Five minute wonder sib owner

[neil.mccrirrick]

Involvement is the key with a level of understanding about why the faff is necessary. The more all your "crew" do the more fun they have imho

[Mikefule]

If the engine is used in saltwater, I always run it in a barrel of fresh water afterwards to flush it.

If sand or grit has been carried into the boat then when I get it home, I inflate it without the floorboards, stand it on end against a wall and use a low powered jet wash to rinse it out. The jet wash can also get muddy footprints off the floor boards.

Solo, I expect:
20 minutes from garage to car.
50 minutes from car to water.
40-50 minutes from water to car.
15 minutes from car to untidy in the garage.
60 minutes or so to sort out, rinse, repack and put away nicely, probably the next day.

Hard physical work, but I don't so much see it as a faff as a set of skills and a project.

I agree, so many people feel entitled to easiness these days. It's surprising anyone ever goes boating, rides a motorbike, or plays an instrument. Fart oo much trouble.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

If you think boating is a faff, try chucking scuba diving into the mix[emoji849] after a weekends diving which probably amounted to 3-4 hours in the water on open circuit, there was a day's worth of cleaning, filling, storing boat & diving kit. Don't even get me started on rebreathers[emoji15]

You forget that I have! It was the bloody SCUBA that got me back into boats in the first place! I bought a boat to go diving off and never managed both sets of faffing at the same time....

That said, I have the boating faffing down to a fine art:

The tender and it's gear live in the garage - gear in a pelicase, a boat grip and a shore box (pumps etc). I can load out along with 200L of derv in about 10 minutes. I have a 45 minute drive to the mooring where I can be afloat in about 15 minutes. Getting the big boat "online" and gassed can be 30-45 minutes to underway. All her kit is aboard and she lives in a state of permanent readiness. I can open the garage at 0700hrs and be eating lunch in Oban at 1400hrs.

To make this work properly takes a huge effort both sides of the season and devours spare time during summer. I just love it

[Mikefule]

It's a long time ago now, but I went through a period of doing both kinds of faff. Many happy dives in Lock Long, Loch Fyne, Herrera Sound and once on the Breda, as well as once across on the other coast at St Abbs*. Also a few times off Devon. A great feeling of independence but very hard work. Better if you can leave the boat inflated, or even a afloat, overinght!

* Little known fact: St Abbs is the patron saint of washboards.

[smallribber]

If you have space at home keeping the boat on a small trailer is the way to go in my opinion. I think it is also better for the boat