Gentlemen, Ladies, I've done my due diligence here, exhausted the search feature, my first post, yada, yada.. I'll make it short and sweet. Avid boater, love the life style, love doing the work myself, technical/mechanical, run a software company. On the presuppose of selling. If so, looking at going from the offshore go fast fishing world to something a little more luxurious for my family and I... This website has been a wonderful looking glass into most of the inner workings however, the general expenses seem vague, I suppose for obvious reasons. I know the common acronym for B.O.A.T being Bust Out Another Thousand.. And any boater will tell you that's true... I can only speculate that Y.A.C.H.T should mean Yes, Annually Charging Hundreds of Thousands... Thus, my question.. What could a future owner expect in reoccurring monthly charges for each of the following: 65' Hatteras Convertible 86' Domino by Ravi 120' Azimut 120 Sl 150' Astondoa Full crew, travel localized to one region, lets say the Caribbean. Primary use as a live aboard, in motion. Fuel is easy enough to calculate, but crew? Dockage, marinas, exploring, etc.. What are the expenses I should "plan" on that I'm not thinking about? And if you had to lay down super basic estimates, based on each ship, what are your best guesses? Many thanks. Discovery
Well, we really need more info to calculate. How many days a year are you going to use it, how many guests and how long are your trips going to be.......For example, dockage rates are expensive on a day to day basis, but if you get into a 3,6,12 month contract they get considerably cheaper. What are your crew needs, for example would you want a chef on the larger boats? I can tell you this, aside from the Hatteras, the maintanence costs on the other 3 are considerably more than a domestic built or for lack of a better term, better quality and better built brand. For example to run a 100' MY and have it well maintained,good usage, including a crew of 4 or 5 (with chef) and fuel, you're looking at about $1 million a year. The 65' Hatteras (fuel not included) with a Captain and Mate, you're looking at around $250k a year, if you're using it, between crew, food, dockage, tackle, boat maintanence, etc.......
In a semi-humorous vein you're apparently already in touch with, maintenance/check-ups/overhauls are always at least 1.5 of expected/projected. Sticking to common tech with developed service in "your" area can also mean difference - exotic/rare/exclusive service/parts could randomly mean huge waste in time and money (obv engine/propulsion is #1 here). As CaptJ said, if it's imported (european in case of Caribbean), it will likely carry a premium if just for obvious time/transport/customs reasons.
Compare running costs to new cost I would love to hear how much running costs are, compared to new or replacement costs. In my experience as an owner and crew, the costs are closely correlated to the new cost of the boat, increasing over time. For example, on my current boat, the running expenses went from about 10% per year for the first 6 years, to 15% to 20% for each of the next 4 years, and the current refit after a decade of use will be about 25% of the new cost. On a previous race boat, the costs were about 25% the new cost each year. Pretty consistent for a decade, probably because everything on a race boat gets replaced so often. This is to keep the boat in yacht (very good) condition, and includes all expenses including insurance, fuel, sails, maintenance, taxes, etc (not the purchase money).
Thanks for those numbers, they seem like a good rule of thumb. Any objections to "10% first 6 years, 15% to 20% for each of the next 4 years, and the current refit after a decade of use will be about 25% of the new cost."
In most cases. But, it depends on the boat and usage. Some boats have a lot of extra's that need to be maintained. Some people use their yacht a lot more than average. I wouldn't say a yacht needs a refit after 10 years if it's been properly maintained and seen average usage. I'd say a refit every 20 years if it has gelcoat. Paint you're looking at 10-12 years between paint jobs in most cases, but you save a lot of $$$ by not having to wax it if it's Awlgrip.