boats are expensive!

[DannyS]

I don't agree with this phrase...
"The two happiest days in a boat owners life are the day he buys it and the day he sells it."
Yes, the day we bought our boat was a happy day, but if I had to sell our boat now I'd be pretty depressed! I think most of us here agree.

 

[mtbque]

Agree

Going from a boat in the water back to a trailer sailor will get old real quick. You'll regret it.

I have a 2006 Hunter 25 that is trailerable. Besides slip, my one big expense when I made the move to keeping her in the water was getting prep'd and bottom painted the first time. Prior owner kept her on a lift in fresh water lake. I do the bottom painting myself now, but opted for someone with more exerience for that first one. Keeping her in the water, keeps me on the water more often.

Prior to that, I had secured a storage spot at local Marina where I could at least keep mast up. Though that cut down time to launch, still well worse the slip I rent in terms of time I get to spend on the water. I will admit I have added benefit of low cost slip in a Navy Marina (ret mil).

Mike

 

[dbecker68]

Yes, sailing is expensive, and so is golf, skiing, flying, auto collecting, and on and on.
Remember that a therapist costs upwards of $75.00 per hour.
Remember that a boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into.
Then remember that secluded anchorage you and your first mate (captain) found last summer, remember that beautiful sunset, remember being rocked to sleep by the waves.
Almost anything you do for therapy and enjoyment is going to be expensive, but if it's for therapy and enjoyment, it's probably worth it. I used to play golf, but one day I realized I was spending a fortune, and not even enjoying it, so I sold my clubs and bought my boat.

 

[Capt Andy]

Worth the $$$$

There are somethings you can't put a price on. This little video the "Admiral" put together says it all. Be sure and turn up your speakers.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D4MggBEadjWk%26feature%3Demail&h=52f53

 

[Brucesrq]

Boats are expensive to buy and maintain. And if you are like me, not so much the handy man, but I'm learning. The hard part is finding the balance of income and outgo.You have young ones? Part of sailing is teaching them, building a relationship one day sail at a time. It is daunting to keep up with every little thing that goes wrong. Only you can decide if it is worth it to you.

 

[Gregg18047]

Look at it this way - a big chunk of the $$$ is the boat itself, so that's a one-time expense (assuming you bought it for cash). You have mooring and insurance every year; pretty much fixed expenses. So budget a little for repairs, do as much maintenance yourself as you can, and go enjoy sailing. If you have to add trailering on each end of your day, you will find every excuse in the world to NOT take the boat out, and it will just sit in your driveway.

 

[Norden Guy]

I have one son who is a marine mechanic, another is a shipright. They both make big $ and live on sailboats. When they were kids we went sailing because I could not enjoy their company on a golf course. They stayed out of trouble and never went to jail. How much do some people spend on Golf, and how are their kids or grandkids doing? Boats and sailing are an investment in something worth while, not an expense.

 

[vbrunson]

I'm new to sailing 6 years to be exact but I wouldn't trade it for nothing. I do all small jobs, bottom painting, waxing, change a lot of old nuts and bolts stainless steele by the way I wanted Home Depot so you see I had to ask and still ask lots of question from other sailors or tinkers around the yard or pier. Sailing is expensive but so is life and I rather enjoy this expensive life.

 

[kdssail]

You are confusing the issue!!!!! ALL activities have a startup cost... deduct one time charges and then divide the other by the life of item@ bottom job, 3 years, then you have an idea of your yearly cost.

ADD in MEGS BUCKS for the pleasure and relaxation, mental stability and pure beauty of all the things you see EACH time you go sailing.Tomarrow you die then you can regret NOT having the pleasures.

COST....yes worthwhile......YES regretful....NO

enjoy and don't look back

 

[whiskers]

I'm reminded of what I was told when I bought my first airplane. "Buying it will be the cheapest part. Owning it will be the real expense." I look back on 4 different planes over 30 years without regrets. I can't fly anymore (medical reasons) and I've decided to try sailboats. Sounds like the same thing, and I'm sure I won't regret this, either.

 

[Karl@Hunter26]

Compare it to the cost of a power boat

Compare what you spend to what it would cost to have something like a 26' SeaRay and you will find that you are getting a good deal. That should make you feel better.

 

[Rick D]

Don't add it up!

...I have kept decent records on this boat and last year, transferred all them to an Excel spreadsheet. One thing I knew I should not do is to hit the sum button. I did anyway. It came to almost 50% of the (used) purchase price eleven years ago. That did include recommissioning expense and a suit of sails. It did not include property tax, slip fees or insurance. I wasn't surprised and am not depressed at all about it and it does give me a more realistic view of cost. However, avoid the sum button!

 

[awoody]

Some sayings might apply:
A boat is a hole in the water through which you pour money. - probably should know that before getting a boat.

On a motor boat you can get where you want to be in a hurry, on a sailboat you are already where you want to be.

Part of the fun of having a sailboat is looking through the catalogs to see what I can get for my boat. -

 

[jimford2158]

I got rid of my harley, sailing is a lot safer and if you have the time the 'per hour' on the water isn't all that bad. This weekend we had 5 people on board overnight in Clearwater Pass(how much are hotel rooms?) and then out in the Gulf, fishing all day. I'm only paying $160.00 for a slip with electric (1 out of 6 now available). I quit adding reciepts after awhile and even the time spent working on the boat is refreshing(don't need the gym any more). I've used up the 100 gallons the boat came with, at 7.5 miles per gallon. I will have had the boat 2 years in July. No regrets.

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

I don' TEENK so...

Compare what you spend to what it would cost to have something like a 26' SeaRay and you will find that you are getting a good deal. That should make you feel better.

I could have replaced both engines in my 32' Trojan for less than a member of my YC paid for a complete new set of sails for his 30' Catalina...and the 3 new self tailing winches cost him more than I spent on fuel in a year!

Very few sailors realize that, amortized over 10 years, statistically it costs about 20% MORE to maintain a 30'+ sailboat that it does to maintain the same size powerboat...INCLUDING fuel! You won't spend that much every year...but when you do have to replace sails, winches, running rigging etc, it really bites--enough to offset the difference in fuel costs....whereas on a powerboat, engine and genset maintenance is no worse than a car or truck. Systems--electrical, sanitation, fresh water etc--are pretty much the same on both power and sail...and therefore cost about the same to maintain.

 

[rasselas]

"Expensive" is a subjective word. Putting your money in the stock market can be more expensive. How much is a day on the water worth? How much is that smile worth when you feel the sails filll with air? You need to change your perspective.

 

[rasselas]

How much is a day on the water worth? How much is the smile worth when you feel the sails fillll with air? Change your perspective. Putting you money in the stock market is EXPENSIVE! Go sailing.

 

[hman]

I respectfully disagree!

I could have replaced both engines in my 32' Trojan for less than a member of my YC paid for a complete new set of sails for his 30' Catalina...and the 3 new self tailing winches cost him more than I spent on fuel in a year!

Very few sailors realize that, amortized over 10 years, statistically it costs about 20% MORE to maintain a 30'+ sailboat that it does to maintain the same size powerboat...INCLUDING fuel! You won't spend that much every year...but when you do have to replace sails, winches, running rigging etc, it really bites--enough to offset the difference in fuel costs....whereas on a powerboat, engine and genset maintenance is no worse than a car or truck. Systems--electrical, sanitation, fresh water etc--are pretty much the same on both power and sail...and therefore cost about the same to maintain.

Maybe it's true about those bigger boats, although at GPH vs the HPG with fuel costs what they are, I find it very hard to believe. I realize there are those people who can afford to go out and buy custom sails and "top of the line" winches for their boats but wouldn't they be doing the same for their power boat? New airconditoning, new watermakers, wine cellar in the bilge kinda thing?

It's my life's experience having owned a 23ft power boat for 6 yrs before selling it and and getting another sailboat (also 23ft) 5 yrs ago, that although "parts" for the sailboat like sails and hardware maybe more expensive at the beginning, with proper care and maintenance, they will last a long, long time. I don't order "new" sails, I buy good used ones. A good set of "used" winches bought for my sailboat will probably out last me!

I spent far less time on the water with the powerboat because of the cost of the fuel. A weekend running the sloughs in the Sacramento Delta would cost well over 200.00 in fuel. I spend almost every weekend out sailing with only the expense of the mooring ball in the summer and winter storage with the boat on the trailer. (my little kicker Honda motor uses 2 gal a season in fuel) Added together, they don't come near the cost of a summer in the power boat.

I replaced the standing rigging this year, expensive, but still cheaper than 4 weekends of fuel for the power boat!

 

[JCNelson]

It's all relative

I had a Cessna 172 for 25 years. Sailing my 1980 Catalina 22 trailer sailer is CHEAP!!

 

[Steve Dion]

Peggie: A set of sails for a Catalina 30 would be about $3k-4k and winches are probably about $800 each.

Most sailors will never need to replace their winches and sails should be good for 8-10 years (maybe more).

Like Hman said, spending $200 for a weekend of cruising around our area is probably common place. Many of the sailboats in our harbor (that gets used) probably don't use $100/year.