Changing Sailboat clubs?

I dock at the marina at my lake, and that is the yacht club.  On the other side of the lake, is the sailing club.  They lease 7 acres, have a large boat dock, with zero slips and zero mooring balls.     You sail, then pull and park.

Thinking about changing clubs.

Dock rental where I am is two grand a year.    Other club, is the same number, with one less zeros.

I sailed three times in 2013.  That comes out to about 700 dollars a day to sail.   I cannot afford that large a hole in the water.

Can I launch, and recover a 32 foot sailboat every time I want to sail?    I can leave the sails in the covers, masts up.    Still seems like a daunting task, to sail for the day. 

If I walk away from my slip, there is a huge waiting list most years.  It could be five years getting a slip again.

What to do?

$2,000.00 or $200.00?

I've been pulling my boat on a 95 mile round trip every time I wanted to sail this summer. It's a real pain to raise the mast, mount the outboard, check all the rigging, etc, etc and reverse the process at the end of the sail.
  I've been getting prices at several marinas on parking the CM26, fully rigged and ready to sail for next year and it will run about $700.00 so your 200 bucks sounds like quite the bargain!! The worst parts I've found of recovering the boat at the end of the sail is getting it centered on the trailer - it's usually off to one side or the other and we have to refloat it and back the trailer into the water - again.
  If I were a younger guy and still getting a weekly paycheck - I'd pay the $1700 a year cost here to keep her in the water and just sail away!!
  Good luck with your decision Gary!!
terry s

i guess i should consider myself extremely lucky.  paid 500 last year to keep mine in the water.  nice spot too.  75 for each lift, at  the beginning of spring, and end of fall.  took her out maybe a dozen times, so i'd say i got my money's worth out of it

Wife and I talked it over, and we do not want to pay out the big bucks again.

The $200 deal comes with a trade off.  We have to volunteer for duties as part of the deal.

Should we:

Beach cleanup
Birdhouse maintenance
Building maintenance
Clubhouse clean up
Committee boat duties
Docks
Grounds and mowers
Newsletter
Race Committee
Seamanship Days Staff
Social Events
Website & Email

I vote for 'Newsletter'. You do such a great job with this website, you're a natural!!  Is it wrong that guys from the internet choose the course of your life. . . . . . .

It is a bit over three miles from the house to the boat ramp.  I made it there seven or eight times and I did two trips to other ramps this year as well.  I've thought hard about finding out what it would cost to park the cm26 in the fenced yard next to the ramp.  Not raising and lowering the mast would be a big plus.  I do like being able to park the ship next to the house, full of junk and not have to clean it out until the next day.  I like being able to have the workshop next to the boat...  She will be 40 in February!  I really like knowing that she isn't working in the wind and tide all the time.  I sail salt water so a break without salt is always good.

Think of the work as additional motivation to get out of the house to do sailing related things,  it should make you more interested in getting her into the water again!

I agree with Triticum about having the boat next to the workshop - it would be a pain to haul tools and materials back and forth to perform tasks easily done in my own backyard. It's just the pain in the neck of hauling it back and forth and raising/lowering, rigging/unrigging that's drawing towards keeping it at a marina.
  It's nice knowing too that it's safe and sound under my watchful eye!! Six of one, half a dozen of the other as my Dad used to say!!
terry s