Total Cost of owning a sailboat

[tommays]

The best thing you can do is the OPB (other peoples boats ) mrwuffles is a nother young local to ME sailnet menber and after meeting his parents we got him sailing at least two times a week


And as a matter of fact were looking forward to his return from maine for fall racing crew

[seafrontiersman]

I found affordable dock space BEFORE I bought a boat as that's the biggest recurring expense for a 23' boat.

Best of luck!

great thread
also one can stay at certain moorings for free
depending on the locations, anchoring too of course helps with this
-JD

[t4li3sin]

I bought a small Cal in june here in BC for 1500$. Someone gave me his old inflatable. I threw my sleeping bag and tooth brush in the cabin, tied up the inflatable and kicked the 'lil outboard a few times until it spurred, then sailed out of the slip. I never went back to it. The 10kg CQR anchor was my friend (And one of the biggest feature of the boat). So I lived on it for 3-4 months, at different anchorages. Then I sold the whole thing for a thousand bucks, in two days. So that was 3-4 months of sailing for probably under a thousand bucks, since I did not put much money on the boat.

Have fun

[RickWestlake]

Originally Posted by BoatKid5

i am now looking at a catalina 25. Trailing is out of the question because we have a minivan. I would keep it on the potomac river slips range from 1500-2000 dollars depending on where you are.

You mention the Potomac ... if you're within range of Washington Sailing Marina (between National Airport and Alexandria) you and your dad might check out the Sailing Club of Washington (SCOW), or some of the other sailing clubs in the Washington DC area, as a for-the-present-time alternative to buying and owning a boat.

I think it's great that you're interested in sailing. I'm all for it. But joining a sailing club will get you out there for a couple hundred dollars - with good boats in good condition - and you'll also be able to share those boats with a group of very experienced sailors, go out on "club sails" and races, and soak up all the things you need to know to be a good sailor.

Hope this helps - Rick

[Root]

When I resided in a coastal town, moorings off the town dock cost $50 per year and that included permission to leave a dingy at the dock. Of course, only the ugliest dingys were still there in the fall, but mine were deemed not worth stealing. Transporting on a trailer and storing our Catalina 22 beside my house was cheap. I could winterize the outboard and I changed standing and running rigging myself when it needed it. That left a few hundred at most a year for sandpaper, bottom paint, varnish, etc. , and liability insurance. If there was any threat of a significant storm, I pulled the boat. So, insurance risks were quite low. It would be a bad year when total costs exceeded $500. My cousin sails his West Wight Potter for even less than that from a mooring in Lake Champlain.

On the other hand, friends spend ten times that to get premium service and do no maintenance on the boat themselves.

Bigger is not necessarily better. When I used to have multiple boats in the water (it was really cheap) the smaller boats were used about twice as often as the big one because almost every trip was a day sail. We laugh about it, but I have a brother-in-law whose 50'er rarely leaves the dock, and his cost per hour of actual use is not funny at all.

[Mauryd]

Sounds like you are young and single.

Start dating the Marina owner's daughter! Lol.

Mauryd

[ezatsea]

Damn!! Why didn't I think of that?

[Waltthesalt]

Here's some things to think about:
Figure out how you're going to realistically use the boat. If 80% is daysailing it will be a lot less costly to get a boat optimized for that with maybe a cabin good for an overnight. Rent a bigger boat for the week or two excursion that you may only do once a year. You'll also find you spending more time using a smaller boat and less time working on it. Bigger boats also mean money tied up that could be invested and earning a return
New boats are the most expensive option. Picking a boat at the right part of the depreciation curve can save a lot of money. Usually at about the 6-7 year point boat value flattens out. Some electronics may need repalcement at this point however.
Buy a trailer sailer. By eliminatng marina costs you save lotsa' bucks by far. Also, depending on where you live it may give you wider range of cruising... being able to get there at 60mph. Having the boat in the yard is a big time and cost saver for getting maintenace and projects done.
Shop around. Often there's not much price difference between a dog and a boat with a lot of TLC which has what you want in it. Owners only get a very small fraction back on the upgrades that they do. You will do best by keeping the money you'll invest into upgrades to less than 10% of the boat's value. A well cared for boat also meand less liklihood of work done poorly which will give you problems such as deck fittings that leak into the core.
Outboard Engine: The cost and difficulty of servicing an inboard isn't worth it for smaller boats.

Good luck and get a boat that makes your heart sing.

[SJ34]

There is a bracket for every economic class but be certain; owning a sailboat will take every bit of money and time you have to spend. If it turns out that your not a sailor, you (should) will sell the boat and do something more practical, like have an affair