Do you have to be up for your own maintenance and repairs to sensibly own a sailboat

[Briggers]

TrentePieds has pretty much nailed but there is something that you should really consider.

You will mostly find that boats tend to break down when they are being used - in your case - out at sea! There is a distinct shortage of engineers and electricians out there.

At the very least you will need to have a basic understanding of boat electrics, particularly with regard to engine starting and battery charging. You will also need to understand what makes engines tick, or not.

These two issues with give you 90% of your problems anyway.

Spend a bit of time acquiring this knowledge while you are waiting for your boat to come along, it'll be worth it.

Without this knowledge, I wouldn't venture outside the marina.

[petermjdavies]

Short answer for a budget cruiser. Yes.

[h2ojunke]

To own a boat one must be DIY ( Do It Yourself) or DIP (Deep In Pocket) or some combination of the two.........

[Tanqueray]

Many good responses here...I will add my 2 cents worth of experience....

My first boat was a very low-maintenance 1996 Hunter 280. No teak to take care of, low hours on the Yanmar 2GM20F diesel, decent sails and standing rigging.

I still had to learn how to replace a traveller line, stitch up some tears in the sail cover, change the engine oil and winterize the various systems on the boat for winter layup.

I had a speed sensor start to leak, and when I tried to tighten the plastic retainer nut, it cracked Quite the learning experience for a first-time boat owner. But I did all the work myself, including bottom paint when needed.

I had “Obsession” for about 5 years, when I bought a 10-year older, 32-foot O’Day 322. She had (still has) “character”... meaning she needs way more upkeep.

I added a Mack Pack and lazy jacks, replaced the strut bearing, prop shaft, shaft log hose, repacked the stuffing box, replaced much of the running rigging, sanded and varnished teak, removed said teak and replaced with plastic wood, pulled water tanks to clean, painted the bilge under the tanks, replaced sanitation hoses to holding tank, replaced house lights to LED, replaced main sail and added Tides Marine Strong Track, changed the oil, traced down an antifreeze leak, reset the neck on the HX, replaced batteries, replaced the VHF and ran new N2K network and on and on....

Not sure I can calculate what this would have cost to have someone else do it...a small fortune in my budget I think.

For several years, I had a boat partner on the boats. My friend liked to sail, didn’t mind paying his fair share of the costs to maintain her, but he did not like doing boat maintenance. He helped at haulout to change the oil and winterize, but other than that, I didn’t count on him...and that was OK, because I learned a TON working on this old girl. And I learned how things worked, and how to fix them when they broke.

As someone once said...

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

Can you pay someone to do all the work on your boat? Sure. Can you afford it? Only you can answer that, I think.

Should you? I think not.

Best of luck on your adventure.

Greg

[Jim Cate]

Can you pay someone to do all the work on your boat? Sure. Can you afford it? Only you can answer that, I think.

Should you? I think not.

Nicely put, mate! And I agree...

Jim

[dlj]

The questions you have asked are really only answerable by yourself. But perspectives from others may help you gain better insight into those answers for you.

There have been a number of good posts here. I did read all, well, more accurately skimmed all, read most. There are some observations I'd make. Sailors tend to have a philosophy that you need to be able do your own work because "out there" you can't get a mechanic. Well, that is a true statement if you are crossing oceans. But in the region that you have said you want to sail, it simply does not apply. You aren't far enough off-shore to really have that be a major concern. As others have had talked money, I'll not repeat here.

I've been a boat owner for over 50 years. I've never had the budget to own a new boat, sadly. But I'm addicted to sailing so I've had to make it work, always. Even when I was a starving college student, I owned my own boat. Over those years, I've owned a range of different boats and under a range of ownership "structures".

Here are some of my reflections for myself over all of those combinations. Shared ownership, no matter the specific structure never worked for me. That is because I really like to set up my boat the way I want it. I want to go to my boat and know it is exactly in the same way as I last left it. When I loose or can't find something, I know I have no one to blame but myself. If these things don't bother you, and you don't really care about this, then these types of shared ownership options can be a $'s saver.

Do not underestimate the really good option of a decent trailer sailor. I've had several and the monthly overhead that you DON'T have to pay is really nice! These boats also tend to be quite reasonably priced and if you look around you can find one in very good condition for a very reasonable price. Caveats here, you should already own the tow vehicle or the cost of buying that on top of the boat is a major expense. You should have a location, preferably at your house, where you can park your boat. That allows you to have an easy location to store it, and puts the boat right next to you so any work you may wish to do is a very easy commute.

Having worked on my own boats for the years I have, including a number of years when I worked as a professional on other peoples boats, I currently do the majority of the work needed on my boat myself. But I do not hesitate to contract with a professional if there is a need in an area where I do not feel confident and want the work done both well and in a short length of time. I will typically look for a pro that will let me be there as they do the work and are open to having me ask questions about whatever system they are working on. There are two aspects here that have been my observation, one, if they are not open to this, they don't tend to be of the technical level I'm happy with, and two, it really helps me expand my own knowledge.

It would be my suggestion to find a boat that has limited or no modern navigation electronic systems on it. Look for a boat that is structurally in very good to excellent condition. Not having the navigation systems will lower the purchase price and if you have a good engine, sails, standing rigging, hull and deck, then you have a lot of navigation options for where you are sailing that are quite inexpensive. You will want a good autopilot and depth sounder so either the boat comes with those or you'll want to budget for them to be installed.

Tackle the projects you feel comfortable with to begin with and slowly grow into the model of DIY or yard work that fits your specific comfort zone.

dj

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Tanqueray

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”

― Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

This.

For many of us, "messing about" also includes doing much of the maintenance and upkeep, especially if we have the time and are not under the gun to do stuff. There's not that much on the average sailboat that's rocket science, and once you get into the boating community, there's usually someone willing to advise or help. As well as online resources like CF.

[ErnestV]

Originally Posted by Danm1

I could do it for $125 worth of paint,, but the yard won't let me..

Go find another yard...

[barnakiel]

There are two ways thru this adventure:



- DIY and pay less,

- hire and pay way more.


But you can only DYI if you know what you are doing.


Why own. Why not rent. Renting is the better choice for most of us.