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Comment by sammyo | Hacker News Reader

There are a lot of folks out on the water in "ugly" boats that are not costing the arm&leg but safe and a lot of fun. Get a 100 foot boat, that is a boat that looks great from 100 feet away. Sailing is totally possible for anyone, do all the maintenance yourself, also a really good idea to deeply know every line and turnbuckle when out in the ocean days from a mechanic.

OMG they bought a wood boat, the only way to keep a wood boat is to start a foundation or be a billionaire.

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My Dad bought a wooden boat when I was 14. I was (happy to cooperate) slave labor maintaining that boat: it was kept in San Francisco Bay and I put on my SCUBA gear and cleaned the bottom every month, with my Dad I learned how to care for a wooden boat, etc. It was a 22 ton monster that we sailed often between SF Bay and Northern Mexico. I was fortunate that my Dad paid for all of my college expenses but I worked 20+ hours a week in summers maintaining that boat. When I graduated from college and got a job my Dad sold that boat within a month and replaced it with a Passport 40 which was made of fiberglass.

So, the secret to owning a wooden boat is having a son who loves sailing and boat maintenance.

>OMG they bought a wood boat, the only way to keep a wood boat is to start a foundation or be a billionaire.

absolutely. On the other hand, buying an old, requiring a lot of restoration/etc, boat is practically the only way to get such a beautiful wooden boat as they don't build them anymore for a couple of reasons:

1. those beautiful graceful lines were designed to "hack" the mid-20th-century CCA racing rules - the short waterline of a free standing boat becomes longer when the boat is heeling during actual sailing. Half a century ago the IOR rules de-facto replaced CCA and thus all those fat boats of 197x-198x which in turn seem to be more and more replaced during the last couple decades by the boats designed more for the downwind planing.

2. the introduction of mass produced fiberglass resin boats in 196x completely killed the economics of wooden boats at both stages - building as well as maintenance.

A mildly related sidenote just for visual pleasure for anybody who loves the boats - i think it is just magnificient how smooth and fast this Draken is sailing https://youtu.be/XORSpUUy0lQ?t=168

That's an incredible boat, definitely not one for those who are easily seasick. Also a nice testimony to how good the shipwrights and carpenters of that age already were. It is almost skimming across the waves in some shots.

Thank you for posting this.

I'm keeping your quote "Get a 100 foot boat, that is a boat that looks great from 100 feet away." So true!

I’ll say it again because it always needs to be said. “Go small, go simple, go now” - Larry Pardey https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lin_and_Larry_Pardey

And what a boat it is. 18 meters, that's a monster. Once long ago I worked for a sail maker in Edam, we'd have had trouble parking that outside the wharf, the main mast would have towered over the building.

Bought a $4000 NZD 24ft yacht in February. The first "maintenance" is going be early next year to reapply anti-fouling (approx $500 NZD). What used most of the money tho:

- Outboard $1200 NZD

- Insurance (for marina) $300

- $140 NZD VHF

- $240 NZD life jackets

- $1560 NZD marina

So the boat itself is only half the coast itself... I still think we've got off quite cheaply and provided us with tons of fun.

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