AllWinds
Member
Sorry if this has been discussed before, I had a bit of a search and while I've found similar threads I am interested in feedback from people who have perhaps experience with my particular question.
My partner and I are both lifelong sailors and sail pretty much everything from Wind/Kitesurf equipment to Beachcats and Dinghies and of course larger Cruising boats. Over the last few years, we have spent between 3 and 4 weeks chartering boats at a cost of between about 6000 and 10000 Euros per year. Generally trying to keep to the lower end of that price range, but that hasn't always been possible. We tend to Charter in April and October to keep the costs down and to avoid silly season where possible. I would quite like to sail more but the cost of chartering in high season for a week or two would come close to doubling our charter spend for a year.
We are looking at taking a sabbatical for 3 or 4 months in 2026 and would like to spend that sailing if at all possible.
I've been following the boat market for about two years now and I think the market (in our price segment) is starting to swing around to being more favourable to the buyer. Many boats that would be in our budget, (<100000 Euro) that would potentially interest us are going through regular price reductions and I've come across a few which we could afford, one of which we were very close to purchasing only to find that the paperwork would not have been available for us to register the boat where we would like to.
I'm trying to find out where the pain threshold is between buying a boat and paying the associated upkeep costs and just chartering a boat in the area you are interested in sailing. There are of course advantages to chartering in that we can always sail shiny newer boats, we don't have to do the maintenance and we can easily sail from different locations depending on where there might be charter bases available.
However, there are (in my opinion) also disadvantages, such as not being flexible about when and where you return the boat and getting to know your own boat instead of having to learn the intricacies of a new boat every time you sail. Flexibility in where the boat is moored, able to leave stuff on it and not always drive with an overloaded car to the marina, ability to use the boat whenever you want, sail in winter (which I quite in enjoy) etc.
I've looked into Marina prices in Tuscany (which would be the likely place we would keep the boat) and it ranges from 10000 Euro a year for <13m in Scarlino to about 6000 Euro in Cecina with other areas coming in between. Some Marinas would do a winter-only contract which would allow us to take the boat out of the water in high season and store it on land when dry dock places are more readily available. Some Marinas allow you to rent your spot out during the summer if it's not being used if you are on a yearly contract.
I've done an Excel sheet with costs on a yearly, 2 year and 10-year basis and I reckon a budget of 10000 Euro a year would see you close to covering a large chunk of the expenses and if you can keep a boat in the <100000 Euro price range somewhat in reasonable condition you may not lose too much on your investment. It's clear you are not going to make money on a boat (even though I do have some contingencies to try and offset some of the expenses), but am I being naive to assume that the money we currently spend on charters could be put into the upkeep of our own boat and give us more time on the water.
Sorry for the somewhat long-winded question, but I'm interested in hearing from people who might have been in a similar situation in the past and whether you would do it again or not.
Cheers
All Winds
My partner and I are both lifelong sailors and sail pretty much everything from Wind/Kitesurf equipment to Beachcats and Dinghies and of course larger Cruising boats. Over the last few years, we have spent between 3 and 4 weeks chartering boats at a cost of between about 6000 and 10000 Euros per year. Generally trying to keep to the lower end of that price range, but that hasn't always been possible. We tend to Charter in April and October to keep the costs down and to avoid silly season where possible. I would quite like to sail more but the cost of chartering in high season for a week or two would come close to doubling our charter spend for a year.
We are looking at taking a sabbatical for 3 or 4 months in 2026 and would like to spend that sailing if at all possible.
I've been following the boat market for about two years now and I think the market (in our price segment) is starting to swing around to being more favourable to the buyer. Many boats that would be in our budget, (<100000 Euro) that would potentially interest us are going through regular price reductions and I've come across a few which we could afford, one of which we were very close to purchasing only to find that the paperwork would not have been available for us to register the boat where we would like to.
I'm trying to find out where the pain threshold is between buying a boat and paying the associated upkeep costs and just chartering a boat in the area you are interested in sailing. There are of course advantages to chartering in that we can always sail shiny newer boats, we don't have to do the maintenance and we can easily sail from different locations depending on where there might be charter bases available.
However, there are (in my opinion) also disadvantages, such as not being flexible about when and where you return the boat and getting to know your own boat instead of having to learn the intricacies of a new boat every time you sail. Flexibility in where the boat is moored, able to leave stuff on it and not always drive with an overloaded car to the marina, ability to use the boat whenever you want, sail in winter (which I quite in enjoy) etc.
I've looked into Marina prices in Tuscany (which would be the likely place we would keep the boat) and it ranges from 10000 Euro a year for <13m in Scarlino to about 6000 Euro in Cecina with other areas coming in between. Some Marinas would do a winter-only contract which would allow us to take the boat out of the water in high season and store it on land when dry dock places are more readily available. Some Marinas allow you to rent your spot out during the summer if it's not being used if you are on a yearly contract.
I've done an Excel sheet with costs on a yearly, 2 year and 10-year basis and I reckon a budget of 10000 Euro a year would see you close to covering a large chunk of the expenses and if you can keep a boat in the <100000 Euro price range somewhat in reasonable condition you may not lose too much on your investment. It's clear you are not going to make money on a boat (even though I do have some contingencies to try and offset some of the expenses), but am I being naive to assume that the money we currently spend on charters could be put into the upkeep of our own boat and give us more time on the water.
Sorry for the somewhat long-winded question, but I'm interested in hearing from people who might have been in a similar situation in the past and whether you would do it again or not.
Cheers
All Winds
) it's cost about £700 per week of sailing since 2016, including repairs, moorings, storage, updates and general maintenance - but not including costs of cruising. Caveats: 19 & 20 were kyboshed for reasons of partner's work and world health respectively. I'm not sure you could charter an equivalently old, 10m boat. We mainly anchor (sometimes, courtesy of the wind, for 5 days). I have assumed a massive loss on sale of the boat and probably forgotten all those small purchases that just happen on Amazon. 
