40' vs 45' maintenance costs

[6string]

I have been looking at 40'-42' boats for purchase. Valiant 40, Passport 40, Nassau Tatoosh etc. The misses and I are planning on taking off in 2011 and beginning a long term cruise of 10 yrs or so. I have established a max budget for acquisition of about $200,000. I would prefer to keep that at $150,000. We will have $2500 - $3000 month income to live on. Given this scenario, I could go indefinitely with minimal work to supplement my income.

I have been approached by a neighbor I have known for many years that has a friend selling a Bristol 45.5. I can pick it up for about $190,000. I know the boat is immaculate. Everything that would need to be done has been done. Fully equipped, just provision and go. My guess that I would be putting about $170,000 into the 40-42'ers to get in this same condition as the Bristol.

My question is this. How much more will the maintenance on the larger Bristol be vs the 40 footers? I want to be sure that I will be able to afford it so as not to jeopardize the budget.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this.

Jeff

[artbyjody]

Originally Posted by 6string

I have been looking at 40'-42' boats for purchase. Valiant 40, Passport 40, Nassau Tatoosh etc. The misses and I are planning on taking off in 2011 and beginning a long term cruise of 10 yrs or so. I have established a max budget for acquisition of about $200,000. I would prefer to keep that at $150,000. We will have $2500 - $3000 month income to live on. Given this scenario, I could go indefinitely with minimal work to supplement my income.

I have been approached by a neighbor I have known for many years that has a friend selling a Bristol 45.5. I can pick it up for about $190,000. I know the boat is immaculate. Everything that would need to be done has been done. Fully equipped, just provision and go. My guess that I would be putting about $170,000 into the 40-42'ers to get in this same condition as the Bristol.

My question is this. How much more will the maintenance on the larger Bristol be vs the 40 footers? I want to be sure that I will be able to afford it so as not to jeopardize the budget.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this.

Jeff

General rule is about 40% of value of boat for maintenance...and I am sure I will be corrected...as I may probably be wrong... but it is a decent number to start from... when you consider the incremental values of the systems you will rely on

[6string]

Jody,

What I am looking for is the annual maintenance cost. That was not initially stated in my question. I have edited to specify. I take it that the 40% would be for fitting out and rehab on the boat. My cost shown are with the boat ready to go in excellent condition. My concern is what will it take to keep it in that good condition annually.

Thanks

Jeff

[artbyjody]

Originally Posted by 6string

Jody,

What I am looking for is the annual maintenance cost. That was not initially stated in my question. I have edited to specify. I take it that the 40% would be for fitting out and rehab on the boat. My cost shown are with the boat ready to go in excellent condition. My concern is what will it take to keep it in that good condition annually.

Thanks

Jeff

And that is the figure I understand that applies - I wasn't considering any other factors...I am sure others will pop in... but that is the general rule of thumb ...as "I" understand it... it is influenced by how much you can do yourself... for instance pulling out and cleaning - its on a per foot basis etc...

SD will probably give you more of a uniform formula... I always add 20% to anything projected as that is like a business rule I apply... but in the end it will boil down to what you can do and what you pay to have done... so - keep those considerations in mind...

[Plumper]

The figure that I have been told for annual maintenance, insurance and moorage is about 10% of the cost of the boat. Obviously this would vary but with my last two boats it has certainly been in the ballpark.

$170 K boat, maybe $15 - $20 K a year. A single new sail is probably $3000. Moorage here would be $450 a month ~ $6000 a year. Insurance? Adds up pretty quick.

[artbyjody]

Originally Posted by Northbeach

What do you mean by 40% of the value of boat for maintenance? Is that what it takes to splash it the first time, or an annual budget? Under the formula if I purchase a used boat for 200K, fair market value, I should expect to pay 80K in maintenance costs to bring her back to bristol condition. Or is it I can expect to pay 80K a year in ongoing maintenance? I’m not disputing the formula just trying to understand your post.

Its just the ruling as I understand it and actually on my 27 foot Catalina - it came pretty much in mark...

It is subject to discussion and difference based upon ability to work on systems etc...

Like I said - it is the rule of thumb as I understand it for budgeting... and it held fairly true with all I did with my boat... but - it certainly can differ... so not a golden rule... by any means - and I hope my previous posts pointed that out...

[Valiente]

Killarney Sailor on this site just bought a Bristol 45.5. In my opinion (and, I suspect, his), they are an excellent choice for an offshore, long-term cruiser.

My steel boat is 41 feet, and I plan on anchoring out most of the time. I'm budgeting $25,000 a year, of which I suspect $7,000-$9,000/year to go on fuel, maintenance and spares/replacements. But I am putting a good sixty grand in before we leave in order to start from a largely new or rebuilt baseline (rebuilt engine, new tanks, pumps, nav gear, prop, engine mounts, coupling, tenders, outboard, rigging, some sails, and so on).

Immaculate here won't be for long. One tactic I've used where possible is to take lightly used elements off as spares, and to install new, very similar or identical gear. I am a big fan of "drop in" replacements. So I would bubble wrap my current alternator, for instance, with all the leads labelled, and install a nice high-output model. If that craps out, it's under warranty, and I can break out Old Faithful until I hit a port.

Good luck and fair winds.

[Ilenart]

Jeff,

in "The Voyager's Handbook" by B Leonard they state each 10 foot increase in boat length the hours spent on maintenance double and the boat related costs triple. The book has a chapter on budgeting for a cruise which is pretty detailed.

I also did a comparison of my own 44ft yacht to a 39ft yacht last year. The figures I came up for maintenance was $4,000 for my 44ft yacht and I assumed around $3,000 for the 39ft yacht. Note that these figures are for coastal cruising and does not assume you are living on board.

Also it really depends on how complicated your boat is, how old it is, etc, etc. Good luck!

Ian

[6string]

Jody
I do intend to make most repairs myself. We will be anchoring out most of the time as well. We would like to be as self sufficient as reasonably possible.

Valient
I agree with the idea of having mostly new or rebuilt baseline. That's the condition of the Bristol I am considering. Spares galore to start out with as well.

It is good to hear what others have planned and actually experienced. Going from 40 - 45 foot doesn't seem that big of a difference but I haven't experienced ownership of this type of boat yet. My ownership has been on inland lake scows and power boats. I know some of the hardware needs to be a little more stout $$$ due to its size.Systems would be very similar between the 2 choices. Engines are close to the same in size.

Thanks for you in put so far. I look forward to hearing from others.

Jeff

[svsirius]

Based on a few years of full time cruising figure a minumum of 5K [really low] to an avg of about 7.5 to 10K and you could spend more. This is for boat repairs and boat parts [spares].

a haul out and bottom paint will cost you about 2-2.5K, batteries are 1-2K, sail 3-4K, new block 500+, oil, engine spares, etc... this assumes the boat is in good shape overall. does not need stuff right now..