CO1135, I find no fault with your analysis. Boats are, put simply, kind of nuts. But then again, they are BOATS! How cool is THAT?!
Short of going deep into the engine I'll be doing all work myself and I take pretty good care of my stuff. Plus I enjoy doing so- which if I'm reading you correctly, is more than a little important. The work of life, is to do good work. I fully expect a boat to provide ample opportunities.
That Starcraft is out. I'm currently leaning 14'-16' open, deep-keel, aluminum with an outboard. Like a Smokercraft or similar. Keep this simple but get some real utility. Buy it this winter when boats are cheap and have it ready for the spring salmon runs in the tidewaters of the big coastal rivers in my AO. Hey, it get my buddy and on the water; we'll see where it goes from there. There's been numerous boats in my immediate family for decades (I've avoided owning them because, well, they are kinda nuts) but I've heard the many things that go wrong and been there in person to experience many of them... On top of that, I'm sure Lady Luck has a couple new ones saved up just for me. Honestly-- it'd be much less interesting to me if it was easy!
