How much should we budget for annual maintenance

[vhoisington]

A lot depends here on how you plan to use the boat. Weekend trailer sailor in a small lake, budget as needed for "upgrades". Minimal things will wear out, even standing rigging in fresh water will last 30+ years. On the other hand, do you have plans to live aboard? take it to the coast and sail the Caribbean? then wear and tear will be significant, salt water will take its toll and just daily use. Also, do you do preventative maintenance or wait until things wear out? If you stay ahead of things, like winch rebuilds, sail covers, etc. then they tend to last longer.

Don't assume paying for the work will get you anything better than if you spent the time to learn and figure it out. Too many tales here about shoddy workmanship and the inability to get good help. On my 1st boat (1980 Hunter 25), I learned how to do fiberglass and gelcoat work, rebuild an outboard motor, manufacture and replace a rudder bearing, refinish all of the woodwork and complete a full bottom job. You can do it, it just takes time.

Both boats you describe are solid boats, good for learning on and reasonably simple to run. Read this forum, take everything with a grain of salt (except what Mainsail says - his words are gold to you) and have fun. Also, there are always things to do to the boat. Go sailing, make a list, go sailing some more, do a couple of things and then go sailing again. You can always do maintenance and repairs, but if you sail more you will learn what is important for you and your boat and have more fun.

fair winds,

Victor

 

[Kings Gambit]

Actually there is an entire segment of the yacht industry devoted to convincing people they can have the boat they "want" but can't sail, or really afford. We sail on them when we run off for a quick winter sailing vacation! The Charter industry is built on the model of using OPB (Other People's Boats) to make revenue. Buy what you can afford.

I bought one of those "can't sail, can't afford" yachts as a repo at 4 yr old, although not out of the charter service. It's actually astonishing how neglect, even over a relatively short time, can "degrade" a perfectly nice yacht. We got her back up to standards fairly soon--but, as we've been saying--it's $$--initially to do that.

 

[Hunter Ad Bot]

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[Doug4bass]

Working on a boat is fun...saves you $$$, and you learn. I'll never forget a statement made by a marina neighbor while we were waxing the hull . She owned a C-445.
" You wax you own boat??"
I replied. ...yes , and I winterize and change our own fuel and oil filters too!!

 

[Kermit]

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What? No chesty t-shirt model?

 

[Tally Ho]

When I bought my first boat (1998 Hunter 280), I had no idea what to budget for "owning costs". I decided $5,000 per year. This included slip fee, winter storage ~$3,000 for those 2, insurance, registration, and maintenance. Never spent the budget.

I painted the bottom every other year myself ( 3 quarts of VC-17 was enough), changed the oil every fall at haul-out (3 quarts of oil and a filter), and winterized her myself ( 6 gallons of antifreeze).

The boat was in great shape and did not need much TLC. I replaced the impeller once in a while, and replaced the speedlog through-hull when it started leaking. When I sold it, I helped the new owner replace the strut bearing.

I did replace a few lines every year just so I did not have to all of the running rigging at one time...replaced the traveler lines one winter, jib sheets the next, etc.

Your costswill really depend on what work you can do yourself ( boat yards charge a lot...with it some times, but if you CAN do it, a lot cheaper), and the condition of your boat. I assume it has a small outboard, not a diesel, so that should help keep costs down.

Good luck...make the plunge!


Greg

 

[Apex]

BigEasy: sounds like a well maintained and upgraded Bene! Be sure to post when you are ready to move.

We usually spend approx $2k/yr, slowly fixing and upgrading. This year will be much more with new sails.....

 

[catalanc]

Bottom line, you don't buy a boat as a lucrative investment. Fortunately, you only spend "boat dollars", which I must continue to remind the Admiral is roughly equal to a lira ...

 

[Parsons]

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Seems like a strange thing to blast out as an ad. I can't imagine someone impulse buying this. Could you imagine sitting around one day and thinking, "Hey, I'll haul my boat and change out the strut this weekend"?

 

[Kermit]

Seems like a strange thing to blast out as an ad. I can't imagine someone impulse buying this. Could you imagine sitting around one day and thinking, "Hey, I'll haul my boat and change out the strut this weekend"?

Agreed. Maybe a chesty t-shirt model demonstrating the strut. Or maybe, shall we say, strutting her stuff.

 

[Roland5048]

Roland5048 said: ↑
I get that question alot from charterers who are thinking of buying. I tell them, you can have $$ in the bank OR you can have a boat. You can't have both. Take your pick.

I can see how a charter skipper might not wish to see too many customers opting out of chartering to buy their own boats!

I say that quite 'tongue in cheek' although there is a grain of truth in it. They seem to be mostly surprised when I tell them how much it is to just park your boat in a marina.

 

[Parsons]

In seriousness to OP's original question ... I went through the same concerns a decade ago when I bought my first daysailor here. I made several contacts with racing skippers and made some calls to various vendors to find some prices, then put that all in a spreadsheet to figure out what it would cost me. I think I was pretty close, except for the "what the hells" that added another 10% to every purchase. Many things vary by location -- for example, insurance for Michigan (no hurricanes and only in the water half the year) is much less than Florida.

You'll want to make sure you've got something in each of these categories, unless you have a good reason it won't cost you anything (your brother owns a beach house with a dock?): Where to keep the boat (trailer is cheapest, but a pain every time you sail). Will you have to join a yacht club, pay dockage, trailer from home, etc. How will you insure it (most companies that insure cars also insure boats, and an older small boat is not that much), but it might be cheap enough that you could just walk away if a total loss? In any case, most marinas / clubs will not talk to you unless you have $300 K in liability insurance because they do not want to pay for your fuel spill or raising your boat from their harbor.

How will you maintain it (can you do-it-yourself, or hire it done ($90 per hour for a professional)? Most small fiberglass sailboats don't need extensive maintenance, but you should budget about 5-10% of the purchase price annually for upkeep (double that in the first year for needed safety gear and commissioning). Do you need towing insurance (BoatUS, SeaTow)? If you're new to this, the answer is YES. If you're experienced and know everything about sails and engines, the answer is still YES. Anything I've forgotten for daysailing?

 

[Kings Gambit]

Seems like a strange thing to blast out as an ad. I can't imagine someone impulse buying this. Could you imagine sitting around one day and thinking, "Hey, I'll haul my boat and change out the strut this weekend"?

I dunno. I remember once being so bored at work that I felt myself looking forward to a dentist appointmentso I could just get out of there! Changing a strut would be a pleasure in comparison.

 

[Roland5048]

Anything I've forgotten for daysailing?

Beer!

 

[Jalepeno]

I had a 1986 h23 from 1996 to 2007 before my CAL. Great little sailboat. Purchase price in 1996 was $6,500 + taxes. Sell price in 2007 was $6,000 less brokerage fee of $2,000, net $4,000.

My average annual costs for the h23 were:

- Moorage (year round) & insurance ~ $3,000/year

- Maintenance (bottom paint every second year, outboard, sails, etc.) ~ $1,000/year

- Upgrades (VHF, compass, GPS, Tiller pilot, wiring, plumbing, etc.) ~ $1,000/year

The total was about $5,000/year plus taxes and that is with doing most of the work myself. My present CAL annual total is about double that. Remember not to keep track of the costs but to enjoy the hobby.

 

[shemandr]

Boatyards could give customers the boat with the condition that the customer pay normal rates for dockage, storage and repairs and make plenty of money.

 

[Jackdaw]

I had a 1986 h23 from 1996 to 2007 before my CAL. Great little sailboat. Purchase price in 1996 was $6,500 + taxes. Sell price in 2007 was $6,000 less brokerage fee of $2,000, net $4,000.

Am I reading that correctly; a 33% commission on a 23 foot trailer-able boat???????

 

[SFS]

A lot of brokers have a minimum commission, expressed as a flat rate, particularly on small transactions.

 

[isaksp00]

We bought our H23 in the spring of 2010. The breakdown of costs to now is about:
Accessories, 465
Mooring, 3125
Registration, 350
Service, 925
Storage, 2425
Supplies, 3450
I do almost all work myself, and we don't need to bottom paint, as we're on a fresh water lake. The only true services I have paid for are bottom washing (their huge power washer is needed to get the scummy grasses off), one initial service on the outboard, and sewing/tuneup on the sails. "Supplies" is mostly repair parts, the stuff to get the iron keel cleaned at first, fiberglass materials, some parts to fix a broken furler foil connector, new forestay, new stbd lifeline, various outboard servicing parts, etc.

 

[Jalepeno]

Am I reading that correctly; a 33% commission on a 23 foot trailer-able boat???????

Most boat brokers' standard fee around here is 10% of sell price or a minimum of $3,000. It is negotiable just like most larger financial transactions. I negotiated a reduced fee of $2,000 because a smaller boat is easier to sell then larger boats. Remember you still have to pay moorage or storage fees while it is for sale.