The costs of owning and running a boat.

 

You may have heard the acronym BOAT before, Break Out Another Thousand, or similes of standing in a cold shower tearing up bank notes. Well, it doesn't have to be like this. Boating is not cheap, there is no way around that, however, if your expectations are managed and you are properly informed from the beginning of your boating life, you can properly budget accordingly. Unfortunately all too often, people are either mislead, ill informed or just plain clueless about what should be budgeted for, I hope this post will give food for thought and a few pointers on the right course.

One of the things I like so much about boating is it´s a pastime, hobby or addiction (in the best possible way) that is difficult to socially and financially pigeonhole people, there seems to be quite a camaraderie amongst boat owners (with the possible exception of never the twain shall meet rag & stick vs stinkboaters), but we won´t go into that. Today we are looking at the filthy subject of money, whether you have a megayacht and full time crew or a little runabout on a trailer you need money to be able to enjoy your boat.

Time and tide wait for no-one, time is the most valuable commodity you have. Do you have enough time to actually use your boat? Is it a family pastime or only for one or two family members? Do you have time constraints on use, do you have a long travel in order to get to your boat? I know a lot of people who travel internationally to get to their boat. Time should be a major consideration.

Fixed costs, whether you use your boat sporadically or day in, day out.

Insurance

In most marinas in order to be granted a berth, insurance is mandatory. Shop around and take very careful note of the exclusions, such as being rescued or towed and what the excess is on the various parts of the policy. A lot of people have found out the hard way of what happens when underinsured. If you tow your boat on a trailer, make sure you have enough liability coverage on your vehicle policy too, that includes the trailer.

There is often a separate clause on watersports, read this carefully as it usually outlines your liabilities and limits to third parties. I have noticed a few policies for slightly larger boats will have an exclusion on navigating solo. You may also need prior permission for any emergency haulouts, such as for sinking due to a major water leak, read your policy carefully. I know of one marina here in the Mediterranean that is insisting on the full insurance policy and not just the insurance certificate, they are especially interested in your policy when it comes to vessels catching fire and causing damage to others, it is only a matter of time before this will become the norm.

If you are buying an older vessel, wooden vessel or maybe something a bit special and outside of the norm, do not be surprised in the insurance company (the better ones anyway) will insist on a survey, depending upon the survey results, the company may or may not take on the risk. If you are financing your boat purchase, please take out all risk insurance, you would be surprised at the number who don´t or otherwise would not if the finance company did not insist on it as part of the finance contract.

Berthing & storage

I have grouped these two together, you are going to need a place to keep your boat, a permanent mooring, rack storage inside a warehouse, hard standing in a yard or even on your own property on a trailer. You should also consider that not all berths include water and electricity in your berth fees.

Berth fees vary greatly by geography, the monthly rate in some places is the daily rate in others, just ask anyone who has paid for berthing in Ibiza in the middle of summer. Do not forget that when you are dry stored, unless there is some sort of contract in place, all boats movements to lift the boat out and put it back in are extras. Mentioning insurance again, dry storage will almost certainly require you have insurance in place even though they will have their own.

Annual haulout

This is a contentious issue, the unfortunate truth is too many people assume that if they don´t go anywhere on the boat then it wont need hauling out, nothing could be further from the truth, even if the boat never leaves the slip for more than it´s annual journey to the boatyard for bottom cleaning antifouling and inspection, it must be included in you annual fixed costs. Try having an insurance claim refused because the boat never had a basic inspection during hauling out and is now sunk in its mooring.

Fire extinguishers and other inspections

Budget for the annual (or according to local law or flagging requirements) fire extinguishing system inspection and service, failure to do so may invalidate your insurance. Despite this, the number of halon (prohibited many years ago in Europe) type extinguishers I still see in engine rooms you could be forgiven for thinking people are not bothered. Life raft service should also be in the annual budget, check local regulations. Some country registrations require an inspection to ensure the vessel is seaworthy, remember to include this in your annual budget.

Variable costs, outgoings according to use.

Fuel

Obviously, the more you use you boat the more fuel you´ll need to buy. A small single petrol outdrive boat with a clean hull might go through 40 to 60 litres per hour at cruising speed depending upon how many people are on board, twin engines will double that or maybe a bit more. Large inboard diesels might be 80 to 120 litres per hour per engine with a clean hull, larger high performance diesels in a larger boat could be 200 litres per hour per engine. Read again those figures, these are not what you would call frugal, I was on a yacht delivery once, every 300 nautical miles, we had to fill up with six metric tons of diesel.

Using a modern high performance diesel or petrol engine at low speeds all the time is a bit of a false economy from the point of view of they are designed to be used in a specific way, too much time at low speed without ever blowing away the cobwebs will cause them to suffer and throw all sorts of error codes, this will entail calling the dealer to come with their diagnostic computer to sort the problems out.

Maintenance

Even if you don´t navigate that many hours per year, your variable maintenance must be accounted for, anything from cleaning to polishing, mechanical maintenance, anodes during the annual haulout.

Usually on a boat maintenance goes according to the number of engine hours or a specific time period, whichever comes first, this can range from easy things like oil changes and impellers right up to exhaust system replacement and heat exchanger cleaning. If you keep your outdrive powered boat in the water year round, your budget should include extended preventative maintenance and scheduled work on the outdrives.

You would not believe some of the bull I have heard personally and what I have been told about, usually where salespeople are either unscrupulous, liars or just so clueless, they tell potential clients a whole load of waffle about maintenance, do not be fooled by any of it. When you come to sell, you can bet the next (better informed) buyer will definitely want to see maintenance history or will be asking for a large discount on the sale price in order to ensure all maintenance is up to date.

Summary

Even the smallest of boats has costs associated with it, I hope this post has not discouraged you from boat ownership, the idea is to really inform you of the costs involved, not getting buttered up by a slippery salesperson or underbudgeting. Some boatowners seem to be only one repair away from bankruptcy, don´t let that be you. Happy boating.

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