The Washington herald., 1907-08-11
YACHTS NOT COSTLY
Expense of Small Boats Is
Usually 0Yerestimated.
ENGLISHMAN GIVES DETAILS
Little Craft May DE Bought for $3.50
and Maintained for $50 n Year.
Close Calculation, Aided by a Little
Experience, VIII Make the Out
lay smaII-ShOuId BE Well Kept.

lay smaII-shOuId BE Well Kept.
The popular idea sets yachting down as
/ the most costly Of ali sports.
! In one sense this is correct The sports
Of kings, as followed by Sir Thomas Lip
ton, for example is probably the most ex-
pensive pursuit which sane fancy has
yet devised, says writer IN the London
Express But in another sense this notion
/ Is quite wrong. The effect OF It IS to
deter many men, whose highest dream of
JOY does not 90 beyond possession Of
little cruising craft, from touching the
hobby at all
A copy Of well-known journal devoted
TO sport lies before me as I write, and
my eye is upon the following para
graph:
Novice" Bunham-we should think a single
handed craft Of about twenty-five feet would suit
your purpose bast preferably yawl-rigsed Such a
cTatt With cabin. you might buy within sl00. The
cost OF maintenance we would put at about Sz5 per
annum.
II Novice is a man OF decent in
come. these figures will not greatly per-
turb him. But If he be one of that vast
legion who measure their hobbies by most
diligent contemplation ef-their pass
books, he Will probably shake his head
ana consider that to be a yacht owner is
just wee bit beyond his means. II is,
OF course, easy to spend el00-or twice
that hgure-on a 25-footer. and it IS
equally simple 10 spend 10 shillings a
week. or double that sum, on her up
keep.
Is Easily Handled.
But it is reasonable 10 assume that men
such as Novice" want TO set to work in
the cheapest possible way. and as one Of
this Tx Of twenty years experience 1 will
endeayor to tell how. A boat Of . feet
is big enough TO make comfortable, sin
gle-handed cruiser. II she be much big
ger the working of her will require two
men. Such craft, Of decent beam and
good draft, can easily have sufficient un-
derdeck accommodation 10 sleep four per-
sons. We may put down the burden Of
suen little vessel as FIVE tons And she
may De bought, sound in hull and rea-
sonably well found in gear. az e10
I 1
admit, and not during the height OF the
yachting season. The man of limited
means has TO finesse in more directions
than one. and so il is in buying a boat
Wait until the fall Of the year begins to
darken in, and the equinoctiaI gales are
shrilling bleak across the sea. Then II IS
time 10 put away all playtbings on salt
Wster-and the time 10 buy Many a man
who has some fresh caprice for next sea
son. or who does not want the bother OF
laying his little vessel up. will get rid Of
her Tor trtle more than the proverbiaI
song. I have seen a stanch fweIve-tOn
( sloop sold for so. Her sails alone were
worth the money. II may be taken. then.
/ that novice who puts $50 in his pocket
and awaits his opportunity will be able 10
/ buy snug little cruiser But although I
call him a novice. may reasonably as
sumo that any man who buys a boat will
have some knowledge Of boating.
should Be Well Kept.
Indeed, this condition is essential to
amateur yachting on such economical
lines as I have in mind. Il is also per
/ fectly feasible that a man NAV have bur
the foggiest notion OF the value Of a boat
or the cost Of her maintenance, and yet
be perfectly competent to manage her.
The little vessel being bought. two points
have 10 be decided which will 20 far 10
settling the annual average cost OF up-
keer-where 10 moor her when in COM
mission, and where TO lay her up during
the winter. In nearly all the ports 4
craft OF the size I am indicating will be
free from harbor dues. A thoroughly
adequate set Of moorings may be laid out
/ for a couple Of sovereigns. The first cost
/ being incurred. there need be no more
outlay under this head for several sea-
/ sons.
A little yacht needs scrubbing at least
/ once month 70 keep her free from
weeds. Personally. I am not above do
/ ing this job myself. Rut It is not inter-
esting work, and is we'll worth the three
/ arf-crowns" for which the average
beachcomber will undertake H. The Law
ing-up OF small yacht is a matter in
which some judgment must be exercised.
II you go 10 q pukka yard. they will
probably quote you seven-and-sixpence
per week for a mud berth, with the priv
ilege of hanging up yogr spars and put
ting your sails in a store where they will
be eaten up by mildew. BY a little in
curry you may mud virtually the same
thing at the cost of a sovereign for the
season. What remains in the way OF
outlay? From time TO time a SAT- may
want repairing. a pair Of halllards or q
set Of sheets need renewing, a block re-
quires replacing. and the like But a
few shillings a month should suffice TO
keep pace with all demands IN this way
barring exceptional mishaps-in the case
of a boat well found at the outset. In
short, I make bold 10 say that a yachtlet
big enough 10 coast the channel in sum
mer time may be bought for $50. and
maintained for 911 year