Sailing is Not Expensive - Full Cost Breakdown - ep 281

Wondering how much sailing costs? How much it costs to own a small sailboat? How much are marina fees? Sailboat slip fees? What is the yearly cost of owning a sailboat? This week we break down summer docking fees, sailboat winter storage fees, sailboat ownership and maintenance fees. How much it costs to buy a sailboat and own it safely.

[ThatGuy-cwgb]

Nothing is more expensive than a free boat.

[mathieut]

In my opinion, buy the best and most equipped boat you can afford; any dollar spent on maintenance, improvements and electronics by the previous owner translates in cents in selling price.

[bobloblaw]

Look for a boat that is consistently and recently sailed. A 20 year old boat that’s sat for a year or 2 can be in much worse condition then a 40 year old boat sailed weekly and maintained.

[monocerosin]

Bought a 23ft. trailer sailer with only a week of experience with a laser as a kid. My wife and I didn't even know if it had everything we needed to sail. Got lucky and it floated, the honda motor ran, and the rigging and sails worked! We have fixed everything that was broken or breaking and sailed the river and a lake for some summer weekends. Took ASA101 in key largo, and also 103 in Mobile Bay, my wife went hard in 23 knots of wind she ran a big Beneteau 40 to 9knots with a grin on her face. We bought a Hunter 37c last year and have been working on that boat since. We aim to be back on the water in the next few months and then heading down the tombigbee and out to salt water for the first time in the boats life! I'm pouring every hour and dollar into it. I'm learning only slightly faster that I am getting it all done. You videos have really helped inspire me this far and we still have a long way to go and so many things to learn. Thank you for what you do.

[maybeharold]

For a first cheap boat hank on sails arent as big a deal as you make it out to be.

Attach the sail while on dock, leave an elastic strap across the top of it if its windy. When youre ready to raise it walk forward and release the elastic (if you used it) then raise the jib from the cockpit.

To drop it simply heave to (tack but leave the jib/genoa on the windward side) then drop the halyard.
The sail will stay on deck and then you can go forward to pack it or strap it down till dock.


I sail a 26ft with no autohelm and Ive never had any issues with the headsail when solo.

[TrevPulver]

Tim, I'm hoping to get into sailing sometime in the future and I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate your informative videos. Thank you.

[kobrapromotions]

I genuinely love this channel, down to earth real info no flush or bikini shots. A genuine YT Sailor.

[sabincolton]

I bought a Sunfish back in 1970 and spent two years taking it all over the place on a trailer, including lakes in the Adirondacks and the Jersey shore (often a challenge to get beyond the incoming waves. Sailing the inside water was great). In 1972, I bought a Pearson 26, having learned a lot sailing the Sunfish. I took it to Maine and my kids grew up sailing it, finally selling it in 2003—53 years later.

[TheCornucopiaProject-bdjk]

It’s not so much the cost in dollars. As hobbies go, sailing is more expense but the real cost is time commitment. If you want to get your moneys worth, you have to go out there and sail. It’s not like a computer game that you squeeze in for an hour or two before bedtime.
So the true cost of sailing is time and commitment.

Kinda like your relationship only with fewer headaches

[RSchrE]

We did made the right choice, then, back in 2008, buying a Bénéteau First 235 (swing keel).
A lovely boat with a very cleverly designed. We sailed it intensively for 8 seasons, getting more experienced and choosing more challenging waters.
We were reluctant to buy a boat, not sure we would go out sailing often enough.
Never regretted it, but eventually upgraded to 30-ft, mainly because the outboard was problematic in large waves.

[jplace]

I was talking to my slip neighbor last weekend about a friend of his who was looking for advice on buying his first boat. He put it perfectly. Don’t buy shiny, buy complete. Cleaning, buffing, waxing and bright work can all be done easily and relatively inexpensive. But buying a shiny boat that isn’t complete will cost you way more.

[nicklawson]

I've recently started looking into starting sailing and it really is a buyers market for used boats. Even for something considered a luxury good the depreciation is absolutely insane.

[Shepherdservices]

Scrounged a local yatch club for boats that looked to be sitting a couple years. Found one that had sat 5yrs. Interior had a racoon in it but dry. 2 months later I just sailed her yesterday and today anchored out and went swimming. 1200 for the mooring. But that includes showers, coock outs, grills ect. Spend a few hundred on odds and ends and rebedding every thing. Many good boats out here waiting for love!

[q.e.d.]

I’m eighty. Gave up sailing 5 years ago for reasons of health.
After owning a fistful of yachts from age 7 to 75 I can confirm that the absolutely best times you will ever have with a yacht are 1). The day you buy her and, 2). The day you sell her.
Looking back, as a general rule, small boats are not only cheaper and can be kept at home but, if I’m honest, they’re more fun to sail, too.

[Sailerryan]

I had a First 235 for a couple years. Great boats that punch way above their class!! Very quick and great layout for it's size!!

[johnwadmaniii]

I sailed over 10, 000 blue water miles solo on a 24-foot full keel boat with hank on headsails. The roller furling NEVER failed because I didn’t have it. The hank-on sails were never an issue. Once when running under a storm jib in 55 kt winds gusting above that I had the peace of mind of knowing the storm jib was designed for those conditions and didn’t worry about roller ‘failing’. .

[KeepItSimpleSailor]

Considering costs, a good rule of thumb (assuming you do as much work as possible yourself):
when you buy a boat you can easily spend another 20-30% of the purchase price on repairs upgrades in the first year:
and ongoing maintenance/upgrades are going to run around 5-10% of the value of the boat per annum.
So a $30k boat will probably take another $7-10k out of your pocket in the first year, and cost an average of around $3k pa for maintenance/upgrades.

[PsychosisMedia]

This video is someting i need to watch every 3 months. It helps bring everything in perspective for me. Everything you have stated can be applied to long distance/live aboard ownership. Ill be solo and already looking at safe but isolated carribien travel. Yes 23 is small, i would prefer a 26-28, but the cost is doable.

[aquaholic]

Excellent advise for those looking into sailing or buying a first boat. I would also add that looking for boats that have been in salt water versus fresh water can make a big difference in the condition of certain onboard items, such as thruhulls, lines, etc..

[todddunn]

Cost is strongly dependent on where you use and keep your boat. Here in Maine you will pay quite a lot for winter storage and marina slips are much more expensive than down south. The marina I am at has a minimum charge of $4, 500 for May through October if your boat is under 30'. If you opt to keep the boat on a mooring, you can budget $1, 500-$2, 000 for renting a mooring for the 10 years it will take to work your way to the top of the wait list to get your own.Winter outside storage in a yard will generally run about $75-$100/ft plus the cost of shrink wrap which is often required. You will also have to pay for haul/launch and stepping/unstepping masts plus mast storage charges. Another cost will be pressure washing the hull at haulout. Also fewer and fewer yards around here allow DIY work on the boat so you need to factor in the cost of bottom paint and labor, plus labor for anything else that needs doing (winterizing engines and water systems, varnish paint, etc. That 23' boat would likely cost $8K+ to keep in a slip and yard store in winter here. Also you forgot insurance which you will have to get to keep your boat in a slip. You can often add a small boat under 26' to your homeowners insurance policy for very little money as long as the boat isn't too valuable.

If your boat is small enough to go on a trailer, off season storage will be much easier and cheaper since you can keep it at home. You can store a keel boat on a trailer although you may have to have the boat lifted of/on the trailer for launch/haul. You can keep a 24-26 foot boat on a trailer and tow it home if you have a suitable truck.

When I lived in New Brunswick I kept my boat on a mooring at a provincial park. The people who kept their boats there got together to hire a crane for launch and haul. It was very cheap then. I think we paid about $75 to the park for mooring rental for the summer, about $200 for each persons part of the haul/launch crane rental and my insurance ran about $75 as a rider on my home owner's policy. I trailered the boat home and kept it in my driveway. My all up annual base cost was about $400 including licensing my trailer. I probably spent another few hundred a year for maintenance and upgrades. My boat back then was a Challenger 7.4 - A Canadian boat. Since I was in New Brunswick my costs were in Canadian dollars. If my boat had been too big to trailer, I would have had to spend more to join the local yacht club to get access to their storage yard and haul/launch facilities since there were no commercial boat yards in Fredericton NB back then (80s and 90s)..