Expensive Hobby

Amelia, it's funny you should say that about the junk car.

I just bought a boat late last year and have been spending a fair bit bringing it up to par, insurance, moorage etc.

Last week I was looking at a BMW 740, always wanted this car.

Walked away thinking, who cares what I drive the 2 miles to work in traffic - I have X number of improvement projects and trips I want to do on my boat!

Now, is this a cop-out? Don't think so. I could still buy the BMW if I really wanted to. But my priorities have in fact changed.

By the way - I drive a 96 Bonneville.

Also by the way - my wife wanted me to "keep track" of what the boat is costing us in maintenance and other costs (boat itself is paid for) - but I refuse to do that!!

Cheers and happy boating season!

Orcbait
 
quote:
Originally posted by Woodsong

quote:
Originally posted by abalmuth

R U crazy?
Put this in writing!
No Way

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Andy,
I am with you on this one. I mean, what is the point in asking a drug addict what they spend on their addiction when they do NOT want to quit??!! Same thing for me!!! ;)......

.....Heck, i think my 2 weeks on the TN River last summer cost me about $3.5k in fuel, transient slip rental, food, etc. etc. etc.

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Wood, glad you got my back !

Hey 600 gal.($1,800.00+-) to fill the tank-[:-bigeyes]

I don't want to know the total - I just work harder and enjoy every moment on the water- Hell we even go out in the rain -
Lower helm :D
 
I "only" 232 gallons in my cruiser so it is cheap to fill up- only around $700! :) My next boat holds 372 gallons so I am gaining on you Andy.
 
Lessee, free dockage, no payments, liability only, single diesel economy;

and it STILL costs too much!!!
 
It's all relative.
Boat is paid for, 34' trawler, valued around $75K..costs 200 a month for a covered slip, burns 2 gals an hr to putt around the river. We get to spend the weekends with our friends or take off any time we want to, anchoring out is free, marinas around 50 bucks a night.
I looked to buy a new car last week, leftover Caddy...55K to sit in the garage until we make our yearly run to see the kids in Jersey..Decided to keep our '95 Merc with just 90K miles on it. The boat returns much more for the money.

Dick
 
Here's the totals last year for our boat:

slip: $3,600
winter storage: $1,000
winterization: $450
maintenance/repairs: $1,000
haulout/in: $350
insurance: $800

annual total: $7,200 (plus fuel)

The boat is paid for, so at least there are no monthly payments.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Capndick

I looked to buy a new car last week, leftover Caddy...55K to sit in the garage until we make our yearly run to see the kids in .....
Dick

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Just rent a new Caddy for the trips and your 10's of thousands ahead
I have a account with enterprise and they can have a car waiting for us at the dock when we get into a new prot
 
Man... Not sure I want to do this....
21'CC
$2625 slip
$ 990 fuel 120 gal tnk x 3 fill up's annually
$ 440 Insurance
$ 500 Bait, Ice, supplies
$2700 approx annual payments
$ 250 Reg/excise tax/waterways sticker
$1000 Fuel to slip
_______
$8505

*It's a secret OK!!!!
 
ITs worth every cent...

No price tag on ones sanity!!!!!!!!!!!

Rob
 
Well guys... here's some news. When we bought the boat about a year ago, we HAD TO ASK. And it turns out, we CAN pay for it.

So put your dear saying to rest.
 
One more thing.... If you have kids or kid. Can you put a price on being with them? On bringing them up in an environment that requires respect, rules and consideration while giving them adventure, fun, and an understanding of a different life style? When my son and I see a nice big beautiful 70' yacht he'll ask "Who owns that Dad?" I'll say "Someone who probably worked very hard in school and at work" All of us boating are a showcase for another generation people....
 
It is a disease, an addiction. We don't go out for dinner very often. The price of a dinner for 2 pays fuel for a weekend & the food we carry onboard. We get 48hrs use out of the boat. The restaurant takes an hour & you poop it out the next day. We have only 1 4 wheeled vehicle. It is 18 years old. I don't need to impress anyone by getting a new vhicle every couple of years. When we travel a Holiday Inn or similar is just fine. It is only a bed to sleep in.

Sitting on the boat watching the sun go down after all the dayboaters have scurryed to shore, Priceless.

The most wasteful boating are all those boats which NEVER leave the slip. The owners have them just to say 'I own a boat'.
 
2000 Maxum 3300 SCR docked in Baltimore Inner Harbor.

Total for everything for the year including boat payment: $13,670 a year

payment 500 X 12 = 6000
slip 4200
ins. 700
zincs 100
gas 2000
electric 120
short haul, bottom paint, od maint 450
winterize 100

My wife and I work our butts off all year and enjoy our boat all year!!

Our privious boat, a Maxum 2300SC only cost us maybe 6K a year to keep all included. A drop in the bucket even if your at least middle income.

Life is short...

Oh yea, BEER $15,000..............sorry
 
Chicago to Cheboygan, Michigan fuel only $2000 5 days. If i said $50000 for season I would be short by a few thousand. please don't talk about this around my wife it will just piss her off.
John d
2005 Meridian 411 SB
 
quote:
Originally posted by Brian

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Whoa, do I feel better after seeing what some of you pay for this passion of ours. I'm fortunate though in a lot of respects:

Mooring fees: $0.00 my parents own the camp on the lake. It's $800.00 a season locally if I had to pay it but I'd trail if I had to.
Insurance: $262.00
Fuel: roughly $350-400 per season (I have 5 five gallon cans- -never pay marina prices).
Winterization: $50.00 in parts. I do it myself.
Overall Maint: cost of parts as I do all the work myself.
Boat Payment: paid for.

Total without beer: approximately $725.00 a year for my Four Winns. My little boat is too negligible to do the math on.

I can't believe some of the figures I'm seeing here- -e.g. 9 and 15k- -ouch!
 
Lets get some numbers from the guys with smaller trailer boats. Ok here I go on my 2005 18 (3.0 L, 135 HP, Alpha1) foot bowrider (first boat and new to boating):

Slip fee: none (trailer and sits in garage)
Boat Payment: none (paid off)
Winterization: $5.00 (We are in CA and it's keep in a garage- cost for fuel stablizer)
Maintenance: $200 (This may flucuate - dealer charge this for year end maintenance)
Fuel: $100 (40 gallons x $2.50)
Insurance: $185.00
Yearly Ramp fee: $40.00
CA boat tax: $135.00
Food: $150
Misc: $100
Family fun: priceless

We are new to boating and look forward to boating season every year. Although our boat is not big, we can still enjoy a day on the lake of swimming, fishing, tubing, and skiing for just under $50 a day. We take the boat out about 10 times a year (maybe more this year) and only put about 3-4 hours on the engine per outing (full day of activities). We burn about 4 gallons of fuel per outing.

We use to take trips to Disnneyland and other theme parks in the summer. The kids now prefer boating over going to the theme parks. They say its to crowded, hot, and the lines are long.

We used to think that we could not afford a boat, but cutting back here and there we were able to introduce your kids to great adventures and memories. The kids just loves it.
 
All in all, I always look back on the fun I've had on my boat, but never did I regret spending the money.

Strange huh ¿!
 
How much does it cost me a year? My fondest memories from childhood are from franklins resort on nebish island in MI, on lake MI. Dad always had a boat, some bigger, some smaller, some expencive, some cheep, didn't matter, 35 years later, I can still remember vertially every minute of it, even some of the smells. I was fortunite as a child as I got to go a lot of places, seen a lot of attractions, deep sea fishing trips, etc, but the two weeks twice a year on that lake were the best times I had as a kid.

Then life changed, got married, starting having a family of my own, not near as much spare money as dad had, tried once to get wife and 3 year old son into boating, was a bad experience for them as it was a small boat with small ob engine, and a jerk in a big boat thought I had no right to the lake and circuled us several times nearly capsizing us untill DNR got him, too late, damage done, no boat, 3yr old is still deadly scared of the water 18 years later.

3 years ago, 15 years and 2 more kids later, rescued 17.5' venture at a shop from the crusher. got it just going, no major up grades. Seeing my ( at the time ) 8 year old daughter, who had been fishing befor, catch and reel in her first fish, watching my 13 year old daughter catch her biggest fish ( 8 lb cat ), no way I can put a price on what that cost me, dont even really care. This winter, doing probably 3-5,000 upgrade, still dont care, the memories those kids will have of flying across the lake or up and down the river is priceless.

looking at bigger boat now, probably another save and redo, that can be used for overnight or longer stays. Do you have to ask if you can afford it, most defently you have to ask, then you have to figure out what you can bear, if you love the water. I would rather be on the water then vertially anywhere else. So what does it cost me, don't know, but the smiles and laughter that come from the wife and kids, and the alone time with no phones, tv's, game boys, etc, is worth every penny, and every drop of sweat I have put into it to make it happen, even if on a smaller scale than others......D........
 
Wow, I'm thinking about moving now. I pay $7,000 for a year-round slip with electricity and water (okay, the water is only year-round under the boat). The boat is still an hour downriver from the ocean. I guess all the marinas selling out to developers is showing up in slip fees. My insurance is only $1,200, so I guess I can consider myself lucky in that respect. I'm afraid to add up all the fuel costs for the year; for our annual 10 day fall cruise, fuel was over $3K. It's nuts!

But there is no better way to see Manhattan or the Statue of Liberty than by boat. Or what seems like hundreds of navagable rivers and bays within a day or two cruise from here. Like someone mentioned above, its an addiction, a love, a lifestyle. And priceless, no matter how much it costs.

Just don't get me started on how rediculous transient slip fees have become...
 
Quote: "Insurance: $185.00" in California.

I'm paying $262.00 here in Syracuse. I thought New York and CA would be comparable on this item. Who's your insurance company?
 
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