Cost of Owning a Sailboat

Nazaré boat yard. Get the wallet ready.

It's been said many times that owning a sailboat is like standing in a cold shower, fully clothed, tearing up $100 bills.

That's not entirely true. If your sailboat is under 25 feet, it could be $10 bills...if it's over 60 feet, get a thick wad of $500 bills. Euros in my case.

So, let's look at the cost of owning a naked 39-foot sailboat kept by a sailor on a tight budget - me, a working stiff.

From the time I sailed my Corbin 39 from Port Dover, Canada, to Portugal, I've kept a detailed record of all my boat upkeep expenses. Since 2002, I've cruised down to the Algarve for about 1 month per year. This makes my situation fairly representative of a lot of sailboat owners.

In the last 11 years years, on average I've spent 5,082 euros per year.

Here's a chart for 2006, which exceeds the average yearly cost because it includes haul-out expenses (I normally paint the bottom every other year and do all the work myself).

2006

Date	item	Quantity	Cost in Euros
Jan.	VHF radio Navman 7100 5-1-V-29-0960		241
Jan.	Liferaft (10 persons for coastal cruising)		400
Jan.	First-aid kit, knife and fuse holders		24
Jan.	Marina	Jan, Feb. Mar.	390
Jan.	Lifering and reflective tape		47
Jan.	Naval club membership fee		24
Feb.	Batteries (6 AA)		7
Feb.	Paint for letters		4
Feb.	60 meters of 6 mm line		44
Feb.	Metal/fiberglass restoration fluid		13
Feb.	Metal/fiberglass polish fluid		12
Feb.	2 blocks, 8mm		9
Feb.	Shaft anode		6
Feb.	Hanging anode 1.5 kg (for use at marina)		40
Apr.	Chain 3 m x € 7.61		23
Apr.	Mask		15
Apr.	Misc.		11
Apr.	Marina	April & May	300
Apr.	3 cans 2.5 l micron extra antifouling paint		384
Apr.	Haul-out boat jacks €150 + zinc €19 + power wash €66		235
Apr.	30 mm Zinc at Nazaré – expensive		20
Apr.	Pliers for impeller spring		7
Apr	Zinc 32 mm		6
Apr.	Small blocks and material for lazy jacks		73
Apr.	Bow fender		28
Apr.	Mapsend BlueNav XL Chart		263
Apr.	Diesel (247 liters)		269
Apr.	Zinc for rudder support		9
May	Cooler (12 V DC with lighter plug)		50
May	Nazaré yard Travel lift € 65 x 2 + VAT Electricity € 4 + VAT Yard space rental €3.45 x 24 days		263
May	Nazaré marina – before and after haul-out 2 days (actually 3 days – one free day)		29
June	Marina	June & July	476
June	Insurance (currently paying €585)		936
June	Flag, small shackle		18
June	Fire extinguishers renewal		15
July	Grease spray		6
July	3M stainless steel polisher		20
July	2 fenders, outboard repair, 6 mm line		86
Aug.	Fender step	+-	75
Sept	Fabric and 2 curtain rods		45
Sept.	Marina	Aug/Sept/Oct	529
Oct.	VHF radio inspection		104
Oct.	8 liters of 15W40 oil		36
Oct.	Boat registration costs - from Canadian to Portuguese flag (paid a hell of a lot more for import VAT in the Azores which I included in the purchase cost).		188
Nov.	6 zincs / 2 oil filters / 1 fuel filter / Thermostat & gasket / fuel overflow hose / Oberdorf pump gasket $128 US + $101 US for shipping (ouch!)		184
Nov.	Customs tax for above order (ouch! ouch!)		91
Dec.	Marina	Nov. and Dec	240
		TOTAL	€6,295
	Marina Peniche		1,935
	Haul-out and bottom paint		1,027

           

The list below includes most Big Ticket items bought since I arrived in Portugal in 2002:

Item	Cost in Euros
4 skipper licenses. These are mandatory - according to how far from port you sail -  when you are a resident operating a Portuguese-registered boat. I had to register Jakatar because it came from outside the EU. Stupid choice. Basic Skipper + Local Skipper + Coastal Skipper + Ocean Skipper All courses were taken separately in different years	2,500
Used Yamaha dinghy and 2 hp engine	750
Raymarine ST100 autopilot to be used with the windvane	396
Arco 43 2-speed winch, on Ebay	229
Lavac toilet and pump (nothing beats it)	350
Magellan FX color chart plotter, on  Ebay	541
Flares	219
Navman 7100 VHF radio (needed to comply with new regulations)	241
10-person liferaft for coastal cruising, a big inflatable lifesaver	400
Mapsend BlueNav XL Chart, Portugal, Azores, Canaries, Spain until Gibraltar	263
Mast paint	272
Crane to step and unstep the mast	200
Circulation stamp – now I pay only €80, the rule changed from boat size to engine size (didn't pay anything when sailing under the Canadian flag for almost 4 years, until I was told I’d be shot on the spot if I didn't change over to the Portuguese flag. I kept arguing that I had paid the Import VAT, to no avail).	240
Carpenters – new staysail boom, window frames, etc.	400
Raymarine hydraulic autopilot, including installation	1,732
180 A (?) battery	116
Icom M-33 handheld VHF radio	185
Spinnaker snuffer	258
Stainless deck diesel fill, stainless through-hull	227
2 Vetus mushroom vents	129
VHF course and license renewal (another mandatory burden)	155
Alado roller furler A-4	1,398
Halyard, 10 mm for furler, 2 blocks, fairlead	160
Interior hatch frames and labor for installing komacel ceiling lining	170
Genoa – Pires de Lima 48 m2	2,303
Top climber, to climb the mast + plus miscellaneous stuff	368
ZF 12M transmission, on Ebay and installed it myself	900
913 Rutland wind generator repair,  power socket, AC switchboard and battery   charger	410
Rocna 25 anchor	609
Honwave T 20 SE dinghy	698
Bic Bilbao kayak, used	280

And 

Just for fun, here's the cost of building a mooring - a mooring fit for a ship. Extreme overkill!!!
3 1-ton blocks linked together in a triangle. Forgot to take pictures.
I did all the work. The yard was kind enough to place the blocks in the water with a crane. I hoisted them off the bottom with a chain hoist and slowly motored out to the mooring field.
I was moored for one year, the seagulls bombarded my deck, I got tired of not being able to translate on the boat, for a lack of electricity, so I sold the mooring for €1,000 euros.
In the end, I didn't save much money but - believe it or not - it was a fun experience.
And the mooring fee was €260 the first year and €300 the second year. I was on the mooring for 1 year, but the payment is made per calendar year.

Mooring 2009/2010

Nov.	400 kg 22mm chain + 1 m 30mm chain, swivel and shackle from Batista Scrap yard in Alhos Vedros		276
Nov.	Trailer hitch for the dinghy trailer		200
Dec.	180 kg of 50mm chain		150
Dec.	Trailer lights plug		32
Dec.	Rebar, wire, bricks		26
Dec.	Rebar + plastic sheet		10
Dec.	Concrete - ready mix truck		100
Dec.	Mooring molds x 3		150
March	8 m of 16 mm chain (49 kg)		115
March	2 Styrofoam mooring balls 50x50x50		40
March	3 liters of polyester resin €55 + 1.5m2 mat fibre to coat the Styrofoam mooring balls		70
March	Brushes and rolls		6
March	1 l polyester resin + .75 m mat		26
March	Titan paint for mooring balls		13
March	Epoxy glue		8
March	Paint rolls for mooring balls		6
May	Toniauto trailer to transport my dinghy from home to the port		350
March	Shackles (balance of trade with Ryker on chain block, chain more or less equals out to these amounts) Ryker also built a mooring but with only 1 1-tone block. We worked on the project together. Good thing, because the guy is very smart.		155
	TOTAL		1,733

Storm Stephanie

The weather has gone mad around here! It's getting so bad they're even naming storms now.

We've had 3 storms in about 3 weeks. As I type at this moment, it's blowing like the devil and raining like hell. And to add injury to misery, my Rutland 913 wind generator spun itself into a seizure. The bearing, which I replaced last year, is now toast.

One good day in this whole mess allowed me to add extra dock lines and a new red fender.

I went to the marina on Saturday to prepare for the storm Stephanie - which promised to hammer us with 55-knot winds and 10-meter waves. Part of the marina is already mangled and distorted; the other part is rattling like a bad case of osteoporosis. Who said owning a boat is all fun and play? I'm beginning to think that it's a masochist's hobby.

As I was putting the final touches to snugging up the lines and adding some new ones, Luis motored by in his sailboat exiting the marina.

"Where you going?"

"To the transient dock," he shouted back.

So I ran over to the transient pontoon to help him dock on the side away from the breakwater.

"I'm not risking it this time," he said. "Why don't you move yours over?"

I didn't because I was already tied down solid. Besides my boat is at the end farthest from the breakwater.

Later, I was watching the 8 pm news at home in which some navy weather expert was interviewed saying that Storm Stephanie would cause waves up to 10 meters but, he pointed out, extra precaution should be taken because the extremely strong winds and unstable sea conditions could create isolated waves up to 17 meters high. Those were his words, "17 meters" ON SUNDAY NIGHT!!!! I think I stopped breathing.

The next morning, Sunday, it was still dark when I arrived at the marina to move the boat over to the guest pontoon. I waited until daylight, fiddled around and then the wind suddenly kicked in. Instead of letting the lines loose and getting the hell out of there, I sat around hoping it was just a gust that would die down. Instead, the wind slowly picked up until there was no choice but to sit tight.

Funny thing, out on the water I'm a mad salt dog, but I dread maneuvering in a marina in windy conditions. Got no problem dropping or picking up anchor in a middle of a blow. Maybe that's the real reason I like anchoring so much...so much for my minimalist boating ideals.

Anyway, on Sunday night gusts reached 130 km per hour, but the waves wimped out and barely exceeded 7 meters. Now I can start breathing again.