Average cost of owning formula

[icedog11]

Is there any standard formula for annual cost of yacht ownership either per foot or by another metric. I understand the cost will vary based on age and how much of a do it yourself person you are as well as location and other factors. But sweat equity can have a value placed on it and locals averaged as well as age or condition, and I understand it will be no more than a starting point. So is there an industry standard that would state an in new or new boat should require on average X dollars per annum per foot or per dollar value of the boat?

I tried several search terms before I posted the question and found little information. I'm considering my first large boat purchase and can afford the purchase its the cost of ownership that concerns me more. My fear here is cost of acquisition is nothing compared to cost of maintaining it. Just looking for a starting point.

[minaret]

Rule of thumb is +\- 10% of purchase price per year.

[icedog11]

Originally Posted by minaret

Rule of thumb is +\- 10% of purchase price per year.

is this just physical maintenance or does it include storage or docking fees as well.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by minaret

Rule of thumb is +\- 10% of purchase price per year.

This is true because of the plus or minus. It leaves all options on the table and that represents a huge range. Personally, I spend far less maintaining by boat than the typical expense of those that are maintaining houses; however, I do almost everything myself.

I've also had the same boat for 31 years and this lowers the yearly average.

[minaret]

That's why it's called a rule of thumb. Depends on too many factors. Obviously, if your boat is tiny you may spend 100% of the purchase price just on yearly moorage. If it's mid range, the 10% figure may be fairly accurate, depending on condition. Rule of thumb is the best we can do for an OP with no stated boat type. It's amazing how often this particular rule is accurate, as soon as one small partial refit is factored in.

[icedog11]

the Boat would be in the 45-50 foot range and just completed a fairly comprehensive refit. new rigging, engine, new or rebuilt winches, new sails, all electronics and wiring, boat was fit out for long range cruising, owner had issues cant complete his plans.

[TimButterfield]

Originally Posted by minaret

Rule of thumb is +\- 10% of purchase price per year.

I've been wondering about this also. This rule implies the cost of ownership decreases over time. Is that accurate? It seems cost might increase as the boat ages. The more things age, the more they need repair or replacement Slip fees usually increase over time. But, with a decrease in boat value, insurance cost may decrease. I can see applying this for a new boat purchase, but wasn't sure if it still applied to the purchase of a 10 or 20 year old vessel. To clarify the rule of thumb, is the 10% cost per based on the used boat value, the used boat value when it was new, or the equivalent new boat value in the current year? Thanks.

[chuckr]

Some of it depends on how you plan to use the boat. Day sailing once a week or every other week - full time cruising where the boat gets a lot of wear and tear or sitting at the dock as a drinking platform or tues night races -

we spend quite a bit to keep our Jeanneau DS40 going and it varies year to year but we are full time liveaboard cruisers and push our boat pretty hard each sailing season.

You can go to dollars and cents forum under 7 years of cost data here and look at our costs and we break out the costs by various categories

[valhalla360]

There is no such thing and the 10% number is pure SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess).


Blow an engine in a remote area and it may be more than the boat is worth to fly parts and a mechanic in to repair it. If you are good with DIY and you anchor out, it could be a few hundred dollars per year.


I would suggest setting up a budget based on the size boat, look up marina costs in the area you will be in, cost of bottom paint, wash/wax a couple times per year, oil changes, maybe 10hrs of mechanics time, maybe 1/10th of the cost of new sails, etc... and come up with a number.


Remember, some of these are just hard work and not overly complex. Bottom paint is expensive if you pay someone but it's really pretty simple to apply and you can save a ton of money.


In the end that number won't be dead on accurate but probably closer than some percentage of the boat price and more importantly, it gets you thinking about what ongoing maintenance you should be doing.

[SaltyMonkey]

Storage and Docking fees is NOT maintenance.

[dwedeking2]

Good Month: Bank Account Balance - $20 (for beers at the bar)

Bad Month: Bank Account Balance + Credit Card Availability/2 - $10 (for cheap beers at the bar)

[zeehag]

the rules being made to be broken and bent,, many do have numbers that do not coincide with these rules of thumb h ah ah a
is like asking the car show price of the aston martin la gonda. ha h ah ah ah a
it all depends on the boat when purchased and how it works after.... have fun an good luck.
ps, i am the curve breaker in class. ha ha ha h ah a

[Snore]

Minaret's rule of thumb is a standard.

BUT, that means nothing to you buying a new-to-you boat.

Surveys are nice starting points. But they never show all the issues with a boat. Expect to find more. When you buy a used boat, you buy the work done by all the previous owners. Depending on the age and quality of work done, you could have numerous hidden issues. If the survey is decent, they should not be huge.

My SWAG is estimate $3-4K in "they @#% did what?" repairs as well as things the surveyor said were acceptable, but really need to be fixed. You will not find these things in the first month or so of ownership. They will rear their ugly heads after 6-12 months.

For example, my decks check out as dry. But both the port and starboard genoa tracks needed rebedding. Fortunately, we did this ourselves. But the cost of having that done would have been healthy, as it required disassembling cabinets.


All that said, the toughest years of my adult life were the one's I was boatless.

[Calif.Ted]

My slip fees are more than 10%, boat valued at $75000 slip is $643/month or $7716 per year plus $100/year property tax on the slip I don't own.
I delude myself into thinking the boat only sucks $1000/month, but I'm not counting the new $2200 dodger, $1500 sail, $100 furling line (that's right $100 for a piece of rope) last month or the $2000 bottom paint/haul coming up.
It's impossible to estimate, all depends on how deep your wallet and how bad your OCD is, the dodger only leaked when it rained, I didn't HAVE to replace it technically.

[Teknishn]

I've also wondered about the +/- 10% rule of thumb. I did exactly what Valhalla360 suggests prior to purchasing my little 35 year old 27 foot pocket cruiser (Surveyed as good in near all areas), and came up with a rough estimate for my boat at something around 24-28% of the cost of the boat per year barring any MAJOR problems. Heck, the cost of hauling and doing the bottom myself puts me over the 10% mark due to the purchase price of the boat. Factor in all of the regular maintenance and minor repairs that WILL have to be taken care of, and the percentage increases dramatically fast (Oil and filter changes, replacing a bilge pump or float switch, light bulbs, batteries, lines/sheets/halyards, and the list goes on and on ad nauseum).

IMHO I think that the 10% figuire is more likely based on repair and maintenance costs of a new, or nearly new, boat over 30-32 feet in length which is turnkey and has no issues (is there such a thing?). Purchase price of older boats, in whatever condition, is generally cheaper when compared to newer boats. As such, the 10% rule of thumb pretty much goes out the window.

As has been previously stated, there are just too many variables involved to have a "cookie cutter one-size-fits-all" formula for annual maintenance costs, even among identical model year boats.

As for older boats, and this may be somewhat off-topic, I will be outfitting my boat as a liveaboard to do coastal cruising when I return to the States next year. The cost of outfitting the boat as a liveaboard to safely sail, plus some fancy electronic gizmos (radar, AIS) which are not really, really necessary at this juncture, will cost more than the purchase price of the boat....and that's with me doing all of the work! Something to keep in mind. Your first year of maintenance and repair costs will be expensive but will decrease with time as you learn your boat and its equipment, upgrade older systems and equipment, etc.