Do you have your doubts?

[kingtin]

After a week on the tweed with the wind howling, I had plenty of time for thinking about my "investment" in fishing

What I'd like to hear is your thoughts as to whether you have doubts about the money that you've got sunk into your hobby and the other factors that may influence your thoughts on fishing via boat. Is it still a viable proposition (or not) and is it getting to be more worry than it's worth?

My situation as you may well know is that I have over 80 grand invested in a whittley sea legend that has only clocked up 96 hrs in over 2 yrs. If I sold it, I'd probably come out with 65 grand. I reckon that I've done 30 trips at the most which in depreciation terms alone is costing me 500 bucks a trip. Even if I don't use it, Insurance, regos, servicing etc is costing me 40 bucks a week just to have it sitting on the drive. Now it isn't so much that I need the money for something else because fishing/camping is just about all I do..........I don't really have a need for anything else, it's more about (I think?) whether fishing is giving me today, what it used to give to me in the past?......... That's the money thoughts out of the way, now for other factors that come into play:

Petrol...............'nuff said!

Weather..........'nuff said!

Ramp rage...........'nuff said!

Jet skis.............after trying to fish from the shore at the Tweed..........'nuff said!

Closures.............well we all know how we feel about that!

Maintenance.................wheel bearings etc ? Do you all like buggering about with grease?

Vandalism.................Do you really totally relax when you're out there?

Overnighters.............Did you envisage spending nights at Tangalooma or elsewhere, but worry about the above so don't go?

Family..............sea sick members etc.........I'm the only one that doesn't get sick in my mob

Health...........There's a fairly large number of zipper club members here and also quite a few knackered backs. Can you/we/I afford to have the worries of the factors mentioned here or do you/we/I manage to totally switch off to these factors and simply concentrate on having "time out" fishing? I'm beginning to think that these factors are becoming more predominant (in my case), otherwise I wouldn't have started this thread

I'm thinking that perhaps I get more out of the tinny than I do out of the whittley, and that maybe all the factors that I have been thinking of may eventually conspire to put the Whittley to rest?

Any other factors that I haven't mentioned, that detract from your fishing?

kev

[Far side]

Kev fishing and boating are like golf
one good thing happens and its all worthwhile

[dogsbody]

Gday Kev, Go back and look at all those photos of yours that were taken whilst out fishing.

Think of the good times shared with family and friends.

Now put a cost value on that.

Still counting are you. Thats your answer.


But i know what your talking about. Thats why i bought a tinnie cheap to get out there and cheap to run. For me totally worth it.



Dave.

[Chimo]

Kev

If the family are still keen to spend time on the water by taking the necessary medication then the other issue you need to address is security for what you leave behind ie car/truck and trailer.

Why not look at joining an organization with a secure car park and trailer storage yard which will probably also have a restaurant and other facilities that you can all use as well?

Failing the above what about a waterfront place that you can head out from and not have t worry about the parking issue. The former is probably cheaper!

If you sell it you will regret it and probably kick yourself because of what the replacement items will cost if you decide to get back into it later.

Plus your pic are really good and we want to see more of them particularly with a marine bent.

Cheers
Chimo

[fish_on]

yeah sold the big boat and bought a smaller one. getting lots more use out it. can get offshore enough with mates. think of the family mate think of all those fish you have caught. you will get rid of it all and then take up golf flat out or something. then youd wish you were out fishin

[ozbizweb]

Any other factors that I haven't mentioned, that detract from your fishing?

You forgot the cost of replacing tackle but you also forgot a sunrise to die for, fresh air in your lungs, and the pure joy of going where you want to go.

[alleycat]

Kev i reckon a 4.5 mtr tinny is near ideal for those living in brissy, and to add my mate has a 17 ft centre console and goes offshore often, ive caught 10 times more squire than he in the bay, its 2008, a big boat doesnt mean more fish, it means more cost ect.

[Volvo]

Been asking myself the same questions for the past coupla years Kev , but the boats still parked in the driveway ..As long as you dont have to justify it $$ wise and nobody in the familly goes without due to it?? and offcourse you still have the ole sea legs yourve done with all these years, then why get rid of it???...
last trip i had out we ended up with a good feed of Lipper & Reds.
By the time the the Kids, grandkids etc got their share of the booty, following week i ended up down at the Fish Co-op purchasing two kilos of sweetlip fillets and a muddy all for the ripe ole price of $118 ....
But,didna have ta fillet,skin,wash boat,bait,etc,etc,etc and one of those times i asked your same questions.
And now!!??, here reading your thread after checking out the weather forecast see if i can head out over the next day or so lol......
Enjoyed veiwing your Pics by the way and what i intend doing more of in retirement..
What Camera you using by the way??...
Cheers

[25_ponies]

Kev,

I try never to think of hobbies and stress-relief pastimes as investments. Investments are things that you need to consider and manage without emotion and with the goal of maximising your return.

I'm careful about how I spend my money on hobbies, but the enjoyment I get myself (homebrewing) and for my family (boating) - you can't put a price on that. Plus, if you have a stressful or demanding job, you need something to take your mind off things.

I live with the knowledge that I only bring home a feed about 1 trip in 3, but I still go out in the bay or over to Moreton, and really look forward to the day when I can take my 3 month old daughter over to moreton to chase crabs and toboggan down the sandhills. If I sold my boat after 5 yrs and only got back a small % of the purchase price, it wouldn't worry me, as the memories as worth far more than that. I don't want a photo album of my daughter when she's 5 years old that's made up solely of photos of her sitting on the lounge.

We have one of the best marine areas on our doorstep. Fishing or not, it's still a great place to be.

As others have said, join a VMR or marina with a secured parking area. Maybe the Whittley is a bit large - maybe worth selling it and "rightsizing", but don't toss it in.

Alan.

[charleville]

Hi Kev;


The economists use a term 'diminishing marginal utility' which is a $10 term to succinctly say that the more times you do something, the less pleasure that you get out of each extra time that you use it.


For instance, I caught a good swag of sand crabs on on trip last year and as I absolutely love eating sand crab, I had sand crab for each of the next six meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner twice. By the sixth meal of sand crab, I did not care if I never saw a sand crab ever again. The marginal utility of eating sand crabs had diminished to zero for me.

Likewise, in the first year that I left work (on long service leave), I went fishing up to six nights per week in all sorts of weather. In the second year, last year, after formally retiring, I hardly went at all and did not miss it as I had found other things to do.

Now though, I have not had a lot of success with catching sand crabs lately and I am also yearning to do some night fishing so I suspect that I will very gleefully step up both activities again this year.

Could it just be that you have had too much of a good thing and might need something else to try for a while?

In relation to your comments about bad backs, zipper club etc, despite my generously proportioned supersize, I have not suffered any of these issues thankfully but I am conscious that I am not the agile pup that I used to be. I would like to upsize a fair bit from my 4.75m Quinnie runabout but I am concerned that the whole package of handling a tandem trailer, and manhandling a bigger boat on my own at the ramp may engulf me as I head towards my sixties - still a couple of years away but a new boat would certainly see me through my sixties.

So I have been considering whether part of the cost of going to that next step might be the couple of grand or so that it would cost per year to have the boat racked in a dry storage at a marina. A mate of mine does this and all he has to do is to telephone the marina to have the boat in the water tied up to a jetty ready for him to step aboard at 7 am the next morning and motor away. Similarly on his return trip - no manhandling, no transverse winds at a boat ramp to manage etc etc etc.


As you have already alluded to, the big cost in owning something like your Whittley is depreciation. Petrol and other annual costs seem expensive incrementally for each week of use, but they are not your big costs. Maybe the time has come to find an extra $40 or $50 per week for racking in a dry storage at a marina.


Hence goeth my contribution of chaff to give body to the grains of wheat that other Ausfishers may contribute to this thread.


.

[snelly1971]

Bigger boat, = more comfort, I personally couldnt go back to a smaller boat, You cant put a price on memories and fun with your family and mates

Mick

[Brumby]

If I had to justify the boat in terms of fish caught, I would have gotten rid of it long ago. For me it's about getting out with the family, away from the TV and Playstation, not to mention the lawnmower! As a couple of others have said, the photos and the memories more than make up for it.

Other than the cost of fuel, I haven't regretted moving up to the Mustang either, the extra space and better ride more than make up for any extra PT in handling it. Even there, you just have to realise that you can't really push it off the beach so you anchor accordingly.

Cheers

[nigelr]

Hi KT.
In about 3 years I will be able to access some super.
I'm looking at spending 40g on a boat, not as large a divestment as yours, but certainly substantial relative to my financial position.
When I die, the kids/successors can sell it if they wish, or use it for fun.
But while I'm enjoying the last 15-20 active years of my life, I going to really enjoy them, hopefully get the Mrs. out with me as well.
That's presuming of course that I live to see out those 15-20 active years!
Selfish, possibly, but I'm worth it, and I've earnt it!
There'll be a beach house or 2 for the 4 kids to fight over when the Mrs. and I are gone, and the boat I'm looking at is reasonably cheap to maintain and run, and manageable enough for one man launch/retrieve.
Like the man said, you can't take it with you, and one never knows when (and how) ones' number is up!
Enjoy it while you can, we're a long time dead!
For your situation, the marina idea sounds great if you can afford it, certainly make getting on the water a lot easier and hence more attractive! Mate you've got a great boat, get out there and use it!
Cheers!

[charleville]

If I had to justify the boat in terms of fish caught, I would have gotten rid of it long ago.

However, just think of the reduction in medical costs in your life in relation to stress management - you know ...things like tablets, doctors, alcohol ...


Seriously though, the exhileration of a night's fishing in Moreton Bay raises me to a new plane of being after every night trip. Words cannot describe the feeling ... nor can money replicate it.

[choppa]

its funny that kev has posted this thread as i just finished reading an article in a investment report that shows that the most ""expensive"" luxury item that the average family owns is,,,,,,,,,,, no not a boat,,,, but a backyard swimming pool,,,,especially if its salt and has a spa attached

i can relate to the spa side as ours blew the main pump a few months back,,,, it was cheaper having the existing pump rewired than that of new

boats on the other hand are always going to have what kev has written about shadowing over them,,,,, i spent good hard earned dollars on the bbq boat,,,, and then due to cancer had to sell it as it was plainly just to big a boat for me to handle by myself,,,,,, the tinny that sits in the front yard however is hardly ever dry,,,,,

i 'spose some people,,, own a boat and get more than the average use out of it,,,, then others own one and hardly ever use it,,,,

lifestyle,,,, economics,,,,time,,, etc etc all play a role,,, but the overall expense can and does add up,,,,,

good thread

choppa