Evaluate Before Owning A Sailboat?

Evaluate Before Owning A Sailboat?
By Sunny Hoggard

Beginner sailors are often tempted to buy their own boat. This is perfectly understandable. Caught up in the bliss of a new love, we often strive to bind ourselves as closely as possible to it. Choices are many Power yachts, Racing Yachts, Catamaran Power Boats, Cruising Yacht etc...

A beginning sailor needs time

He or she is, quite literally, on a voyage of discovery. Before buying a boat, ample time should be allotted to:

Try different types of sailing. Daysailing is different than cruising, and there are many types of cruising. Cruising is different than racing. The more experience with different types of sailing a person has, the more clear likes and dislikes become.

Gauge ability.

The sailor's abilities, that is. An honest assessment must be made of both (1) sailing skills and (2) physical ability. Skill comes with experience, while physical strength and agility tend to deteriorate with age. Beware of buying a boat that cannot be safely handled.

Figure out intended use.Will you be overnighting? If so, is a cabin important or can you rough-it under a tarp rigged over the boom? Will you be entertaining? If so, how many people and how often? Are you even going to be using the boat that often, yourself? A high percentage of boats see very little use, for all that loan repayments and bills come due for them each and every month.

Discover where to go sailing. Inland lakes are great. So is the ocean. One brings tide and current considerations, while the other does not. Where you'll be sailing has a large impact on which boats are suitably designed.

Get a realistic picture of budgetary concerns. The initial purchase price of a boat is the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Buying used may be accompanied by refitting costs. There will be insurance costs and moorage or dockage fees. If you buy an auxiliary, you will incur fuel costs. The biggest budget buster is maintenance and repairs. Rule of thumb, here, is they'll run between 15 to 20% of the purchase cost of the sailboat. Per year.

Test different boats! There is no perfect boat. Every boat in the world is a compromise. The key is to try as many models as possible, to see which one(s) even come close to being ideal.

If interested you can just visit Buy Best Power Catamarans, Sailboat & Cruiser Yacht... In short, I would strongly urge any beginning sailor not to be in a hurry to buy a boat.

Sunny Hoggard figures out some factors on which your decision to purchase a sailboat depends or should depend. You should keep in mind various factors described before taking a hefty decision to buy a boat which you regret later. You can also visit a charter company like http://www.voyagecharters.com / http://www.voyageyachts.com to know more about the kinds of yachts & benfits of buying them.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=SunnyHoggard
http://EzineArticles.com/?Evaluate-Before-Owning-A-Sailboat?&id=137676