Boat Ownership Expense Report 2008
It’s no wonder I’m always broke. I’ve kept a Quicken file of all my BCC Elizabeth related expenses since purchase. It, however, does not include flights, hotels, car rentals, meals etc, during my THREE trips to Texas to look at her, survey, wrap up the deal, and get her ready for the truck to MA. I can gratefully assume this year will be one of the most expensive years of boat ownership. She has been a very financially needy little girl. Next year, she’s going to Financial Resource Consumption Rehab… cuz Sugar Daddy can’t support this habit.
The big ticket items this year were trucking, and boat yards: 2 haulouts, 1 launch, 1 mast drop, and nearly 8 months on the hard. She’ll never see so many boat yards in one year again if I can help it. And of course I don’t ever expect to have to truck her anywhere again.
New rigging was 3rd most expensive item and despite my efforts to save a little by splicing my own rigging, I didn’t save anything. The price of new toggles the marry the splice to mast or turnbuckle were equivalent to the Sta-Lok or Norseman fittings. Plus, I wasted alot of time in the process. I don’t think I’ll ever splice my rigging again, unless I own a very traditional wooden boat that ‘requires’ it. It’s cute and I’m proud of my work and the time I took to learn it and do it, but if sailing is the goal, then time spent splicing is time wasted.
My ‘Other’ expenses include categories like: Books, Caulk, Dinghy, Epoxy, Ground Tackle, Fuel, Head, Maintenance, Navigation, Plumbing, Safety, Yanmar, Zinc.
Yes that was an expensive year of “non-sailing” boat ownership and hopefully one you won’t have to repeat unless you buy another boat? (hey … that has been known to happen!) I’d like to think that the lessons learned while rigging can be seen as tuition, but when you point out the goal of sailing, I see your point.
I’m currently in a similar predicament with flying as my project plane continues to gather dust and moves very little each year.
http://tinyurl.com/9lc4nb
Hey Rich,
The BCC is the boat I’ve lusted after for at least 14 years…She’s like the highschool girlfriend I’m going to marry and stay with for the rest of my life.
The rigging issue turned out to be time, Sta-Lok would have taken about 1-2 days; Splicing took 3 weeks. Time is money. Ouch.
Insane project there on the plane - wow, I can’t even imagine.
I second ben’s comment about the BCC and the long history of lusting after same. I’ve got letters and postcards he wrote to me when he was a young boy on SEA semester with drawings of BCCs all over them!
Ahoy Ben, when you are finished, you will really have something good.
It was not until I read the outfitting list in the “Offshore Cruising Handbook”, by John Niel (sp-?) , that I began to understand just why I was still working on the boat and not out sailing her.
Only if I could have seen that list first, could I have determined that I didn’t want to, or couldn’t, afford the cost and time.
There seems to be two major things that we boat owners fail to properly estimate. One is the amount of time it takes for each project, and the other is the amount of cash it takes.
Soooo, sailor , you are not alone !
Someone told me that only about 5% of the “wantabes”, actually do get to go out cruising, because most under estimated the time and expence needed to do so.
The bottom line is to try to enjoy the process along the way, because that accounts for 2/3 rds of the time and effort, the balance 1/3 rd is at sea, actually, doing it .
Happy New Year ,,,,,, Douglas
Lusting after a BCC?!?! Your high school girlfriend is a BCC that you will marry? I know you well enough to know there is not a drop of sarcasm in those comments. I hope she loves you as much as you love her. Oh boy! You worry me. But good luck with it all. You will be sailing soon…and lovin it. Its all worth it in the end…I guess.
T
Ahoy “T” , is that a reply of concern ?
There may not be a cause of concern for you, but you need to know, that a man can not have the freedom to love others, until he has love to give, and approval of himself, to give that love. In this case , he may need success with his boat/transport/new home/ before he is receptive to give love to others, because he is just so dam busy, trying to sort these things out.
From reading both of your blogs, I can see that you help each other, in times of need, that is a first requsit to a partnership, the “will to help one another.”
You guys will have a common problem, as we all do , and that is one of being patient .
The cruisers who succeed are ones who can contain their patience, and plan for the long voyage.
So in an effort to wish you both well, choose your reading material carefully, so that you can bridge the trials of preparing your boats, before you set off to enjoy the world,,,,,, no small accomplishment, that is!
Douglas