Paralysis By Boat Analysis

These days we're spending a lot of time watching sailing YouTube channels, reading blogs and articles, attending webinars, and scouring sailing websites. We laugh because suddenly we barely watch regular TV anymore...it's nothing but YouTube! We have become immersed in the world of boat buying, boat maintenance, and studying what the potential costs are, along with sailing Facebook groups (what a rabbit hole). Talk about information overload!

When it comes to shopping for monohulls we've learned that no two are alike and with every boat there are pluses and minuses. Once you decide on a price range, unless you have an unlimited budget you quickly learn that boat buying is a world of compromises. You want more space? This may mean more in marina and mooring fees for a larger boat. Are you more concerned about comfort at achorage or in a marina? This could mean that you're giving up comfort on long passages.

Should you look for an older boat (20 plus years old) or a newer, used boat? What refits should be done before you purchase? What improvements should you be prepared to take on yourself? Full keel or fin? Cutter mast or ketch? Center or aft cockpit? My head is spinning!

Shane has been an Investment Advisor and Retirement Planning Rep for the last 20 plus years, but his prior background is actually in Engineering. He was in the Canadian Navy and then worked in Engineering before changing careers. All of this means we're talking about a man with a very analytical and logical mindset. One phenomanon that sometimes that often plagues these types of thinkers is "Paralysis By Analysis".

"Paralysis by Analysis" is exactly what it sounds like: you become so engulfed in and and overwhelmed by all of the information that you've gathered about a topic that you become essentially frozen. You feel unable to make a decision. You often see this when a person is making a decision on a subject that they know nothing or very little about, such as retirement or investing. In our case, it's SAIL BOATS!

Now we have gone from a knowledge base of zero a few months ago to, I'd say, moderate beginners. We find ourselves tossing around terms that meant nothing to us before, like v-berth and wet head.

We are now a little obsessed with sailboat buying sites and pages. We've even gone to view a few boats (I'll share some photos and videos soon). My initial obersation: sailboat buying is HARD! Thankfully, we have some time before we will be ready to buy and it looks like we're going to need every minute!