One thing you need to factor in – is a second pair of hands. You could go out in a 300k aeroplane without any help. If you went out in a 300k boat like the 43 foot one in the photo, it would be much easier if you had help to dock it in the average exposed marina. On a calm day in an ideal location, you could manage the boat easily enough on your own. Thrusters would make it much easier.
The other thing a person going to a boat would need to consider is that aircraft maintenance providers are actually angels to deal with compared to getting work done at a local marina. You can leave say a 1980’s aeroplane in for an annual and collect it with reasonable certainty. In a boatyard with something of the same vintage, you may be in a queue of unknown duration, you will be ordering your own parts, which will invariably be wrong and delay the job. The bill will be unknown until it’s finished. The only way you could keep anything like the aeroplane owner experience is to deal with the main dealer for a particular boat brand where they have a service system in place.
So you may need a willing helper, and be willing to buy a main dealer supplied boat if you want to have an “aviation like” experience on the water.
The one I saw had what must be thrusters (a means of moving sideways, slowly).
I am amazed the service situation is as bad, given how many “rich” people mess about with these things. Pilots tend to envy the boating crowd, for the lack of stupidity like GAR forms, and in general the Royal Yacht Club has a heavy political clout.
OTOH it is obvious even to me that a boat exists in only one physical state: a permanent process of decomposition, caused by salt 
So a lot of parts have to be constantly replaced, or you put up with a lot of corrosion and change them only when they become unsafe.
In the professional flying world, the shift apparently goes in a somewhat different direction: the current job market situation triggered a mass retraining of European pilots as train drivers. In Switzerland, this is allegedly happening directly under the auspices of Swiss / Edelweiss.
Ultranomad wrote:
train drivers
Funnily enough, a few years ago I was sat next to an elderly lady on a transatlantic flight who was very proud of her train driver son, and she said that several of his colleagues had previously been airline pilots. To be honest, I was a bit sceptical, but it could be true. I can’t image an ATPL is very transferable. At least driving trains you get job security and no jet lag
WilliamF wrote:
One thing you need to factor in – is a second pair of hands. You could go out in a 300k aeroplane without any help. If you went out in a 300k boat like the 43 foot one in the photo, it would be much easier if you had help to dock it in the average exposed marina. On a calm day in an ideal location, you could manage the boat easily enough on your own. Thrusters would make it much easier.
The german term is „Hafenkino“ (Harborcinema, Portcinema). It’s good fun, as long as you’re on the consuming end, in a nice Café or Bar, watching.
WilliamF wrote:
Thrusters would make it much easier.
All slightly large cabin cruisers (25+ feet) have thrusters in the bow. Or at least, one will be installed eventually (when the “skipper” is tired of showing his lack of skills, bumping into other vessels)
Boat maneuvering is rather fascinating. I once had a trip with an old sail rescue vessel. They were stationed all along the coast. To pick up people from the sea they used the sails. They sailed towards the drowning person, then simply banked the boat with the sail so they could pick up the person by hand. When the first motorized rescue vessels came, they couldn’t do this, and had to use ropes etc. Much less efficient, and much more work. They did this in all kinds of weather.
The rescue vessels of today are really something. If they end up upside down, they erect themselves, and continue on as if “nothing” has happened.
Actually, what I am missing here is: With an aircraft, you can get to a destination. With a boat, you have already reached your destination. Nowadays you don’t really mean to travel by boat, other than for reasons of pleasure. With an aircraft, instead, you can go quickly to where you want to be and make holidays there.
So not every member of the member needs to be involved with flying, when there’s enough to do at the destination. With boating, in particular sailing, everybody has to be involved, you just can’t be on a sailing yacht without being affected.
So both seem to me quite family-compatible. The best thing of both worlds would be to fly to a marina and go boating.
Who knows a good spot to fly to and charter a sailing yacht there? Maybe somewhere in Greece…….?
UdoR wrote:
Who knows a good spot to fly to and charter a sailing yacht there? Maybe somewhere in Greece…….?
I think you will find an abundance of charter yachts in Croatia. Great sailing too, I did that many, many moons ago.
172driver wrote:
I think you will find an abundance of charter yachts in Croatia
Have been sailing in Croatia several times, each time a week.
The question was more about where you can reach the marina easily and, e.g., don’t have to pay an extraordinary fee for parking and so on.
UdoR wrote:
Maybe somewhere in Greece…….?
Been there done that. The only place we found where this did actually work was landing at Megara and then Taxi to the marina at Athens. All other places in Greece have the following problem: Either the airport has no significant airline travel then there are no boat charter bases. Or they have airline traffic and then you can not park the plane for a week with enough advance notice to organise the boat.
The other places where it does work are in Croatia, Losinj (limited choice of boats), Zadar (done that 2 years ago very nice), Dubrovnik (booked this year and wil see, airport a little expensive but in the end does not matter much compared to the boat charter).
In Italy Salerno seems to work also but we did not pull the trigger on that as everything flying and boating combined seems to be just a little more complicated.
We did not investigate France and Spain yet. Malta might also work but limited possibilities for one week of sailing.
