2012 Boat Ownership Costs

[Chrisgo]

That was less than I would have thought. I was thinking more like $15,000 per year for a 41 foot boat.

[daddle]

I have heard professionals say, and I agree, that maintaining an active cruising boat should cost about 10% of the purchase price per year. More if it is in marinas more that rarely. This covers haulouts, refinishing interior, topsides, deck, engine replacement such. Otherwise you're simply deferring maintenance - reducing the resale value - going derelict.

[Dockhead]

Well done, Don!

You are not only an excellent boat manager, it looks like your boat is exceptionally reliable!! Sometimes it seems to me I spend that much in a month . . .

That's really efficient boating!

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by daddle

I have heard professionals say, and I agree, that maintaining an active cruising boat should cost about 10% of the purchase price per year. More if it is in marinas more that rarely. This covers haulouts, refinishing interior, topsides, deck, engine replacement such. Otherwise you're simply deferring maintenance - reducing the resale value - going derelict.

That should be about right, maybe even on the light side.

Practically nothing on and boat besides the hull, mast, and propulsion system has a useful life of more than 10 years. So besides repairing everything, you will be replacing everything regularly.

And those few things which don't have to be replaced every 10 years or less still need regular maintenance.

A major depreciation item for those that have it are teak decks, which usually cost more than any other single thing on board including the propulsion.

And then you have berthing and fuel.

So long term, it will certainly average out to a good 10% a year.

The only way to avoid that is to have a very simple boat (higher proportion of hull value to everything else), do all your own work, keep it for decades, don't update anything, use the sails for 20 years at a time before replacing, allow the boat to be genteely shabby, and don't worry about the fact that the value is declining. So then you might have less than 10% on a long term average, but even in that case you will get hit with part of the savings by depreciation when you sell. I guess you can avoid that by allowing your heirs to worry about selling the boat after you die, a common approach if I'm not mistaken

[Wannabe-007]

Hmmm... so my 200k boat which wifey will undoubtedly stretch to a 250k boat will cost us about 100k in y1 (fixing up and fitting out for travel from USA - NZL), and another 25-30k p.a thereafter?!?
Oh dear... I'm going to need to ply the bank manager with an awful lot of rum to pull that one off!

edit: and thats obviously before taking into account any/all cruising & travelling costs.

[Teknav]

That is why, it is much much cheaper to lease/charter a luxurious boat anytime to anywhere without the cost of ownership. Boats, airplanes and horses are money holes; but you already knew that.

[Bluewaters2812]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

I threw a little less cash into the hole in the ocean this year, but not by much. So for all the people who visit CF with dreams and wonder what it really costs to have a boat feel free to take a look (it costs more than you think).

I sometimes wonder why I torture myself by keeping track of this stuff.

Thanks for sharing that; it's very helpful. The storage and marina fees are quite a percentage of the overall costs (appr 44%) but it seems you have done well. We will be living aboard and cruising so our situation will be somewhat different and I think we will have quite a difference in insurance costs too. Although your situation does give one a picture to look at and consider, thanks.

[daddle]

Originally Posted by Teknav

That is why, it is much much cheaper to lease/charter a luxurious boat anytime to anywhere without the cost of ownership. Boats, airplanes and horses are money holes; but you already knew that.

I spend most of my money on boats, women and liquor. The rest I just waste.

Not sure a cruiser could afford to lease or charter a boat year-round.

My 10% upkeep cost should be about US$17,000. That's more than I spend, certainly. In my 3 years of ownership its been about $8000 a year. But things are being deferred only because I have not been anywhere convenient to spend the proper amount. Probably common with cruisers. She got some new sails and and engine in that time. A bottom job at a swank yard. But she needs a sweet topside painting to hide my misadventures with cruising's perils. The rod rigging might be past it's Best By date. Some Filipino is gonna feed his family for a few months with interior paint and varnish work. My saltwater-maker is pre-historic. All this to keep her value up ...

A good friend spent his retirement pot on a fancy catamaran. Really nice. Figuring he could live on the cheap cruising. But the maintenance, and the depreciation of deferred maintenance, of US$30,000 per year killed his dreams in 4 years. The boat went shabby. Hull scars unpainted. Sails in tatters. Interior worn. Ugh! Sad.

So folks ... newbies ... plan your finances.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Teknav

That is why, it is much much cheaper to lease/charter a luxurious boat anytime to anywhere without the cost of ownership. Boats, airplanes and horses are money holes; but you already knew that.

Leasing isn't less expensive! When leasing you are still paying for all the ownership costs PLUS profit. It only works for something that you rarely use.

Of course near as I can tell 95% of the boats at my marina and in the mooring field are rarely used!

[casual]

Great Booking keeping.After 6 months of refitting,I,gave up keeping records of expense AX has them all.Gave me sleepless night's.

[WebWench]

Now I know why I am always broke......my three loves: horses, boats and airplanes......oh well...

[denverd0n]

Of course, to be realistic you also need to set aside an amount for eventual replacement of your sails and engine. Those are the major expenses that most people prefer to ignore. But you pay for these one way or the other. Either you will eventually replace them yourself, or you will eventually sell the boat and get squat for it, because by then they will really NEED replacement.

Can't even begin to count the number of boats that I've seen sitting year after year for sale, but not selling, and the reason is obviously because the sails and engine are going to need almost immediate replacement, but the current owner refuses to factor that into his asking price.

[JK n Smitty]

We have a 2001 Catalina 310 that we keep at a slip in Hingham, MA. Our annual cost for maintenance, storage and insurance is about $6,000 per year. The boat purchase price was $62,500 so that fits with the 10% of purchase price theory. Although we could probably reduce this number by close $1,500 by staying on a morning. But we live aboard from April through November and have a dog so the slip is very convenient.

However, this does not include upgrades. We are planning to move to live aboard full time within the next 12-18 months. And that is part of a larger plan to leave and sail south to the Caribbean by June 26, 2015 (my 40th birthday). So I have an extensive list of upgrades and improvements for that trip. Plus I am slowly buying spares to stockpile for when we go. The upgrade estimate is about $28,000. This includes items like a diesel forced hot air heater ($3,500) for winters up here before we go, almost $5,000 for dodger repairs, side curtains and other upgrades to the shade system (might be high), $2,500 for a new inflatable, $3,500 for a water maker and $3,000 for new sails. I am trying to split these items up to about $5,000 a year until the final year when I will make the big push.

Not all of these upgrades are necessary. Some are because we like to live a certain life style. For instance, I really like cold drinks (water, cocktails, beer, etc.). So I have additional power generation to keep up with the refer and an ice maker. We could probably do the minimal upgrades for around $15,000 and go with that.

[JK n Smitty]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Of course, to be realistic you also need to set aside an amount for eventual replacement of your sails and engine. Those are the major expenses that most people prefer to ignore. But you pay for these one way or the other. Either you will eventually replace them yourself, or you will eventually sell the boat and get squat for it, because by then they will really NEED replacement.

Can't even begin to count the number of boats that I've seen sitting year after year for sale, but not selling, and the reason is obviously because the sails and engine are going to need almost immediate replacement, but the current owner refuses to factor that into his asking price.

I agree with the sails but not the engine. If you take care of the engine it should last the life of the boat. Talk to cruisers and you will find plenty of boats with 4,000+ hours on the engine. Also, talk to the professional fisherman. Most of them have huge hours on diesel engines.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by daddle

I have heard professionals say, and I agree, that maintaining an active cruising boat should cost about 10% of the purchase price per year. More if it is in marinas more that rarely.

I'm dubious about that 10% figure, even figuring in marina costs. I pay $10,800 per year in slip fees, but still come in far under the 10% in annual upkeep. And my maintenance budget is generous enough to keep the boat in better-than-new condition. When a $275 water heater went out a month ago, I replaced it with an $800 unit. I pay a diver to clean the bottom monthly in the summer and every six weeks in the winter. This winter I'll pay to have my interior varnish refreshed. But we still manage to come in well below the 10% of purchase price scheme, even on years when we haul out for bottom paint.