Annual cost of owning a boat

[MedwayNewbie]

Hi all,
I have recently started out on my sailing experience and currently doing my day skipper RYA. Ideally id like to get my own yacht next year once I have built up experience so can sail whenever I want, take friends etc and was wondering about the running costs annually.

For those with experience, can i get some guidance. I would like to moor in the medway as that is where I am learning, either swinging or marina. I was thinking of;

Mooring - £3000
Insurance - £500 (based on a 30' yacht)
Fuel - £1000 (based on around 2500 miles sailing/motor annually)
Maintainance - £1500 (anti foul, lift out/in, item replacement)

Thanks in advance for what may be a stupid question.

 

[Angele]

Depends hugely on the boat you buy and how much of the work you are prepared to do yourself. Tell us what age of boat you are considering.

Fuel shouldn't be anywhere near that for a yacht, unless you don't bother using sails.

You need to look at a depreciation fund to replace stuff that wears out. Depends therefore on how much gadgetry you have on board. Could push up your maintenance estimate quite a bit.

 

[snooks]

How long is a bit of string?

Some years you can get by with little or no maintenance or problems, other years your boat will feel like a money sponge!

It also depends on the age and length of boat, how much time and money you have to do work yourself, what condition you're happy to sail a boat in etc etc....for a 1983, 32 foot yacht in good condition, kept in a marina on the south coast, last year we paid around:

£2,520 marina berth - (£420/month)
£250 insurance
£300 fuel
£1,400 lift out, scrub and 6 months ashore over winter
£400 Engine parts and spares and repairs

The previous year we spent £2,000 on the engine and £5,000 on sails, £3,000 on windlass and anchor and around £6,000 cruising for 3 months to Scotland and back.

This year we replaced the engine and it's cost us £8,000

In theory that should be all the big costs out of the way for a few years...New upholstery next

In the same time others will have spend may be a few hundred on looking after their boat.

A weekend on board we budget about £100-£150 inc food, meals out, drinks, mooring, fuel, repairs, travel to the boat etc.

 

[RupertW]

I agree that the fuel costs are way too generous - beer and meals out will hit your pocket a lot more than fuel.

The rub is in the maintenance amount. This can be tiny in a year when you don't anti foul, nothing breaks and you have no time for pet projects. It can be huge if you decide it's a year to replace sails, anchor chain, put in a working fridge, buy lots of nice tools to sort out the inside and re-lead all the halyards, then having committed to all that you find a fuel line dripping diesel into the bilges, the auto helm breaks and some unknown bugger rips your pulpit up by catching their anchor in yours.

I treat it a bit like a house - make an annual estimate, add a bit on, then have a whacking great contingency available and try really, really hard not to spend it on "nice to haves". And fail because you've spotted something cool on a website.

 

[Angele]

Snooks makes a good point. (Doesn't he always? )

What you have listed there are the costs of owning a boat, but not the associated cost of spending time on it: visitor berthing fees if you overnight elsewhere, food/drink on board and ashore (easy to run up bigger bills than you would do at home). Also, the cost of getting to and from the boat.

 

[snooks]

Snooks makes a good point. (Doesn't he always? )

No

 

[Sans Bateau]

MedwayNewbie, welcome to the forum. I hope you gain hours of pleasure on the forum and even more on your boat.

Your boat is for enjoyment, for relaxation, a way of escape. So long as you can afford to keep paying the bills do not under any circumstances start to tot up the costs, you dont need to know.

Now go on, cast off and enjoy the sail. And the rest of you dont go spoiling anyones fun by encouraging them to work out how much it costs! For heavens sake!!

 

[Angele]

Now go on, cast off and enjoy the sail. And the rest of you dont go spoiling anyones fun by encouraging them to work out how much it costs! For heavens sake!!

Hmmm!

... There are, of course, other (cheaper) ways to go sailing than buying your own boat. How about persuading one of those mates that you want to take sailing that he/she should buy a boat and you can crew for him/her?

p.s. Where are my manners? I shall follow Galadriel's lead and also extend a hand of welcome.

 

[EuanMcKenzie]

managed the first five years on much less than that by rolling my sleeves up and by sitting on a swinging mooring / old boatyard for winter.

Now in Marina - annual berth circa £4k in or out.

spent circa £4k sorting boat when I bought it

work out the detail and try and find a boat that doesn't need the major bills such as new sails and engines immediately like Snooks did

 

[ProDave]

Here's the north / south divide of boating:

Insurance £125
Club membership £145
club mooring £125
Winter at home on trailer £0
DIY anti foul £25
Fuel £ not much
maintenance £ not much either
Petrol to drive to/from boat each visit about £10

Okay only for a little boat, but compared to the prices the OP is looking at, I'll stay with a little boat.

The point is, it need not be expensive to own and sail a boat.

 

[alexrunic]

if you keep away from the marinas its not an expensive hobby.

i pay for a 22FT 1972 yacht

£225 jetty mooring and membership
£130 insurance
£40 antifoul
£60 lift in and out or mud berth or stop in for free


as said maintainance varies some years £100 but in the last 5 years i've fitted a new engine myself £4500, new main sail £400 ish.

 

[maby]

We sail a Jeanneau 33 moored in Chatham MDL Marina. Your figures are all reasonably generous - if you budget like that, you will not be disappointed.

A thousand pounds for fuel is very generous unless you intend to spend a lot of time aboard in the winter and use diesel heating - even then you will only just get up to those levels. Your maintenance figure is generous if you are prepared to do a lot of it yourself. DIY antifouling on a boat that size is just a couple of hundred quid, possibly less. You will need to budget for some new sails and running rigging every few years, so the average over a period of time will come out a bit higher.

You could save a lot by mooring on a trot buoy, but it's a lot less comfortable!

 

[jonjo]

Insurance looks about £100 too high, depends on the value of your yacht. It is nearly new?

£300 to £400 on fuel I reckon but very dependent on your usage profile.

The only original thought I can offer at this stage is that if your new yacht has a dry hull after say an extended period ashore for sale then consider copper coating prior to first launch. After this you can eliminate annual haul outs and instead schedule cheap mid summer lunchtime lift and holds to carryout essential anode replacement. This will cross off major recurring costs.

 

[[32511]]

Insurance: £125
Club: £15
Swinging mooring: £112
Haul in or out: £48
DIY antifoul: £40
Fuel: £20
Parking on boat park for winter: £33
Depreciation and renewals: more than the above total!

 

[dt4134]

Sad I know, but I've kept detail records.

Over four years it has averaged out as follows for a 43' that was in medium-poor condition when I bought her.

Berthing £3,500p.a. (includes visitor berthing)
General running costs £800 p.a.
Insurance £490 p.a.
Lift out £600 p.a. (includes things like cradle hire too)
Toys £450 p.a. (this means things I chose to buy but didn't have to)
Antifoul/anodes £220 p.a.
Sails £140 p.a. I've had a fair few minor mods made to sails
Fuel £140 p.a. (She sails well)
Shorepower £140 p.a. (a lot of it a fan heater when I'm onboard in the winter)

On top of this there were extra costs in the first couple of years
£1060 associated with buying the boat, incl survey
£3,400 standing rigging
£1,300 new sprayhood & stackpack
£870 partial re-upholstery
£750 new storm sail (not included in above)
£600 replaced engine & domestic batteries (most of it for the latter)
£4,000 fixing other known defects or replacing equipment when I bought her.

The running costs is the one that always catches me by surprise, so I've just checked the last few months: new flares, new water pump, new halyard, oil for engine change, couple of seacock for replacement next time I'm out of the water. Even little things like having to dash up to the chandlers for a new sikaflex tube mid job all add up.

PS And don't under estimate the amount you'll have to spend on tools

 

[yachtorion]

More maintenance.

I think you should substantially increase the maintenance amount. How much too depends on what you are buying and how much time you have for DIY.

If I had to guess... Assuming you are buying something 20 years old or so rather than something brand new and faultless with a warranty, I think you should consider around 20% of boat price a year in maintenance.

My boat has cost more than that.

Also bear in mind that whatever you buy won't be setup as you want it, you'll want to change and add things, and as it's a first boat, you'd be amazed how much the equipment costs for things as simple as charts, hand bearing compasses, flares or dinghies add up.

"A boat is a hole in the sea, surrounded by wood or fibreglass, into which you pour money."

 

[Falling Star]

Over the years, with different boats, the cost per annum always seems to average out the same: around 10% of the value .........

 

[snooks]

work out the detail and try and find a boat that doesn't need the major bills such as new sails and engines immediately like Snooks did

To be fair, the first year we spent very little, may be £300? plus safety equipment we wanted. The next year we set off on a three month cruise so we installed a windlass etc and new sails and do all the upgrades to make the most of our trip. The 2k was getting the engine serviced, then repaired

If you're buying a boat, just remember the most expensive boats are often the cheapest

 

[dt4134]

If you're buying a boat, just remember the most expensive boats are often the cheapest

That's very true.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I'm posting this info because as first time buyers last year we underestimated the additional costs involved in our boat purchase. It's taken us 6 months to straighten it all out. I hope it helps you get a more accurate picture of what to expect. Adjust to your own circumstances.

Here goes.......

Definately second the 'keep a large contingency aside' advice. There's no telling when it's going to be needed.

Costs for our boat aquisition 2011/2012 so far (Med based Bav36, 11.5m) not including travel. All maintenance done myself.

Lift Out (April) Inspection ................................505,95 €
Sailing Bootsx3................................................299,00 €
Deposit .....................................................5.000,00 €
Foul Weather Gear x2....................................595,00 €
Life-jackets x6 ................................................359,40 €
Condition Survey ........................................600,00 €
Tonnage Survey ........................................200,00 €
Final Payment ...........................................29.200,00 €
Tonnage Certificate ..........................................86,25 €
Insurance .......................................................281,49 €
Registration Part 1 ........................................142,60 €
Replace Dinghy ........................................580,26 €
Purchase Outboard .....................................1.280,00 €
Remove Stickers ............................................5,00 €
Lifelines ..........................................................89,97 €
Replace Aux Anchor ..........................................60,00 €
Boat Hook ..................................................39,99 €
Large Torch ..................................................29,99 €
Radar Reflector ..........................................19,99 €
Jackstays ..........................................................48,99 €
Q-Flag ............................................................7,70 €
Fit Second cross-tree line ....................................5,00 €
Spare Ensign ....................................................8,95 €
Re-Name (letters) ..........................................30,99 €
Flag Pole ..........................................................23,99 €
Red Ensign ..................................................23,56 €
Replace light Stbd rear cabin ..........................33,15 €
Fit stay to fridge lid. ..........................................14,16 €
Spedition (Bribe) ........................................120,00 €
Marina .....................................................4.620,50 €
Replacement Keys ..........................................23,98 €
Re-cover Vinyl seat in Saloon ..........................27,03 €
Replace Relays in Engine ..................................16,78 €
Replace Lid on Relay Box ....................................6,10 €
Fit New Bin ..................................................22,41 €
Fit Tonnage Plaque ..........................................27,78 €
Replace Bulb in Forward Cabin ............................4,75 €
Jet Wash for decks and Stern ..........................55,00 €
Oil Extraction Pump ..........................................19,95 €
5 Days Lift out, wash and launch ................461,00 €
Pressure Wash Hull ......................................... 58,00 €
Oxalic acid hull/polish/clean ..........................72,31 €
Anti-fouling ................................................. 35,00 €
Anodes keel ..................................................62,46 €
Anodes saildrive ..........................................33,00 €
Paint Saildrive ..................................................17,92 €
Repair Main Sail/Sail Nos ..................................60,00 €
Oil change ..................................................24,79 €
Engine Service (Filters Impeller) ................106,95 €
Crew List/Croatian Permit ........................352,00 €
Leaking Depth Transducer ........................574,00 €
Fuel ..................................................................87,94 €

Total ......................................................... 46.461,03 €

for a boat with a purchase price of €34,200

Travel and equipment costs was the one area where we really got bitten in the a**e. I think travel cost was around €1500-€2000 all in but we treated it as a holiday.