Seeking advice before purchasing a superyacht

Hi Yaser,

I think you should search more on honeycomb, it is not what you build boats in, it is what can be built in as a core material in composite constructions. Mainly used in the interior for lightweight construction.

If you don´t paint it, all steel will rust. In salt water, even stainless.

Ya Yasir, buddy... you have many interesting questions, and your enthusiasm is so obvious and the vibe you have is nice. I wish you and the family good luck in your quest and suggest you start holding back and looking for facts and you are in the right place for that.

For your last question, you have to know that there are two parts, one called "Power Plant", and the other "Propulsion", the propulsion is what pushes the boat or moves it, it needs "juice" to do so, and it gets it from the power plant, the power plant can be a diesel, gasoline, natural gas, solar, nuclear engine, this engine either provides direct horse power to generate propulsion or it charges battery banks for an electric based propulsion. Propulsion units have a wide range of selection.

How efficient solar power will be for your needs, is a question that you should wait on its answer until you define what kind of boat and boating life you want, I am still wondering why you chose 197' and what will you do after two years when your kid will need to go to school.

Again, good luck!

Enjoy your stay at Yacht Forums!

Alf

What's your definition of cheap?

What is your budget for the initial purchase of your yacht?

And then what is your budget yearly for normal upkeep like fuel, insurance, dockage, utilities(electric when docked, satellite internet/tv/phone), bottom painting, captain and crew, etc?

Sorry shazam, I was writing while you were posting.

Hold your horses there Yasir, a 197ft motor yacht is not a family boat! It is a fully operational municipality, yacht master education is a good step, go for it, but a certificate will not give you all the hands you need.

I advise you to take the family and charter an 80' yacht for a week, have a feel for the life and look around see how many people are serving you just to enjoy your time and multiply that by 100 times for the number of things they are doing and taking care of that you don't know about or even feel.

On 197' tri-deck like you are saying, I can't imagine that boat running with less than 20+ professional crew members. Even when you want to sleep, someone should be up monitoring how things are running and if the conditions are safe. Boating is joyful and handful!

Regards,
Alf

Rule of thumb for maintenance of a yacht is 10% to 20% of its' cost or in your case if you spent $12M you will need to plan on spending between $1.2M and $2.4M to pay for the items I mentioned.

I doubt you will be able to fit enough solar panels on the top of a yacht to produce enough electricity to satisfy all the power demands on an almost 200 ft yacht not built for that purpose so you will be spending money for electricity one way or the other.

As far as a captain your insurance company will certainly require you to have one until you become a captain.

As far as crew unless your family members know how to perform the daily maintenance tasks necessary to keep a yacht running you will need at least an engineer in addition to a captain at a minimum which will cost I would imagine around $200K per year.

Good luck!

Is Yasar teasing all of us?

Yasser,

First of all sorry for the mis-spelling, I had a friend who's name was spelled with an "I".

I think you have to organize your thoughts and build your questions around them, if you have not been on the type of boat you are dreaming of, it is hard to build a decision. Boats have different categories to satisfy different people and different boating needs. Have a look on these threads and search around for the subjects you want to ask about, you will find that many of your questions are already answered, if not, you will know in which thread you have to ask, then, click the "Reviews" button on the top menu, it will take you into an exciting walk-through on many of the greatest boats ever built, look at the pictures and read until you have a critic point of view, along with the definitions you will get from other threads and some time spent on a real boat on the water you will get the best result and be happier than you would expect. Don't fear asking, all around here will be glad to pitch in, just organize your thoughts so you get the right answer without too much back and forth.

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-trawler-discussion/18951-trawler-vs-motoryacht.html

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/18937-no-experience-solo-live-aboard-yacht.html

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/technical-discussion/18979-project-vessel.html

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/18947-truly-unique-newbie-i-think-lol.html

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/15531-sportfish-obsession.html

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/18633-need-help-finding-suitable-yacht.html

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/18695-what-makes-yacht-special.html

Search around and you will find even more!

Enjoy your time.

Regards,
Alf

Sounds like a good idea, but in reality it is not that easy.

Being a boat Captain is a proffesion, that means you need to be a full-time
life-long boater with plenty of experience and exams.
Not very difficult, it just takes a long time.
Like becoming a doctor, it takes over 10 years and not as easy as walking across the street to buy a license..

Sorry for bringing bad news, but I think you need a dose of reality..