Bob
   KK-42
SABO

Maurice, Great question! But I notice that your thoughts and information center on the cost of entrance, not staying there. Or perhaps you intended to buy the boat, keep it at the club and live in the house? As we approach the same stage, and having (just) passed the entry gate, we are searching for some idea of the real price of the yearly ticket to stay there before we reach that door. So in this follow up to your note, I dwell on that part. That is the trouble with us "techies" and "bean conters". We want to quantify and calculate everything. We spend our entire lives with numbers - calculating forces, energy or assets and profits to three decimal points when we have pretended that we know with accuracy, some base value or coeficient. Oh well. It's a living. Everytime that I have asked a cruiser about his costs and actually gotten more than a shrug, it has been an evasive number and included that phrase I so frequently encountered in the orient - perhaps you have heard it: "It's up to you." That response appears to be correct when you consider that staying in a marina every night is a choice that is "up to you" and runs $1 to $2 per foot per night if you choose. The budget that you have included for the yacht club is post-purchase and is "up to you". And the other items considered in the calculation that you presented are "up to you". Personly, I don't consider the opportunity cost of living in a house (or a vacation home), so I would disagree with its application to a boat. That smacks of calculating the internal rate of return on discretionary expenses. On the other hand, depreciation is probably closer to a real cost - but it can be greatly reduced with a lesser cost boat or one that is "over the hump" in the depreciation curve - look at the data in Mcknew & Parker for boats as the turn about five years old and then older. It seems that people are as private with what they spend as with what they earn. It is somehow an embarrassment to report that you live on $10K when the boat next to you spends $100K. To me, it sounds more like a badge of honor. You must be doing some thing right - or them wrong - if they are next to you. As far as the cost of entrance on a KK-42: survey, documentation and minor cosmetic overhaul - 10% of the purchase price (no new equipment) was our cost. For a new boat - 25%??? if you buy equipment. Slip rent $250 per month. Insurance for the local area $1400 per year - thank you Trawlerfest. Tax of $1200 per year. Opportunity cost - not counted (knowingly). Depreciation - considered, but good used boats seem to be increasing in sales price. Maintenance - too soon, but barring a major mistake, I assumed a similar 2.5% for bottom paint etc. But what about the people on board? A couple with a 40' trawler told me that they lived very well in Florida and the Bahamas on $3K for a short cruise of four months. They anchored out a lot and ate on board. Friends who keep their boat in the Bahamas told us that it was a lot cheaper than staying in their house at home. The also anchor out. In another posting a couple reported their expenses over a year for outfitting and living on a sailboat (37' as I recall). Just for grins, I took their data and tried to make my own estimate (sound familiar) for living on our KK-42 for a full year. I know a few of the costs from the last six month of ownership, but most are SWAGs. (The couple's report/My estimate) for cruising a year. Groceries $3661/3500; Supplies $1346/1200 (they included a lot of outfitting stuff.); Repairs $5547/1000 (same note); Parts $1885/1500; Dockage $4285/4200; Meals out $937/2400; Liquor $820/(no comment); Fuel $714/2600; Insurance $1300/1800; Laundry $68/400; Car Rental $331/0. Their total should be about $21K and included about $7K in the outfit. Mine is skewed (low? high?) by assuming that I keep a house, cars, etc. that are not accounted for here. Another source that I found (a boat to boat survey in book form) listed the median and average costs for living on a sailboat. The author reported slightly less than $20K per year for a family of 2.7 on a 33' boat - or some such number. (It's the techies again.) The survey initially tried to include power boats but their expenses were so fuel and dockage related that the author finally dropped them as unpredictable (it's up to them). I would be very interested to see comments on these costs and estimates and I hope that they are some use to you, Maurice. Bob KK-42 SABO