Asset or liability

[Homer J]

Is your boat an asset or a liability? I love my boat as I’m sure you do to, but do we have a valuable asset or a legacy liability?

Given that boats are hard to recycle, generally have dirtier engines than cars, are getting older and more out of reach financially (to run) for younger people, what is their future?

If we hold onto our boats for 15-20 yrs will they have a value or will we be facing an environmental charge for disposal?

How do you see the future? Will we see a resurgence in younger sailors? Will there be a glut of mid 80’s to 90’s boats for sale that won’t find a home?

I’m really hoping for some positive answers!

 

[Alskade]

I think it is like everything, cycles of trend for a sport / hobby.

I am optimistic that we will see a resurgence of younger sailors. In our marina there is a group of much younger sailors, and marine engineers, coming through.

What is interesting is that the boat owners tend to be out of area (I live in Cornwall) and both myself and my husband cannot work out why we don't have a lot more local sailors, particularly as we have so much beautiful water to sail? The younger sailors are local, but the more mature sailors are not.

 

[Keith 66]

Never mind 80's or 90's boats, the fact is that there are an awful lot of 60's & 70's ones as well.
American naval architect Eric spongberg wrote a very prophetic article for professional boatbuilder magazine 20 years ago, https://www.proboat.com/2016/09/thoughts-recycling-dead-boats/ , Though written with the american scene in mind it still rings uncannily true today.
He reckoned that over 90% of all the GRP boats ever moulded are still around. They are built from a material that is very hard to recycle, basically it is ground up & used as additive for casting more grp products. Due to the cost of grinding it up there is next to no market due to cost. Most waste grp goes into landfill.
Anyone who has ever refitted a 30 or 40 year old yacht properly will know that the refit costs will almost certainly far exceed its value. The average 70's yacht in poor condition requiring new engine, sails & rigging is becoming effectively valueless. For many they are a liability.
Eric Spongberg suggested 20 years ago that a future disposal charge should be factored in to manufacturing costs but i doubt its ever been done. I have no doubt sooner or later it will be.

 

[Bobc]

I expect to give my boat away when I've finished with it, so see it as neither an asset or a liability. Just a pass-time and a holiday home.

 

[PabloPicasso]

Leisure boats are liabilities, financially, emotionally, in fact in almost all ways you can consider them. This is one of Buddah's inescapable truths.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

This is my AWB. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My AWB is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.

Without me, my AWB is useless. Without my AWB, I am useless. I must sail my AWB true. I must anchor more securely than the other boats which are trying to kill me. I must pick the safest spot before it is taken. I will ...

My AWB and I know that what counts at sea is not the anchors we use, the material of our hulls, nor the reefing system we choose. We know that it is the fun that counts. We will have fun ...

My AWB is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its engine and its sails. I will keep my AWB clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will ...

Before God, I swear this creed. My AWB and I are the adventurers of my country. We are the masters of our cruising ground. We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is mine and there are no hostile internet forums, but peace!

... but seriously, as long as the fridge works, and it floats, it's an asset. :encouragement:

 

[johnalison]

Having nearly finished my annual fitting-out I don't consider myself to be in a fit state of mind to answer the question rationally. I still have the yard and engineers' bills to pay.

 

[Graham376]

I'm not sure whether modern production boats are going to last as long as the "build em thick" 1970s grp boats. Quite a few boats 15 - 45ft all types of construction, have been deserted in Bruces yard, owners gone away and stopped paying bills. Some could be put back in service without too much work, others are just junk. Very complicated legal system for him to take them over and he's not allowed to sell without the paperwork trail and documents. He's now in the process of breaking up and salvaging metal, spars, engines, wind vanes, equipment, etc. but not sure where the valueless residue will be dumped.

 

[RupertW]

I gave away my 24 footer a couple of years ago - despite newly refurbed sails, repolished hull, new deck paint and stripe - rewired and repainted interior, all new running rigging and best of all - brand new Yanmar. It basically wasn’t marketable and I’d had it for sail on and off for 5 years at slowly decreasing prices whilst sailing it less and less myself as I’d bought a much bigger boat in the Med. I was more than happy to let it go rather than pay another 2.5k marina charge.

You can buy a fully sailable (but often tatty) boat for almost nothing now, so I see them like so many other goods now where the cost is in the consumables not the capital, which is fine. I don’t expect my Med boat to be worth much either eventually despite it’s considerably higher initial and annual cost.

 

[[70521]]

I’m really hoping for some positive answers!

I am not a business so it is just the boat.

 

[Rafiki]

This thread supports a point I've often made and that is an old second hand boat's minimum value is not zero but a negative figure. Unfortunately when it comes to selling you may have to 'pay someone to take it away' or scrap it.
I'm always surprised how many very old boats appear to be abandoned in major boat yards. If I was the MD and someone wanted to store their very old boat in my yard while it was being restored I would demand 5 years rent upfront.

 

[jonic]

Boats can be a financial liability, but the enjoyment is priceless.

I would have paid millions for the extended liveaboard trips I have taken on mine.

 

[Concerto]

Both. My yacht has a value as it can be sold for money. It is also a liabilty as it must be maintained, moored and insured.

 

[RichardS]

Talking about financial liability, when my boat was being lifted back in this morning after a few days in the yard, I was conscious that another 500 Euro was going up in smoke.

My boat was next to a big mobo which was also due to go in after me and was on the hard alongside me at exactly the same time last year, so I asked the manager whether he also comes out every year and the manager replied that he was booked for the same early May slot every year. I asked how much just the lift out/in was costing him and the answer was 2,500 Euro.

Jeez. :ambivalence:

Richard

 

[Babylon]

I expect to give my boat away when I've finished with it, so see it as neither an asset or a liability. Just a pass-time and a holiday home.

I am not a business so it is just the boat.

These responses are spot on.

My boat is a thing I use and enjoy, it costs me money, it depreciates, it takes some time and effort to maintain let alone improve, but its mine, its fun, it is usually an affirming way of life cruising in the summer, sometimes its a stress, sailing in it often helps me push my way out of my comfort-zone ashore, I meet people on my cruises, I have friends in my club, I visit some beautiful places, I get apprehensive, scared even from time to time, it focusses my mind - planning passages, managing situations, finding elegant and robust solutions to its many facets and systems at a cost I can afford at any point in time.

It is most certainly not a balance-sheet, nor is it some anodyne rental for a week... the acid-test being how many people pat and quietly thank a charter yacht for looking after them, as they do once they've snugged their own boat back on her own mooring after a day sail or a long summer cruise?

 

[zoidberg]

Gosh, there are some truths lurking in the above.....

 

[thinwater]

How many yacht yards and marinas are clogged with boats that will never sail again? Not at the high end, but at the economical end... quite a few. I've seen more than a few boats sail in that will never leave. Perhaps the new owner takes it our a few times. Then he realizes he's in over his head, that he can't actually sell it, and just stops paying the insurance, registration, and rent. He either moves or just does not return calls. And he ties up a slip for years, before the marina can get rid of it, at a cost to them.

I imagine, as this gets worse, we will see requirements for a deposit.

 

[William_H]

Very likely your boat will prove to be a legacy liability. When you escape this life (pop your clogs or get a promotion) your trustee looking after your legacy may well find it a burden to sell or even to give away. However if I think of the the junk (treasures) I have stored away the same applies. Don't worry about it. See it as your revenge on the children. Just enjoy your boat while you can then sell it or give it away (or somewhere between) if you get the urge. I remain optimistic that my 2 son's will treasure the little boat I still love. ol'will

 

[Wansworth]

I expect to give my boat away when I've finished with it, so see it as neither an asset or a liability. Just a pass-time and a holiday home.

I have arranged to meet the next owner of my boat who will sign an RYA bill of sale and part with 1 euro.

 

[Bunym0b]

Financially they are a liability. Even if you have an historic yacht it will eat money. But you have to balance that with the enjoyment factor, and the fact that you would be doing something else. the worst positions to be wanting to sell and not getting anywhere. I was told that it takes on average 288 days to sell a boat; that almost an entire years expenses. My boat sold 16 years ago for 7200 and last year for 6250-not a bad depreciation on the yacht itself.
The point to remember is that they are a big commitment and if something major goes wrong and you are not prepared it can be overwhelming, which his why we often see boats on the hard with duff motors and otherwise in sound condition.