Life expectancy

D

Derik

New Member
Joined
24 Aug 2006
Messages
1
Visit site
I'm considering selling up some property to fund a big, fat 45' catamaran, on which I then want to live and cruise. But at the price of a house, how long will it last? What is the life expectancy of a yacht or catamaran, especially when used for blue water sailing?
 
lovely question this - old wooden boats used to gently rot away, but grp in theory goes on for ever.

but the boat doesnt of course. many components seem to have a life between 10 and 20 years (eg sails might be 10, engines 20) so if you keep a boat for (say) 30 years then much of the hardware will have been replaced at least once. And the soft fittings and woodwork will likely be tired some of which will be more difficult to replace.

add into that equation that all cats have to be built fairly light to gain the benefits of being a multi. so many interior fitments will age more quickly. made worse if it is a liveaboard because boats arent fitted out for every day use.

so the answer is that a boat in life / depreciation terms is somewhere between a house which we like to think lasts for ever and a car which might have a 15 year life. by the end of 30 years your boat will be at the bottom end of the market and worth considerably less in cash terms (before inflation) than it would now cost new. might not even be saleable since people at the bottom end of the market who can now afford the purchase cost might not be able to afford the running costs of a 45 ft cat, which of course wont have gone down anything like as much .

we have a number of old unsaleable grp boats in the club and for the first time we had a member take a power saw to one and take the bits to the dumpit. admittedly it was pretty poor but nevertheless no one wanted it even totally foc.

I reckon you are looking at t wrongly. How much is a major part of the rest of your life worth to you? You've worked hard so spend some of it and mentally write it off when you do so. Whatever you get back when you swallow the anchor is a bonus.
 
G'day Derik, and welcome to the YBW forums and this being your first post.

There is no clear answer here, as the life of any craft will depend on use, maintenance and exposure to risk.

Just like a house if you don't maintain it or build one on top of lightning ridge, it may well be gone in a few years.

And you don't need a 45 foot cat, 36 to 40 is more than adequate for live aboard as a 40 foot cat has more space than 65 foot monohull but less carrying capacity if you want to retain performance.

There are still a lot of old cats and even more old monohulls around and many people are moving to live aboard as an alternative to home ownership, it's a bit difficult to get rid of rat bag neighbours or blocked fantastic view in a home, but simple with a boat.

You have to keep up the maintenance but it does not include mowing the lawn, cleaning the gutters and weeding the garden.

How will it last? How much do you want to spend maintaining her. You will reach a point when replacement is a better long term solution; when this will happen depends on how long you plan to stay on the water and maintenance costs.

You also need to take into account that a property will (in most cases) grow in value and any boat will not, however you can't go for a long holiday to almost any place that has water in a property.

Comparing property ownership to a liveaboard lifestyle is not comparing apples with apples if you get my drift.

Try thinking about it the other way round. A bloke asks you for advice based on the fact that he has a near new 45 foot cat valued at 500,000.oo whatevers and is considering moving ashore because he thinks the boat will loose value over the next ten years. What would your advice be.

Moving to liveaboard is not about how long or even how much, it's all about lifestyle.

Avagoodweekend......
 
I can understand you asking the question of life expectancy of the boat however I would suggest there are far more personal questions you need ask. Primarily what is your life expectancy ..no not to death but to the point of being too old to enjoy living aboard. And what does your parter think of it all. I reckon it would be definitely an acquired taste living aboard and not for every one. _Partial living aboard can be much easier.
I would advocate only investing money that you can afford to lose in a boat. That means get the cheapest you can cope with. Secondly try living aboard without burning your bridges. ie for a few months at first. Just to see if you really like it.
There are many other options like a boat moored in a better climate. Try one in Oz for your winter one in UK for your summer.

For myself I love my little boat but I also love getting off it to go home after a wet sail. I love it all summer but am happy to lay it up for winter(I have had enough by then). Right now I am getting eager to relaunch for the coming summer. good luck but be carefull. olewill
 
I would consider looking at it in another way, Can you get the property leased out with an income that will fund a more modest boat? that way you get the boat and are still in the realestate market getting a hoped for (unrealised)capital gain which you would be throwing away on a boat.
 
2 of us cruise on a 40 ft cat. When we are on our own it's far more than we need. The only times the size comes into its own is when we have the family aboard and out on the ocean where big is best. Do you really want something that big?
 
Most people

you meet on the cruising circuit have, at least, retained their UK property and rented it out for the income to enjoy the liveaboard life.

The retired usually retain their UK property and come back to it for a couple of months each in the summer and winter.

Not many have adopted the credo of "Sell Up and Sail" preached by Bill Cooper or the Hiscocks. I've met a few who have: their problem is, to put it starkly, the interminable period between age-induced inability to work the boat and merciful death.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top