat is so that it can meet your needs. If you’re rocking a really sweet wakeboard ride and all the missus can talk about is how she wishes you’d take her sailing, it could be that the time has come for a change.
Or maybe when you bought your boat, you were a very keen fisherman. Perhaps your interests have shifted as time has gone by, and now all you want is a nice cruiser. Maybe you’re more than happy selecting your fish off the menu of a Michelin-starred restaurant instead of hooking them yourself. You know who you are.
Perhaps you bought into boating with an adorable little sixteen-footer with a stern drive but then decided to have eight children. You can’t take them in shifts. You’re going to need an upgrade, friend.
“Some work” means an engine rebuild (or two), a full engine replacement, or maybe a full overhaul of your boat’s drive and navigation systems. If she won’t respond to the helm anymore, it’s time to begin asking the hard questions.
And if she’s not small enough to trailer, getting her into dry dock for refit and repair won’t be cheap, whether you’re calculating parts costs or the big one: labor. Have you ever seen how much time and effort it takes to clean barnacles from a hull? It’s significant, even on a smallish boat.
There is a point of diminishing returns, not just for boats but for their many systems. Fitting a fully updated fire system on an out-of-date boat could be a knockout. Sometimes it’s better just to say goodbye and move on.
Running an old car until the wheels fall off is not a very big deal. As a car ages, you stop taking it on long trips or getting anywhere near the freeway. That makes sense.
With an aging boat, things are different.
When you’re out on the water and you sense signs of trouble, it’s not like you can just pull over. Are you okay with getting stranded in open water because your engine gave up on you? Even if you do carry a radio in the event of an emergency, it’s not like the weather and the sea will always cooperate.
Going boating in a vessel that’s not ship-shape isn’t just risky or a little inadvisable, it’s flat-out dangerous. When your boat starts to develop shakes or rattles, doesn’t steer properly, or begins to show signs of fuel inefficiency, it’s time for a major change. These aren’t minor problems.
When you start to see the writing on the wall, stop in to see a Palm Beach boat dealer for an honest chat or look for boats for sale in Palm Beach online. Sometimes just educating yourself about what’s available out there is enough motivation to get moving on buying a new boat.
