27 February 2025 Buying a boat is a big decision for most people because we know it isn’t an investment to make money. If anything, it’s another way to spend more at a time when the cost of living is already biting harder than a shark in a baitball feeding frenzy.
However, I took the plunge to buy our first substantial new boat in 2020, and I’m glad I did.
We had a small, cheap secondhand tinny for a few years to test the waters and prove we would like boating, but its capability was limited to pottering around the estuaries. Nevertheless, it gave my eldest son and me a taste for fishing from a boat, and from then on, the natural progression was to go bigger.
Anyway, here are my three top reasons why I’m glad we got a boat.
#1 – Access
You can get more places in a boat, and that’s not just for fishing, either! The ocean is the ocean, and not everyone can get out there, which means those with boats are the only ones around. On land in a car, bike, or walking, someone is always nearby unless you are in the outback or desert. But in a boat, you can be 15 mins from the city and be alone and away from everything. It’s not quite as easy for someone to pop up where you happen to be when you are on the water, and I like that.
Not far from us, off the coast of Brisbane, are Moreton Island and Tangalooma Island Resort. This natural resource has some of the world’s best fishing, scenery, and lifestyle activities, yet only a fraction of Brisbanites would know. On a good day, you can be frolicking around this island paradise within 30 minutes from the mainland.
For us, fishing is our main game, and after being landlocked most of my life, fishing from the shore or riverbank to have the freedom to reach so many more spots is such a game changer! I will never forget all those years of dreaming about getting my boat one day. I would romanticise gaining access to more fishing grounds and fish species that could never be reached from the shore, no matter how long I cast.
Now, I can travel to some of the world’s best and most secluded fishing grounds, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity.
#2 – Skills
To operate a boat responsibly, you need to learn the skill set of boating. In some ways, driving a boat is more complicated than a car because a boat won’t always do exactly what you want every time – it depends on the conditions.
For example, a 20 Kmph crosswind won’t affect how you turn or park your car but will change how you turn or dock your vessel. To operate a boat safely, you must learn about the weather, current, waves, swell, wind, water depth, boating rules, and many other things, including navigation.
These extra skills are part of what makes boating fun and a challenge for me. There’s even an art to backing your trailer down a boat ramp to launch and retrieve your boat; getting this wrong comes with much embarrassment and heckling from your fellow fisho peers.
Then, there are the fishing skills. How do you find the fish? A multifunction display (MFD) with a fish finder is imperative for fishing in a boat, but correctly reading it is another intricate skill that needs to be learned. I could go on and on; needless to say, if you are going to be safe and successful at fishing in a boat, you need to attain numerous skills. Attaining these skills is something to relish – not to be afraid of – but to embrace as part of the overall process.
#3 – Lifestyle
You only live once. I know these four words can justify anything indulgent and/or expensive. Still, if it’s a healthy hobby or a useful luxury item that helps motivate you and is likely to make you and others happy, I say go ahead and spend your money!
Yes, owning a boat isn’t a once-off cost, and neither is owning a home, so my argument is EVERYTHING costs money, but what price do you pay for an activity you and your family love doing? Assuming you can afford it, of course… I’m not trying to convince people to do something they couldn’t afford in the first place.
We had no idea that boating would be so much fun for us. Five years after buying the 12-foot tinny and playing in the Bribie Island Passage, we’re on our third boat, a 22.5-foot Stabicraft Ultra Centre Cab venturing 40+ kilometres offshore.
The main reasons we upgraded to our new boat were to share the fun around, as this vessel can take eight people, and to have more capability. Most humans enjoy the water, and being on the water with a bunch of friends is a great day out. Going further and having more ability to tackle rougher conditions than our previous boats gives us extra confidence in safety. It allows us to reach places few people can and certainly ticks my bucket list.
Conclusion
To say I’m glad I got a boat is an understatement. I still have much to learn about boating and fishing offshore, so I’m keen to continue this fantastic lifestyle activity/sport for as long as possible.
My only regret is not getting into boating earlier, but the finances weren’t right then, and I won’t beat myself up over it. However, I urge anyone who has the means and wants to buy a boat but feels deterred by the “money pit” argument or fearful of the skills required to hurry up and jump into the deep end – I’m sure you’ll thank yourself later.
