T&T: Cost of ownership

[Albin43SDtr]

'Lo All,

I have been waiting for someone to mention the following, but haven't 
seen it, at any rate....

Another philosophy I have heard, and also sort of subscribe to myself 
is that if one (me) is capable of doing some of the work on the boat, 
paying a premium price for a "new/pristine" boat is a waste of money 
on two accounts. One, if I (can) do the work to make it as "pristine" 
as I want, I have not/am not paying someone else to have done it or 
to do it. Two, if I pay a premium for a "new/pristine" boat, I am 
paying principle as well as interest on that boat for years to come, 
even after it no longer is a "new" boat.

To me, the best rules of thumb are:
1. Select suitable boat types and brands that will meet the requirements.
2. Look at the cost variables of that type, such as operational, 
dockage and insurance costs.
3. Refine search accordingly.
4. After having found the optimum type/style of boat:
     a. Search for representative boats in all price and age ranges, 
looking at the condition of each one relative to the asking price.
     b. Mentally, (or physically) construct graphs to show age vs 
cost and age vs guestimate to bring them up to a satisfactory level 
of "pristineness", to coin a word; i.e., find the average "sweet 
spot" for the best return on the dollar.
     c. Find a boat that falls somewhere in that "sweet spot", where 
construction, features, design, age, operational costs, insurance, 
plus cost to put it into the condition you want; all fall into the 
lowest aggregate cost.

The above assumes (dangerous term) that the desire is to get the best 
boat for the purposes intended at the least overall cost. If one 
simply has to have a new boat, the only remedy is to buy one - which 
is good, because then, it will probably soon be another good boat on 
the used boat market.

Example: We looked at and almost bought an older Hatteras FB 
Sportfisherman, that had all the comfort features we wanted, most of 
the electronics I wanted, had a few things my wife did not like, but 
overall, we decided she would work for us. In retrospect, the twin DD 
engines would have guzzled lots of now-exorbitantly price fuel, but 
at the time it was ok. The deal-breaker was insurance. Going from a 
46 foot sailboat to a 42' Hatteras was going to cost us exactly twice 
what the sailboat insurance cost, if we could get insurance. The 
owner had put a time requirement on the transaction that we could not 
meet because we could not secure insurance; we reluctantly informed 
the broker and the offer was cancelled. Later, we got the quote and 
an offer to bind the boat, but it was too late.

We then reanalyzed what we really wanted, and decided a fast 
sportfisher was not really what we wanted, as we were content to go 
slow, but it had to have air conditioning and a few other things. We 
had not really looked at a lot of trawlers as there were few around 
here then, but when we looked at the Celestial, more out of curiosity 
than anything, we realized that she was exactly what we were looking 
for. Not only that, but the engines and all mechanical systems were 
in perfect shape. The only deficiencies that we noted were that the 
electronics left a lot to be desired and hull blisters needed to be 
repaired. Some other work was needed here and there, but the basic 
boat was as sound as when she was made.

Of course, we had her surveyed and the survey simply confirmed our 
conclusions. We bought her and have never regretted it.

The nicest shock came when we insured her: almost exactly one half of 
what the insurance on our old sailboat was, i.e., one quarter of the 
Hatteras. When we mentioned "Trawler", the agent said something like 
"OH, that makes a BIG difference"...... followed by the very nice quote.

The Celestial is a 1986/87 Albin.

Having messed around with boats for a number of years, I think one 
thing is fairly true: a well designed and maintained boat will 
depreciate relatively slowly after the first 5-10 years, provided it 
is of a brand that is generally recognized for its quality and 
especially whose style remains in demand. The demand for recreational 
trawlers seems to be constantly increasing. Of course, the economy 
has a lot to do with demand, and hence, sale prices.

YMMV - CAVEAT EMPTOR and all such disclaimers.


Take care and be safe.

Wayne
M/V Celestial
Albin43 Sundeck