how much does it cost

Member Joined: May 15, 2008 Posts: 94 Location: South West

Probably cheaper to have holes cut in the bottom of your pockets. I only have a small boat which I use to fish inshore. Great fun and quite cheap to run. My mooring is my own, so costs nowt, but can only go out/come home when the tides in. That does limit chances to go out. But if you get a bigger boat the costs seem to go up exponentially. I've decided that if I want to go further afield I'll use the charter boats - a lot less hastle than owning anything bigger. The costs of getting 'qualified' aren't too bad and given the skills they give you will seem well wothwhile.

Whatever you decide to do - enjoy!

Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 7:18 am

My boat is a 21ft 2 birth cabin cruiser birthed in scarborough harbour the insurance is £198 compriensive, moring fees are £450 per annum, i know there is an harbour/marina at fleetwood you could try

Dave big grin

Posted: Sun Apr 11, 2010 9:46 am

Fleetwood is the only Lancashire marina now. A berth there will cost about £120 per month, based on last years rates. I was informed recently that the current years fees would suffer a considerable increase, possibly in excess of 15%. Hope this assists in your calculations. I had a vessel berthed there for a number of years but with limited tidal access, heavy berthing charges plus the cost in time and finance in antifouling, having the boat lifted in and out and service costs, I've returned to a smaller trailered boat.

Member Joined: Jan 20, 2010 Posts: 43 Location: Midlands

Hi Gilli

I'm new to the boating world so have quite recent expereince of costs involved.

My first piece of advice would be to try and find someone to share the costs and to that end that's what I've done.

My father-in-law and I have just purchased a 2nd hand Warrior 165 with 70 hp Honda, 4 hp Mariner backup, trailer, flares, life jackets, GPS, VHF and Fishfinder plus assorted bits and bobs for £11200.

Insurance is £178, boat club fees £75 per year plus £36 per year for onshore storage.

Sorry, forgot to add that if the boat is fitted with a VHF you will need a certificate of competence to operate and the boat will need to be licensed with ofcom. Radio training costs about £100 plus £30 for the certificate.

We've also forked out around £120 for a few bits of fishing gear.

Not the cheapest way to get into it I guess but it's not something we've done lightly and is a long term thing. Had her out for the first time at the weekend for a few sea trials to see how she went. Will try and post some pics on the boat owners register if I can work out how to!

Posted: Mon Apr 12, 2010 6:01 pm

smiffy just make an account with photobucket then copy the image line it gives you and add it to the forum post

Joined: Jun 24, 2010 Posts: 2

I have just bought a new boat, I suppose it all depends on how big you want to go.

I went brand new and 5k got me a 4m Aluminium boat on a trailer with all the safety kit neede to get going. A lot of it from ebay. That included paying £220 to get a towbar fitted to the car. By going for the smaller set up it meant my car didnt have to be changed, My Vaux Corsa 1.3 CDTI pulls it a treat.

I shopped around and saved about £600 on a new 20hp Mariner 4 stroke with power trim n tilt. Most places wanted about £200 -£300 to fit it so I sat back, looked at the job and did it myself, as easy as making a chip butty! big grin

All in all its cost me just under 8K

I dont have to fork out storage fees because it sits on the trailer next to the house, and I get to use the the local slip for nothing because Im a resident.

I suppose it all depends on how you go about it as to how expensive it can get.

Member Joined: Dec 24, 2009 Posts: 8 Location: West Dorset

If you are buying a boat, think about resale value....

My first RIB is a good example - I bought her for £3,200, spent about £400 putting electrics in.... and then had four years of fun, averaging about 550 sea miles each year... annual service... season ticket for launching (which went from £45 to £130 in that period)

When I decided to graduate to something a bit more solid, I eBayed her and ended up with £2,900 back - and I have to say I am not the greatest spick and span maintenance man - a boat is for using on the sea and enjoying (with care of course!)

So for about say £800 of capital, I enjoyed 4 years boating.... Oh yes.. there were all the rest of the running costs.... but I'd have had them whatever boat I had.

My only other bit of advice? If you buy a boat... USE IT! They dont make very cheap garage ornaments!