Sailing Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive
Reader Jon Barber gives his thoughts on how sailing can be inexpensive.
Last weekend I sailed from Richmond to OYC, spent the night, and in the morning continued on to S.F. Marina Green for another overnight. The next morning, back to Richmond.
My costs:
Launch – $35.00
OYC overnight – $30.00
S.F. overnight – $35.00
Fuel – $65.00
Total – $165.00
I live in Modesto and haul my Montgomery 17 to the Bay Area to participate in events held by the Potter Yachters. We sail all over Northern California from Monterey Bay to High Sierra reservoirs. Our yearly schedule can be viewed at www.potter-yachters.org, as well as a monthly newsletter (with an archive that goes back many years).
We are a friendly group and encourage anyone interested in low-impact sailing to join us. We are a PICYA-affiliated club. This means you may be welcomed to overnight at various yacht clubs in and around Northern California and beyond.
Most of our members keep their boats at home on trailers, thus no slip fees! Since I joined in 2015, I have sailed more than 2000 miles. We have members with boats from 15- to 26-ft. We look out for each other. Safety in numbers! Our dues are $50/yr.
You can participate in sailing at a reasonable cost. – Jon Barber, Montgomery 17, Ol’ 44.
We couldn’t agree more, Jon. We don’t always need big boats with big costs. People have tons of fun aboard Montgomerys, Dolphins, and many other sailboats under 30-ft long. Below are three such boats for sale right now!
12.3 FT Beetle Cat 2005, Novato — $3,000 OBO.
15 FT Sagecat 2017, Novato — $15,000.
24 FT J/24 2004, Santa Barbara — $14,999.
Here’s a story about the Potter Yachters’ annual sail to Catalina last year.
Reporting from Port Townsend, WA the home of the Race2Alaska where anything that floats starts the race big or small, I’d say the Potter Yachters have some upscale vessels.