Dollars and Sense 2013

[SaucySailoress]

OK, you guys - so who can tell me how long the average sailing yacht in the UK is actually sailed for every year? Have a guess, go on...

[atoll]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

OK, you guys - so who can tell me how long the average sailing yacht in the UK is actually sailed for every year? Have a guess, go on...

we sail 52 weeks of the year if we get a chance!
in the last year i have gone out at least once a week if the tides are right!

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by atoll

we sail 52 weeks of the year if we get a chance!
in the last year i have gone out at least once a week if the tides are right!

It may well be that you're the exception that proves the rule, but everybody here knows that most boats sit in the marina even on nice days. So let's just admit the truth about it...

[Normanby]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

It may well be that you're the exception that proves the rule, but everybody here knows that most boats sit in the marina even on nice days. So let's just admit the truth about it...

I wanted a nice big keel boat for years, but whatever way i crunched the numbers i just couldn't afford to have a boat, store it in a marina, and live in my house. So i confined myself to trailer-sailers for that time, taking it home for storage in the driveway.

I knew i could only afford to keep a bigger boat if i lived on it - and now i do. No more house, everything i own aboard (except the car).

[SVRapture40]

One of the top things I always hear when someone experienced is giving counsel to a perspective cruiser is "know your boat". It would seem that would be hard to do with a last minute purchase before setting out.

My personal experience - I bought my boat 4 years ago. In that 4 years I paid the loan off, spent a lot of time getting to know how to sail my boat, figured out what worked and what didn't and changed the latter. Now we are retired on a boat that we know very well that is outfitted like we want it. Really happy with the way I did it, but then I am sure it is not the best method for everyone.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by SVRapture40

One of the top things I always hear when someone experienced is giving counsel to a perspective cruiser is "know your boat". It would seem that would be hard to do with a last minute purchase before setting out.

My personal experience - I bought my boat 4 years ago. In that 4 years I paid the loan off, spent a lot of time getting to know how to sail my boat, figured out what worked and what didn't and changed the latter. Now we are retired on a boat that we know very well that is outfitted like we want it. Really happy with the way I did it, but then I am sure it is not the best method for everyone.

Sounds like you were using it a fair amount in the mean time, and not just refitting it.

So, "good plan".

[eliems]

I sail a great boat from the greatest marina and get to explore the Pacific Northwest for under $5000 per year. Over 100 days on the water this year again and if I sold her for market this whole 3 year experience will have been free of charge. (I got a great deal!). Total in now is $36K.

So it can be done.

Hunter Sail Boat - Loaded

Now we transition onto a 40' cat in St Maartin and I hope to repeat my "good fortune".

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I know what it cost me to have and use my boat for 2013. I keep track of boat use costs, but I decided to add payments this year to determine what I really spent. The answer is I spent a total of $26,824 for the year for the pleasure of having my boat.

Now since I'm in the great warm Northeast that only has a 1/2 year for sailing season, and I have a job and mostly use the boat on the weekends, there are not so many days of use time available. I figure with weekends and a week vacation I used the boat 62 days, but will call it 70 so that I feel better about it and cover days that I went to do nothing but boat work/maintenance (maintenance days are boat days right).

So that works out to $383/day of use.

So this is where it becomes dollars and sense as sometimes I wonder if this makes any sense.

Let this be a lesson for you wannabees dreaming of sailing!

On the flip-side of this I just added up what it costs me to use my house: payments, assoc fee, electric, gas and even cable bill, and it is about $24,000/yr. This doesn't include maintenance, but maintenance is nothing compared to the boat.

So I spent $26,800 to use the boat 70 days and $24,000 to use the house about 290 days. You know what this means???????????????

I NEED TO SAIL MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW - I do all my own boat maintenance

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

So I spent $26,800 to use the boat 70 days and $24,000 to use the house about 290 days. You know what this means???????????????

I NEED TO SAIL MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW - I do all my own boat maintenance

If you go ask your accountant, or do a business course, you'll find the $26k is only fixed overhead if you are not cruising.
So my house is rented out, and my boat doesn't need to be in a marina, nor does it need to pay state taxes, or federal taxes etc because of its location. Also, because I am cruising I can do more of the work on my boat myself and at a time when its convenient for me because I'm on it 365 days instead of your 70.

So, although we all bleat about how expensive it is to cruise, it's still cheaper than having the boat at home like you are. Provided you don't want to start another dim witted "let's cruise on $2 per day" then you can find renting the house out and going sailing can make economic sense...

When I decided to make my dream my reality all I really did was the Maths again.. And again... Till I worked out how it could all work realistically. Not that every year is making hay

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Boats are a waste of money.

Back in the 1960s when my Dad bought his first sailboat conventional wisdom was if you have to ask how much a boat costs you can't afford it. I just returned from six weeks cruising from Boot Key to the Dry Tortugas and back. Rent for a cat like mine would probably be around $US10,000 a week so that would cost $US60,000.

I have no detailed records on what my boat has cost since I bought it last year, but for sure it would have been cheaper to charter one for that trip. But I also took too many day trips to count and several overnight/week end trips learning the boat. Since I have basically lived on the boat for almost a year, with only a few trips to the mainland to deal with health and business matters I can get closer to it making sense buying rather than chartering.

But if I go to the Bahamas this winter and spend months there it will clearly be cheaper to buy than charter. Bottom line buying can make sense if you use your boat a lot. But if you spend more than 50% of your time on the mainland you should probably rent.

[jeffjd]

It all depends where you live... I pay $6,500 a year for a 30 foot slip in Dana Point CA. Add in other costs and I am at $12,000 a year. 33 year old boat so things need to be replaced and I do most the work myself.

One advantage of owning a boat is that after some time you know her and you cannot get that with a charter.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

then you can find renting the house out and going sailing can make economic sense...
(

I plan to just get rid of the house as I don't want to have to be dealing with it!

Winter storage and summer moorage is definitely my biggest boat costs! But even on my cruising kittery spreadsheet I have $300/mo for "marinas" just in case. But I already invested in a bug anchor and a lot of chain and hope to use that most of the time.

[davefromoregon]

Since buying my boat. I have gone out once a week so we re looking at about $150/ sailing day. It is not cost effective but many things in life are not.

[a64pilot]

Buy an airplane, even a little one, four passenger burns $75 an hour in fuel alone, forget all the other costs, plus unless you are one, you HAVE to pay a mechanic to fix anything, that's the law. Boat still look stupid?

[Jim Cate]

If your goal is to go "real" cruising, then owning your own boat for a longish period before departure is important. Chartering or sailing club boats is good fun and can be a sailing fix, but learning the ins and outs of boat ownership, maintenance and trouble shooting is a crucial part of preparation for cruising full time. Many of the failed cruises that we have witnessed over the years have had their roots in the lack of such preps.

So, one can consider those high costs/days of sailing as tuition in the school of the cruising life. Like most tuition fees, seems kinda high until someday when you really need the knowledge and confidence that you have paid for and earned by "doing the miles".

IMO, lessons such as the ASA series fail completely in this aspect for many people... only hands-on, make your own decisions and live by the consequences events cause real learning. YMMV as always.

Cheers,

Jim