Operating Costs for 40-48'

Chasin Fin · 09-07-2009, 01:32 PM

I know the question goes, if you have to ask you shouldn't be buying but we are thinking of purchasing a 40-48 sport fishing boat, cabo, viking, hatteras, etc. We are going to partner up with another person and our boat purchase price would be around 600-750k so we would be buying used. Most likely wont happen for 2 years but want to start the research now.

I am an avid tuna fishermen on our current Davis Boat (small only 25') Great fishing boat for our northern california waters but was thinking of getting a second boat/vacation boat for the lady and I to travel around and fish. This would be a boat we leave down in San Diego and fish down in Mexico and travel and around to see new spots and have a good time doing it.

I was curious since you guys own these boat as to what your yearly expenses are and what the cost is to maintain operate, etc?

My guestimate would be somewhere around $12K to dock, $3-4K bottom paint and constant scrubbing, $2-4k engine maintenance, clean and wax, $3k, insurance ???

As far as operating the boat, my guess would be somewhere around $200/hr for fuel consumption???

If you dont mind sharing i would love to hear your expenses and what a typical 2-3 day trip cost you to operate.

Also any recommendations on boats for Southern California and Mexico fishing? 2-7 day trips. Able to sleep 4-6 people, have plenty of fishing room, etc? It sounds like from my readings that each year can be a total completely different boat.

K1W1 · 09-07-2009, 01:55 PM

Hi,

Welcome to Yacht Forums.

How many hours do you think you would put on her annually?

At first glance I would say your Engine Costs are a bit light are you going to clean and wax it yourself?

Don't forget that systems wear out and need replacing from time to time and just as the bottom paint degrades so does the topside paint.

A rule of thumb is often quoted as 10% of the purchase price for larger boats as an annual outlay, not sure what the rough percentage would be for a boat like you are looking at, no doubt someone who does will chime in soon.

Chasin Fin · 09-07-2009, 02:18 PM

Thanks for the response.

I'm not sure how many hours I would put on. Currently I put on about 100-125 hours/year on my boat but we are so limited to the days we can get out due to ocean conditions not to mention we do not have a salmon season anymore and tuna can be hit or miss. if we had decent weather, I would assume i could double that number. This is part of the reason i want to take on a partner.

I would also consider putting the boat down in mexico for the winter to increase our use of the boat.

Although I like waxing my current boat, I think a 40'+ boat would be too difficult.

Look forward to hearing others thoughts.

NYCAP123 · 09-07-2009, 03:07 PM

To get the numbers you're looking for you need to call around to marinas, fuel docks, insurance companies, engine mechanics and service departments with the what-boat-where more closely figured out and all that is too far in the future to make any numbers at all meaningful. Till then the best you could do is use K1W1's 10% figure.
I recommend that in a partnering situation you do not plan on doing any work yourselves. That's a recipe for conflict with your partner(s). When you get up to 48'+ you might even want to consider hiring a manager/ captain or mate to take care of the boat and the accountings. That way an independent person figures out who pays what, gets things taken care of when you're away and all the partners have to do is pay their bill and enjoy.

Pascal · 09-07-2009, 08:27 PM

some of the costs vary greatly depending on where you are, so for insurance and dockage you need to do your own homework.

for instance, here in so fl, dockage (on an annual contract) runs aroud $20 to $25 a foot a month. insurance may be a bit steep if you're jumping from a small boat, it all depends on where you are. in hurricane prone area, it's obviously much higher. (no idea where emryville is!!)

maintenance, it really depends on the boat and what you will be able to do yourself... oil change on a a pair of diesel and genny can be an easy $1000 if you pay someone... a franction if you do it yourself.

If you have to pay a mechanic to fix a fresh water or head pump... your maintenance budget is going to be closer to $10k a year ...

and then there is luck as well as the condition of the boat... if you're lucky you wont' have many issues...

fwiw, down here one my largest expense (on my boat and the one i run) is air con... a compressor, here, an air handler there...