Re: I think it's time to sell my boat.
I think yours is a lesson learned for others. Boating can be way more work and time consuming than people realize, and especially just to use it. The efforts you describe, which are not unusual, means it's not worth going out for less than half a day--no half-hour run up the river; no sunset cocktail cruise, no before work fishing. Then in these busy times, how often do you really get that block of time, which also lines up with the weather and everyone else in the family's schedule?
Most boats are way underused, and most boat owners moan about it.
Solutions?
Share a boat with a friend or relative, to cut the fixed costs in half (a lot of people around here don't like that idea; they just need better friends)
Get a smaller boat that's easier and less expensive to launch, retrieve, store--you realize you aren't filling it up with people every trip.
Pay for convenience: a dry slip, a wet slip, something closer, a private ramp. After all, this is leisure; no one wants to waste money but you have to spend it or you are just wasting the buy-in.
Defer boating when you have babies, or children locked in to all-weekend sports, to a time when you are not as over-extended.
Consider the boating clubs
Teach and allow your immediate family to use it (including launch/retrieve) so that it gets used. I love seeing my daughters take off in mine, and encourage my wife to do the same (she's interested but likes me to squire her around). I used my dad's boats as a teenager way more than he did. I also did all the work. he paid.
Get a sturdy boat made for the outdoors so you don't have to waste precious leisure time washing and covering and all that.
Plan your maintenance work to be done long before the season starts.
