[dspriggs]

We made the switch when I retired. We were members of a fractional ownership boat club out of Kemah, Texas for several years, and then resigned from the club and bought a travel trailer about two years ago. As you noted the boat was better for more short trips; sometimes just hitting the water after work and spending the night on the boat. Our trips were mostly in the bay around Kemah or down to Galveston (about 30 miles) to spend a night or two. Being in a club, we were assigned to one boat, but many times went with friends on a different boat that they were assigned to so we were able to be on both power and sail boats. In a place like the Galveston Bay area some hotels have boat slips that they rent by the night; many resturants have docking space and the marinas are great places just to hang out and visit for the evening. The boats in the club ranged from 26' to 45'. We liked the "fractional ownership" model that the club used.

I am not trying to talk anyone out of their RV however. In our case we decided we would like to take some more extended distance trips after retirement and that was the motivator for switching to the trailer. Everything we did on the water was fun and relaxing, however, and we have not given up the idea to go back to the boat after we get the urge to roam longer distances out of our system. Several months ago I added up our estimated total costs for both endeavors in a typical year and they came out about the same.