sailing "Budgets"

[thinwater]

I gotten it down to $5/day. About $1/mile. The secrets?
* A cheap marina that dries out on some tides. Only a few days in the winter when the wind is from the north for a long time.
* A near by marina with a mouthwatering "freecycle" bin.
* Lots of DIY skills.
* A considerable home collection of bits and pieces.
* NEVER letting it get ahead of me. A stitch in time and all that.

 

[langstonelayabout]

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 "

That's so true!

So many times I've been at home and had to explain to my wife that I want to go sailing this weekend: I don't sit at my desk during the week thinking about inviting people to Sunday lunch...

 

[Seajet]

A,

you're right of course, but a future Time Team may discover ' here we find the intriguing marks of a male's upper teeth and forehead impressed on a kitchen table '

I pulled the black and yellow handle in my situation as we were in a deep stall - no suggesstion yours should be anything like that !

I do SO thoroughly recommend - if you haven't already - ' Test Pilots -The History Of British Test Flying 1903-84 ' by Don Middleton

Andy

Here we go - if you haven't got it, grab it, you will not be disappointed !

Some personal connections before BAe I'll happily explain if you're bothered, but anyway a fantastic book.

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/...17&an=Middleton&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image9

 

[chriss999]

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.

Great post!

Mine is a similar experience (except for the fire thank goodness) but a Kingfisher not a Corribee .
Normally moored 50 yards from the shore, and sailing within 40 minutes of leaving work of an evening, and sailed twice a week in the season. A bit like a dinghy with hot tea and bacon sandwiches on demand.
Currently I'm re-doing everything so out of the water for 2 seasons, but next year she will be used just as heavily.
Normal budget: membership £200, mooring £200, winter craning/storage etc £500. repairs etc £200, insurance £200. It all adds up to £1300!

So that is £3.50 a day, or £25 per sailing day.

 

[Corribee72]

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 "

Great post, sums up how I feel perfectly, when I'm not on her I'm thinking about her. That sounded a bit carry on, oer misses and all that.

 

[Resolution]

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 "

Good one!

 

[MOBY2]

Had to look at on-going costs closely before getting my boat, wasn't so much the purchasing as the on-going that concerned me, I try and do as much work as possible myself... A: I enjoy it and B: Saves me money, don't drink, smoke or gamble, my only vices now are Koi keeping and Sailing, some jobs like the full re-wire were beyond my capabilities so got that done professionally but that was within the budget, have had so much fun with the boat, worth every penny and made some really good friends, Solent Clown please let us know when you have booked Spithead for your fleet review, keep the posts coming mate, the accountant quote made me chuckle Andy, how true.

 

[mattonthesea]

The last line in my experience is: I sail 12 weeks a year and spend 40 working out how to fix the things that have gone wrong!

Because of tides, drying, commercial locks and three swing bridges I only go out once a year - but that is for 12 weeks. Someone here once said that you spend 50% of the purchase price on maintenance and mooring in the first year and 10% per year thereafter. That's about right. At the moment, after two years of ownership I am just below £1000 per week of sailing. Of course, with more years to go and the end point of sale, that figure will reduce.

I do most everything myself (except cosmetic stuff - things look worse after I've painted!) but always weigh up the cost saving versus the speed and reliability of paying a professional. For instance, when the damper/doughnut on the gearbox connection broke I took the gearbox off but asked the mechanic to take the back off the engine to change the damper and replace gearbox. He took two hours to do this whereas I would have taken 10 and been unsure of results. Especially as we were in Brittany and about to cross Biscay! ditto forestay reassembly.

It's a frightening figure but I bought a boat that I know would keep me safe (safer) in big seas and have got her almost to blue water cruising standard.

And most of all, what price can I put on sailing up Kyle Rea on a dead run and gybing twice; or anchoring outside Santa Marta de Ortiguera or Camerinas or in Cuan Sound; sighting Scilly after 4 days at sea; mooring up in central Dublin or Belfast? And in my last boat, crossing the Atlantic; motoring up the canal through Guadeloupe; seeing a whale close by; seeing the dolphins at night illuminated by phosphorescence like torpedoes under the boat; running down the face of the waves in F9 north of Azores and realising that we've turned through the cold front and that cloud ring ahead is the eye? If only she were one foot longer

 

[temptress]

I don't know and I don't want to know... I spend what I have when o have it... If I'm broke i don't spend.

 

[sailaboutvic]

I don't know and I don't want to know... I spend what I have when o have it... If I'm broke i don't spend.

Sums it up for me .

 

[mariadz]

An interesting thread. We're on practical boat owner so I imagine we all want to do work ourselves.

Our story is a little different. We have plans to give it all up and sail the world. We wanted to do it comfortably. When we first got I to sailing ten years ago we had little time and so every opportunity we sailed. This meant we paid people to do work so we could keep sailing. I tried to understand what was being done so I could do it next time but received some criticism on this forum for not doing it all myself.

However, with our plans, we need to be able to maintain the boat ourselves wherever we are in the world - isn't that the oft-quoted element of cruising.

So my reliance on external help has reduced and where used I am keen to be the enthusiastic apprentice. I have people in Ipswich who are keen to help me learn and it stops me breaking something on the boat that would be expensive. This does cost more but I consider it part of my education.

As for budget - everything you have and then some. But isn't that what you do with all your loves?

 

[Laysula]

The main thing is to spend all your money before you croak, but not to croak too long after you have spent it all.

 

[Stemar]

Great post!

Mine is a similar experience (except for the fire thank goodness) but a Kingfisher not a Corribee .
Normally moored 50 yards from the shore, and sailing within 40 minutes of leaving work of an evening, and sailed twice a week in the season. A bit like a dinghy with hot tea and bacon sandwiches on demand.
Currently I'm re-doing everything so out of the water for 2 seasons, but next year she will be used just as heavily.
Normal budget: membership £200, mooring £200, winter craning/storage etc £500. repairs etc £200, insurance £200. It all adds up to £1300!

So that is £3.50 a day, or £25 per sailing day.

I assume that the insurance is fully comp. I reckon you could halve that or more, by going third party only. I pay £80-something a year. It's a risk, but my MAB of nearly 50 years old wouldn't get me much of a payout, so I reckon that, in the time I've had her, I'd be in pocket, even if she sank tomorrow. There are also savings in survey fees and the .cost of daft things the survey brings up and the insurance insist must be done.

The shock to the budget is depreciation on an MAB, I reckon she's worth somewhere between 1/2 and 1/6 of what I paid 15 years ago. Still, I reckon she'll be my last boat unless I come up with those 6 little numbers (and buy a ticket), so sale price isn't going to be that much of an issue

 

[chriss999]

Steve,

Thank you for that. I've gone the same route as you & got 3rd party only, for the same reasons. With craftinsure I have to pay a premium of £40 or so for her age (like me, over 50) and location (swinging mooring in one of their 'risk areas').

Hmm. Maybe I need to shop around ..
Could you suggest another insurer?

 

[TSB240]

Be very careful about going third party only without any form of wreck recovery insurance. If the worse did happen you wont be allowed to walk away from your boat without expecting some charge for clearing up the mess it might leave behind. Wreck recovery usually covers the clean up, removal from the sea bed, breaking up and disposal cost. I understand quite a few thought they could walk away from their responsibilities at Holyhead and are now paying for only having third party cover!

 

[Praxinoscope]

Be very careful about going third party only without any form of wreck recovery insurance. If the worse did happen you wont be allowed to walk away from your boat without expecting some charge for clearing up the mess it might leave behind. Wreck recovery usually covers the clean up, removal from the sea bed, breaking up and disposal cost. I understand quite a few thought they could walk away from their responsibilities at Holyhead and are now paying for only having third party cover!

I agree completely, one of the boats (it’s about 45 years old) near mine broke loose last year in some bad weather, and holed herself so it needed to be craned out, cost of bringing a crane in in an emergency £800, fortunately only a small amount of water damage inside damage totalling £350, and a hole in the hull to be repaired at a cost of £700. His comprehensive insurance paid up the £1850 bill with no problem and the boat is back on the water. If the boat had been a write off one assumes that the insurance would have paid out at least something close to it’s insured value.
No way would I not have my 40 year old boat comprehensively insured, even if it is only valued at about £9000.

 

[Stemar]

My insurance (Bishop Skinner/Jelf Insurance Brokers) covers wreck removal, in commission 12 months in all European waters, and just cost me £82 on a swinging mooring in Portsmouth Harbour.

Shopping around when I first bought the boat, one insurer only covered the southern half of Britain. "What about crossing the Channel?" I asked. "Oh, no. 24 feet is far too small to be crossing the Channel!" Needless to say, they didn't get my business, but were the spur to get us off on our first Channel crossing a few years later.

 

[Daydream believer]

Great post!

Mine is a similar experience (except for the fire thank goodness) but a Kingfisher not a Corribee .
Normally moored 50 yards from the shore, and sailing within 40 minutes of leaving work of an evening, and sailed twice a week in the season. A bit like a dinghy with hot tea and bacon sandwiches on demand.
Currently I'm re-doing everything so out of the water for 2 seasons, but next year she will be used just as heavily.
Normal budget: membership £200, mooring £200, winter craning/storage etc £500. repairs etc £200, insurance £200. It all adds up to £1300!

So that is £3.50 a day, or £25 per sailing day.

Of course one does not count life jackets, clothing, deck shoes, odd bits of running rigging, shackles, fuel new batteries every few years . I suspect that the £ 200-00 gets eaten up very quickly - or the boat is a basic wreck with tatty gear etc etc- I am sure it is not- but you get my drift

I think many people tend to ignore lots of incidentals & try to hide what it really costs, or just fool themselves. But that is Ok . If one enjoys the hobby does it really matter what it costs, so long as it does not put them into life long debt, or put other sections of the family into hardship because of it. I suspect that happens in some families & costs are hidden. Comments on this forum about not getting something for the boat because SWMBO disagrees are not uncommon. Likewise I believe that some owners hide the costs from their partners.. That - in my view- is totally wrong and in those cases a strict budget should be adhered to & be agreed by all concerned.
I know of one partnership where the boat money is held in a separate bank account & all boat costs are paid for using a credit card from that account only. That ensures a fair way of tracking costs.

 

[Daydream believer]

The main thing is to spend all your money before you croak, but not to croak too long after you have spent it all.

My father always said that he could retire comfortably on £20K per week


But he would have to be dead by Friday:encouragement:

 

[chriss999]

Thank you Stemar for the info. At renewal I'll have a look at them.
Thank you TSB240 for the cautionary tale on wreck removal.
And Daydream Believer is right about the costs being more than £1300. It soon adds up.
I can afford the bits now, but when I retire it might be a different matter.