Feeling defeated, selling boat

Today I listed my boat for sale.. I started boating and wake boarding in 08. Had never been on the water before that and my first time wake boarding I completely fell in love with it. Quit my job in the city in 09 and moved back to my home town to be closer to the water and bought my boat in 2010. I had absolutely no business buying this boat to begin with, had no money for a down payment and wasn’t really sure how I would actually pay for this thing but thought efff it I’m young and won’t be able to do this when I am 50 and can actually afford it so screw it I’m just going to go for it.

Not that I was doomed from the beginning but things were definitely not in my favour from the get go, I had no experience with boats or wakeboarding, none of my friends were interested in it. I had to figure everything out for myself. There are a few riders here that I knew in high school but was never really friends with, I tried ( and have been trying ) to become friends with them and have a crew to ride with but they just seem to be content with their own crew and doing things on their own. I had to teach my GF how to drive and every time I do ride its just her and I. Its really hard to push yourself and progress when its just you out there.

The area I do ride in is a bay off of lake erie and is very large in itself and unless the winds are coming from the south you can count on the water being blown out and not enjoyable to ride. It averages a depth of only 8 ft and every year it becomes overgrown with the eurasian milfoil weed. The only place to ride is in a very small and shallow part of the bay where everyone does their runs so it helps keep the weeds down. Today I finally got to get the boat out, it has been a month since it saw the water and as luck would have it the winds were in my favour and the water was flat but unfortunately it happens to be a holiday here in Canada so everyone in their 1970’s beat up run abouts were out in full force just ruining the flat water. I tried to ride for an hour but found myself just getting bombarded by rollers.

My boat is an 05 and is now at the point where things are beginning to break down and need replacing, last year it was the steering cable, this year its been ballast pumps and after a blowout I replaced all 4 trailer tires. Every year I have wanted to get some bigger ballast bags so I could get a decent wake out of it but every year something more important needs replacing. My GF just isn’t heavy enough to add to the stock ballast to throw out a really nice wake and I have had to settle with a mediocre wake every year.

Its too expensive of a hobby for a 28 year old without a really great job to have. Payments are always made but it leaves 0$ left over for things like clothes and going out and anything else really. So today, feeling defeated with all of this I listed my boat for sale. I’m not sure I really want it gone, I listed it high for that reason. If someone is willing to pay the price than its all theirs but if not I won’t be upset that it’s still around next summer.

Anyways, sorry about the long read but I thought I would share with people who have been there, or may be there themselves