Costs of owning a boat

or perhaps you could LIVE on your boat like me, and save THOUSANDS in expensive property mortgages. if only i could have afforded more than a mere pico.....
 
Well I have never added it up until now, but:
£380 for summer mooring
£60/month for winter storage
£70 per lift in / out
£130 for insurance
Total £1010 - wow thats costing me almost £20/wk and don't use it every week all year, so closer to £40/wk!! then there is a little fuel and the occasional repair or trip away, but I spend a fortune on fuel getting to and from the boat - ca. 90 mile round trip, and although I have a diesel averaging 50mpg, when I am doing this sometimes twice a week and then every day sometimes when I have a week off it gets expensive. I wish I had a trailer and driveway - it would make the winter layup so much better, and not just financially.

Oh, and then there is the yacht club membership, only £25 but still adds up.
 
Our moody 346 - insurance £350.00 , gaurdianage from April to end october £200 ,yard fee for winter icl lift in /out scrub £600.00 .Fuel depending on wind around £100 .We spend
eight weeks a year onboard over the summer period .maintainance we allow about £50 pm but so far we are in credit with that !Compared to golf /smoking /football season tickets etc dont think its too bad .The only problem we have is air fare as boat is kept in greece .We spend between £1000 and £1200 on plane tickets .Dont like to work exact costs as probabaly put me off but hell we are only here once and i couldnt afford a boat like we have in greece in uk - or even affrod to pay marina fees in uk come to that !
 
I'm not even going to try to add it up. It's to scarey!

Collegues and daughters mates think we must be rich to have a yacht, though it cost less than a second hand car and won't depreciate anywhere near so much (at the price I paid, it won't depreciate at all) Running costs are less than my motorbike was, too.

On the other hand, I can afford it because I run a 12 yr old deisel car and we don't spend money going out, foreign holidays etc.

You takes your money and you makes your choice....
 
I don't like to count the fuel actually getting there and back; that comes under motoring.

The fact we upgraded to a bigger boat is down to our baby, so that comes under the cost of bringing up children.

And the maintenance is mostly improvements, so we're sure to get that back if we ever sell the boat (no doubt with a little interest for our bother)
 
Is there anybody in the solent who dares to add up their costs? We are planning on getting first boat next season so are trying to work out what we can afford.
At the moment our best guess is:
£2000 pa on boat mortgage
£2000 pa on mooring/storage
and £2000 on maintnenace, insurance, etc.

Does this sound reasonable?
 
We looked at keeping our (previous) boat in the Solent 3 years ago.
She was 38ft, and the cheapest quote we got for a marina berth was 5.5K.

There are cheaper swinging moorings but I gather most have long waiting lists.

A good rule of thumb is to count on 10% of boat value as yearly running costs. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Depends on size of boat.... £2000 pa on mortgage (£180pcm for 10yrs is ca 17-18k) maybe a little under estimated, and £2000 pa on mooring/storage may also be a little underestimated... for the Solent anyway (some down here charge £300-£350/metre).

What size boat and purchase price are you looking at??
 
We are generally looking to spend what we can afford on the boat mortgage once the other costs have been taken out of the pot (which we have currently set at 6k pa). You are right that 2 grand on the mortgage points towards a 17k boat but there are plenty of boats on the second hand market for less than that and we are happy to explore the cheaper boats.

We are quite openminded about the length\design of yacht but are currently hoping we can manage about 28ft in our budget.

I am aware that it is possible to spend 6 grand on mooring alone if you want to - but I am interested in finding out how little I can reasonably hope to get away with without joining any waiting lists.

Still, those two values are comparatively easy to calculate - its the amount I need to spend on incidentals that I am really struggling with.
 
I'd say we spend 100pcm for odds and ends. It does all add up - bit of sealant for this, shockchord for that, S/S self tappers for that, rope bin purchase for that, wire for this, spare bulb, etc

Provided you don't have to get any major work done or buy new sails for the first few seasons a a few grand would cover your mooring and lift out with another asside for odds and ends.

Can you put a price on it? financially yes. in reality you'd never charter as often as you visit your boat and the adventures you have as an owner make it more than worthwhile.

I was worried when buying ours's last season, but I have no idea why I was worrying!

Go For it!
 
<<<I reckon we must average about £100 a month on buying bits to add/replace/repair/prepare>>

ooh, your calculator is broke. last months liferaft, the Eber, Radar, blah, blah.
Nearewr a grand a month, or was your post sofr SWMBO's benefit??? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
I like the contrast between chartering somewhere hot and having your own boat. Being in a job where money comes in dollops with gaps in between I can't be sure that I can manage more than a 24ft MAB to own, but tend to charter once or twice a year on top.

Best of both worlds so far, but I've paid my boat's purchase price twice over at least in charter fees, and pay over a third of its purchase price every year in marina fees and very basic maintenance.

The costs of boating can never be said to make sense but when between jobs I've got a rough and ready holiday option to keep me busy at a tiny marginal cost.
 
"your own toothbrush in the heads and you know it initimately..... "


Strewth !! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif What do you use YOUR toothbrush for ???? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
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