Talk about expensive!

Carpediem44DB

Carpediem44DB

Well-Known Member
Aug 18, 2015
3,230
Sanfransico Bay area
Boat Info
2000 Carver 506
2006 44 DB Sedan Bridge
Engines
Volvo TAMD 74 P
I am collecting all of the bits and supplies to do my yearly preseason engine, drive and genset services. When I bought the 506 I was given the service records from the prior two owners going back to 2012. The latest invoice was from the local Volvo Service Center for a dockside engine service. It basically entailed engine, drives and genset service with oil and filters. The shop sent two techs to do the service and charged each out for 8 hours. The bill totaled $3500 and change!
I will be doing the service myself and I will time myself, not rushing things to save time but I am quite sure that I will do what they did in about 6 hours. I feel for the folks that don't have the mechanical acumen or interest to do even the most basic of tasks like change oil and are at the mercy of the service center's billing department. I ran a aircraft repair shop for 25 years and am fully aware of the margins service providers work with. I would just find it difficult to enjoy my boat if I had to spend that much money on top of the other fixed costs of ownership. I sat down and built a budget for the 506 the other day and conservatively calculated a monthly cost of ownership excluding major repairs at $2500/mo. I put $3000 per month in the boat account to build in a repair cushion. For us that basically would be a house payment for where we live and having none now we are comfortable spending that on a past time that we both thoroughly enjoy.
I shutter to think of what others spend annually to keep their boats up having to rely on professional service providers for every little repair or service.
Carpe Diem
 
Typical life cycle of a new boater.

Excited, buys boat, buys all the toys to go with it at WM, takes friends and family out, bbq’s dockside, etc.

Boat breaks. Calls in local boat repair, gets huge bill. Sighs, says “it’s just this time”.

Boat breaks again. Another big bill. Wife complains about cost.

Boat needs annual maintenance. Another big bill. Owner now has to budget his outings. Wife is miffed at all the money it’s taking to sustain this hobby.

Boat use drops. And boat breaks again. Another huge bill.

Boat appears at brokerage dock, owner sells at a loss.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
 
CaptRonn said:
Typical life cycle of a new boater.

Excited, buys boat, buys all the toys to go with it at WM, takes friends and family out, bbq’s dockside, etc.

Boat breaks. Calls in local boat repair, gets huge bill. Sighs, says “it’s just this time”.

Boat breaks again. Another big bill. Wife complains about cost.

Boat needs annual maintenance. Another big bill. Owner now has to budget his outings. Wife is miffed at all the money it’s taking to sustain this hobby.

Boat use drops. And boat breaks again. Another huge bill.

Boat appears at brokerage dock, owner sells at a loss.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
Click to expand...
But you forgot to add in the credit for all the money spent at WM. Must be at least $20 gift card lol
 
Wow that’s still an insane amount of money a year 25,000 a year? Does that include paying a note? I do all my own maintenance myself as well and between dockage winter and summer dues at the yacht club fuel and other odds and ends I’m really only spending around $6000 a year, my boat is paid off so maybe that’s A huge amount of your calculations? I got to take a look at my numbers again sheesh
 
That’s a reason I like a single engine. I can handle all the routine work without calling in a mechanic. And I can handle some of the less routine stuff too.
 
When deciding what I want to do and what I pay to get done, I use the rule of thumb of 50% of the shop rate. If my spare time is worth more to me than 50% of the shop rate (to factor in it will take me twice as long usually) then I will do it myself. After I retire the number of things I will do will shift because my spare time rate per hour will drop.

I make an exception for impeller changes (v-drives). I will never do them myself. It will take me way more than twice the time, and the pain will linger for days. Its just not worth it.
 
CaptRonn said:
Typical life cycle of a new boater.

Excited, buys boat, buys all the toys to go with it at WM, takes friends and family out, bbq’s dockside, etc.

Boat breaks. Calls in local boat repair, gets huge bill. Sighs, says “it’s just this time”.

Boat breaks again. Another big bill. Wife complains about cost.

Boat needs annual maintenance. Another big bill. Owner now has to budget his outings. Wife is miffed at all the money it’s taking to sustain this hobby.

Boat use drops. And boat breaks again. Another huge bill.

Boat appears at brokerage dock, owner sells at a loss.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
Click to expand...
That's about it, The PO of my boat had owned several boats before and bought this one for a particular mission that Covid killed. He is a write a check guy though and this boat just ate him up. He was being charged 275$ twice a month just for boat washing after he spent $5000 on a polish and wax job. The boat was professionally "managed" and was roundly abused in my opinion. To each his own, we were the beneficiaries of his abuse I guess.
Carpe Diem
 
joeyleggz said:
Wow that’s still an insane amount of money a year 25,000 a year? Does that include paying a note? I do all my own maintenance myself as well and between dockage winter and summer dues at the yacht club fuel and other odds and ends I’m really only spending around $6000 a year, my boat is paid off so maybe that’s A huge amount of your calculations? I got to take a look at my numbers again sheesh
Click to expand...
We decided to take advantage of the relatively inexpensive money and finance 1/2 of the value of the boat so about a third of the monthly expense is the mortgage. If I did not enjoy doing the MX and upgrades myself I doubt we would justify the big boat life, we would probably just have a single engine 280 or so that was trailable and storable in the barn.
Carpe Diem
 
I am defiantly on the smaller size of boats represented here on clubseaeay and I do all
My own maintenance/repairs. I could not afford the boat of I paid someone to do everything like the first owner. I have receipts of work they had done as well as yearly maintenance. It was well over $5k year just for that.
 
I am lucky. I got a marine mechanic (spoke of him before on here), $150 winterize, $350 replace mans, risers, elbows, rubber, flappers, plugs. At that price I let him do it. But it’s a single engine so can’t compare operational cost to you guys with >40’
 
Carpediem44DB said:
I am collecting all of the bits and supplies to do my yearly preseason engine, drive and genset services. When I bought the 506 I was given the service records from the prior two owners going back to 2012. The latest invoice was from the local Volvo Service Center for a dockside engine service. It basically entailed engine, drives and genset service with oil and filters. The shop sent two techs to do the service and charged each out for 8 hours. The bill totaled $3500 and change!
I will be doing the service myself and I will time myself, not rushing things to save time but I am quite sure that I will do what they did in about 6 hours. I feel for the folks that don't have the mechanical acumen or interest to do even the most basic of tasks like change oil and are at the mercy of the service center's billing department. I ran a aircraft repair shop for 25 years and am fully aware of the margins service providers work with. I would just find it difficult to enjoy my boat if I had to spend that much money on top of the other fixed costs of ownership. I sat down and built a budget for the 506 the other day and conservatively calculated a monthly cost of ownership excluding major repairs at $2500/mo. I put $3000 per month in the boat account to build in a repair cushion. For us that basically would be a house payment for where we live and having none now we are comfortable spending that on a past time that we both thoroughly enjoy.
I shutter to think of what others spend annually to keep their boats up having to rely on professional service providers for every little repair or service.
Carpe Diem
Click to expand...
3K/mth is the number I figure on my 420DA. Borrow the money or use my own...that is costing you money either way.:(
 
Carpediem44DB said:
I sat down and built a budget for the 506 the other day and conservatively calculated a monthly cost of ownership excluding major repairs at $2500/mo. I put $3000 per month in the boat account to build in a repair cushion.
I shutter to think of what others spend annually to keep their boats up having to rely on professional service providers for every little repair or service.
Carpe Diem
Click to expand...

Carpe,
You hit that nail square on the head... I budget the same amount ($30K) annually for all expenses including maintenance, fuel, Insurance, dockage, winter storage & travel (which is not cheap) plus a cushion for any unforeseen expenses. This is my budget doing most of my own maintenance/repairs.

I just finished the intercoolers, all engine filters, new impellers and complete generator service. Now getting ready to install all new sanitation hoses throughout. Imagine the bill on that job. I am however very happy to pay the professionals to wax and buff my boat 2 times/year as I do not have the patience for that job.

Previous owner paid for everything and left me all the service/repair records. I was astounded by the bills and checks written for the simplest of things.

Thanks for sharing the reality of real boat ownership
JB
 
JB MARSHALL said:
Carpe,
You hit that nail square on the head... I budget the same amount ($30K) annually for all expenses including maintenance, fuel, Insurance, dockage, winter storage & travel (which is not cheap) plus a cushion for any unforeseen expenses. This is my budget doing most of my own maintenance/repairs.

I just finished the intercoolers, all engine filters, new impellers and complete generator service. Now getting ready to install all new sanitation hoses throughout. Imagine the bill on that job. I am however very happy to pay the professionals to wax and buff my boat 2 times/year as I do not have the patience for that job.

Previous owner paid for everything and left me all the service/repair records. I was astounded by the bills and checks written for the simplest of things.

Thanks for sharing the reality of real boat ownership
JB
Click to expand...
I'm buffing and waxing mine right now. I don't know how the winter went by without it being already done. I've got the blue hull looking really nice but it's killing me. I'm trying to find help with the rest of the boat. This time is it, I'm never going to do it again.
 
Like having your yard mowed, once you have a professional do that wax job and all you do is swipe a check and walk up to a beautiful gleaming boat you'll never go back to doing it yourself.

I do a lot of maintenance myself but there are jobs I just won't do. Wash, wax and changing impellers will never be in my to-do list again.
 
Agreed on the no waxing myself! Everything else I do for the most part. I do have the yard replace the fuel filters on the starboard engine because you need to be a 3 armed tiny monkey to get back there to do it. On average we budget 12k-15k a year for the boat fixed costs/maintenance. We don't factor in major expenses or repairs just for the boat- we have several other expensive toys so it just gets lumped into the "toy" fund. If I had to calculate in major "what if's" into the monthly boat cost I'd have to have a lot less toys or make a lot more money. I always find preventative maintenance the key to not needing major repairs in the long run and for the most part enjoy doing it myself.
 
Like others, I have budgeted in my annual expenses. If I don't meet them for a particular year, I can use that money for a new stereo system for example. Installed over winter. I am pretty handy, but I'd rather have work done for me and get to use the boat on the weekend/vacation instead of doing work. And no way could I wax mine. My hands couldn't take it and work the next Monday. I can't take it with me, and the memories are too great to miss for my family.
 
Reposting some info I gave from a few years ago:

So in the interest of new boaters that might want to know what it costs to own a 33ft ish dual engine boat. This is for a 1997 330 sundancer, 454 vDrives, used mostly from say June 1 to Sept 30th located in Canada.

Here is my spend by year over 10 years, which is how long I have owned it basically. I actually bought in 2009, but I am excluding that year because my spend overlaps with another boat I owned over that year. (This is in Canadian dollars - Rates now are $1C = $US0.75. Back in 2010 it was $1 = $1).

Its surprising how consistent the total cost is, despite "one-time" spends (HA! One-time. That's a laugh!). Marina and Storage include winter storage on site and our fee includes power, water and pumpouts. Repairs and maintenance includes fall winterizing and shrink wrapping. That accounts for about C$1,700 approx each year of that category. I am not sure all of my "upgrades" are in these R&M costs. Most should be. I hope this helps.

Updated to add a few things. Other than more significant engine work, I am 100% DIY. In my numbers there have been two or three impeller jobs I won't do myself on v-drives. I don't do my oil changes. I let the marina do it when they winterize. I did pay once for a hull topside buffing.

Boat spend.JPG
 
I try not to think about what I spend on the boat, but I just added things up and I probably average about 15k annually with dockage, fuel, insurance, repairs. And that assumes a normal repair year with basic maintenance. This year my complete cockpit refurb will increase that budget by 50-60%. I do everything myself except for the polishing/waxing @ 1x/year. I don't have days on end to polish that thing!
 
Just had our new to us 44DB buffed and waxed. Worth every penny, looks great.
The budget just got threw out. we are redoing the MFD's, radar, KVH TV, fusion, and JL speakers. I don't have time to waste making it ours at 64 years young.
 
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