Are You Using Your Boat Enough?
Do you use your boat enough? We don’t just mean to keep the boat in good condition. Enough could mean have you used the vessel enough to warrant what you pay for her.
When you add up what you have paid for the boat and the ongoing storage costs are the number adding up. If you only use your boat a handful of times each year but you’re paying thousands in storage fees does that make financial sense?
Recent Example
We recently collected a speedboat for disposal from the dry stack in Gosport Premier Marina. The speedboat was a prime example of the ‘using your boat enough’ question. It was a Maxum speedboat that the owner had bought four years ago for £10,000.
The reason for him wanting us to remove her was the cover had come away. Subsequently, for the last two years pigeons had been living in the boat. It was a mess inside but nothing that a jetwash couldn’t sort.
Over the last four years of ownership the boat had only been used four times. They were four expensive trips out in the Solent! This speedboat alone was what got us wanting to ask the question of using your boat enough.
Costs Adding Up
If you consider it would of been costing him probably £4,000 a year to store her. That’s £16,000 straightaway then £10,000 for the purchase price. So at the very least ownership had cost him £26,000. That’s before putting petrol or diesel in or even turning it on.
So if you break down the total costs to how much it was used the figures are eye-watering. For every time the Maxum was used it worked out at £6,500 per trip over the ownership. And we thought the Wightlink prices were high to get to the Isle of Wight.
Not So Glamorous
Once the costs are clear like this it shows that boat ownership if it’s not being used aren’t so glamorous. I’m sure people could think of better ways to spend that £26,000.
