on the subject of budgetary carnage

Some very needful reading, a good reason to buy stuff somewhere else, and just the sort of thing to read during Christmas week...

Lately Ive been receiving a lot of email with links and suchlike sent by folks as proof that it takes a LOT OF MONEY to fix your boat or to cruise and today was no exception.

Todays example (you can read it here) concerned a couple with a Cape Dory 33 whose engine was toast and the local diesel repair guy had just given them an estimate for $6,741.47 ($2903.27 parts + $3270 labor + tax & shipping). It was a rather depressing story.

The guy sharing the link to the story said it was proof positive that boats/cruising was very expensive and how I was wrong about budgets and suchlike...

OK.

So yeah, it does cost money to fix stuff and shit happens.

That said, while I dont think the couple with the engine problems are doing anything wrong, their spending and budget is not the only path available to them...

For instance, if you can work and maintain the systems you have on your boat you can dispense with that rather large labor charge and, looking over the prices on parts, you could save a whole lot of money there as well with a little educated effort but the important lesson that comes to mind is that old but still valid observation...

If you cant repair it, maybe it shouldnt be on board. - Lin and Larry Pardey

Which just may be the smartest thing Lin and Larry have ever said.

As it happens, I dont much like working on engines but, over the years, Ive rebuilt a few. The first one was the engine in my 1963 VW van that I had to rebuild on the side of the road in the back end of nowhere with the tools on hand and a dog-earred copy of John Muirs "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Complete Idiot". It took me a week and a half and I had to hitch hike fifty miles each way several times to buy parts and get stuff machined but at the end of the ordeal the engine worked and continued to do so till I sold the beast a couple of years later. You might say Im living proof that John Muir was right about the complete idiot thang.

On the other hand, my first thought when I saw the estimate of $6,741.47 was why on earth would someone pay that kind of money for a repair of an old diesel engine when you could buy a new one for less than $3000? Someone always has industrial diesel engines on sale cheap if you know where to look...

Id expect a brand new 27HP Kubota could be easily adapted and would work finestkind on that Cape Dory. It only took me five minutes to find it (Surplus Center has a bunch) and costs $2,895.95. I would not be surprised if you spent a couple of energetic days looking you could find an even better deal on a new engine.

You could also install an electric propulsion system for less than $2000 (batteries not included so that would add another $1000) or adapt the boat to use an outboard. Some might even say that you dont really need an inboard engine at all... 

The bottom line is that there are always options and, almost always, theres an affordable one sitting right there in plain sight but most folks are usually so busy throwing money at the problem they miss it.

Which, I suppose, is me saying that Im sticking with my thoughts on budgets and costs...

Listening to Angry Johnny & The Killbillies


So it goes...

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