u/quickone101101

This is strictly a curiosity question. I read the regulations and it really just says you can’t be under control of a vessel with a BAC of more than 0.8, be impaired by drugs or alcohol, or having certain blood levels of certain drugs.

My buddy said in AZ that you can drink while captain, but legal BAC limits apply. I found that interesting. Because unlike a car, you can have open containers in the boat and your passengers can be drinking while underway. I’ve searched for a regulation in NV specific to drinking while operating and there’s nothing that says you can’t. Again just curious

You’ve all seen it on Reddit. “What’s the worse financial decision you can make?” A thousand regurgitated replies saying buying a boat. “Bust out another thousand”… “the best day in a man’s life is when he buys a boat and second when he sells it”….”don’t buy a boat if you can’t afford to light money on fire”…”the best boat is your friends boat”

Okay I get these are just funny sayings. But I stg the people saying that crap have never owned a boat and only repeating what they hear online.

There was a post on PF 3 weeks ago from a guy asking if he could afford a financed 35k boat. The TLDR was that his HHI was 230k, heavily contributing to retirements, net worth of 400k and they were only 29 years old. Majority of the comments said he couldn’t afford it. Like LOL are you kidding me. Another very popular sentiment in that thread was that if you have to finance a toy, you can’t afford it. I get that that’s very sound advice, but there’s plenty of instances where I can say that logic doesn’t apply. There was also comments like “I wouldn’t buy the boat until I have my excess cash in these 8 money vehicles first, then you can think about the boat.” Then it got a handful of likes. Like it’s such a circle jerk

Anyways, I agree that boats can be extremely expensive but they certainly don’t have to be. A family buying a used $15k-20k (think 15 year old bow rider lake boat for the sake of an argument) that was decently maintained could last them decades with proper maintenance. And if the owners are at least a little handy, maintenance does not have to be expensive if you DIY.

My take on boats is this, if you’re a person or family who has been boating with friends a few times and then said “this is fun we should buy one” then I generally agree that with those subs advice. A newbie is unaware of all the costs that add up. Especially if you’re not handy, have a place to store it, while not being fully immersed with the lifestyle yet. However on the flip side, for those people who live on the water, no amount of expenses could make me hate it. I look at every expense as an investment for memories and experiences with my friends and family.

Sorry for the long post I’m horrible at condensing my thoughts and tend to over-explain.

TLDR: boats can be very expensive but don’t have to be. A 15k purchase doesn’t ruin your future. Owning a boat isn’t for everyone. Finance subs are helpful to an extent but they get ridiculous

Howdy! Wife and I are shopping for an expa for the family that can tow a future boat. It seems the HD towing package is fairly hard to come across. The boat/trailer/ gear we estimate to be within 4500-5k lbs which I know is within the 6k limit.

My question is does anybody have a similar set up and if so how does it do? Should I be comfortable with that setup or should I hold out for a HD pkg? Driving would be fairly flat from Vegas to to the local Colorado river lakes.

Also, do I need AWD? I doubt that havasu Ramps get super slick but I’d be curious what your experiences are. Thanks in advance I appreciate any insight

I’m looking to take like a community college course on marine engines so I can get some hands on experience to my own DIY repairs but I really don’t see much here in the valley. I saw that Las Vegas sail and power squadron has something but there’s not a lot of details and it seems vague. I don’t want a full certificate program or anything. Anyone know of any classes around here?