sailing "Budgets"

[solent clown]

We sail on what many of you would probably consider not even half of a very worn shoestring. On our marina there are some very big boats, and some very handsome smaller ones as well as peasants like us in old tubs and motorboats.
Our current Trident, 50 years old, cost us just over £300, with sails, tired but servicable, roller furler, yanmar engine, now in good condition following some love and THAT oil pipe repair. It also came with not one but two tiller pilots, both broken, both of which I fixed, an ancient GPS and standard horizon dsc. It also had an ancient avon flubber too
It was a bargain that needed a lot of tidying up, but little money spending on it (yes I know time is money) Since we got it in February and sailed it back from Portsmouth in a snowstorm we have sailed it every week, at least once a week. Keeping old boats like this up together has to be the very epitome of what a "practical" boat owner has to be, as on our budget we couldn't afford to pay anyone else to do the repairs anyway!
We have just managed to buy a 31ft Westerly, in need of repair, something we could not have afforded to buy in good condition. We have done this now with two yachts, and come out ahead, and sale of the second trident will help fund the westerly repairs. There is not a living to be had from this, but doing things on a budget has allowed us to advance from a 12ft dinghy 11 months ago to a 31ft yacht for a LOT less than just buying one off the peg. The work is part of the pleasure and adventure for some of us, so I do not include my labour in the costings.
I see a lot of people of all levels of affluence messing about doing practical jobs on their boats, help a few out with fabricating things, and lend a hand when needed.
The common denominator despite budget is the wish to fettle, improve, and tailor one's boat. It would be interesting to know what kind of portion of one's disposable income people put towards their boats and how much work people choose to do themselves against maybe employing someone else because of time or lack of inclination to do jobs. It is all horses for courses I know, and we all have our different ways of going about the boating experience. No right or wrong approach as long as you get your kicks :encouragement:

 

[duncan99210]

Interesting question. We’ve got two boats, a modern AWB that we bought at 10 years old as a liveaboard and paid a substantial wedge of cash for. The other is an elderly Hurley 18 which I bought as a project for next to nothing.
We now spend summers on board the AWB having lived on board for 6 years. Looking at spends on her, both yards fees and maintenance, we spend about 10% of our income on her but she is our “home” for 6 months of the year. Some of the money is upgrades rather than simple maintenance as we keep pace with technology but 50% is the fixed cost of winter storage.
On the other hand, the Hurley drinks time not money. She’s much smaller, so for example a new set of sails would only coast £500 or so but work on her absorbs time. Part of that is the state she was in when I bought her, which needed a lot of work to remove old crap and renovate. The other part is the winter weather in UK which often stops work as the temperatures are too low or it’s too wet.... The money spent on her is trivial, a few hundred a year but I get perhaps more of kick from sorting her out than the AWB.

 

[Cockaigne]

Don't come on here using filthy words like "budget".

 

[fifer]

I bought a 27 footer last year which had been well maintained and upgraded. I keep it on a swinging mooring in the summer and will go on the hard this winter. I will try to do most of any required maintenance/updating myself. I'm trying to keep annual expenditure on mooring/ storage and maintenance to about 5% of gross income. But this will vary year to year. This year I'd like to upgrade the anchor to a 9kg Knox and try and find a second hand cruising chute in good condition.

 

[stevie69p]

The biggest part of my boating budget is definitely the marina fees, but having the ability to step right on board and no faffing about with dinghies makes it bearable. I do all my own maintenance, partly down to costs, but also because I quite like doing jobs myself. To be honest, when I was at the stage of doing up houses, I was the same, but learned my DIY skills as a result of having to wait around for tradesmen to actually appear... The same attitude translates into my boating escapades.

This being only me second 'real' boat, I'm still learning some new skills (even just how to beach her on legs to do a quick mid season scrub was a learning experience). The last boat I had to rebuild the engine, repair a sail, re-wire the electrics, make new windows and frames, some painting and varnishing, but at the end of it I was able to look and say 'I did that', with a wee bit of pride. The only thing I had done professionally was new guard wires made up.

I do prefer to be out sailing, but on a windless dry day, it can be good fun (mostly!) getting maintenance jobs done.

 

[TSB240]

We sail on what many of you would probably consider not even half of a very worn shoestring. On our marina there are some very big boats, and some very handsome smaller ones as well as peasants like us in old tubs and motorboats.
Our current Trident, 50 years old, cost us just over £300, with sails, tired but servicable, roller furler, yanmar engine, now in good condition following some love and THAT oil pipe repair. It also came with not one but two tiller pilots, both broken, both of which I fixed, an ancient GPS and standard horizon dsc. It also had an ancient avon flubber too
It was a bargain that needed a lot of tidying up, but little money spending on it (yes I know time is money) Since we got it in February and sailed it back from Portsmouth in a snowstorm we have sailed it every week, at least once a week. Keeping old boats like this up together has to be the very epitome of what a "practical" boat owner has to be, as on our budget we couldn't afford to pay anyone else to do the repairs anyway!
We have just managed to buy a 31ft Westerly, in need of repair, something we could not have afforded to buy in good condition. We have done this now with two yachts, and come out ahead, and sale of the second trident will help fund the westerly repairs. There is not a living to be had from this, but doing things on a budget has allowed us to advance from a 12ft dinghy 11 months ago to a 31ft yacht for a LOT less than just buying one off the peg. The work is part of the pleasure and adventure for some of us, so I do not include my labour in the costings.
I see a lot of people of all levels of affluence messing about doing practical jobs on their boats, help a few out with fabricating things, and lend a hand when needed.
The common denominator despite budget is the wish to fettle, improve, and tailor one's boat. It would be interesting to know what kind of portion of one's disposable income people put towards their boats and how much work people choose to do themselves against maybe employing someone else because of time or lack of inclination to do jobs. It is all horses for courses I know, and we all have our different ways of going about the boating experience. No right or wrong approach as long as you get your kicks :encouragement:

I am firmly of the ostrich when it comes to monitoring our boat ownership costs. It is something that I enjoy and keeps me sane from the pressures of my day job. There is probably a proportion of my income spent on the boat that could be measured but as long as my total outgoings are less than my income I shall continue to be sane! My partners knows and she also knows not to tell me how much!

I can honestly say that I have never required any professional assistance in maintaining or improving our last two boats. I am fortunate in that my training and experience enables me to mend,maintain or improve any of the mechanical, electrical or electronic equipment on our boat.

I will admit that this forum has given some model specific advice to help problem solving that has been invaluable and saved considerable time and cost that could have been incurred if the "professional marine support services" had to be involved.

The only exception is I used a professional to replace a faulty masthead VHF aerial. I don't do heights!

Time has not been an issue but I have limited my input to maintenance and improvement. Projects could occupy more time in future retirement. However spending time on the water is far more important than fettling or projects. Sometimes the two activities can be combined especially given this years weather!

 

[Seajet]

The only times I have employed people are sailmakers and club fees towards our volunteer club hoists.

Yes I enjoy fettling, am always coming up with ideas for ' next season ' and sometimes even doing them !

As my boat is a distance away from home, even though I've known her for 40 years a good ( not phone fer chrissake ) camera, tape measure and sketchbook have proven invaluable for modifications.

 

[Laysula]

I can echo TSB240's comments. We are also mindfull that our time on earth is limited and with that in mind we both took early retirement in our late 50s. This has left us with time but not as much dosh as if we had carried on working until 66. However we do all our work ourselves and cut our cloth accordingly. The best advice that I can give anyone is to put as much as you can into a pension and retire as soon as you can.

 

[Boathook]

My answer would be a combination of posts 2 to 6. I try to do most things but sometimes a professional is required, such as for sail repair when my sewing machine won't go through 5 layers of sail material. My next 'project' is the standing rigging that I will possibly get done by someone else this winter.

 

[Praxinoscope]

I have a feeling that there will be quite few who just about manage to keep their boating cost to a minimum as like me they are on a not too generous pension.
I have just changed boats, my previous boat was a 1965 which I owned for 20 years, the major part of which I wa still working so was able to up-grade her during that time, with new engine (which I fitted myself) new instrumentation, new sails etc. For various reasons I decided to change boats about a year ago and sold the Invicta and bought a 1981 Sadler 25.
The Sadler has had a lot of money spent on it over the last 8 years including new sails, new standing rigging, the original GRP is still in excellent condition, and a replacement engine with only 900hrs on the clock. Hopefully I will only need to spend on routine maintainence all of which I still do myself.
I estimate that the total cost, excluding beer, wine, victualling, minor maintenance costs etc., amounts to between £1200 and £1600 a year. The highest outlay is mooring paid to the local council which is currently trying to raise the fees considerably, despite this being a drying harbour with open to the sea with no outer protection and susceptible to Considerable disruption in North Westerlies. Current fees for my Sadler 25 are £380 for the Summer season and £180 to store her on the hard during the Winter. Insurance is about £250, craning in and out £170, antifoul zinc anodes etc. £100.
I usually have the sails washed and valeted during the Winter £180 - £200. Liferaft service £70 a year (3 year service ).
Miscellaneous bits and pieces £200.
Total for an average year excluding club membership, visiting fees, hospitality etc. .. about. £1500..

 

[Seajet]

In my post 6 I did forget to mention new standing rigging and services of a stainless fabricator a while ago, but generally it's all DIY - helped a LOT by having an outboard engine in a well I can take home to work on, and the fact in the late 70's Bowmans ( different to the big nice yots ) offered kit masts, as dad and I were trained in aircraft alloy work this has stood me in good stead ever since, on chum's boats too - there really still ought to be kit masts ( and boats ) available - maybe with coming economy there will be again, if anyone can be arsed to do the work not shuffle paperclips.

 

[Kelpie]

The only time I've ever paid somebody to come to my boat to work on her was the day we took delivery of her and I couldn't get the engine started and had to get her moved from the crane in berth asap. If I'd been even remotely familiar with the engine at that point, I would have saved myself £20.
Other than that, I got a friend to weld up a replacement pushpit, and I've had new sails, spars, and standing rigging made up, but everything else has been DIY. It's not all about saving money, it's about getting it done without having to wait forever, and also getting to know your boat inside out.

 

[solent clown]

The only time I've ever paid somebody to come to my boat to work on her was the day we took delivery of her and I couldn't get the engine started and had to get her moved from the crane in berth asap. If I'd been even remotely familiar with the engine at that point, I would have saved myself £20.
Other than that, I got a friend to weld up a replacement pushpit, and I've had new sails, spars, and standing rigging made up, but everything else has been DIY. It's not all about saving money, it's about getting it done without having to wait forever, and also getting to know your boat inside out.

apart from the financial constraints that means we always start with a "project" be that a boat, car, or hovercraft (yes had a couple of those too) the getting to know the boat argument is a really good one. In past life we always encouraged clients to be as involved with our builds as they felt comfortable with for precisely the same reason. Especially if it was just a couple and not a full expedition with a mechanic etc along for the ride.

 

[stevebrassett]

I don't smoke, and so I consider my hobby to be affordable if it costs less than a packet of fags a day. I actually reckon it costs me about the equivalent of 10 cigarettes a day.

 

[Corribee72]

We bought our very first boat last year, a 1972 Corribee fin keel and it's been a baptism of fire......... we did actually have a fire on board the boat. I could not afford to get tradesmen to do all my maintenance and repairs, so far we've done the obvious, anti fouling, vanishing, painting act. We've also replaced all the rope work, replaced a fried solar panel, hand stitched repairs in the mainsail, installed LED nav and cabin lights, recovered all the internal cushions and panelling courtesy of the fire and serviced the tender and main outboard, well I managed to break the impeller housing on the main so need another one but there it is. All this has helped me to get to know the boat, I wouldn't have learnt anywhere near as much if the boat had been pristine. The fire was a real blow though I must admit, especially as we were new to sailing. My boat is named after a Viking warrior, part real, part mythical and so far she's lived up to her name, tough as old boots and I can't imagine ever selling her, she feels like a friend now, even though right now, funds are somewhat strained. We haven't been out as much as we had planned this year, due to the fire mainly but there will be many more weeks, months and years to enjoy. Sometime this year I will be diving from my boat with my freedive fins in clear, hopefully clear, water. She is worth every penny, she keeps me dreaming.

 

[pvb]

I've always done virtually all the maintenance and repairs on my boats over the years, both to cut costs and to ensure that I know my way around the boat and its systems. I've paid people to spray paint parts of the hull, and to do rigging replacement, but otherwise I've mainly done it myself. I think it's vital that sailors understand their boats and engines, so that they are as self-sufficient as possible.

In the late 80s, I had a Westerly Corsair and made the mistake of totting up what I actually spent on it, then converted that to a cost per day on the boat. It terrified me, and I sold the boat. Big mistake, a few years later I bought another boat, which cost me just as much, but by then I'd realised that you can't put a sensible value on boat ownership.

 

[Seajet]

Corribee72,

after your lovely post with which I have to agree 100%, a boat should be a temptress like Betty Blue never making life easy, not something like Disney's Bambi - I have to say my old favourite;

A sailor takes an accountant chum for a sail

After a while the accountant says ' I see, you pay X thousands for this boat you can at best use two days a week '

" No, I use her seven days a week "

' How So ? '

" Two days a week I sail her, the rest of the time I dream of her "

 

[johnalison]

I can't come to terms with the idea of putting 'boat' and 'budget' in the same sentence.

 

[Concerto]

In the late 80s, I had a Westerly Corsair and made the mistake of totting up what I actually spent on it, then converted that to a cost per day on the boat. It terrified me, and I sold the boat. Big mistake, a few years later I bought another boat, which cost me just as much, but by then I'd realised that you can't put a sensible value on boat ownership.

Instead of cost per day, work out cost per mile sailed. Ouch. Last year mine worked out to be just over £3.00 per mile. This year I expect it to rise to about £5 as I have not had so much time to go sailing, despite spending little other than berthing and insurance.

 

[Concerto]

In the late 80s, I had a Westerly Corsair and made the mistake of totting up what I actually spent on it, then converted that to a cost per day on the boat. It terrified me, and I sold the boat. Big mistake, a few years later I bought another boat, which cost me just as much, but by then I'd realised that you can't put a sensible value on boat ownership.

Instead of cost per day, work out cost per mile sailed. Ouch. Last year mine worked out to be just over £3.00 per mile. This year I expect it to rise to about £5 as I have not had so much time to go sailing, despite spending little other than berthing and insurance.