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Honest costs of ownership in CA, plus any other tips for a newbe

2K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  Great Scott 
#1 ·
I'm getting serious about maybe getting a sailboat, in either the Morro Bay or Ventura areas of CA. Probably 30'-40'. My main use is simply to escape.

Any tips of do's and don't for newbies would be very much appreciated. Especially realistic costs, things that are worth it and things that aren't.

For example the last boat I owned (32 years marriage and 6 kids ago) was on a trailer so things like hauling and bottom paint, dive services, docks or moorings, etc. were not things I had to think about.

Any comments would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance and enjoy your day.
 
#2 ·
Morro Bay is a crappy place to keep your boat because there are no real destinations there other than San Simeon or Port San Luis. Anything else is 100 miles either uphill to Monterey or around Point Conception to Santa Barbara and beyond. I't also chilly out on the water about 364 days a year. It's relatively cheap (about $8.00 a foot or $250.00 for a mooring) IF you can find a berth. Morro Bay is beautiful.
Ventura has tons of destinations, warmer water, a reasonable amount of wind and swell, but it's more expensive to keep your boat there, IIRC $12.00-$20.00 a foot depending on the marina and there are no moorings and no anchorage. Ventura/Oxnard aren't beautiful.
I would chose Ventura if I had to make that choice. I lived in and around Morro Bay for 25 years.
 
#7 ·
+1 everything said above.

Morro Bay is the destination, Ventura is where you park your boat between destinations.

Here are the costs you can expect to pay to keep a boat in the water in Ventura:

Slip fees - $12 to $13/ft and an additional $190 -$250mo if you plan to live aboard. BTW, living aboard is the best value as the boat expenses become your home expenses.

Bottom cleaning - $1.50/ft per month

Insurance (prudent anyway but required by marina) $500 to $$$$$ per year depending on coverage, boat value, cruising area, credit rating etc. etc.

Property tax - 1% of value of boat per year

Bottom paint every 3-4 years - ~$50/ft if the yard does the work, $15 to $18/ft DIY assuming about a 3day turn around(welcome to SoCal)

The above does not take into account the general costs of upkeep such as varnish (refresher coat every 6mo to a yr), polish and wax, rigging, engine etc etc.

For all that you get a potential 365 day sailing season, the best cruising grounds in California with the Channel Islands just 20 miles off-shore, Santa Barbara 25 miles North. LA, Newport, San Diego and Mexico to the South (downhill there, beat back).

Personally, I think it's worth every penny.
 
#4 ·
Oxnard may not be beautiful but the Channel Islands are! And they can be sailed to in less than two [ 2 ] hours. yes they are that close. I saw a Blue whale on Tuesday only a mile past Gina. So yes it is wonderful here. Inland temps were 100+ out in the channel well it was just over 70. Don't let anyone know about this thread the may want to come here! Ha ha. My slip rate is high, a least I see it this way. 36 ft boat is about $500 a month. The Winter/Spring gales can be nasty, but nothing a double reef main won't fix. It really is wonderful down here.
Brad
Lancer 36
 
#5 ·
I looked up my last haul out bill 12-15-11 it was a sand and bottom paint with the cutless bearing replaced, out of the water about 5 days total and just about $1500 at Annacapa Boat yard. They are great, third time bottom painting there and it won't be the last.
Brad
Lancer 36
 
#12 ·
I spent a lot of time out among the islands fishing as a kid. It is nice. I grew up in Thousand Oaks. Now I live about 45m north of Bakersfield. Morro Bay / Port San luis and Ventura are both 3 hrs. from my ranch, so either would work. When we go to the beach we mostly go to Cayucos just North of Morro Bay. When I go to Ventura area I end up spending more time with relatives than at the beach.

I'm trying to decide right now whether I want to go with a boat in the water, in which case I'd go sail, or something on a trailer in which case I'd go 24' power. That may sound like apples & oranges but understand how desperate I am to just have a way to get out on the water. My wife is not an ocean person and her family has saturated her with "a boat is a hole in the water you throw money into" mentality, plus I've raised 6 kids so it's taken all these years just to get things around to where I can actually get something without catching hell.
 
#15 ·
The trailer idea is a good one, very economical. You still have a way to get into the water and without the mast you can get to the back side of the Oxnard harbor. They have a restaurant seen with ice cream shops and coffee bars maybe 5-6 restaurants along with a large grocery store, free tie ups back there too. Concerts in the park in the summer. It is less crowed than Ventura and like I said earlier I just saw a Blue whale last week maybe 4-5 miles off-shore. I know my wife enjoys the sea life the most and we have that plus fishing and wonderful sailing and boating conditions nearly year round. Take a drive down and check it out for yourself, I think you both might like it.
Brad
Lancer 36
 
#16 ·
Well the Santa Annas are an entirely new topic, when they start up this fall I will start a thread on it with some photos of wind speeds and boat speeds. They are dangerous but as long as you don't venture too far off-shore it can be very exciting. I am not talking about the 75-100 knots stuff just below 50kts. Any way it is a chance to get the storm sails out and have some fun without 12-18 foot swells. As far as boat speed in those conditions you just try to keep the boat around 6kts, anything higher starts to stress my old boat out, she is over 30 now and we don't beat her up much any more.
Brad
Lancer 36
 
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