Can anyone give me info on the cost of running a boat?

Question

i am currently thinking of investing in a boat not a massive luxury boat just one with the basic living essentials, i am wondering if it would be cheaper than a mortgage

Answer 1

Depends how large you want your boat to be.

I know someone with a boat that he lives on and it's 60 Feet.

It costs him $12,000 to fill every 3 months.

Answer 2

Mooring fees range from around £1000 per year up to £1500 a month! Boats, unless maintained very well and taken out of the water regularly to service and check the hull can be expensive. To answer properly you would have to give more details, area, cost of boat, type of boat etc...

Answer 3

my boat is dirt cheap to run but its a kayak so you couldn't live on it to any degree of comfort

Answer 4

There is an old marina bar saying---if you have to ask ,you cannot afford it.A boat is a hole in the water that you fill with money.I used to run one for years on the river severn,making regular trips to Swansea and Milford haven .I later moved the boat to Swansea,and spent many hours of pure bliss in that area of the coast.As the others here have mentioned,it,s a rich mans past-time.My advice is to take a radio operators course and your day skipper course,then hire a few boats in different areas,the clyde,loch fynne,the crinnan canal area is a must for an erstwhile sailor.The best of luck.

Answer 5

May be!

If you purchase a 40+foot used well kept sail boat  with a small 4 strokes outboard motor for you to get around the marina and open water. I personally like sail boat (60ft), it's quiet, environmental friendly and the air is free.

To figure out the cost, you need to know how much of a boat can you afford, mooring fee average $20/ foot. roughly, insurance  and may be once every 1or 2 years hoist you vessel out of the water have the hull clean and repaint below water line ($1500 approx.).

Boat depreciates as they get older unlike purchasing a house



A power cabin boat is very expensive to maintain.

Bottom line is owning a boat is like owning a money pit.

Answer 6

put a boat in the water  put alll the money u have  into  the boat and walk away lol   all depends on if u are planning to keep it in the water alll the time or have it housed in a dry storage. there are tons of expenses either way. if u keep the boat in the water 24/7 u have to have some one keep  the hull and every thing below the water line clean . ie props drainge and water intake holes. Then u have to park it in a marina which can charge per month or u can buy a slip in a marina.(usaly not cheap). Now if u plan to dry store it some do allow you to stay aboard but not many.Dry storage can run 200buix a month or MORE. check  with a local marina and find out storage prices before u dip into the live aboard market.

Answer 7

Just do not forget to calculate costs such as repairs.  Things do break...  water lines, motors, electronics, etc.  And if you plan to travel or cruise in the open waters, there is always a risk of damaging a prop or being involved in some sort of mishap with nature or another boat.  So you should calculate the cost of insurance in there somewhere.  Boats are not easy to fix.

Answer 8

Break

Out

Another

Thousand

Answer 9

if you ask this question don,t buy it

Answer 10

Probably not, To fill up a small to mid size boat with a cabin is going to cost you 600 – 800 dollars, the maintenance on boats is high as well depending on the craft you have. Then come the slip or docking fees that depending your you are could run from 200 -1500 per month. You don’t purchase a boat to save money if that’s what you mean.

Answer 11

I have a thirty-foot, "Sea Otter" (see their web site or visit the Boat, Caravan & Camping Show at the NEC in February).

She is trailable behind something big, like a Toyota land-cruiser; she weighs 3.5 tons on the trailer.

Big enough and well enough equipped that I could live on her by myself permanently - don't think I could contemplate forever living on her with husband (!) -  we can manage for up to a month at a time when going on longish trips.

Full cooker, fridge, washroom, sep. shower, wardrobes, galley cupboards, 2 berth (by choice - they usually come as a 4-berth), wired for shore power, warm air (calor) central heating, 21hp Nanni diesel engine.

She is moored on the Trent & Mersey canal in a Marina with electricity to every boat and a water point between every 4 boats.

We have calculated that our total running costs, which include mooring, license, insurance, fuel and maintenance, work out at around £1500+ per annum.

There is no hull maintenance since she is constructed from a marine-grade aluminium alloy.

We use her mostly as a "country cottage" spending a couple or 3 days a week on her March-November; cheaper to buy and run than a country cottage, and if we don't like the neighbours we can "pull up anchor" and move somewhere else!

Answer 12

Lots and Lots and Lots.

If you are thinking of living aboard dont bother as you are obviously totally ignorant as to the requirements.

Answer 13

well with all the gas prices and constant accesories wich includes gas but if you are not abuying a new one there may be times you would hae to take the motor into the shop or stuff like that. i bough a jetski this summer and this was not cheap. the jetski alone was 4,500 but with all the detail like i had to get the engine to the shop to buff and oil it, that was about 114 dollars. oil i had to buy because the jetski runs on oil and gas. gas adds up to be relly expensive. im not shure what the milage is on boats but for my jetski, it has a 16 gallon tank and ladts up to 2 hours and then well i have to refill it again. but with all the taking care comes a lot of joy riding it. it is really fun and cool. if boating is your passion then go for it, it may cost money but it will be a lot of fun riding your boat in the end. and p.s. it would depend on what kind ob boat you would like to buy. if it is one for fishing then it would probable be cheaper then a recreational one.

Answer 14

about $10,000. per year exclusive of fuel.

Answer 15

If you live in the UK, then as a guide, my boat is a 20ft bayliner with a cuddy cabin, it has a 3 litre petrol engine and a stern drive.  A very modest boat indeed.  You cannot live aboard for more than maybe a week and then have to be a hardy type, unfussed about creature comforts and if you can't find a public swimming pool with their showers, close to the waterside, be unfussy about the way you smell too.

I may, if i'm lucky get 4 miles per gallon out of her at river and canal speeds, maybe 5 mpg at cruising speed, once on the plane and again 4mpg at wide open throttle.  

With petrol currently costing close to £5 a gallon ($10 per gall for our US cousins), economical she is not.

I'm lucky, being a mechanical engineer, I can do all my own maintenance, but I have currently ordered 2litres of gear oil for my sterndrive end of season oil change.  Cost - £30.00 for 2 litres!  Quicksilver? should be solid silver at those prices.

Wax polish for the hull?  Car polish costs maybe £3 a bottle, International Polwax just cost me £12 for a small bottle.

Any thing which says "formulated for marine use", think of a reasonable price, then quadruple it.  I have receipts from the previous owner who spent £1800 in april 2005 and £2200 in april 2006, just on maintenence at his local marine engineers.

Keeping it on the trailer at my local boatyard costs just shy of £700 per year, with a launch using their tractor costing £20 (my car is not heavy enough to get grip on the slipway, but now I have a boat, my flash car days are over).

So unless you go the houseboat / narrowboat route and don't move around too much, it will cost a packet.  Boats are like cars, the more sporty they are, or look, the more they cost to run.

So unless you go the houseboat route, be prepared for lots of sacrifices being made to indulge your hobby.