How stupid do you have to be not to own a boat?

How stupid do you have to be not to own a boat?

William Simons explains why boat ownership should be compulsory in his adopted homeland of Sweden

With estimates varying from 1 in 7 to 1 in 4 households owning a boat in Sweden, my question is why the non-boat owning households are not rounded up at dawn and made to lick clean the toilets at their local IKEA? What on earth can be their excuse for not owning a boat?
It can’t be the lack of availability. On one of Sweden’s most popular second-hand websites there are currently 13600 motorboats, 2660 sailboats and 590 rowboats for sale. That is just one website. There are other more maritime specific sites, newspapers and magazines to throw into the mix. Price can’t either be an issue. Playing the “what I would buy with xyz kroner” is a real eye-opener. Prices for a used rowboat with 5hp outboard start at around $400. For $2700 – $4000 you have a multitude of Ryds, Cresents, Flippers or Selcos all with working 50hp outboards to get your motorboat juices flowing. On the sailing side of things for the same budget you have more Marieholms, Folkboats, Maxis, Triss, Ohlsons, Rocks and Belonas than you know what to do with.
Let’s just pause for a moment and let this sink in. For the same price as a well worn family car from the late nineties or a smelly caravan from the mid eighties, you and your family can get on the water, experience new places, learn new skills, meet new people and stay overnight!
Going up slightly in budget is even more mouth-watering. $6800 – $9500 will buy a fully-equipped Vega (27ft), a Hallberg-Rassy Misil 2 (27ft) or even a 31ft Markant B31. For motorboat lovers, what about a Shetland 580, a Flipper 580 or even a Century 20? The list is long!
The lack of places to sail can’t even be an excuse. With 80% of the population living within 15 minutes of the sea and the vast majority of those on the Baltic side with its non-tidal, archipelago accessible cruising; there simply is no excuse. Even for me living in the middle of Sweden in a ski resort, I could hook up the trailer and either be on the east coast of Sweden in 3 hours or in the Norwegian fjords in 2. Inland waterways are unbelievably plentiful and navigable. Vänern, Sweden’s largest and Europe’s third largest inland lake lies within easy reach of the populated south. This and most other lakes and major waterways are professionally marked and charted, with numerous cruising guides and information portals.
Of course Sweden has been hit by the global recession just as other countries have. Unemployment is now nudging 10% and people are tightening their belts just as they are around the world. Sweden is an outdoor country and the very fact that people fish, picks berries and can light a fire by rubbing a Swedish meatball against a Volvo could explain the non 100% boat ownership figure. When you are already at one with nature, do you really need to then spend your free time antifouling, cleaning the heads or changing injector pipes?

© William Simons