How much does a sailboat cost - Plus 9 tips on choosing a sailing boat Join us as we run through how we chose our sailboat and 9 tips to help you decide on y...

Closed Captions (CC):
welcome back to cactus a today we wanted

to share with you nine bits of advice

that we followed when deciding what kind

of vote we wanted we hope that you're

going to find this useful when choosing

your over hat and also to give you an

understanding about the cost of saving

so stick with us as we tell you how we

became boat owners

[Music]

now a little different backdrop here

today and like many of you out there

we're still in lockdown and despite the

amazing weather we're having we're not

allowed to even call to our boat let

alone go out saving on it which is

pretty typical but we're safe and that's

all that matters

we are followers and everyone else out

there are also keeping safe - although

dream or should I say my bad dream has

been alive since I was a child I don't

really recall where the liver boats

began because living in Nottingham sure

which for those of you are unfamiliar is

almost smack bang in the middle of the

UK and probably the most LAN la part of

the country and being the farthest town

away from the sea as it's basically

possible meant that sailing was surely

just a dream that was until I found

dinghy sailing in my teens and later

progressing on to racing in the lakes in

an old fireball and he was never told

the ambition to sail around the world

was born but being a landlocked

individual I have no idea where to start

looking for a boat or even what I wanted

so that's why I wanted to share this

with you now hopefully help you give or

give you that knowledge that I know now

wish I knew

years ago so nine easy-to-follow steps

to boat ownership its what going to

share with you and it's the same

principles regardless if you're gonna be

sailing around the world all like oars

you're just gonna be coastal cruising

for now and it will hopefully give you

the right information to choose the

right boat and not buy something that

you actually regret in the future so

budget first think about your budget as

with everything it's all about the cost

boats cost money it's surprising and

even so-called free boats customs

someone to get saving what you need is

to have an idea of the bigger that the

amount of money you want to spend on a

boat or what you can afford

whether that be from the boat part or

from a finance plan it's the amount

you're willing to spend

you better stay in London so I started

my boat when I was twenty five and ten

years later I finally had a figure that

I was happy with to get a boat that was

able to use but after all living in the

Midlands had no practical place to keep

it didn't kill yacht but thankfully now

when you look up were closer to the sea

which makes things easier an important

part of your bujji planning it's

deciding where you're going to keep the

boat

we're covering this in more detail later

but there are typically three options

all of which vary greatly in cost and

practicality you Maya

of course we casted and lined up for

good which means you don't have to worry

about marina lot too much anyway

but it does mean you need to think about

how you learn more the boat are you

always going to be your anchor or are

you going to be visiting marinas

occasionally once you have a plan of

what are you going a good marina guy can

help you of course and help you

understand where you're gonna stay to

the knives marinas are obviously gonna

charge you for a berth which you need to

budget for or a sleeping anchor is going

to be completely free you just need to

have confidence in your anchor and be

prepared to stay on board in a blow

which is a bit like isolation right now

because you can't meet the boat check

and check before you put the water to

him you will also need to bear in mind

and meeting those cons treat the boat

and a little bit like yourself build and

like with any self builds try to do the

continuously a good tip here is to do as

much work as you can yourself

for example we service our engine we do

the antifouling

and you can see there is a Norman to

worked video and we even go as far as

wine in our own navigation equipment

along with it in our own windlass when

we got the boat it didn't have a

windlass but I was quoted 3,800 pounds

and that was if I provided the unit as

well and they would only fiberglass it

in 3800 pounds that would be my

contingency right out the window

I did find a secondhand witness on the

internet and installed it myself and

that was for about a tenth of the figure

and you can find that video in our DIY

section as well and I might just take a

card there for you to click on but he

does show you that you can save money

without putting corners especially on

some of the big builds big bills but

some are unavoidable I mean I don't have

a crane or DIY example so now you have

an idea of what you've prepared to spend

on a boat rather than thinking about how

much does it cost because that question

as I mentioned earlier there are

typically three or four options for

motoring so the first is swinging more

is these can be quite cheap good value

for money they're fairly easy to more up

to providing you've got enough water

underneath you the thing with swinging

moorings is they do come in many

different areas some are in small

sailing clubs which happen for an income

and some are in larger areas like the

entrance to a marina or in a river

somewhere the really cheap ones might

dry out when the tide goes out or are

only suitable for very unattractive

let's say will meter which severely

limits your options and drop moorings

these can be relatively cheap and again

can be tidal so you need a boat we

should take the ground twice a day or a

crop that doesn't dry up we've added

these you need to be prepared to settle

on a strict timetable keeping in mind

the tides yes because we we all know

that the tide weight

we started on a drop-in ultimate and

although it was accessible at all times

it was a little too shallow on the shore

side meaning we could only tile on the

starboard side and if the wind was

really blowing in the wrong direction it

was a right pain to set off or even more

off without getting ropes tangled around

our keel or Randolph pallet that I'm

having the boat in the middle of a river

during a stormy night they actually kept

me off oh no you know just thinking

about it

once we had to rest the bay back onto

his truck boy phase 5 knots of wind as

it was too strong to pull in I almost

lost a couple of fingers as a great

person I'm gonna clean and even been

with both of us on the roads we failed

miserably and resorted to having to use

the winch a winch which tomorrow you

should should not be happening another

thing is to remember is that some morons

only now up to a certain size or only

for a certain period year so for example

some don't allow overwintering and you

might not even be able to get insurance

on them over the winter as well so you

need to find storage for you both over

winter dry storage or a different winter

mooring which all cost money the other

option of course is a marina berth these

are mostly accessible at all times and

you can step on and off the boat which

is a big deal when bringing items yeah

we were learning at Port Chester and at

the time we had to load the boat with a

new battery and luggage for the week

I'll set a scene basically we arrive at

the same Club let's say 7:00 in the

morning

it was drizzling and we missed the tide

by about an hour so I'm able to tie the

deal to the pontoon can you take the

dingey down the program which lowest

tide means is actually

I've got a bug on each shoulder double

pneumonia on one child on the back Oh

Mary yeah magic me then in an inflatable

dinghy in a very choppy river trying to

get and under a 20 amp hour battery off

the boat way in 30 kilograms or bags of

luggage two kids a dog and I had to do 3

trips that day one where the battery is

in luggage by myself one with Jeff and

the dog and the last word crated summer

it was a little like reenactment of the

that rid of the the chicken the Fox and

the corn I was not happy and summer she

was slowly turning to a very cold and

very wet version at Regan from The

Exorcist just me if you want to avoid

this gap between birth yep but marinas

are of the most expensive of all just as

a cost comparison a swing more of a drop

more it could be as cheap as a few

hundred pounds of the whole year whereas

a marina can cost a few hundred meter

well going outside in the zone and that

set there are something else we have if

you look around

so does size really matter

well yes and this depends on whether you

are casting the lines off and heading

into the deep blue sea or stayed in UK

coastline well your vote is more than

like you're going to need something and

as you look enough to find something and

you know if they're sailing boots but

good and they're going to give you all

of their equipment in a often

so you might need some new ropes an

anchor perhaps some chain maybe some

standing rigging fittings or some

winches or fruit falls well bigger boats

need bigger ropes bigger anchors so the

costs will be higher larger boats might

have to pet as well or bathrooms which

means twice as many through also service

and a longer ball means more antifouling

more paint required to bottom to make

the bottom sale area more canvas more

electrical systems more light more of

everything basically and more

importantly buy a whole apps and storage

costs because remember they charge by

the meter the whole app costs for about

30 foot is typically around 300 pounds

or thereabouts there are cheaper places

and obviously expensive ones as well

some of the cheaper ones might involve

moving the boat elsewhere there which is

never a quick process to get some work

done when we have that boat over

Portsmouth we have about yesterday and

have some work yeah we dropped the kids

off at school

drove to Portsmouth raced around the

boats quickly checking it was ok after a

haul out and then we say her back to our

mooring in visual rain and fog then we

had to inflate the dinghy and motor back

to shore and to put all that away and

get a taxi back to the boat yard

click the car finally drove two hours

back home just in time to pick the kids

up not a pleasant day and very very

rushed

so sometimes local Yas are worth it even

if they're just are more expensive it's

not to say that big boats are bad they

have some great advantages as well you

just need to be aware of the cost what

about those weight and patterns and

genres well I can't really speak from

experience

I know try but I do think that there are

some something of a personal choice some

say that the ICI motion is better in a

cast around but we've never actually

said it on catamaran so we can't confirm

or deny that some people like cats some

people who tries and others like those

are my thoughts all I know the price tag

from multiple is something that's far

beyond the realms of affordability that

and they often more difficult to haul

out especially in the UK where capstans

not really the norm so some of yours

don't have the facility for them

especially where we keep our boat anyway

one area where size does make a

difference is in your speed through

water

our boat averages around 5 knots and

that's because our length of the

waterline is around 8 meters so I maxi 7

on a very good day if we had a 40 foot

boat then we'll be looking around six

maybe seven knots easy average and maybe

highs of 8 and 9 but this can give you

the difference of up to 3 hours on a 50

knots tomorrow passage so on a smaller

though you can be more exposed and out

there sailing in foul weather a lot

longer with that we hope it helped to

decide what size or what type of boat

you want and all the little research how

much you need to add to the boat pot so

blue water or cruising that what is the

difference between the blue water and a

cruising zania well do was relatively is

different for everyone you know many

people buy off-road cars and like four

by fours that never even adventure off

the tarmac and thanks off boats are much

different with many blue water boats

never asking leading the center arose

realistically we are going to be sailing

around the UK French coastline

maybe even as far as most range for food

and debris and that's why few years

before we even think about setting

Ottoman let alone

therefore I found it very confusing

credentials was on the card when we want

to become full-time liveaboards I think

we will want something a little bit

bigger maybe something big enough so I

can keep my sheep my chickens and maybe

a small vegetable - mmm no maybe a

potted plant some might say that we

should have started it with a long-term

goal in mind but then we would have

actually been saying for the past three

years on our own boat we've still been

saving our money to actually buy the

boat in the first place but more on my

ideal through water boat later I think

what you've got to be is you've got to

be honest about what you could have used

the boat for for as if we said it's

coastal hopping and crossing the

Atlantic and Pacific or more once their

lifetime things for later and what

people do cross the Atlantic in boat

smaller than ours such as the gesture

challenge I don't think I've heard of

that but we would want something

different for that kind of thing

something a bit more comfortable and the

best thing I've ever learned about boats

is everybody's a compromise and as a

minute we are compromising a little on

the boat speeds and see kindness at the

boat after all our vote is relatively

lightweight but it packs a lot into the

34 so we get great accommodation and an

easy sale our plan and a modern saving

break all on a low-maintenance plastic

fantastic gr people I mean you just have

to hose it down and it's icky there's no

sand in there's a varnish in or spending

my afternoon polishing brass we could

have had a long keel 30-foot boat we

wouldn't function very well with it and

I'd always be sand in it I just check

you know Sunday oh yes

they say sailing is all about the

journey which yes I agree but you know

you might spend 30 to 40 percent of your

time sailing the rest is going to be an

anchor or in a marina or actually

exploring the shoreline that you

actually

so comfort is quite high on our list but

it's important to note that we're not

skimping on security our boat is a rated

R see the ocean rated and whilst we

wouldn't normally go out into the storm

we know that the boat will be able to go

far better than perhaps we would and

also when we speak about blue boards

that you might start to see different

sail class so as soon a cutter or a

cache or a buddy - now in my opinion

it's it's nice our selection of sails to

choose from because this gives you

flexibility in different wind strengths

while staying on a sloop once you'll

reach down that you know I lose a shape

and then that's when I stay sail or or

cut or it would become beneficial

equally to where the appeal of a ketch

would come in even though the effects of

flexibility and better Bost stability

with its missing us I also love the look

of the catch

there's just something about two masts

and the sail the horizon by enjoyable

but I think you also need a larger boat

pull off the catch break a 30-foot catch

with a mass just plumped in the middle

but the cockpit just didn't quite cut it

for us so we opted for a student and

that's more through availability than

choice - nice my own request was that

whatever boat can you decided to buy

should be high enough downstairs so I

can stand up and it had to a seat at the

bar nothing in front of me but the sea

in the sky so new versus old Kenny well

for us I think old without question the

price tag on new boats is quite a lot

and you literally get nothing with them

everything is extra from spray first and

nav equipment therefore quite often

there

minimally equipped and if buying a house

were about location location location

boats were all about equipment equipment

if you can afford a new then great now

you're not from specify everything you

want and you will know the boats history

for sure obviously second-hand boats

come do come with a bit of a risk and a

shady history perhaps with some repairs

especially electronics and look out for

that I spent on the looking around my

boat than I did actually their house we

all but there's still so many little

hidden crevices I'm yet to investigate

never have to go into because they're

hard to reach at the end about a new

boat yoga older boats tend to be better

built in my opinion and yes it's a bit

journalists there some terrible all

boats to but looking at some of the

newer boats at the boat show is like

this at the boat show the materials used

we feel are often cheaper and low-cost

I'm not sure how they will stand the

test of time and when I say all the

boats I'm not just talking about your

Moody's in your westerlies things built

in 1780 there's some cracking boats out

there from the 90s and even the 2000s so

maybe let's change the word from old to

pre lifts and good boats are still being

made today they're just very expensive

I'm sure they'll depreciate with time

and maybe some of those will be honest

as well a watch out tip when you're

looking at your older pre love boats

it's a check for original equipment such

as the standing rigging and that's the

metal cables holding your master because

they don't last forever and they're very

expensive you want to get them change so

you might have the fact that him I offer

see boats advertised as being well

maintained such as I don't know a 1986

bow original rigging original say arson

original engine and clearly nothing has

ever been replaced or maintained on it

and that's going to cost some money to

get it into a seaworthy condition

yet the owner was still actually asking

for a hefty price tag now our boat was

built in 2006 mass-produce yes but still

mention some great hardware and

materials they're still real wood in

there and it's a staple of many charter

boat companies both my father's must get

more use in the first five years than

some of those doing their entire

lifetime yeah they're still not

serviceable

so they've must be doing something right

you know all you can't be good just look

out for decent maintenance history as

have just had a new engine new tables

new really and truly was ready to go

sailing also it's about experience that

don't underestimate what you can learn

about your boat whilst being at sea and

that's about saving it it's not like

you've ever bought something like that

as well as perilous but there's only so

much you can learn about our boats

layouts you know they've been online or

Saturday dock there are many sailing

clubs up and down the country with all

sorts of different boats with many many

of the members actually actively looking

for crew and there's also sailing crew

finest site such as proof I'd or this

pinky forums and member associations so

if you don't have a boat yet there's

plenty of opportunities out there to

find crew and I'll drop some links in

the description also if you're learning

to say all you would also do so on a

school boat so it can give you a good

sense of what you like and what you

don't like on it though including out

how you like your sails to work and

whether it must refinish for you or not

whether celebrity

which I started to learn to say at the

age of fourteen sayin

the thing is later no less and then I

moved on to fireball racing in the lakes

and reservoirs up and down the country

and at 22 I randomly booked any dates

give a course in Greece and that was

when I got booked into sailing boats

only my passion is until I only been on

a party boat in Corfu ancient time and a

telephone line to the Isle of Wight when

I was 10 I had no experience whatsoever

for now I can say to say hey I can

competently I body know so armed with

all that luggage we had a budget to see

to must be small enough for cheaper

moorings and maintenance costs must be

big enough to fit four people in

comfortably with resort with space

resort to sea and it must be capable of

UK cruising animal and eliminate

maintenance so why dents new teak slab

sales and a few other prerequisites so

the best thing you can do is research

and then do some more research my

favorite go-to sites are Apollo duck

yacht world and there's also boat

out there where sailors take hundreds of

photos of each boat for sale so you can

get a feel for what it's like lay out

what it's like inside and death but also

have a wonder around a bean burrito to

see what everybody else is saying in

your area sometimes is often a favorite

and a fountain of knowledge is right

there with most of our sailors because

we'll waffle on about all those for

hours and hours just ask this

but the best thing by far is time spent

on a boat living on it cooking on it

playing games on it with the kids and

actually sailing you yeah knowing

knowing how a boat performs upwind and

downwind because if you ask you say it

what's the best boat the answer is

usually is or a own boat what is the

best okay of the various search crews

are called sea cactus of course Joey

might find gaining my yacht massive

qualification I did a lot of time with C

schools and doing some qualifying

passages on loads of different boats so

they gave me a flavor for you theme

factor farriers jános a couple of do

fours and even old folks like fisherman

to say and these kind of things and I

was also very lucky to experience some

awful weather along with the good

weather I need some really really awful

weather join some of these

qualifications so I knew how folks

handled I even did my yacht master in a

my practical examiner for seven Causton

eight the third reef in the mainsail and

a tiny bit of Genoa route told me a lot

that night I was green more than once on

that journey

my own fault I suppose for taking my

exam out season but at least now I know

what my limits are I also I also charted

a few boats in the past as well in

Greece our first boat we charted

together was a Bavaria 40 fir which I

skip it bear boat with Craig in the case

we had never stepped food never stepped

on at that sailboat before but it gave

us a great idea to what we might like in

a sail bearing in mind what we wanted to

do I was toying with the idea of a

westerly scent or it could take the

ground and it's a fantastic engineer to

save it but it's not really a family

boat I don't think we would have threw

one of the kids overboard and in year

one both because they're quite a small

baby parents

then there were the cheap old boats

Nicholson 32 and Elizabeth 30 and an

overpriced contest to say to that we saw

maybe minded million theatres caravans

will deep boil it will eighties caravan

at once it is a completely different

story we actually went to see a contest

this to a person for Cabin was literally

a coffee the heads were smaller than the

smaller shower you've ever beaten and

the bit smaller than that yeah I was

doing a mint or snagging list and there

was increasing with every turn at the

head from rotten robes to crusty Riggin

dodgy interior and leaking sinks even

had the moldy bananas in the bilge and

it was at this point I realized I didn't

want to spend the first few years of

sale in not actually saying but doing

the boat I just wanted the sale and

whilst we were in the Soudan area we

visit a broker of the road

so in Beneteau 32 but it was equally as

tatty and a do for 30 would be quite

light because it didn't feel closed in

and he had some decent movement board

but it was a bit more than what we

actually wanted to spend so going back

online

I stumbled across a listing from the

very 13 for sale and he was within our

budget so we popped down and looked at

it which was fairly well port appointed

and I did actually make an offer

slightly below the asking price of

38,000 I think I offered 34,000 because

it did meet various things to make you

ready for sea because although it looks

as if it was sparked after it had no

navigation equipment water or no

electronics but it was declined that I

was quite surprised by that to be honest

well it wasn't me or say that in

hindsight it was on the wrong side of

the UK in a very tightly bristol channel

and we wanted to be down on the south

coast and the logistics again getting a

dancer for removing your toner was a

little daunting and it's not good habit

we were more for sale yes so a few weeks

later I disappeared off down south one

day after finishing work

I viewed the very 30 in an old naval

marina there's nothing wrong with it on

the surface but he was clearly owner had

not visited it in many months or perhaps

in years so I figured the maintenance on

it would be similar to that I eat

nothing and with limited history I

walked away with another one to view in

the same area and it turns out either

bits of explaining to do when I got home

yeah I think it meant something like

Craig what do you think this boat got

stiff accattone I showed you in the

pictures yeah it's nice I say well if it

was all in on the dog he says yeah yeah

well yeah how much is it I asked super

losers I've shown you it's famous for

being Vegas yeah I like it

and he says well that's good then I

might have bought it so so there you

have it we bought a boat but wait a

minute I'm sure there's gonna be some

more questions like what am i bar over

there 8:30 again knowing why no now

and also does the boat how does the bed

writing process work because there's

something we didn't know I'm sure

there's many many more questions but we

will answer those in a minute but if

there are any more questions then please

leave them in the comments for that so

question one would you buy one again

with the same budget and criteria yes

simply it's okay in any weather or

anything that we'd actually want to sail

in it's comfortable it's lower cost and

something larger and like I say it packs

a lot into the fur ultimately it gets a

nap sailing it gets by the boat Craig

likes the boat and it's nice not to be a

solo sailor so as they say a happy crew

makes for a happy skipper and finally

how does this work well okay so and this

is very UK specific but once you decide

on them on buying a boat it's best to

have a seat well if the boat you're

viewing it in the water this might be

possible right away if it's on the hard

then you need to agree with the seller

who actually pays

in the water and also you think about

who's gonna hold it out for a survey but

the survey I paid for it to the or down

again this is UK some brokers won't let

you do a see trial unless you pay a

non-refundable deposit like all brokers

selling the boat and by that I mean if

you decide not to buy the boat through a

new fault fault of the boats itself I

Eve just change your mind it's

non-refundable but if you find something

majorly wrong then yes you can walk away

and take your deposit back

I guess it's there to stop the people

just going out on sailing trip coz on

sea trials all the time anyway so you

need to decide on the boat you want of

course and pay the deposit this is

usually 10% and you sign a contract to

purchase that boat and then basically

you can take it on a sea trial it's

ideal to have a surveyor at this point

and try and ask around for a surveyor

one that comes recommended ass cost is

around 450 pounds or so and we arrange

for the boat to be lifted out of the

water and inspected during the sea trial

and that's where the yacht will hold the

boat in the slings while the surveyor

will inspect the bottom of the boat and

the propeller these copper things as

well and if they survey finds anything

significant they will write it in their

report and they'll also give you advice

to the boat's value there and then at

least I survived it so our survey came

with nothing major

the only mate pointed out was the threat

wasn't working properly and that was the

only good thing worth mentioning as I

saying surveys can be quite good and

knowledgeable and from the advice that

they give you you can negotiate things

that you find on the surf hanging off

the agreed price or if there's anything

major they could walk away but a five

pounds temperature probe for the fridge

was hardly worth arguing about so the

only thing left for us to do was to hand

over the remaining funds and get the

keys so that's how to get into boat

apprenticeship and it doesn't have to be

mega expensive it's all about

perspective so for example I Drive a 17

year old car which costs less than some

boats navigation

but then we get to go sailing and

wherever I was on a truck war not annual

saving costs were around 1100 pounds and

this included a few upgrades that year

as well I used to pay more to buy to

drive a brand new MINI Cooper some years

ago as I say the best money saver is we

do a lot of work on ourselves and we say

as much as possible so even diesel costs

on board are very low sometimes we do

stay in marinas and when we do is

because we're not paying for flight or

for a hotel so it's still some of the

cheapest holidays that we've ever had

and summer and came back as your blue

water don't well I'm thinking about

costs and everything else at the minute

it's nice to be an affordable boat so I

think a house Christian boat 38 is on

the list it's more maintenance I'm sure

but they're very good-looking boats with

a lot of good going for them if I ever

did get hands Christian I don't have to

whom my marine skills though because now

I'm used to our little sea cactus which

we can push around with our hands and it

turns on the spot being a finicky with a

sail drive and that's certainly not true

for heavy displacement boat but I'd

still definitely like one because

obviously that's a long-term boat for

you know going to say and I do find

myself in lockdown

surfing efforts but that's the story for

another time before we go if you have

any questions then please leave them in

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next to it and that will ensure that you

don't miss out on the notification for

that one will we go and dive until then

keep safe and see you