US1 Fountain

iTrader: (1)

Don't think I'd bother with paying for a membership.

Audiofn

I agree. Some of the best days I have had in the last two years were when we just headed out to a cove with my wife and son and floated around and swam. Was a blast.

I aked my wife if we could not put the big boat in the water this year. She said we either use it or sell it. I told her that she can pay for the first fill up. We will see what she has to say after the first trip to the pump....

jbraun2828

Fuelin I feel your pain. We have a 4 year old son and a 6month old daughter. I bought my boat this past winter knowing I wouldn't get to use it as much as I wanted. Doesn't make it any easier. Probably not the best time to purchase (family wise) but with the market being so bad I decided to go through with it. I never would of looked at a new boat if I felt it would hurt our family financialy. It sounds like you guys can afford yours but you don't get to use it as much as you would like. To me boating 1 or 2 times a month is better than nothing. I know it sucks not being out every weekend but someday that will happen. For us free time is really hard to come by so the time we do get out on the water we really cherrish. We take the kids out as well. Idleing around the lake is still better than sitting at home on a nice sunny day. If I was you I would keep the boat knowing it will always be there ready to go whenever you are. Just think of all the gas your saving and the wear and tear on everything. To me boating is the best stress reliever around and I counldn't imagine not being able go when I had the chance. Hopefully everything works out with your son and your future will be brighter. Jason

Phantom1

LOL.....

Phantom1

LOL.....

Griff

Concrete proof that you get what you pay for in this world



Fuelin, its hard to know exactly what advice to give without knowing the specifics of your situation. You could do it either way. Boats can always be replaced with bigger and better later. I would not hang onto the boat to try and build equity in it. You could always put it up for sale to see what kind of response you get without trying to just dump it.

BIGSLOW

Put it up for sale for a price that you are comfortable with and if it sells, good, if it doesn't, then no big deal. I know you have plenty of friends with boats, so why not see if you can tag along with them when you have the time to go boating? Then you can save the money and when things smooth over, you can get a new boat and pick up where you left off.

orthos1

+1 Bigslow

SkiDoc

iTrader: (4)

I have 2 children and I thank God that we are all healthy. It is a fact that time is hard to come by. I only get to use my cat several times a year. I have contemplated the fact that it is a terrible financial decision to own the boat. But there is great satisfaction and pleasure to me in using and maintaining the boat. Like others have said it helps keep my sanity. Even though it is very fast the majority of time spent is family time cruising and swimming listening to music. Boating is a great family activity. My 15 year old teenager thinks it's cool now, he thought it was cool when he was 5 and I guarantee he will be doing it with his family.
I had an opportunity to speak with the Galati's at the Miami boat show and was suprised to learn that the average use of multiple million dollar yachts is 3 times a year.
With that said nothing is worth losing sleep over, get rid of it if it is putting you in too much of a bind. I've always been able to find a nicer boat than I had before.

Dean Ferry

Boating is the only recreation release that I have, and it gives me time to spend with the family, and like other say, it helps keep me sane. We too have 2 kids, and they are healthy, (Thank God), but a couple of years ago, $$ times were a little tighter, and I sold 1 of our boats, (actually made $$ on the sale) to help get us thru. Now, we own to many boats, (3), point being, that when the better times come your way, you can always buy another boat. Like others have said, maybe throw it out there for sale for a $$ that you would be happy with and see what happens. Hope your son is doing better.
Dean