Cruising and boat maintenance costs

[sailorboy1]

Does the cruising boat ever become less of a money hog? So far full time on the boat for "boat maintenance, repairs, upgrades" it has cost:

year 1 - $8,291
year 2 - $5,187
year 3 - $14,262
year 4 - $19,856
year 5 - $3,315
year 6 - $8,364 (and that is only for 8 months)

That's $59,277 and all but about $4000 I did all the work. Yes there have been a few expensive upgrades in that number, but that still leaves a lot for just maintenance and repair. It works out to 26% of my total costs to live and travel on the boat. And this is for a 2001 boat that was I feel in good condition at the start that I had and maintained for 5 years prior.

Can some longer term cruiser tell if and when the curve drops on these costs?