You know, none of you are making this any easier!!
Ok, I think you guys need to hear a little more rationale. First off, Dan, you're 100% right -- I've got to be crazy! But then again, all of us are at least a little bit -- nobody could ever cost-justify any one of our boats, though Lord we try.
I had a pretty pristine 45c that I worked up to almost as good as the condition of this one. And at that time my family (3 kids, wife, dog) cruised a few times a year, always with at least 3 or 4 extra. Do the math, and bear in mind 2 of my kids are girls...one head?! I was running that 45c like it was a 70'MY. Then gas prices peaked -- remember $4.40 road gas? I always loved trolling around YachtWorld, and I saw prices coming down, down, down on anything over 45-50' in the Hatt world. The bigger thirstier Hatts were really taking it on the chin. So the "why not?" rationale was really kicking in for me. I pretty much even traded my excellent-condition 45c for the 55c that was, ahem, in NOT so stellar a condition. Actually, I'm selling the Old School of old a little short; she wasn't that bad. Still one of the nicest features of her was the interior, and I didn't have to do too much in the refit. The wiring was downright dangerous, that's no lie, and the paint was getting tired but not necessarily at the repaint stage right away.
Anyway, I had two big assumptions going that led me to make that swap: 1) the family would continue to cruise like we had, pretty much, and 2) diesel would settle from it's highs close to $5/gal down to a lot less. Both assumptions didn't pan out. My girls are in college now, and the breaks just aren't synchronizing well enough to put together the same boat vacations we used to do. We're only doing one small trip a year, now, and I don't really see that changing.
Diesel costs sure didn't drop much. This very boat just a year or two before would have cost me close to double what it did...that's how much that last big fuel price shock rattled the industry. And look where we are now. Still frustratingly hovering on the high side of $3.60 or so. With worldwide demand at unrealistically low levels because of the lousy economy. What do you suppose will start happening to prices once industry starts really cranking again? It peaked just below $5/gal last time, so I have no problems seeing it going over $6.50 or so with decent demand. $5 devastated the market, so what will $6.50 do if I'm right? I told my wife a boat like this could either literally become almost totally unsaleable, or it could lose $100k in value in a heartbeat. Gotta be honest, guys, that's a big hit for what's primarily my big indulgence. I'd have a hard time living with the whole family suffering that hit for daddy to have his big toy floating out back.
I can afford to keep this thing come hell or high water, and even ridiculous fuel prices won't really change my behaviors with whether I decide to go on a trip or not. That's also mitigated by the fact that this vessel is stabilized, and cruises very comfortably at displacement speeds. I'm very lucky that way, but that's not really the issue. It comes down to what I need for what is 95% just local fishing, diving and cocktail cruising. And if we downsize her to a much smaller express or some such, I can fit into the canal where we keep a cottage in the Keys. I could see doing that at least 3 or 4x a year. That would be pretty cool and the wife would be ecstatic since that's her favorite place in the whole world; she gets her beach, and I get the boat for running around down there.
At the end of the day, though, that scenario only makes sense if I get any kind of reasonable offer on Old School. I have no interest in selling this one only to come closer to even trading for a much lesser boat, Keys option or no. I'll just keep it and plan on having it for a long long time.
