Maintenance costs on 48' MY

maintenance costs are hard to guess, it depends on the boat, its location, and how you will run her...

for instance, if you're up north, your maintenance will be different.. you'll be hauling out soon, winterizing, shrinkwrapping,e tc.... if your'e down south, winter time is easier on bottom paint and you may not need your diver as often... up north, you dont' use air con much and your strainers may not need cleaning every 2 to 4 weeks as they do down here...

maintenance also depends on the equipment... hwo big are your engines? will they take 5 qts of oil per oil change or 20 gallons?? do you have AGM batteries or lead acid? the later will require watering... what kind of charger? an old ferro from the early 90s? you'll have to add water at least monthly... if a recent 3 sgtage, every few months will be fine...

real hard to answer your questions...

a few things common to all...

1)- check your bilge pump float switches and high water alarms monthly.
2)- clean your strainers montly, esp. Air Con and genset (depending on use), main engines usually dont' need to be checked monthly but it's good to do so anyway
3)- top off you batteries monthly
4)- check the conditions of your shore power cords and plugs monthly, or whenver connecting/disconnecting. with loads on, check for heat near the plugs/connectors
5)- refresh the content of your fresh water tank... many people kjust run off dockside water which is a mistake in my opinion. doing so can resutl in the boat filling with water in case of a plumbing failure and also it leaves old water in teh tank... using tank water ensures a regular refreshing and also brings in chlorinated water (from the city) which keeps stuff from growing

other things depend on run time (oil changes, fuel filter changes, etc...)

"figure 10% of your purchase price as your rough estimate of annual maintenance costs"

ASSuming you had the boat surveyed and you won't have any major surprises, i totally disagree with that 10% "rule" unless it includes fuel, insurance, dockage, etc... in other words all costs. I've never even come close to 10% maintenance on my own boat (53 hatt) or the 70 footer i captain.

as to hiring a manager on a boat that size, i think it's an overkill... hiring a captain early on maybe a good idea depending on your experience, not just to learn to drive/handle the boat, but also to cover some of the routine maintenance. or hire a mechanic for the first oil change (and fuel filter), and warn him ahead of time that you want to watch / learn

In so cal, i dont' think humidity is an issue so a mooring will be fine. Keeping a boat on a mooring is a good option (the 70 footer i run spends the whole summer on a mooring) but you need to work out the details.

the biggest one is water (unless you want to be a ragboter... no offense guys, i'm just kidding being a part time ragboter myself, but we've all seen sailboatds with a collection of 5gal. cans on deck...).

Ideally, you have a watermaker, or a delivery service in that harbor... otherwise, get a 50gal. bladder in your tender with a n electric diaphragm pump... this way you can wash the boat as much as you want.

so being on so cal mooring, you wnot' have to worry too much about AC strainers but since you'll probably run your genny a little more, checking your genset strainer will be needed depending on how much you run it. Ideally, when you're on the boat, a few hours a day (evening) to charge up, cook, etc... After a short time, you'll get a feel for how often it needs to be done... start every couple of weeks.

If your batteries are lead acid, check the levels every month (top off with distilled water, use a battery filler, much easier)

other routine mainteance items includes:

-oil change: mains and genset(s), typically every 100hrs
-primary fuel filter change: depends on how clean your fuel is... anywhere between 50 hours to 200hrs... easy job although there are a few tricks to make it easier
-secondary fuel filter change: they last much longer than the primaries... figure once a year
-impellers. your engines (mains and genset) are water cooled and use a self priming pummp with a rubber impeller. if you're lucky, they'll last for 1, 2, 3 years... but run them dry once (clogged up strainer, plastic bag on intake) and they'll be toast. it's not rocket science but make sure you have spares on board, an impeller puller and the right tools.
- monthly: lift the float switch on every bilge pump and make sure they start. if your boat has high water alarm, check them too (buzzer/light at the helm).

that shoudl be it for routine maintenance, it's really not bad. the rest is dealing with issues that may crop up, hard to budget/set a schedule obviously... but if you shuold be able to learn quickly, it's really not rocket science. I'm not talking about rebuilding an engine, but if you can handle the basic stuff, you can drastically cut your maintenance costs. And save the day when "something" happens isntead of calling it a day.

finally, in addition to a good tool set (not the cheap china junk kit), a electric meter, and basic spares, get yourself the manuals for your engines and gennies. also, make sure you have manuals for the various systems (steering, pump, heads, etc...)... many manufacturers have them on their website, now is the time to download or order those you dont' have.

a mooring isnt' a sign of being cheap... there are many benefits to a mooring including nicer views and privacy which you dont' get at a dock. Again, in so cal, humidity isn't an issue anyway.

crew to safely operate a 48 footer? gimme a break here... yes, at first, if the owner is new to boats that size having a crew will help but after a few times, he shoudl be fine.

unjamming a windlass is one of the thing any boat owner shoudl know how to do... then what happened to muscle anyway? if one can't raise an anchor manually on a 40 or 50 footer, he has other things to worry about! so yeah, an 80 year old owner with a bad back should have a crew but the average person will be just fine...


i'm not sure why you are always ranting about "ignorant" owners... for one, i've been a boat owner for over 20 years before doing this for a living and like msot owners I know, i was not ignorant... there are idiots everywhere, including those **** sportfish delivery captains that think their wake doesn't stink... but let's not generalize. and dont' get me started on the "professional captain" who think they are too good to get in the bilge or think that their own convenience is more important than saving $ to the owner....

look, it's not black and white... there are bad owners and bad captains but most boat owners I know care about maintaining their vessels. I have a few friends with boats in the 40 to 60' range, they know how to safely operate and maintain their boats as well as any "pro".

actually, if you encourage a boat owner to maintain his own boat, they will know that to do when something happens. Then if he finds out he doesn't have time, or that he'd rather be using the boat instead of working on her, then that's his choice... he can make an informed decision about it. Not be at the mercy of a "pro" who will think his budget is unlimited.

but again, as an owner first, i look at it from a boater owner's perspective.

"who believes that what he sees on the commercials is all the is"

you mean... joystick drivign isn't the answer to all boating problems?

my point is that i dont' think that telling someone up front that a 50 footer requires a crew or "manager" is the right answer. it may be for some, but again, it's not black or white. most 50, 60 footers out there are owner operated, managed and maintained. and it works. could be a geographical thing, at least that's how it is down here.

as to having a heart attack, well frankly i'll have bigger worries than drifting into something... and i'm more concerned about someone having a heart attack at 70mph and crossing the interstate median!