There comes a “season” in a boat owners’ life when they need to sell their boat. For some of us, that might be every couple of years and for others it may be decades.

I assume you have heard the old line, “The two best days in a boat owner’s life are the day they buy a boat and the day they sell it.” Interestingly, they say the same in aviation, motor home ownership and many other activities.

Anyway, recently a friend of mine was putting his boat up for sale. It was a tough decision. One reason they bought the pontoon was because of a family health issue. It was a way to find some simple pleasure during a rough time in their lives as the pontoon was a way to relax and recover on the lake. But over the last few months the health issue became worse, and the boat was used less. Finally, they felt guilty that they were not able to use the pontoon and put it up for sale. They probably couldn’t have picked a better time.

In today’s market, it appears pontoon sales aren’t any different than the automotive market. There is a shortage of good used pontoons and there is a shortage of new pontoons. I talked to pontoon shoppers, and a few thought the new prices seem way too high, especially when you need to wait a year to get it. So their options are to look for good used boats, which are also bringing a premium.

And that was evident when my friend listed his pontoon on a social media site. He had a list of 10 people within two days who wanted to buy the pontoon. The first person who looked at the boat, bought it. That person also asked him the question, “Is it true?” to which my friend responded, “Is what true?” The buyer said the best days of the boat ownership are the day you buy and the day you sell.

Wow, here is a first-time pontoon buyer already questioning if his best days of ownership are the day he buys and the day he sells.

Which of course got me to thinking about my boats. I have never been much of a long-term owner of any type of vehicle. I have bought and sold many a vehicle, a few I was glad to be rid of and some I wish I still had. Side note here, about the ones I wish I still had, memory makes history seem better. For example, I can remember my old 1973 Harley XLCH (kick start only) Sportster and how great it was. If I mention I want another one like it, my wife reminds me of how often I was late for work when I couldn’t get it started, or how it always seemed to leak oil, wouldn’t run right…etc. I look back with fond memories which aren’t really accurate on a lot of things like that. Now I realize that my newer motorcycle (and pontoon) have a lot of improvements that make ownership better.

Back to boats. I have owned my current pontoon since 2014. The Catalina 22 sailboat before that was ten years. Before those two there was a Venture 223 sailboat which I owned for about two years and before that an old classic Evinrude tri-hull with a V4 90hp Evinrude outboard which I was glad to be rid of. Not that it was bad, but in the Evinrude’s case, like the Harley, memory was way better than reality.

Before the two recent boats, I was averaging two–maybe three–years between boats. Never much emotional attachment with the boats. It was kind of my unwritten rule–buy, use for a short time, then sell. That was it, don’t keep anything very long. But looking back, I broke my own “rule.” I guess I’ve liked the last two boats better than I thought.

In today’s pontoon market it seems it might be a good time to sell mine and shop the market for another project boat. So for me the best days of ownership really are the day you buy and the day you sell. And they happen over and over and over.