Yachting for Newbies - Many Questions Answered.

Hi Jim,
I would parrot third waver's concern. Given that; yes boating is expensive, and research/training are ongoing, survey's are important, etc. What I don't see is how do most people whip out multiples of 10-15K repairs without warning. How did you finance this unforeseen issues? What's preferable, a "home loan" revolving line of credit, 100k in an low interest bearing account? How did you plan for the unforeseen, but inevitable repair wallet-dectomy. Thanks for your post.

The terms, "10-15k repairs without warning" shouldn't happen as I'm warning you now, they will come, they are not unforeseen, you must go in with expectations they will occur. Then, if they don't, you were lucky. If you have to take out a loan for them, then you bought too much boat. You must have the available funds to maintain a boat. 10-15k isn't even on the high side of major repairs. The 100k is a low interest bearing account is a good idea. We plan cash availability by always having something coming due. It might be CD's or treasury bills or anything, but something comes due and if not needed we renew or buy something else.

We also keep some immediately available funds and maintain credit cards even though we pay them off every month. They buy you time plus we only pay by credit card to have recourse if needed, especially on any deposits or partial payments.

I just found this thread and have enjoyed reading everyone's posts. What I missed somewhere is finding a link or info on how to get to Jimmie's blog.

Can someone help out this old guy with a link?

The link is in post #10 of this thread. It's zerotofiftyfive.com.

Jim,
Thank you for your response, it provided the necessary insight. I was looking for a land based analogy, so if you bought a house with know repairs you'd obviously bring the cash. It's the unknown unknowns that I keep reading about that keep me awake during my nap. Thanks again!

Jim, BTW, finished your blog. Wonderful stuff, very entertaining. I enjoyed it throughly.

Hi Jim, thank you so much for posting all of this, wish I could read your wife’s blog! We are looking at a Neptunus and would love the info on what problems we might expect. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much Jim! For someone who is no longer a boater, you are incredibly generous with your time to us!

Has anyone ever heard of "whispering walls"? I believe it is a term to describe the loosening of the headliner that might be a problem on older Neptunus models.
Thanks
Doug

Whisper walls are a type of wall covering that builders still use today. They have nothing to do with the wall covering coming loose

Well done!! But from the insurance perspective, did you have to anything special? Most insurance companies want you to start at below 26 ft and every two years, they will reconsider you for a bigger boat in 10' increments.

Thank-you so much for the insights. The insurance companies want me to start off with a smaller boat (<28') and build up in 10' increments. Although I understand the logic from a risk point of view, it seems like the depreciation on each boat "step" to the ultimate one we want (45') is money down the drain. --So trading off costs, it seems like the more advantageous approach is to just bite the bullet and hire a part time training captain and build up the hours in our own boat (90 hours ~ $9,000). --But I will definitely keep an eye out for the opportunity you happened into. Your good luck (or providence) for sure!!

You're in CA and so am I. Seems strange. I started with a 43 sportfish in 2015 and then moved to a 62 motor yacht in 2021. Both times I needed captain training/sign-off (and captain completion of a skills questionnaire for the second boat). There was no 90-hour or other minimum hour requirement, just proof that I acquired the skills necessary to safely operate the boat. They wanted to see the training hours log, but again no stated minimum.
All that said, if it's your first boat you should want to spend some quality time with a good captain to teach you the skills you need.
Suggest you also work with a reputable yacht insurance broker if you're not already.

Stepped from our 20 foot Crownline to our current 56 Neptunus…acquired the “six Pack” license, trained with a captain until he was satisfied I could handle the boat (25-30 hrs)and here we are. No insurance issues