Extra Cruising Cost for a "Big" Boat

[Old fella]

Originally Posted by Poldhu

This is funny because I DON'T keep track of the costs at all on purpose because I generally deny reality and forge on. I don't want to know how much money I am blowing on sailing. But I appreciate all of you who do track this stuff. Its helpful to me.

For me the conversations usually goes like this:

Wife: Sweetie, your boat account is getting low. (yes, she keeps a separate boat account, she pays the bills and I have a boat credit card, so she can watch me)

Me: Can you put a few grand in there please.

Wife: How long will that last for.

Me: For the rest of the season.......I promise.............

OR

Me: After I upgrade the electronics package that will be the last upgrade I will need for a long while.........

However; going from a 36' to a 41' and upgrading both: now I have two heads, two more tanks, one additional air conditioner and 5' more to pay for when getting transient slips, permanent slips, haul outs and bottom painting, not to mention bigger sails......

Ha Ha, hell, your lucky. With me, my heart rate goes way up, my breathing gets shallow, and that’s just wondering, now how am I going to tell her.

[gallatin1988]

A few thoughts from perhaps more of a cruising perspective as opposed to simply an ownership perspective:

First, if one looks at the graph of an any exponential function you get to a point where it is almost vertical. So it stands to reason that there is some length or displacement or combination of the two where operational (running) costs begin to accelerate faster the length and/or displacement increases. My guess is that is somewhere in the area of 45ish ft. and a displacement in the mid-30s. In other words, the costs between a 35 footer and 40 footer are more similar than the cost of a 45 footer and 50 footer and the cost of a 55 footer and 60 footer are yet even more dissimilar that previous two comparisons.

Second, emergency and other unforeseen expenses. For example. my wife and I will be cruising on a tight budget so a serious and unexpected sail, rigging or engine failure on a larger boat will of course have a much larger impact on the cruising kitty than on a smaller boat. In this regard, it is much easier to "self-insure" a smaller boat. So from this point of view, if we have set aside some amount of money to fund a cruise for as long as our money lasts we could potentially cruise longer on small boat that larger boat. Of course, should we as unfortunate as to experience some type of catastrophic loss or accident we would be in a better position to absorb it.

Third, one of the main drivers, though certainly the only one and for some not even the main driver, for cruising and living aboard a smaller rather than larger boat is that one is more constrained by budget. So for example, my wife and I may be able to afford say $750/month but will be able to cruise longer $450/month or, should we decide to cut our cruise short, return from our cruise return from our cruise in hopefully somewhat better financial shape.

The general point here is that boat expenses don't occur in a vacuum. While it may be empirically valid to say that a boat of length A only cost x amount or x% more per month than a boat of length B to operate that number only gets any real meaning when viewed holistically. Put another way, one can't say, "all things being equal ..." because as the cliche goes, "all things are never equal."

[ghrt]

This difference of 3,5% is just for 46 months. I think that a better time frame would be 20 years, because that involves changing of a lot of equipment that wears in years and depreciation of initial costs may safely be taken into account.

It's like me sayin' that my holiday costs the same in the well maintained and comfortably upgraded 23' I have like in a bare unmaintained one.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by Dpackie

I wonder if making the jump from 40-50 would be a linear increase in cost. Also, I wonder about long term ownership. New sails. Replacing rigging. Motor. Electrical ect. Do these systems increase exponentially with size? How do new sails and rigging compare in price between a 30 and 40 foot boat?

I feel like "Living" on a 31 foot sailboat would be pretty gritty living. That jump to 40 feet is massive in terms of living conditions. From 40 to 50 feet seems like it would really start to provide comfort.

First thank you sailorboy for that comparison. What i thought to and the gain in comfort from 30 to 40 is enormous.

Additionally to save and also more comfort in sailing you can get a 40" 2 mast ketch. Everything above deck is smaller=less cost and easy to transport. Yes you have a 2nd small mast and sail but that is really small so the added costs are lower then one big mast with sails and all gear. And it the mizzen is so handy for so many things... Hang all your gear on the mizzen mast like radar, antennas, wind gen....also works perfect as dingy outboard crane...till balancing the boat so autopilot has much less to correct and needs less juice to operate...
Just my 2cents...

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Sailorboy it's not much of an increase but it's enough for people like myself with a family to stick with our 32 footer that we can just afford. Like a previous poster said it's replacing the big ticket items that's going to hurt eventually. If for some reason our motor seized or a sail shredded itself it would not break us financially to replace it.
30-40 is not much of a jump, try 50' or a cat. When I survey boats that size the money some of the guys pay is huge. The anchor winch is a good example, I know l almost fell off the dock when a client told me what he paid for a new winch and installation on his 55 footer.
Cheers

As sailorboy said the difference is so marginal (around a 120bucks a month) then you cannot really afford both.
If this 120$ a month is so significant for you then you are on the edge of all and if something bigger breaks you are doomed. Doesn't matter if you own a 32 or a 40...

[kmacdonald]

Yep. $120/month could be considered round off error. I guess if you are cruising on $500/month it means something though.

[Dpackie]

Originally Posted by CaptainRivet

Additionally to save and also more comfort in sailing you can get a 40" 2 mast ketch. Everything above deck is smaller=less cost and easy to transport. Yes you have a 2nd small mast and sail but that is really small so the added costs are lower then one big mast with sails and all gear. And it the mizzen is so handy for so many things... Hang all your gear on the mizzen mast like radar, antennas, wind gen....also works perfect as dingy outboard crane...till balancing the boat so autopilot has much less to correct and needs less juice to operate...
Just my 2cents...

This is counter-intuitive for me. My thoughts were a cutter rigged sloop would be the most cost effective while still providing versatile sail plans for different points of sail and conditions. Interesting.

[MV Wanderlust]

I could have done it for 3.4% more.
<ducking and running>

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MV Wanderlust

I could have done it for 3.4% more.
<ducking and running>

but with an extra 5% fuel charge for the massive stink of yours

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

but with an extra 5% fuel charge for the massive stink of yours

Truth. Wanderlust ain't no lightweight.

Side note: We did a 500+ round trip tour down to the Keys back in June. I'm happy to report we recorded a solid 5.3 gallons per hour average over the entire trip. I was pretty happy to get that kind of mileage out of twin 420 hp Volvos. Nothing like your sailboat can do, of course, but we were still pleased with our little stinkpot.

[kmacdonald]

When I almost died from a heart attack and was in a helicopter being flown to a trauma center I thought three things:
1) I really screwed the insurance company that I recently bought a large life insurance policy from.
2) My wife would be financially secure.
3) I lost because I had WAY too much money left.

Don't be afraid to spend a little more.

[GRIT]

Side note: We did a 500+ round trip tour down to the Keys back in June. I'm happy to report we recorded a solid 5.3 gallons per hour average over the entire trip. I was pretty happy to get that kind of mileage out of twin 420 hp Volvos. Nothing like your sailboat can do, of course, but we were still pleased with our little stinkpot.[/QUOTE]

Congrats. I don't often see the stinkpots cruising, though when I do, I feel just as much comraderie with them as with those "sailing" with sails. Some of our fondest moments were aboard a friend's 40 foot trawler. It's the company (crew), not the boat.

Cheers.
Paul.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MV Wanderlust

Side note: We did a 500+ round trip tour down to the Keys back in June. I'm happy to report we recorded a solid 5.3 gallons per hour average over the entire trip.

at what speed?

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

at what speed?

8.5 knots. Not bad for a boat rated at 51 gross tonnes.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MV Wanderlust

8.5 knots. Not bad for a boat rated at 51 gross tonnes.

1.6 nmpg = "not bad" on a 53' stink boat

meanwhile

7 nmpg = "not bad"on a 41' blow boat

this is kind a different cost to cruise on a power thing

but then I bought a new mainsail last year and the cost of that would have paid for enough diesel to motor 11,000 miles

you are going to pay to play one way or the other