Empathy List Archives

CM

C. Marin Faure

Sat, Oct 27, 2007 7:21 PM

"Don't buy the biggest boat you can afford, buy the smallest boat

you are comfortable in".

I first head this phrase in a story in the old "Boys Life" magazine,
only it was worded simply "Buy the smallest boat you can afford."
Obviously you don't want to buy a boat that's too small for what you
want to do with it, which to me includes not only comfort but the
capability to handle the environmental conditions you want to cruise
in. In the context of the "Boy's Life" story, the point was that if
you have x-amount of dollars, the smaller the boat you buy, the
better its condition will be or the newer it will be, which usually
means the same thing. In other words, if you spend x- amount of
dollars on a GB32, the chances are you'll get a much better boat than
if you spend the same x-amount of dollars on a GB42. This is
assuming, of course, that the GB32 meets your boating requirements.

We bought a GB36 because that's what fit our boating budget. For a
couple of years after the purchase we drooled over the newer GBs at
the dealer/charter dock in our marina. We decided our favorite was
the GB46 (not the new version but the original version with the step-
down aft cockpit). But now, nine years later, we've decided that
unless money was absolutely no concern, we would not want a boat one
inch longer than what we have now. If for no other reason than we
don't want to varnish trim that's one inch longer than what we have
now :-) But having spent the last nine years doing ourselves as much
of the maintenance, repairs, and upgrades on our boat, we feel that
our 36-foot boat is about as large a boat as we'd want to deal with
given our current time and boating budget constraints. And it's
sized right for the two of us plus dog, and it's fully capable of
handling all the conditions we're likely to encounter in all our
cruising (which does NOT include open-ocean cruising).

C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington

>"Don't buy the biggest boat you can afford, buy the smallest boat you are comfortable in". I first head this phrase in a story in the old "Boys Life" magazine, only it was worded simply "Buy the smallest boat you can afford." Obviously you don't want to buy a boat that's too small for what you want to do with it, which to me includes not only comfort but the capability to handle the environmental conditions you want to cruise in. In the context of the "Boy's Life" story, the point was that if you have x-amount of dollars, the smaller the boat you buy, the better its condition will be or the newer it will be, which usually means the same thing. In other words, if you spend x- amount of dollars on a GB32, the chances are you'll get a much better boat than if you spend the same x-amount of dollars on a GB42. This is assuming, of course, that the GB32 meets your boating requirements. We bought a GB36 because that's what fit our boating budget. For a couple of years after the purchase we drooled over the newer GBs at the dealer/charter dock in our marina. We decided our favorite was the GB46 (not the new version but the original version with the step- down aft cockpit). But now, nine years later, we've decided that unless money was absolutely no concern, we would not want a boat one inch longer than what we have now. If for no other reason than we don't want to varnish trim that's one inch longer than what we have now :-) But having spent the last nine years doing ourselves as much of the maintenance, repairs, and upgrades on our boat, we feel that our 36-foot boat is about as large a boat as we'd want to deal with given our current time and boating budget constraints. And it's sized right for the two of us plus dog, and it's fully capable of handling all the conditions we're likely to encounter in all our cruising (which does NOT include open-ocean cruising). ____________________ C. Marin Faure GB36-403 "La Perouse" Bellingham, Washington

JH

Jonathan Haas

Sat, Oct 27, 2007 7:39 PM

The discussion of Cost of Ownership has been one of the most informative and useful exchanges I've had the privilege of reading in quite some time. My personal thanks to all the members of the list who have participated for sharing insights, doubts, experience and overall encouragement.

Jonathan Haas
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

The discussion of Cost of Ownership has been one of the most informative and useful exchanges I've had the privilege of reading in quite some time. My personal thanks to all the members of the list who have participated for sharing insights, doubts, experience and overall encouragement. Jonathan Haas Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

RC

Richard Cook

Sat, Oct 27, 2007 10:08 PM

Here are a few more data points:

Living in Utah, almost 1000 miles inland, and wishing to cruise more
than one area, we bought the biggest and most capable and comfortable
boat we could reasonably tow, a 26-footer with diesel I/O.

It's surely not as comfortable as a larger boat, but it's well built and
seaworthy, and it works for two (occasionally three) of us and our dog.
It is as well equipped with fishing and cruising gear (and as complex)
as many much larger boats (watermaker, three helm stations, ...)

We have no permanent slip fees, but in cost of ownership I've included
the boathouse (garage) where she lives here in Utah when not cruising.
Purchase cost (new) added up to about $170K, ten years ago. Tax and
insurance add up to about $1150/year.

We've been cruising in a trailerable boat since 1991, but in the last
few years I've kept more detailed records of costs of operation.

Four of the last five whole summers we've cruised the BC and/or SE
Alaska coast, covering an average of 35-45 miles per day underway,
anchoring 2/3 of the time or more. Fortunately we've learned to go
mostly slow (6.5 or 7 knots), so we get 3-3.5 NM per gallon. In earlier
times, traveling on plane most of the time, NMPG was only about 1.75.

Cost of operation for the last five years has been about $70 to $85 per
day on the water. This includes the (significant) cost of towing to
launch points, fishing gear and licenses, fuel, moorage, and most
maintenance (I do most myself). It does not include food and liquor
(since we cook and eat on board, we'd spend that anyway).

So if we spend 100 days on the water per year, our cost of operation is
roughly $7000 to $8500 per year.

On occasion I'll shell out a fair chunk for an upgrade, like new
chartplotter and fishfinder (say about $3000 every several years), or
for mechanical work I can't do myself. These major chunks probably
average another $1000-1500/year, thus maybe $8000-$10000 per year total.

Our Volvo diesel has about 3100 hours on it, and I'd expect it to last
at least that many more. I haven't built in any rebuild/replace cost
estimate.

Richard Cook
New Moon (Bounty 257)

Here are a few more data points: Living in Utah, almost 1000 miles inland, and wishing to cruise more than one area, we bought the biggest and most capable and comfortable boat we could reasonably tow, a 26-footer with diesel I/O. It's surely not as comfortable as a larger boat, but it's well built and seaworthy, and it works for two (occasionally three) of us and our dog. It is as well equipped with fishing and cruising gear (and as complex) as many much larger boats (watermaker, three helm stations, ...) We have no permanent slip fees, but in cost of ownership I've included the boathouse (garage) where she lives here in Utah when not cruising. Purchase cost (new) added up to about $170K, ten years ago. Tax and insurance add up to about $1150/year. We've been cruising in a trailerable boat since 1991, but in the last few years I've kept more detailed records of costs of operation. Four of the last five whole summers we've cruised the BC and/or SE Alaska coast, covering an average of 35-45 miles per day underway, anchoring 2/3 of the time or more. Fortunately we've learned to go mostly slow (6.5 or 7 knots), so we get 3-3.5 NM per gallon. In earlier times, traveling on plane most of the time, NMPG was only about 1.75. Cost of operation for the last five years has been about $70 to $85 per day on the water. This includes the (significant) cost of towing to launch points, fishing gear and licenses, fuel, moorage, and most maintenance (I do most myself). It does not include food and liquor (since we cook and eat on board, we'd spend that anyway). So if we spend 100 days on the water per year, our cost of operation is roughly $7000 to $8500 per year. On occasion I'll shell out a fair chunk for an upgrade, like new chartplotter and fishfinder (say about $3000 every several years), or for mechanical work I can't do myself. These major chunks probably average another $1000-1500/year, thus maybe $8000-$10000 per year total. Our Volvo diesel has about 3100 hours on it, and I'd expect it to last at least that many more. I haven't built in any rebuild/replace cost estimate. Richard Cook New Moon (Bounty 257)

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Calculating the cost of ownership