A survey carried out by a leading US boat insurer has revealed that boaters put their vessel ahead of many other major life purchases, such as a house or a car, and are happier for it.

In a recent survey of more than 1,000 boat owners, nearly half said they bought their boat before they purchased a car or a home.

More than a third disagreed with the statement: “a boat owner’s two greatest days are the day he buys his boat and the day he sells it” with an overwhelming majority saying they ‘love boating’ and wish they had more time for it.

It seems that many boaters surveyed got into boating during more carefree times in their lives. Nearly a third of boaters surveyed said they bought a boat before they got married (28 percent), had children (30 percent) or finished university (19 percent).

Carried out by the insurance company, Progressive, the most revealing statistic was perhaps the attitude towards insurance. While 70 percent of boaters say they know they should have insurance, even in the off-season, 29 percent admit to having no boat insurance at all.

Meanwhile, twenty percent of boaters said that they would NEVER sell their boat and six percent went as far as to say they would only sell if threatened with physical harm. And for all the politicians out there.. heed this: 15 percent of boaters say they’re more likely to vote for a political candidate if he/she is a boater.