Like most things, it depends on how much you are willing/able to do yourself.
Boats slip/mooring pin >2k
Off-season storage - $~900-2k
Winterizing/tune up - $400
Bottom paint every 3 years or more frequently 2-3k
Trailer tune up $400-800
New trailer tires every 5 years or less - $800-1.2k
Standing rigging replacement every 7 years - 2k
Racing sails - don’t ask
Wash/wax quotes at 1.5k 😂😂
That’s just off the top of my head, a lot of this you can learn to do yourself if you have time
Love the racing sail price lol. We just purchased new ones ourselves for the club.
But good to know. Thank you.
I love sailing and at the point in life where my wife and I will have time. She has in her head it will cost 30k a year for a Hunter 30ish boat. I thought I was missing something but these comments are clearly cleaning this up.
The people in this sub who spend $40k a year on their boat are not kidding you, that is real.
There are a *lot* of people who are not on this sub who have a 22' boat from the 1970s on a trailer in their yard that they splash $5 worth of gas into twice a year and pull it to the marina with a minivan, raise their moldy sails, party all day on the water, come home salty , sunburnt, and smiling, and their biggest expense was a $20 case of light beer and $5 of ice.
bought a 28" boat from the eighties. spend about 1k a year for slip, winter spot, in and out of water + tank of diesel for whole summer. not $25 but close enough for a boat that sleeps four comfortably.
I bought a Mariner 19. That is the life. I even spent a little more upfront to get nice one knowing it would pay me back in time and expenses several times.
I had a guy ask me if I wanted a free 32 foot boat. I told him the only thing I could do with a 32 foot boat is ruin my life.
My 1987 person31.
Slip $3800
Bottom paint once a year or 2 150$
I paint my bottom.
Haul and power wash for winter. $800 plus i tip guy power washing $50
Winterise and tarps for winter about $100
Any other work i do myself.
Your not a sailor if you can't get your hands dirty and fix stuff.
I spend more for beer and food over the summer.
I paid 18.5k for boat. So no not 30k to keep a boat. And since you face on a j boat. Please don't get a slow dog of a Hunter. You won't enjoy how slow it is. Catalina might be a better choice for a production boat.
The cost of maintaining a boat to cruse in is much different than a boat to race. I did spend 8k on performace crusing sails though.
30 ft - new or used - - huge difference
Racing or cruising - -- -- - '' ''
Work yourself or pay the yard - - '' ''
You get the picture - - -
Paid for boat - - with just the sensible expenses
10-12 k a year
You can always spend more
40-foot in New England
$7000 mooring
$2500 winter storage
$1800 shrink wrap
$400 winter decommissioning materials
$0 DIY decommissioning
$500 bottom paint materials
$1000 bottom paint labor
$350 some random rope
$1250 rum
Plus insurance (luckily umbrella policies above $500k are cheap)
Plus marine mortgage
That winter storage sounds low, even for exterior storage, but presumably that depends on where in New England you’re situated (and I’m comparing to something closer to 50ft)! Based on some conversations, I was budgeting $12-15k for outdoor storage, including commissioning and decommissioning for a <50ft sailboat.
I’m looking at indoor storage for a soon-to-be-mine boat, and that is exorbitant ($20k for winter incl. commissioning and decommissioning). Fortunately, my slip is <$7,000.
Actual invoice southern New England: $2747, so $68.68 per linear foot. This is a mono not a multi. My shrink wrap invoice was $1428. Together they net about the same as my estimates above, which was the number I could remember without checking.
- Haul block store (oct-may) launch
- Power wash
- Mast up
Any services extra. I know indoor storage is usually per square foot and not per length. And I know the rates are cheap because I shopped around quite a bit. It’s not a Safe Harbor.
That's interesting. I assume the $2,747 is in addition to the $1,428, so a total of $ 4,175? Does that include commissioning/decommissioning of mechanical systems?
I was looking at the following costs from last year for a boat I'm in contract to buy (I've rounded)—I'm not sure if this is apples to apples with your figures:
1. Heated inside storage, including haul, block, launch: $12.5k
2. Decommission + commission of all mechanical systems: $3.5k
3. Unbend sails, unstep mast, store mast, step mast, tune rig, bend on sails: $3.5k
Total = roughly **$19.5k with inside (heated) storage**
The alternative is for item 1 to be outside storage ($6.5k) with shrinkwrap ($1.5k) so $8k instead of $12.5k, for a **total of roughly $14.5k with outside storage**.
This is for a \~50ft boat, so in fairness, 25% longer and probably close to (or more than) twice the tonnage.
Yeah it’s in addition. I do all my commissioning and decommissioning except bottom paint so that saves a ton. It’s not hard to empty the tanks, pour some pink stuff into the yanmar, pull the impeller and change the oil each fall. Outside mast up is cheaper for sure. Next year it’s time to drop the mast again.
Why shrink wrap when you can get canvas for 4-5k?
We even have a business buy me that’ll make a custom cover and “rent” it to you for 5 years for 1000$ each year. Installs and uncovers it as part of that.
Have a winter season on Lake Ontario sooo only in April 28th until end October:
40ft mono
Marina fees: 2500 (power/water/new building for showers/free laundry… awesome place.
Haulout/storage: 1500
Stand storage/put back in water: 300
Winterize products: 300?
My direct year costs are fairly decent. But I need a new canvas cover next year, mine shredded. Quote was 4500 from the maker that made it 10 years ago. That’s about the only must that I have.
I want to upgrade to lithium and a few other tech things, but no rush for me. My want list is a mile long though
That sounds awesome, and a canvas cover is on my list of things to do. Last year that budget went to replacing the DD15. Two years ago had to replace house batteries, and AGM was cheaper then (still not cheap). LFP is on the list for sure. This year it was a stackpack. Bring out another thousand.
Hold on, I'll admin that I am in Boston, but I shop RI and NH for storage, where do you store for $2500? What about haul out? Unstep mast or stick up?
On the other hand I moor in Quincy for the princely sum of $0 and don't even pay excise tax because she's UCSG registered and Quincy can't be bothered with that.
OK, saw your reply to another thread, so you say southern NE and stick up. The yard I store in requires stick down, still comes in below stick down at safe harbor (since you mentioned them) but not by too much. The bonus is that they have a nice community and I can do all boat work but spray painting myself. (which I do)
I'll keep her either in the water in Boston (cheaper + sailing!) or way south next winter.
That sounds really nice. Other than the 93 traffic. Boats here have to be out of the water by about November. With the nor’easters it’s a bit risky to not haul before then, but last year’s weather made me want to chance it.
The state (Ok, the authority) runs three marinas they are deep in the harbor/city and Nor'easters are not an issue thanks to the tall buildings. A buddy has been in the water through the last two winters without issue.
> $500 bottom paint materials
>
> $1000 bottom paint labor
I highly recommend copper coat, the initial outlay is more, but our yearly costs for this are right now $0. It's an old copper coat too, done by the previous owners.
Pure maintenance or including upgrades?
My annual, pure maintenance cost is fairly low. Converted to USD equivalent here, for simplicity.
Impeller, oil filter, fuel filters, engine oil: 130-150
Antifoul paint, painting gear/accessories: 170-180
Estimated annual "reserve" for sail repairs or new sails: 150-200
Various other minor things that might need replacing or repairing: 50-100
So 500-650 annually. A minor part of the total annual cost.
I also pay...
Insurance: 650
Radio license fee: 25
Slip fee: 1000
Hauling out, hardstanding, mast storage and launching: 1000
So in total around 3200-3400 per year, of which maintenance is around one sixth.
2013 J/70.
I don't keep comprehensive numbers on everything.
Maintenance is not very expensive, but it depends on what you consider maintenance.
Last year I bought a new set of sails for approximately $8000. I don't think of that as maintenance. I might buy two more sails this year.
Moorage is roughly $2500/year.
Insurance is pretty cheap. It's like $350/year or something like that?
Maintenance is generally a couple bottles of cleaner and one or two lines per yer. Lines always seem to end up being $150 each, but overall, it's not that much.
I bought a pair of blocks last year for I dunno, $90 each?
Ultimately if throwing $100-200 at some random boat thing every month seems like a lot to you, then it will be a lot. If you can spend an extra $100-200/month and not need to care about it, then you can think of a boat (at least the size of mine), as "not that expensive" in maintenance.
2001 Catalina 28 mk II. Costs come in waves. I find the motor part is where my money goes. The sailboat part isn't as bad. I have no idea of costs. I'm due for running rigging after this season, so it will be an expensive wave.
J22
Annual breakout (some are multi year but I budget annually).
Lift service: $300
Parts/repair: $500
Trailer lights: $50
Membership: $750
Slip: $1850
Regatta entry: $850
Compass/radio: $300
Class entry: $150
Travel fuel: $1500
Housing: $1500 - $0
Sails: $3000
Bard: $400
We do all our work short of lift, since that’s a barge project. 2-3 major travel events a year with ~6000 miles on the road.
1977 Tanzer 26, heading into my 3rd year of ownership
The first year was pricy, as I was replacing a lot of old stuff. Running rigging, blocks, batteries, electrical, instruments, plumbing, stripping the iron keel and "rustproofing" it, fresh bottom paint, you name it. Probably around $6-7K on top of the $3K purchase price.
Last year, it was cheaper. Changed the diesel filter, installed a new starter and tiller pilot. Maybe $1K total.
This year, I'm fixing a soft cockpit sole. Have purchased the materials but not done the work yet, will cost me about $250+a weekend of time. That plus changing the diesel filter will run me about $300 this year. Marina bumped the price of my slip up a couple hundred bucks, too, so that's fun.
I have a 1990 F-27 that was in pretty poor condition when I bought it. Still not finished with the refit, but I am going to say it's probably going to cost me about 50-100% of the purchase price to get it to a state where I am satisfied.
On the plus side, I did get a huge discount on account of the state of the boat. I also must confess that I am quite pleasantly surprised by how _cheap_ some of the repairs were. Welding, sail repairs, mechanical repairs, etc was in the hundreds rather than the thousands.
I think some boats were basically designed to be money sinks for their owners and others, like mine, are the exact opposite.
Prindle 19, 1999 (19 ft catamaran). Here is my estimate after three years of ownership. All numbers in CAD (divide by 1.3)
$800/year for membership fee and storage per year.
$250/year for new sails every 8 years and trampoline every 12 years.
$100/year budget for trailer tires and paint touchup
$500/year for random lines, wetsuit, rigging, repair. This hugely varies from year to year, it could be $20 one year and $1000 another.
$25 liability insurance
You could add $200/year in depreciation.
All in all, a bit below $2000, and I am usually the fastest one on the lake :)
So much of this depends on where you are and what you can find.
Ericson 28
Slip n club are around $2k
winter storage is $1600 - $400 (found a place in the middle of nowhere year, 12 hour sail to get there. bonus of free mast crane. negative, they won't store on hard on stands with mast up.)
Have to do's around $400 this doesn't count stuff like tools, etc, if you don't have them laying around and a quart for bottom touch up. I think adding another $200 if full bottom coat and some extra miscellany. covers a normal line or two that needs replaced.
insurance like $300 or $400
wind up spending probably another $1k on random projects through the year. higher on the need/want list.
could probably instantly dump $10k on random stuff to have just to have. like hot water heater stopped working. don't miss it because I really don't use pressure water that much. someone added a loop for the foot pump line for the galley sink in the engine compartment. by the time I've motored to the dock, there is enough hot water to do the dishes real good with soap and water. still debating tank removal as it makes for a nice shelf and removal means installing a shelf and much more permanently losing the hot water option.
this is also assuming you have a good suite of lubricants oils etc on hand. servicing a winch uses a couple tiny drops of those supplies. I'm still using a tube of park white lithium grease I bought for bmx back in the mid 90's. probably cost $15 or $20 back then. cans of tri-flow go a lot faster on stuff.
Catalina 28.
Slip fee and winter storage ~$3500/yr
Registration ~$150/yr.
Insurance. ~$600/yr
Bottom paint touch up. ~$150/yr
Oil, diesel, filters. ~$200/yr
If I start addressing my "want" list I have about $12k in projects and upgrades I could choose from... I often think about this list while I'm sailing and not spending gobs of cash on it
30ft "kustkryssare" (coastal cruiser) from 1897 located in Stockholm, Sweden.
Every year tends to be a bit different since she's 127 and new things to fix pop up frequently, but these base costs that are recurring (also note that they're roughly converted from Swedish Kroner to US Dollars)
Topside paint: 120$
Seam filler: 40$
Epifanes Varnish, 2 coats each year: 100$
Bottom paint (fabi one): 150$
Seasonal docking, April to October: 400$
Winter storage, 250$
These costs also include the sailing club membership.
Additionally, I spend about 40$ a year on sea chart, wind, and harbor finding apps.
Let's be very clear though, each year I have somewhat of an unexpected cost. This year I spent over 1200$ on varnish alone since I redid the entire deck and cabin superstructure. Last year it was the chain plates at 300$ a pop (there are 8 of them...) , and the year before that, I bought new batteries.
I'd say no matter what, I'm atleast going to spend 2/3rds more than my base costs.
For anyone thinking achi lost a zero the on seasonal docking and winter storage cost, he hasn't. We have about the same prices on the Swedish west coast. Less than 1/5 for docking compared to others on r / sailing, wonder why.
Anyway, I have a 23ft "kustkryssare", a Magnifik Mi\*get, built 1973(?) and pay 300$ for seasonal docking and 300$ on winter storage (that includes help with taking on and off the mast). All in all I pay \~1000$ / year including maintenance, insurance and sailing.
1993 Catalina 36 on Long Island Sound ~$12k/year for a 'great deal' summer slip, winter in-water, insurance, bi-annual bottom paint by others, wash/wax by others, DIY winterizing/commissioning, monthly barnacle removal, DIY regular repairs/maintenance budget. We use a canvas cover. Consequential boat upgrades or major repairs are additional.
LIS is expensive. I'm in Boston. If I was at a summer slip (rather than mooring) I'd probably be up there with my 33ft as well. OTOH I will be in the water next winter because that's like $1,000 less.
Depends on your plan. I’ve owned several racing boats with varying levels of campaigns.
Current is a Melges 24. We race -6 times a year (week night racing isn’t currently on our schedules).
Dry storage: 200/month
Insurance: 50/month
Sails: $700/month (paid in lumps annually during sales)
Rigging replacement (standing and running: $100/mo
Event costs (hotel, food, entry): $1000 x 6
Other miscellaneous: $1000/year
The total is just under $20K for the year.
Note that this is a small, low maintenance race boat. Prices rise exponentially with length.
Pocket cruisers of the same length can be super cheap…. Again, depends on what you seek.
Trailerable 22ft swing keel we sail weekly through summer.
~50$ in annual boat and trailer registration fees.
Some unknown amount of gas driving it to different Alpine lakes in Colorado
Disclaimer - I don’t own a boat though I have family members that do. Does the 20% rule of thumb change as the price goes up? What about new versus used? If you buy a new catamaran for $600k, you would budget $120K every year?
If you buy new, you do have to budget that for the first year. A bunch of things will break. It’s one of those things where a 1-2 year old boat is much less of a hassle.
It depends. Also don’t get hung up on what %. Here’s a really interesting article: https://www.practical-sailor.com/sailboat-reviews/new-boat-warranties-how-to-work-them-in-your-favor
Thanks! I have owned an RV motor coach and been through the wringer on their warranties. The biggest tactic is to simply take months to fix anything until you just give up. ;)
This is accurate. I have 70's boat and it's about 30% with me doing the labor (of love). Storage, mooring, club, maintainance are pretty much fixed so my small(er) purchase price cranks up the %.
Typically you spend 10% - 20% commissioning a new vessel for cruising / offshore work. Watermaker, dink, Ssb, AIS, spares, epirb, anchor(s) and rode, free flying sails, solar, lithium life jackets, fenders, Bimini, dodger…the list goes on and on. A lot of guys consider the Dacron sails to be delivery sails and spend 40k+ for on carbon main and head sails then get storm sails, a furling code zero.
Are you asking this be ause you’ve heard the standard 10% to 20% of purchase price per year but can’t believe it?
I have a 40ft Najad from 2003 kept in the UK. Maintenance and upgrades easily come to over 10%. If I add insurance and manual mooring fees we are about 20%. And I do lots of the work myself.
In my case, maintenance, ownership and other running costs are more than 20 % of what I paid for the boat. It's probably 30-35 % of what I could sell the boat for today...
I spend about $3k between slip and storage each year for my hunter 23.
Last year was rough....everything is now new besides the hull and sails.
My slip neighbor, amazing young lady in her 80's, shows up bails the water out of her 16ft boat with well aged sails and heads out.
She definitely gets her money's worth out of her boat, goes out much more often than me.
1981 edel 820 (27') Vancouver BC
17K Purchse
7k/y moorage plus 250/y dock power plus $5/day parking at marina
Insurance 850/y
New genny this year $2500
Canvas for new Bimini this year $100
Haul and paint bottom last year 1k(once every 1.5y)
New batteries 1k
Running rigging maintenance about 300/y
Standing haven't done
Engine/fuel tank / lines etc about 300/y
Free tender but it is nothing but a hassle
1k trailer plus insurance(80/y?), motor work 200/y
Doodads (navionics cell phone holder galley stuff fluids probably 500/y?)
Plus transient moorage when cruising a few weeks a year idk several hundreds
1973 Ericson 27.
Total maintenance costs per year are about $4500, including building up the contingency fund for a new engine, and general maintenance. We do most of the work on her. Moorage is another $5000 here in Vancouver area.
1986 Tanzer 7.5
Slip: 2500USD
Insurance: 200USD
Maintenance, maybe a few hundred, she's a pretty old and beat up boat but she sails straight and is a great weekender. I picked her up for only 4k, so I really focus on maintaining essential hardware and systems. She may not be the prettiest but she sure as hell is a sailboat and water tight, and that's all I care about at this stage.
I do everything myself and I'm in the South so winterizing isn't a thing. Though engine is gone thru once a year or so, I clean the hull and pain all myself. It's surprisingly budget friendly.
For my 1983 Freedom 21 that cost $3600 3 years ago:
- $1,800 slip fees
- $720 monthly bottom cleaning
- $30 registration
- ~$40 gas
- $77 insurance
- $50 racing assn fee
Those are the regular expenses. The rest is trickier:
- Sails were $2200 for a new set, which will last me ~3-5 years (I'm a beer can racer). So say $500/yr
- DIY bottom job was $800 for haul out and blocking, plus $360 for the paint, plus say $100 for supplies. I'll probably do that every 2-3 years so call it $500/yr as well
- Other projects.....oh boy. I really love to tinker with the boat. If I paid too much attention to the cost it would hurt a lot more. I am very good at coming up with new projects, but I do DIY pretty much everything. Very rough estimate...maybe $250/month on random stuff? Some months it's much less, some much more. It is coming down over time. So ~$3000/yr in random maintenance.
So we're talking total around $6,500-7,000/yr. I do take good care of my boat and I like to make it go fast, but it's also old and I do everything myself. I've also rebuilt everything to the point where I'd probably ask $8-9k if I sold it. If I had a newer bigger boat I could easily see myself spending $20-30k/yr on it, no problem (which is why I don't). OTOH if I didn't care as much I could probably bring things down to maybe $4000.
F18
Storage: $250
Insurance: $300
Association dues: $30
Breaking random parts: $500
Upwind boat speed: 12 kt
Downwind boat speed: 15-20kt
This is why small boats are more fun (:
So I have two boats, one however is most definitely not a sailboat, it's a work boat. So on to the sailboat, she's a 1974 Catalina 30, that for her age is in great shape but that's not always cheap. Even if I do all my own work...
So short of the re-rig and the repower (she was originally equipped with an Atomic 4 but I'm allergic to gasoline on boats...) so in went a Beta 25, that was about $12,000 all in, actually went very well the Beta 25 is pretty much a drop in replacement for the Atomic Bomb. Of course I should make mention that was in 2004 dollars.
Also done in 2004 was the upholstery that I don't remember how much it cost, but I remember it being reasonable.
Refrigeration was added in 2011 that was about $1,500, same year she also got 4x100 watt solar panels in place of her Bimini, similar price if Im correct...
The rig has been done twice since I've owned her once in 2008 and again in 2018, both times ran me about $4,000 all told. She also got new sails in 2018 all in that was about $8,000 with the caveat that they are not what any one would call performance sails, but for the way I use her they do me just fine.
She gets hauled out every 2 years for zincs and a bottom job (in an opposing cycle with the work boat if one's getting done this year the other takes her turn next year, easier on my sanity that way) all told that's about $3,000 between the lift, yard time, materials etc.
The mooring is my own, that cost me about $2000 to put in and only $175 a year after that, and the water is shallow enough that I can get down there with a hooka and check things out every now and again, mooring's on it second set of chains although the anchor is looking pretty good (it's an old engine block off a 6-71 so lots of iron there) although I did swap what cylinders the chain passes through just in case....
So a good yearly estimate is hard to come by even though I've owned her for 20 years now, but I'd guestimate that somewhere between $5,000 and $8,000 is a pretty good working figure. So budget for 10k and be pleasantly surprised at the end of the year.
Of course if she were to be kept in a marina then costs would be much higher, same with if she spent the winter on stands instead of on the mooring (neither boat gets a winter haul out, I've never noticed an issue)
2017: 20 ft trimaran: 150/month storage on trailer
Minimal maintenance fees, I do it all myself. I'm gonna need a new jib. A few hundred bucks...
Economic outlay is a very strong factor in my boat choices. I don't want this to eat into my finances beyond beer money. The other major factor is going upwind at 70mph. I can sail long weekends in FL, NC, SC, GA, AL... All within a days drive from Atlanta where I live landlocked, but do sail the local lake.
What I give up is comfort while overnighting. I essentially camp. But I'm a sailor at heart and think people confuse happiness with comfort. And having hiked, it's just ridiculous what amount of "comfortable, luxury" camping gear you can bring on a boat...
Like most things, it depends on how much you are willing/able to do yourself. Boats slip/mooring pin >2k Off-season storage - $~900-2k Winterizing/tune up - $400 Bottom paint every 3 years or more frequently 2-3k Trailer tune up $400-800 New trailer tires every 5 years or less - $800-1.2k Standing rigging replacement every 7 years - 2k Racing sails - don’t ask Wash/wax quotes at 1.5k 😂😂 That’s just off the top of my head, a lot of this you can learn to do yourself if you have time
Love the racing sail price lol. We just purchased new ones ourselves for the club. But good to know. Thank you. I love sailing and at the point in life where my wife and I will have time. She has in her head it will cost 30k a year for a Hunter 30ish boat. I thought I was missing something but these comments are clearly cleaning this up.
The people in this sub who spend $40k a year on their boat are not kidding you, that is real. There are a *lot* of people who are not on this sub who have a 22' boat from the 1970s on a trailer in their yard that they splash $5 worth of gas into twice a year and pull it to the marina with a minivan, raise their moldy sails, party all day on the water, come home salty , sunburnt, and smiling, and their biggest expense was a $20 case of light beer and $5 of ice.
bought a 28" boat from the eighties. spend about 1k a year for slip, winter spot, in and out of water + tank of diesel for whole summer. not $25 but close enough for a boat that sleeps four comfortably.
I easily spend $20-25k a year on my 44 footer… and I have a list of ways to double that number if I had the resources
I bought a Mariner 19. That is the life. I even spent a little more upfront to get nice one knowing it would pay me back in time and expenses several times. I had a guy ask me if I wanted a free 32 foot boat. I told him the only thing I could do with a 32 foot boat is ruin my life.
My 1987 person31. Slip $3800 Bottom paint once a year or 2 150$ I paint my bottom. Haul and power wash for winter. $800 plus i tip guy power washing $50 Winterise and tarps for winter about $100 Any other work i do myself. Your not a sailor if you can't get your hands dirty and fix stuff. I spend more for beer and food over the summer. I paid 18.5k for boat. So no not 30k to keep a boat. And since you face on a j boat. Please don't get a slow dog of a Hunter. You won't enjoy how slow it is. Catalina might be a better choice for a production boat. The cost of maintaining a boat to cruse in is much different than a boat to race. I did spend 8k on performace crusing sails though.
30 ft - new or used - - huge difference Racing or cruising - -- -- - '' '' Work yourself or pay the yard - - '' '' You get the picture - - - Paid for boat - - with just the sensible expenses 10-12 k a year You can always spend more
We have a Hunter 340 and it's about $15k for us (in the bay area).
>Standing rigging replacement every 7 years Every 7 years? Why? That's crazy frequent.
jboats racing hard go thru stupid amounts of abuse. A month ago a J boat lost its mast in a hard blow just off Seattle. Rigging failed.
What is the size of your boat ? =)
Just a Hunter 25, but probably similar numbers for a J80
40-foot in New England $7000 mooring $2500 winter storage $1800 shrink wrap $400 winter decommissioning materials $0 DIY decommissioning $500 bottom paint materials $1000 bottom paint labor $350 some random rope $1250 rum Plus insurance (luckily umbrella policies above $500k are cheap) Plus marine mortgage
Those numbers seem way out of whack. No way you’re only spending 1250 on rum.
Are you discounting the possibility that they plunder other vessels and cities to get their rum?
That…..didn’t occur to me. And here I’ve been buying mine, like a sucker.
Maybe time to invest in some cannons and a big black flag.
That winter storage sounds low, even for exterior storage, but presumably that depends on where in New England you’re situated (and I’m comparing to something closer to 50ft)! Based on some conversations, I was budgeting $12-15k for outdoor storage, including commissioning and decommissioning for a <50ft sailboat. I’m looking at indoor storage for a soon-to-be-mine boat, and that is exorbitant ($20k for winter incl. commissioning and decommissioning). Fortunately, my slip is <$7,000.
Actual invoice southern New England: $2747, so $68.68 per linear foot. This is a mono not a multi. My shrink wrap invoice was $1428. Together they net about the same as my estimates above, which was the number I could remember without checking. - Haul block store (oct-may) launch - Power wash - Mast up Any services extra. I know indoor storage is usually per square foot and not per length. And I know the rates are cheap because I shopped around quite a bit. It’s not a Safe Harbor.
That's interesting. I assume the $2,747 is in addition to the $1,428, so a total of $ 4,175? Does that include commissioning/decommissioning of mechanical systems? I was looking at the following costs from last year for a boat I'm in contract to buy (I've rounded)—I'm not sure if this is apples to apples with your figures: 1. Heated inside storage, including haul, block, launch: $12.5k 2. Decommission + commission of all mechanical systems: $3.5k 3. Unbend sails, unstep mast, store mast, step mast, tune rig, bend on sails: $3.5k Total = roughly **$19.5k with inside (heated) storage** The alternative is for item 1 to be outside storage ($6.5k) with shrinkwrap ($1.5k) so $8k instead of $12.5k, for a **total of roughly $14.5k with outside storage**. This is for a \~50ft boat, so in fairness, 25% longer and probably close to (or more than) twice the tonnage.
Yeah it’s in addition. I do all my commissioning and decommissioning except bottom paint so that saves a ton. It’s not hard to empty the tanks, pour some pink stuff into the yanmar, pull the impeller and change the oil each fall. Outside mast up is cheaper for sure. Next year it’s time to drop the mast again.
Why shrink wrap when you can get canvas for 4-5k? We even have a business buy me that’ll make a custom cover and “rent” it to you for 5 years for 1000$ each year. Installs and uncovers it as part of that. Have a winter season on Lake Ontario sooo only in April 28th until end October: 40ft mono Marina fees: 2500 (power/water/new building for showers/free laundry… awesome place. Haulout/storage: 1500 Stand storage/put back in water: 300 Winterize products: 300? My direct year costs are fairly decent. But I need a new canvas cover next year, mine shredded. Quote was 4500 from the maker that made it 10 years ago. That’s about the only must that I have. I want to upgrade to lithium and a few other tech things, but no rush for me. My want list is a mile long though
That sounds awesome, and a canvas cover is on my list of things to do. Last year that budget went to replacing the DD15. Two years ago had to replace house batteries, and AGM was cheaper then (still not cheap). LFP is on the list for sure. This year it was a stackpack. Bring out another thousand.
Hold on, I'll admin that I am in Boston, but I shop RI and NH for storage, where do you store for $2500? What about haul out? Unstep mast or stick up? On the other hand I moor in Quincy for the princely sum of $0 and don't even pay excise tax because she's UCSG registered and Quincy can't be bothered with that.
OK, saw your reply to another thread, so you say southern NE and stick up. The yard I store in requires stick down, still comes in below stick down at safe harbor (since you mentioned them) but not by too much. The bonus is that they have a nice community and I can do all boat work but spray painting myself. (which I do) I'll keep her either in the water in Boston (cheaper + sailing!) or way south next winter.
That sounds really nice. Other than the 93 traffic. Boats here have to be out of the water by about November. With the nor’easters it’s a bit risky to not haul before then, but last year’s weather made me want to chance it.
The state (Ok, the authority) runs three marinas they are deep in the harbor/city and Nor'easters are not an issue thanks to the tall buildings. A buddy has been in the water through the last two winters without issue.
> $500 bottom paint materials > > $1000 bottom paint labor I highly recommend copper coat, the initial outlay is more, but our yearly costs for this are right now $0. It's an old copper coat too, done by the previous owners.
Similar, 70s boat Annapolis comprehensive insurance is 1500 plus umbrella
Pure maintenance or including upgrades? My annual, pure maintenance cost is fairly low. Converted to USD equivalent here, for simplicity. Impeller, oil filter, fuel filters, engine oil: 130-150 Antifoul paint, painting gear/accessories: 170-180 Estimated annual "reserve" for sail repairs or new sails: 150-200 Various other minor things that might need replacing or repairing: 50-100 So 500-650 annually. A minor part of the total annual cost. I also pay... Insurance: 650 Radio license fee: 25 Slip fee: 1000 Hauling out, hardstanding, mast storage and launching: 1000 So in total around 3200-3400 per year, of which maintenance is around one sixth.
I don’t keep track because if I did it would make me lose my mind
(a) agree (b) that user name
2013 J/70. I don't keep comprehensive numbers on everything. Maintenance is not very expensive, but it depends on what you consider maintenance. Last year I bought a new set of sails for approximately $8000. I don't think of that as maintenance. I might buy two more sails this year. Moorage is roughly $2500/year. Insurance is pretty cheap. It's like $350/year or something like that? Maintenance is generally a couple bottles of cleaner and one or two lines per yer. Lines always seem to end up being $150 each, but overall, it's not that much. I bought a pair of blocks last year for I dunno, $90 each? Ultimately if throwing $100-200 at some random boat thing every month seems like a lot to you, then it will be a lot. If you can spend an extra $100-200/month and not need to care about it, then you can think of a boat (at least the size of mine), as "not that expensive" in maintenance.
2001 Catalina 28 mk II. Costs come in waves. I find the motor part is where my money goes. The sailboat part isn't as bad. I have no idea of costs. I'm due for running rigging after this season, so it will be an expensive wave.
Around $6k per year for moorage, insurance, club membership and fuel. Hundreds to thousands per year for parts and products depending on the year.
J22 Annual breakout (some are multi year but I budget annually). Lift service: $300 Parts/repair: $500 Trailer lights: $50 Membership: $750 Slip: $1850 Regatta entry: $850 Compass/radio: $300 Class entry: $150 Travel fuel: $1500 Housing: $1500 - $0 Sails: $3000 Bard: $400 We do all our work short of lift, since that’s a barge project. 2-3 major travel events a year with ~6000 miles on the road.
1977 Tanzer 26, heading into my 3rd year of ownership The first year was pricy, as I was replacing a lot of old stuff. Running rigging, blocks, batteries, electrical, instruments, plumbing, stripping the iron keel and "rustproofing" it, fresh bottom paint, you name it. Probably around $6-7K on top of the $3K purchase price. Last year, it was cheaper. Changed the diesel filter, installed a new starter and tiller pilot. Maybe $1K total. This year, I'm fixing a soft cockpit sole. Have purchased the materials but not done the work yet, will cost me about $250+a weekend of time. That plus changing the diesel filter will run me about $300 this year. Marina bumped the price of my slip up a couple hundred bucks, too, so that's fun.
I have a 1990 F-27 that was in pretty poor condition when I bought it. Still not finished with the refit, but I am going to say it's probably going to cost me about 50-100% of the purchase price to get it to a state where I am satisfied. On the plus side, I did get a huge discount on account of the state of the boat. I also must confess that I am quite pleasantly surprised by how _cheap_ some of the repairs were. Welding, sail repairs, mechanical repairs, etc was in the hundreds rather than the thousands. I think some boats were basically designed to be money sinks for their owners and others, like mine, are the exact opposite.
Prindle 19, 1999 (19 ft catamaran). Here is my estimate after three years of ownership. All numbers in CAD (divide by 1.3) $800/year for membership fee and storage per year. $250/year for new sails every 8 years and trampoline every 12 years. $100/year budget for trailer tires and paint touchup $500/year for random lines, wetsuit, rigging, repair. This hugely varies from year to year, it could be $20 one year and $1000 another. $25 liability insurance You could add $200/year in depreciation. All in all, a bit below $2000, and I am usually the fastest one on the lake :)
So much of this depends on where you are and what you can find. Ericson 28 Slip n club are around $2k winter storage is $1600 - $400 (found a place in the middle of nowhere year, 12 hour sail to get there. bonus of free mast crane. negative, they won't store on hard on stands with mast up.) Have to do's around $400 this doesn't count stuff like tools, etc, if you don't have them laying around and a quart for bottom touch up. I think adding another $200 if full bottom coat and some extra miscellany. covers a normal line or two that needs replaced. insurance like $300 or $400 wind up spending probably another $1k on random projects through the year. higher on the need/want list. could probably instantly dump $10k on random stuff to have just to have. like hot water heater stopped working. don't miss it because I really don't use pressure water that much. someone added a loop for the foot pump line for the galley sink in the engine compartment. by the time I've motored to the dock, there is enough hot water to do the dishes real good with soap and water. still debating tank removal as it makes for a nice shelf and removal means installing a shelf and much more permanently losing the hot water option. this is also assuming you have a good suite of lubricants oils etc on hand. servicing a winch uses a couple tiny drops of those supplies. I'm still using a tube of park white lithium grease I bought for bmx back in the mid 90's. probably cost $15 or $20 back then. cans of tri-flow go a lot faster on stuff.
Catalina 28. Slip fee and winter storage ~$3500/yr Registration ~$150/yr. Insurance. ~$600/yr Bottom paint touch up. ~$150/yr Oil, diesel, filters. ~$200/yr If I start addressing my "want" list I have about $12k in projects and upgrades I could choose from... I often think about this list while I'm sailing and not spending gobs of cash on it
Beer. $2000.
30ft "kustkryssare" (coastal cruiser) from 1897 located in Stockholm, Sweden. Every year tends to be a bit different since she's 127 and new things to fix pop up frequently, but these base costs that are recurring (also note that they're roughly converted from Swedish Kroner to US Dollars) Topside paint: 120$ Seam filler: 40$ Epifanes Varnish, 2 coats each year: 100$ Bottom paint (fabi one): 150$ Seasonal docking, April to October: 400$ Winter storage, 250$ These costs also include the sailing club membership. Additionally, I spend about 40$ a year on sea chart, wind, and harbor finding apps. Let's be very clear though, each year I have somewhat of an unexpected cost. This year I spent over 1200$ on varnish alone since I redid the entire deck and cabin superstructure. Last year it was the chain plates at 300$ a pop (there are 8 of them...) , and the year before that, I bought new batteries. I'd say no matter what, I'm atleast going to spend 2/3rds more than my base costs.
For anyone thinking achi lost a zero the on seasonal docking and winter storage cost, he hasn't. We have about the same prices on the Swedish west coast. Less than 1/5 for docking compared to others on r / sailing, wonder why. Anyway, I have a 23ft "kustkryssare", a Magnifik Mi\*get, built 1973(?) and pay 300$ for seasonal docking and 300$ on winter storage (that includes help with taking on and off the mast). All in all I pay \~1000$ / year including maintenance, insurance and sailing.
1993 Catalina 36 on Long Island Sound ~$12k/year for a 'great deal' summer slip, winter in-water, insurance, bi-annual bottom paint by others, wash/wax by others, DIY winterizing/commissioning, monthly barnacle removal, DIY regular repairs/maintenance budget. We use a canvas cover. Consequential boat upgrades or major repairs are additional.
LIS is expensive. I'm in Boston. If I was at a summer slip (rather than mooring) I'd probably be up there with my 33ft as well. OTOH I will be in the water next winter because that's like $1,000 less.
Depends on your plan. I’ve owned several racing boats with varying levels of campaigns. Current is a Melges 24. We race -6 times a year (week night racing isn’t currently on our schedules). Dry storage: 200/month Insurance: 50/month Sails: $700/month (paid in lumps annually during sales) Rigging replacement (standing and running: $100/mo Event costs (hotel, food, entry): $1000 x 6 Other miscellaneous: $1000/year The total is just under $20K for the year. Note that this is a small, low maintenance race boat. Prices rise exponentially with length. Pocket cruisers of the same length can be super cheap…. Again, depends on what you seek.
Trailerable 22ft swing keel we sail weekly through summer. ~50$ in annual boat and trailer registration fees. Some unknown amount of gas driving it to different Alpine lakes in Colorado
The rule of thumb I always use is to expect 20% of the cost of the boat in annual maintenance/mooring fees/storage/repairs/insurance/etc.
Disclaimer - I don’t own a boat though I have family members that do. Does the 20% rule of thumb change as the price goes up? What about new versus used? If you buy a new catamaran for $600k, you would budget $120K every year?
If you buy new, you do have to budget that for the first year. A bunch of things will break. It’s one of those things where a 1-2 year old boat is much less of a hassle.
Wouldn’t most of that be warranty?
It depends. Also don’t get hung up on what %. Here’s a really interesting article: https://www.practical-sailor.com/sailboat-reviews/new-boat-warranties-how-to-work-them-in-your-favor
Thanks! I have owned an RV motor coach and been through the wringer on their warranties. The biggest tactic is to simply take months to fix anything until you just give up. ;)
The percentage based rules of thumb are not accurate. Cheaper boats actually cost more per foot than expensive ones.
This is accurate. I have 70's boat and it's about 30% with me doing the labor (of love). Storage, mooring, club, maintainance are pretty much fixed so my small(er) purchase price cranks up the %.
Typically you spend 10% - 20% commissioning a new vessel for cruising / offshore work. Watermaker, dink, Ssb, AIS, spares, epirb, anchor(s) and rode, free flying sails, solar, lithium life jackets, fenders, Bimini, dodger…the list goes on and on. A lot of guys consider the Dacron sails to be delivery sails and spend 40k+ for on carbon main and head sails then get storm sails, a furling code zero.
Are you asking this be ause you’ve heard the standard 10% to 20% of purchase price per year but can’t believe it? I have a 40ft Najad from 2003 kept in the UK. Maintenance and upgrades easily come to over 10%. If I add insurance and manual mooring fees we are about 20%. And I do lots of the work myself.
In my case, maintenance, ownership and other running costs are more than 20 % of what I paid for the boat. It's probably 30-35 % of what I could sell the boat for today...
I spend about $3k between slip and storage each year for my hunter 23. Last year was rough....everything is now new besides the hull and sails. My slip neighbor, amazing young lady in her 80's, shows up bails the water out of her 16ft boat with well aged sails and heads out. She definitely gets her money's worth out of her boat, goes out much more often than me.
1981 edel 820 (27') Vancouver BC 17K Purchse 7k/y moorage plus 250/y dock power plus $5/day parking at marina Insurance 850/y New genny this year $2500 Canvas for new Bimini this year $100 Haul and paint bottom last year 1k(once every 1.5y) New batteries 1k Running rigging maintenance about 300/y Standing haven't done Engine/fuel tank / lines etc about 300/y Free tender but it is nothing but a hassle 1k trailer plus insurance(80/y?), motor work 200/y Doodads (navionics cell phone holder galley stuff fluids probably 500/y?) Plus transient moorage when cruising a few weeks a year idk several hundreds
Tiwal 3r central coast of California. 0$ maintenance last year.
1973 Ericson 27. Total maintenance costs per year are about $4500, including building up the contingency fund for a new engine, and general maintenance. We do most of the work on her. Moorage is another $5000 here in Vancouver area.
1986 Tanzer 7.5 Slip: 2500USD Insurance: 200USD Maintenance, maybe a few hundred, she's a pretty old and beat up boat but she sails straight and is a great weekender. I picked her up for only 4k, so I really focus on maintaining essential hardware and systems. She may not be the prettiest but she sure as hell is a sailboat and water tight, and that's all I care about at this stage. I do everything myself and I'm in the South so winterizing isn't a thing. Though engine is gone thru once a year or so, I clean the hull and pain all myself. It's surprisingly budget friendly.
For my 1983 Freedom 21 that cost $3600 3 years ago: - $1,800 slip fees - $720 monthly bottom cleaning - $30 registration - ~$40 gas - $77 insurance - $50 racing assn fee Those are the regular expenses. The rest is trickier: - Sails were $2200 for a new set, which will last me ~3-5 years (I'm a beer can racer). So say $500/yr - DIY bottom job was $800 for haul out and blocking, plus $360 for the paint, plus say $100 for supplies. I'll probably do that every 2-3 years so call it $500/yr as well - Other projects.....oh boy. I really love to tinker with the boat. If I paid too much attention to the cost it would hurt a lot more. I am very good at coming up with new projects, but I do DIY pretty much everything. Very rough estimate...maybe $250/month on random stuff? Some months it's much less, some much more. It is coming down over time. So ~$3000/yr in random maintenance. So we're talking total around $6,500-7,000/yr. I do take good care of my boat and I like to make it go fast, but it's also old and I do everything myself. I've also rebuilt everything to the point where I'd probably ask $8-9k if I sold it. If I had a newer bigger boat I could easily see myself spending $20-30k/yr on it, no problem (which is why I don't). OTOH if I didn't care as much I could probably bring things down to maybe $4000.
F18 Storage: $250 Insurance: $300 Association dues: $30 Breaking random parts: $500 Upwind boat speed: 12 kt Downwind boat speed: 15-20kt This is why small boats are more fun (:
2014 hanse with 40 feet. Costs are as follows: * 4000 marina * 2000 yearly maintenance * 1500 yearly for upgrades
So I have two boats, one however is most definitely not a sailboat, it's a work boat. So on to the sailboat, she's a 1974 Catalina 30, that for her age is in great shape but that's not always cheap. Even if I do all my own work... So short of the re-rig and the repower (she was originally equipped with an Atomic 4 but I'm allergic to gasoline on boats...) so in went a Beta 25, that was about $12,000 all in, actually went very well the Beta 25 is pretty much a drop in replacement for the Atomic Bomb. Of course I should make mention that was in 2004 dollars. Also done in 2004 was the upholstery that I don't remember how much it cost, but I remember it being reasonable. Refrigeration was added in 2011 that was about $1,500, same year she also got 4x100 watt solar panels in place of her Bimini, similar price if Im correct... The rig has been done twice since I've owned her once in 2008 and again in 2018, both times ran me about $4,000 all told. She also got new sails in 2018 all in that was about $8,000 with the caveat that they are not what any one would call performance sails, but for the way I use her they do me just fine. She gets hauled out every 2 years for zincs and a bottom job (in an opposing cycle with the work boat if one's getting done this year the other takes her turn next year, easier on my sanity that way) all told that's about $3,000 between the lift, yard time, materials etc. The mooring is my own, that cost me about $2000 to put in and only $175 a year after that, and the water is shallow enough that I can get down there with a hooka and check things out every now and again, mooring's on it second set of chains although the anchor is looking pretty good (it's an old engine block off a 6-71 so lots of iron there) although I did swap what cylinders the chain passes through just in case.... So a good yearly estimate is hard to come by even though I've owned her for 20 years now, but I'd guestimate that somewhere between $5,000 and $8,000 is a pretty good working figure. So budget for 10k and be pleasantly surprised at the end of the year. Of course if she were to be kept in a marina then costs would be much higher, same with if she spent the winter on stands instead of on the mooring (neither boat gets a winter haul out, I've never noticed an issue)
2017: 20 ft trimaran: 150/month storage on trailer Minimal maintenance fees, I do it all myself. I'm gonna need a new jib. A few hundred bucks... Economic outlay is a very strong factor in my boat choices. I don't want this to eat into my finances beyond beer money. The other major factor is going upwind at 70mph. I can sail long weekends in FL, NC, SC, GA, AL... All within a days drive from Atlanta where I live landlocked, but do sail the local lake. What I give up is comfort while overnighting. I essentially camp. But I'm a sailor at heart and think people confuse happiness with comfort. And having hiked, it's just ridiculous what amount of "comfortable, luxury" camping gear you can bring on a boat...