Yacht Running COSTS ?

chrisgee

chrisgee

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Hi All
I have a potential buyer for my Dufour 39CC based in the Ionian. My Buyers are very in experienced and want to nail dowm the likely "Annual Running costs"
I know that this is not easy so maybe fellow Sailors/ Livaboards could help me out.
The boat is in fine condition with a large Inventory of there are niggles here and there but nothing that will break the banl!

Many Thanks
Chris G
 
One year I decided to keep a record of everything I spent on the boat. I didn’t complete the year and destroyed the record before my wife saw it..
 
Whenever people ask me what is the cost of having a boat, the answer I give is "you either spend time or money".
So it really depends how much a person is willing to spend one of the two. Many jobs can be done without hiring a professional. Antifouling, engine maintenance etc, etc. You save a lot on labour costs.
Then there are the costs you cannot avoid such as marina charges, insurance, lifting etc.
 
By far the largest cost for most people these days will be marina fees, which is something the buyers will have to find out for themselves. After that, it is a few hundred each for antifoul, fuel, minor repairs and refurbishment and so on. Then there are large occasional costs such as renewing the bottom or copper-coating, re-rigging, and the big one - re-engining. Apart from living costs, that's about it, at least for me.
 
Someone in this parish once said that it is 50% of purchase fee for the first year and 10% per year thereafter. As a rule of thumb that seems to be borne out by my experience. After the first year you get more fly at finding cheaper sources, moorings etc and learn how to do things yourself.

But, obviously, intention of use plays a big part
 
There is a small owners’ group for a certain model of MAB which christens itself “the 4.5K club”, because almost anything that you ask a professional to quote for on one of these boats - new jib, windlass, autopilot, etc, etc, gets the response “that will be £4.5k, Sir!”
 
It’s a little bit like asking how long is a piece of string.... However, I’ll try and put some figures on it, based on our usage of our boat, where we live on board through the summer months, anchoring wherever possible (about 100 nights a year). 12m AWB.

Yard costs: €2200 for lift and launch plus 8 months storage.
Berthing during summer: say €300
Fuel: say €450
Cooking gas: €50
Insurance: €500
Cruising tax (4 months):€134

Sails: say new set every 10 years €3500 = €350 a year
Standing rigging: new set every 15 years €3500 = €350 a year.
Running rigging: new set (on a rolling programme) every 5 years €750 = €150
General chandlery say €250 a year
Engine servicing (diy) (main and outboard) say €200 a year

So, say €5,000 a year for 4 months sailing. Wish I hadn’t done the sums now...
 
chrisgee said:
Hi All
I have a potential buyer for my Dufour 39CC based in the Ionian. My Buyers are very in experienced and want to nail dowm the likely "Annual Running costs"
I know that this is not easy so maybe fellow Sailors/ Livaboards could help me out.
The boat is in fine condition with a large Inventory of there are niggles here and there but nothing that will break the banl!

Many Thanks
Chris G
Click to expand...

Its your boat so why don't you know what it has cost you?
 
I keep a spreadsheet of all costs
I have had the boat for 16 years from new but started keeping costs when i retired because I realised it was costing circa £ 13K PA & I thought that I should cut back a bit. Somehow that has not happened.

So now my 31 ft Hanse costs me £ 71,887-00 over 7 years. Paid cash so no interest payments.
Includes everything from clothing,( couple of sets of Mustos not cheap carp) insurance fuel, spares, sails, electrics etc
Had the boat for 16 years, keep it in a marina, do quite a few jobs ie coppercoat, myself .
Have it lifted & scrubbed mid season as well as winter.
Do 2000miles PA and sail for at least 11 weeks away from marina, as I am retired, so costs inc overnight marina fees elsewhere, (never anchor)
Charts etc all up to date, change sails very often, ie on 3rd main & 5Th jib after 14 years.
Changed all electrics, such as wind, log, autopilot plus have Aeries etc.
Keep boat in good condition.
Cost do not includes my holiday part of the expenses when away such as food & restaurant plus some of the away marina fees as I do not always differentiate which has come to £ 23,439-00 over 7 years

So £ 13K a year is not so bad when one considers it incs all my holidays (the wife joins me in the Channel Islands & Ostend for 2-3 weeks each year) & i get to sail any day i wish & the boat is 4 miles from my home.
 
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Isn't keeping a tally of your boat running costs just as pointless as keeping a tally of the running costs of keeping a mistress/girlfriend/wife?
 
You have two choices:

Frighten them with the real costs

Make something up based on Marina fees and a few hundred euros additional costs.
 
neil1967 said:
I deliberately don't keep a tally of what my boat has cost :-) (what would you include in the total anyway - is it the total that the boat has cost in parts/spares? do you include marina fees? fuel? Antifouling?)
Click to expand...

Well if you did not include those costs then you would be deluding yourself. If the cost of your hobby is small in the grand scheme if things then a couple of £K PA is not a big deal. However, if it is a fairly big expenditure & one is on a fixed income, as one might be in retirement, then the cost becomes an important factor.
I am aware of a lot of people who buy small boats the apply to us for a mooring, thinking that the £ 120-00 PA rental is the lot. When they get the cost of the tackle, the insurance, running costs including simple things like lifejackets & clothing not to mention travel to & from the site, plus club fees for a family, they suddenly realise that they have made a big mistake.

There are clubs all around the UK with dumped boats that the owners just cannot afford. This is just not the bottom end of the scale either. It would be useful if people did really say what it cost, if only to help others. Let alone keep harmony within their own family.

How many times have forumites said that they have hidden the cost from their other half, or cannot buy something until finances, or the wife, permit.
 
My fixed costs are insurance £400 p.a. and mooring which has averaged (buying and maintaining) £200 p.a. Over 15 years since purchase, I've spent around £25k on updates and extras including new engine, radar, elec windlass, heater, instruments, batteries, solar, dinghies and outboards, etc. Yard parking & lift costs not included.

I'm puzzled why the OP, as a boat owner, has to ask others how much ownership of his boat costs.
 
I have shared my current and previous boat with my brother so have kept a sprradsheet of all cost. Both were old boats 20 plus years.
Boat 1 31 feet total cost £71k over 12 years. This included purchase cost and net of cost recouped in sale, so £6k pa
Boat 2 36 feet £32k over 4 years but excludes the cost of buying in the first place so £8k pa, but this included fitting a bow thruster and various electrical re-configurations , circa £6k, so excluding this £6.5k pa.

The largest single expenditure by far is permanent mooring/ marina.
Actually overall the cost isn't too bad when split 50/50 between the two of us.

In addition each user pays £5 per person per day into a cash kitty to pay for fuel and any minor replacements. We do this so that neither of us is tempted not to refuel or replace the thingy that has been broken.
 
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