How to know I'm ready for my dream boat

[deltaten]

I gree with Don to a degree....
I would place the $$ ratio at 1/3, 1/3, 1/3
1/3 for purchase
1/3 for repairs, outfitting
1/3 for (initial?) operating expenses. Docking, mooring, marina fees, storage, fueling, insurance/s, unforseen expenses will eat up a buncha money right smart.
HTH

[MJH]

Originally Posted by FishCake

tldr: how much does it cost to maintain a 43" alimiunium cruiser like this annually while cruising?

Hello everyone. I've been sailing my entire life (pretty much) and have about 20000nm behind me. mostly in blue water and decent weather. I haven't been in many storms and none that I would term really large.

I bought my first boat last year, It's a 31 foot fiberglass sloop. Boat ownership is quite different than crewing and I am learning a huge amount. So my Wife and I have realized that we do want to continue this life, she likes it (which was my major worry).

My major dream for sailing is to explore placens that are really remote, high latitude places and my current boat isn't a high latitude cruiser. I not sure if I should continue on my current boat or commit to a high latitude cruiser now. In purticular a boat that seems to tick all the boxes of a boat I want is - https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/199...ar-43-9033364/

It's in my price range (I have enough money for it, barely).

I am still pretty young (30) and this will exhaust pretty much all of my disposible money so I am worried I am not finacially ready for it. I also I am not sure if I have the know how to maintain it yet. I guess I will learn.

To me this boat looks like a great deal and it's beautiful. But am I too early in my boat owning career to own such a big boat. Also I need to build hours and miles in more gnarly weather. I guess just passage plan badly on my next trip and go when the weather isn't great haha

Anyway, I really want to buy this but at the same time this amount of money is really no joke. I also haven't got much information about Dewar boats. I can't find much about them on the internet.

Your goals are your own and I can't comment on them only to say you will need a dependable, safe, comfortable boat.

You have made subjective judgements about this boat but not objectives ones. The absence of information and full specifications about Dewar sailboats (sailboatdata.com has nothing) gives me caution from the start. More research is needed and your surveyor selection would be very important...get a good one you trust.

Secondly, I know nothing about aluminum boats and their long-term care. Something you need to look into...this boat is 31 years old.

I spent five years researching and viewing boats for my third and final sailboat and made a few offers that were rejected along the way. Don't be in too much of a hurry on settling on your dream boat. Buying a sailboat is a kind-of marriage after all with an equal consequence for misjudgment.

Good Luck.

[lestersails]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

it cost my wife and I this much for our 41' the last 7+ years

Very generous of you to share this! Curious, though, about the negative entries for maintenance in Dec & Jan and Fees in most months. Can't quite figure out your convention for debits and credits.

[dannc]

The best guestimate I have seen on the cost of maintaining a boat is on the Morgan's Cloud website, https://www.morganscloud.com/2014/07...ging-sailboat/ It is behind a paywall but well worth the cost. Especially if you want an AL boat.

There is a spreadsheet on the link. The spreadsheet lets you tweek the numbers such as fuel cost, miles sailed, condition to keep the boat, how much work will be done by the owner vs a boat yard, etc.

Using the spreadsheet, and comparing it to other people expenses, is about the best guestimating that one can do.

[gallatin1988]

I think the main question you and your wife should be asking yourselves is not how much can we afford but rather how small a boat can we get and still do the things we want to with her. A too large or complicated or expensive boat will sink your dreams faster than hurricane.

if you have to ask if you can afford this boat then the answer is probably a resounding NO. If you have $100,000 to spend I would spend no more 1/3 (and probably closer to 1/4) on purchasing then count on spending another 1/3 to 1/2 of total budget on a refit. The boat you linked to looks to me like it's in need of a total mid-life refit. So I think if you bought this boat for the list price you will need to sink another $35,000-$75,000 into her in the next 1 to 3 years. I'd double those figures if you get a boatyard to most of the work. A mid-life refit will take all the blood, sweat, tears (and money and time and everything else) you have. Don't ask me how I know ...

For instances, the ad says that a couple of the sails were in new 2015 does that mean the rest of the sails were purchased 30 years ago when the boat was new? In what condition are these nearly decade old sails? If they're nearly new condition, why has the boat been essentially sitting for the last decade? This can be good thing or a bad thing. Lot rot is as real for boats as it cars.

Now repeat the above excise for everything and system on the boat to get sense of the possible scope of the work the boat needs. Then assume you've missed critical things and underestimated the cost and extent of the work needed. Assume the worst that way most of your surprises will be more positive than negative.

At the end of all this you might have a better idea if this boat is screaming good deal or something to run away from as fast as you can. Unfortunately for you no one here tell you this.

Join morganscloud.com Best $25 bucks you can spend for good sailing info. Then spend the next 3 months reading the entire site.

If you don't already have them, consider picking up a copies of Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat: A Guide to Essential Features, Handling, and Gear by John Vigor and Get Real, Get Gone by Rick Page. You might find eminently readable and helpful.

[girdasso]

Hi FishCake. Looks like a good boat at a reasonable price. If you have the cash to buy the boat and have the cash flow to support you and your wife for a few years going forward it looks doable.
However I suggest a few things you should take care to check:
Check for yourself that the aluminum hull has been protected with anodes and is still sound.
The boat and your experiences is not ready for high latitudes cruising. I suggest you cruise for a year or two at low latitudes for you and your wife to gain experience handling the boat in strong winds and maybe a storm.
Has the boat got storm sails and safety equipment needed for the storms you will encounter at high latitudes?
Are the instruments , GPS, Radar, auto pilot etc. suitable for high latitudes cruising?
I wish you good fortune and fair winds if you decide to go for it .

[girdasso]

Hi FishCake. Are the photos of the boat taken recently or when the boat was new? If not then I suggest you check out sails, storm sails, and electronics thoroughly before considering purchase