Hi Folks, New Member here
We're hoping to buy a trawler to live on at least 3 months a year in the Warm Caribbean/Bahamas. We're from the North East US.
Looking for advice on how to plan an annual budget. ASIDE from the cost of fuel, what should I budget for. The Brokers say 10% of purchase price but that's too vague for me.
Assumptions: Dockage for 6 Months year, Haul out once a year, No Crew, Am basic handy (can do most usual boat repairs, some engine maintenance like fluid changes etc)
Is there any spread sheet or resource out there to help plan a budget?
Thanks!
You've still really given us very little information. So, I'll give you a spreadsheet approach and create my own assumptions.
Boat-Nordhavn 63, purchased new.
Dockage in NYC 6 months of year, summer season. Haul out once a year in Newport. Boat cruised to South Florida and then Bahamas, then Virgin Islands, St. Marteen and other Caribbean islands. Very little anchoring, mostly dockage. Run quickly from NYC to South Florida, then cruised 1 day of every 3, average 8 hours.
So, depreciation $300,000
Food and beverages-Assuming 4 on board for 6 months eating 50% on board and 50% in restaurants.
So, 90 days of food and beverage for 4-$2000
90 days of fine dining for 4-$36,000
A couple of trips home and back to boat, first class, total of 64 flights, $32000.
Entertainment and sightseeing, including local transportation, 120 days, 4 people-$48,000
Subtotal-$418,000
Insurance, registration, taxes-$20,000
Dockage-180 days in NYC -$68,000
180 days in nicest marinas in South FL, Bahamas, Caribbean-$46,000
Haul out and bottom painting, etc. $4,000
No major maintenance as all under warranty - $0
Fuel-80 days at 48 gallons at $3+-$12,000
Port Fees and clearance-$2000
Subtotal-$570,000
Chart updates and books-$5,000
Satellite for TV, Internet, Phone $50,000
Capital reserve for major rehab every 5 years, major equipment every 10 years. $20,000
Total $645,000
Now, I suspect your number might be closer to $40,000-50,000 or could even be $25,000 but could be $200,000
This is why 10% and other formulas just are dangerous as are the numbers of others. I used an extreme example above but there are others even more costly.
Might be new, rapidly depreciating boat. Might be old boat holding value.
Might be warranty service or might be major repairs.
Might be very efficient boat averaging 4 nmpg and cruising 60 days a year for 6 hours for a cost of $4300 or like us today where we cruised 12 hours and used 1100 gallons but we only paid $1.75 a gallon at home and $2.28 in Canaveral.
You may anchor, you may use marinas. Marinas may be $1 per ft or $8 per ft.
You may dine on the boat or may dine at the most expensive restaurants in town.
You mentioned being handy which is good but others might spend $100+ per hour.
We all want easy answers, but you're going to have to investigate enough to get your own. You need to know the different costs of different boats, the efficiency, and you need to know the costs of dockage in different areas. The rates for one month in one location may be more than a year elsewhere. I can get fuel delivered at home for $1.75 per gallon but I'm likely to pay $4 or more in the Bahamas and in some areas of the Caribbean more than that.
Determine how you want to use the boat and then research prices in the area.
It's just like land life, there are a lot of different ways to do it. When we lived on a lake in NC, I remember one couple I worked with talking about how expensive boating must be and how costly to us. Well, for over 10 years, we never took a vacation to a resort, only hotel other than business travel was one owned by family and they wouldn't let us pay. This couple took a vacation to Disneyworld every Christmas and one to Europe every summer. They would also take weekend trips to NY and Chicago. They spent far more on their recreation than we ever did on our boat. Oh, they also ate out every night of the week and we averaged eating out one night a week.
Much of our life we were actually quite frugal.
One other warning. It's easy for others to spend your money, to tell you what boat to buy without regard for cost. When we first started looking, we had people tell us to only get a Dutch boat and they were pushing Feadship. They were pushing $100+ million boats. But then when we were on an 85' boat in Alaska, our best friend flew in with her mom. Her mom looks and says "What a cute little boat." Turns out she'd never been on a boat smaller than 200' as she grew up wealthy in Spain and her parents' friends had superyachts. There's always someone spending less and someone else spending far more. Just as others will freely spend your money, there are those who will tell you how cheaply they do it. There's another site in which there are regularly those bragging about $5000, then $2000, then $1000 a month and then someone will pop in and say they only spend $500 a month.
I'm just saying, listen to others, but if you don't develop your own budget, then it's not really worth much to you.