Sailing on the Cheap in a 30 foot Sailboat

Let me tell you my story of sailing on the cheap. I bought my first boat in 1999. She was a 18' wooden sailing dory with a nice sloop rig on her. The Hunky Dory was purchased for $450, along with it’s trailer. I did a huge sanding and painting project on her as she needed it badly. Once she was ship shape, we hit the local lakes in Fremont. Soon, I was taking her out in the bay (not the slot, however). A few years later I was ready to move up to a keel boat in the 30′ range. A boat of this size in SF can easily cost $10k per year to operate and maintain. I am a frugal guy and did not see myself spending that much cash on an annual basis. I decide to see if I could find some friends to share the cost of ownership. I quickly found 2 friends that wanted to put together a partnership. We found a great boat in short order for $16,500. She was a 1981 Newport 30. Once we paid the initial price, we have been sailing the San Francisco Bay for $3 per day per person. We now have 6 partners and we all sail as much or as little as we want. There are times when we have to kick in extra $$ for big repairs or projects. It’s worked well for the last 17 years! I just ended my partnership to purchase a larger boat for a year long adventure to Australia!! Don’t even ask me what that is going to cost. However, it is a journey that I have been dreaming about for 30 years!