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What it is Like to Actually Own Boat

If you’ve never owned a boat or wondered what it takes to own a boat and keep it running, let me share with you my experiences. I’m closing in on three years of boat ownership. This is the first boat I’ve ever owned, and no one in my family ever had a boat. Boat ownership has been a learning experience for sure, but not as bad as some made it seem. When I told friends and coworkers that I was going to look at a boat, I heard the classic sayings:

“A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into.”

“The two happiest days in a sailor’s life are the day he buys a boat and the day he sells it.”

“Best boat you can have is someone else’s”

Someone also suggested to me that boat ownership was a bad idea because I wanted to fish the flats and back bays of the Texas Coast, and since I live in Austin, that leaves me located 3.5 hours from my boat. Saltwater has an increased potential to cause corrosion, so I would need to take extra care with my boat. I had no plans of buying a new one, which left me buying a boat that had an unknown history. All of the ingredients for a regret-filled, horrible boat-ownership experience were on the table.

Skiff Life for Me

Since my interest and the ultimate goal was sight fishing shallow water where I could find tailing Redfish, I needed a particular kind of boat. A skiff is a flat-bottom boat but with a bow that is curved or pointed with a flat stern. The flat bottom allows the boat to get into much shallower water. I had little-to-no knowledge of what to look for when it came to buying a boat. I had a desire and a price range I could afford. That’s it.

I started my search on the internet in December a few years ago. I browsed Boat Trader off and on weekly, but nothing popped up that struck my interest. A few weeks into my search, I felt the urge to give up looking, thinking the time of year was playing against me, and I would have better luck once it got closer to spring. My luck changed a few days later when I was at work one day in one of those meetings that could have been an email. I decided to jump on Boat Trader during the meeting. To my surprise, there was a skiff listed for sale in Rockport, Texas. As soon as the meeting ended, I called the number. I spoke with the seller and arranged to look at the boat. The owner was willing to take me out on the water for a test drive, and he encouraged me to fish during our time on the water.

I made the trip to Rockport with fishing gear and some beer for the owner as a thank-you for his time taking me out on the water. I was lucky with this seller – he didn’t approach this like a sale. I was open and honest with him about how I knew absolutely nothing about boats. He walked me around the boat and explained things to me, educating me. When we got to the water, he explained to me the process of getting the boat into the water.

Once we pushed off, the start of the trip was more like a guided fishing trip. He took me to a spot where he thought there might be fish; he was right. I caught a redfish (which was the best tactic to sell the boat.) After we left that location and headed to the next, he explained how to operate the boat while on the water. I also got up on the poling platform and tried pushing the boat around while he fished. When the weather changed, I captained the boat back to the dock with his guidance and helped him get it onto the trailer. We returned to his place, and while he cleaned my fish for me, he instructed me on how to properly clean the boat after having it out on the water. We continued the discussion, had some beers, and talked fishing–there was no pressure whatsoever to buy, though that’s just what I did. A week later, I was driving back to Austin with my new-to-me boat.

Having the boat in Austin was short-lived. It was only there long enough for a storage unit to become available in the Rockport area. It’s been at the coast ever since. If you ever find yourself looking for boat storage in the Rockport, Texas area, I highly recommend Big Fisherman Boat and RV storage. It was brand new when I got my unit. They have expanded since. It is clean and well-kept with concrete floors, plenty of space in the units, free air, and boat cleaning stations onsite.

What I Purchased

I ended up finding a diamond in the rough. I own a 2011 Newwater Boatworks Stilt, complete with a stripping basket at the bow. It has a 2005 2-stroke Yamaha 70 horsepower motor, a Mina Kota 55-pound thrust trolling motor, and a 6-foot power pole. It’s everything I needed, wanted, and more. More often than not, it’s just my cattle dog and me out on the water. With just us, the boat will draft in 6 to 8 inches of water. I’ve been in some super-skinny water. It gets a little more difficult going that shallow with others on the boat. Newwater Boatworks is a company based here in Texas producing some of the finest shallow water boats on the market. The boats are custom-made and sold directly to the buyer. The quality and details put into the build are abundant.

What it's Been like Owning a Boat

I did get lucky. The previous owner took care of the boat, and I have done my best to do the same. Every time I put the boat away, the engine gets flushed, and the entire deck gets sprayed down, scrubbed with soap, and rinsed again. The engine runs like a top. I had the first maintenance done in the fall of 2020 since taking ownership of the boat three years before. Engine maintenance is supposed to be a yearly thing. I waited more than two years to do it since it’s not been on the water all that often. The report on my engine was good after the maintenance. I’ll continue to do what I’ve been doing and take it in for maintenance when I feel it’s time to do so. If I lived closer and were on the water more often, I would be doing it yearly.

My biggest pain point in boat ownership has honestly been trailer lights. I currently have a new set of trailer lights on order and waiting for delivery. I’ve replaced the brake lights as a set three different times now. On my most recent trip, the running lights both went out a day apart. I’ve done my research, and I have a plan for how I’m going to try to extend the life of the lights moving forward.

There have been other issues, but all my fault. I recently broke the propeller on my trolling motor at the dock. Over a year ago, I nearly pulled the backrest out of the poling platform and had to take it to get fixed. The platform itself needed repair, and the backrest needed to be bent back into shape. I’ve also had issues showing up to fish to find a flat tire on the trailer. I can’t begin to tell you the frustration of driving 3.5 hours to get to my boat only to find a flat tire. That is pretty much the extent of the issues. The platform repair was costly, but everything else is minor in the scheme of things.

Worth it?

Absolutely. The memories I have and the experiences that I’ve gotten to live, as well as the number of things I’ve learned about being on the water and expanding my fishing knowledge, have made it all worth it. I would do it again without hesitation. In fact, the decision to buy my boat is one of the better purchases I’ve ever made. My unconventional path could have had such a different outcome. I’m thankful it didn’t.

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