They say the first year of owning a boat is the most expensive. Well I sure hope so! I put in another $20,500 my first year! I was not living aboard, so I’m only including boat related costs. I was also paying rent to live on land and groceries, etc, none of which is included here.
I didn’t do too much outfitting this first year. Most of the costs were related to buying the tools and equipment ($4000) to fix up all the small issues on the boat. I put in a lot of time working on my own, so I didn’t pay any labor costs. Total maintenance for the year was $3000. Slip fees and club fees added up to around $4000. I really didn’t use my engine for much other than getting in and out of the slip, so fuel costs were only $300. I had a partner the second half of the year to split maintenance costs while he let me use his slip, but that didn’t really save me much money. The only addition to the boat were new sails, main and jib. The old sails still had plenty of life in them with no tears, but they were getting bagged out and inefficient for racing.
I’m hoping the next few years will continue to drop in cost as I catch up on old maintenance issues. All in all though, the fixes were fairly minor: Replacement bolts, hose clamps, a raw water issue requiring new hoses, a toilet disaster, electrical wiring, some replacement nav lights, etc.
Quicken Report: 2013 Yearly Expenses, $20,532.91