I purchased a boat in November 2022, and a year has passed (as of December 21, 2023). Wanting to share insights from this year, I decided to note down some things. If the content on this page proves useful to someone, I would be delighted.
However, as always, please note that the information is nothing more than the arbitrary and biased experiences of “Rikutsu-Kone Taro.”
By the way, the engine operating time in this one year was 165.3 hours for both the left and right engines.
To give you an idea of how much operating time this is, for example, in the case of a car, it would be the time it takes to travel about 10,000 kilometers at an average speed of approximately 60 km/h.
Please continue reading the following content with the image of someone who, after being a paper driver for a long time, has driven about 10,000 kilometers in the first year and gained new experiences and insights.
Now, the first realization is that I quickly got bored with the act of boating. The “fun to drive” feeling in cars or motorcycles is almost non-existent in the case of boats.
The direct connection between the driver’s actions and the behavior of the car, the joy of zooming through winding roads with intense acceleration and deceleration, and lateral G-forces is something you can hardly experience in a boat.
Recreational boats on the sea have almost no right of way, and they always have the obligation to give way to other vessels. Therefore, yachts, small boats, and large ships never give way to pleasure boats.
Pleasure boat operators actively need to identify other vessels and fishing gear to avoid collisions and give way to them.
Of course, giving way is not a problem at all. The real challenge is actively identifying other vessels and fishing gear, which requires intense focus on the sea from all directions.
Yes, not only in the forward direction but also in cases where a boat is being overtaken by a sailing yacht sailing at about 15 knots, the boat in front must give way (apologies if this interpretation is incorrect).
In this case, even though the boat in front may speed up and cut in front of the yacht, the boat needs to consider the yacht’s vulnerability to waves caused by the boat’s wake.
So, accepting that boat operation is like this, one has to approach it with a blank slate to understand it better.
If you have some confidence in your driving philosophy and driving skills in a car, the act of boating might be quite different and hinder progress rather than helping.
“Rikutsu-Kone Taro” is like that, so lately, I have been facing boat handling with a completely open mind.
The second realization is that boats often have issues. There might not be sudden instances of navigational failure at sea, but there are quite a few minor incidents that could happen if left unattended.
Since “Rikutsu-Kone Taro” uses the boat several times a week, issues were detected quite early, and as the boat was purchased new from the marina, it came with a warranty, making problem-solving relatively easy.
If a problem is noticed at sea, returning to the marina immediately and discussing the issue with the service personnel allowed for prompt arrangements for repairs. So, I am truly grateful to the marina staff.
Speaking of issues, it’s not just issues with the engine or navigation; for boats equipped with facilities like showers and kitchens, there are quite a few issues in those areas as well.
It’s crucial not to overlook any suspicious traces of water inside the boat. If it’s fresh water, it could be rainwater or washing water entering, and if it’s saltwater, it might be seawater intrusion. In the former case, the boat might sink during heavy rain, and in the latter case, there might be a defect in the hull.
So, it seems essential to remove mats or flooring a few times a month to check for any suspicious water traces.
The third realization is that about 80% of pleasure boats in the world seem to be hardly operational. There might be various reasons, such as real entrepreneurs buying boats under a corporate name for employee welfare purposes, or individuals being too busy to use their boats. However, “Rikutsu-Kone Taro” suspects that the low operation of pleasure boats in Japan is because there are hardly any activities involving boats other than fishing.
As mentioned earlier, the act of boating itself is not necessarily fun, and there is hardly anything that one would want to overcome the pain for, except for fishing.
Hence, Tokyo Bay on holidays is filled with fishing boats and boats for fishing purposes.
On a side note, yachts can become interesting because sailing itself can be the purpose. Sailing enthusiasts who find sailing interesting exist to some extent.
In a yacht in a position to give way to other boats, the focus of the operator can be on sailing more than watching the surrounding situation, making it more interesting.
In fact, sailors during sailing are absorbed in it. Even professional sailors, during races, can cause accidents by being so engrossed in sailing that they collide with other competing boats.
Let’s get back to the main topic.
Fishing is the biggest and almost the only genre of boating for leisure. However, “Rikutsu-Kone Taro” has no interest in fishing at all. The reason is that fish faces are scary.
If fish had eyes, they might appear in dreams, so I can’t bear to look at a fish’s face. Therefore, I only buy fish fillets at the supermarket and eat them.
That’s why I think one gets bored with boating quite quickly, and there is actually a saying to that effect. “Rikutsu-Kone Taro” did get bored with boat handling quite early.
At that time, I added a yacht, which turned out to be a very good decision. The hassle of sailing a yacht highlighted the easy charm of boating.
At the same time, thinking about the behavior of a boat in the waves made me appreciate the wisdom of humanity concentrated in yachts.
Anyway, one year has passed without accidents as captain. I have also learned to solo hoist and lower the mainsail, jib, and genoa on the yacht through self-study.
There is still much knowledge to acquire and skills to master. It was a year that made me want to develop activities using the boat and improve sailing skills on the yacht.
The year-end and New Year holidays of 2023-2024 are quite busy with yacht renovations, finding anchoring spots, and so on.
I would like to share the results of these activities on the blog.
Stay tuned.
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