Buying a boat comes with a few hidden costs that you might not be aware of from the very first moment when you complete the transaction. These include the annual boat service cost as well as maintenance. Knowing these amounts is quite important as they can be considerable sums that might even change your mind whether you can actually afford to own a boat or not. 

But how do you know what your annual boat maintenance cost amounts to?

In order to calculate the annual boat service cost you first need to understand what these services include. Boat maintenance covers:

• Cleaning the deck
• Painting the hull
• Checking all the appliances and items on the boat
• Checking the engine
• Changing the fuel filter
• Replacing anything that is broken
• Repairing anything that is salvageable
• Getting the boat ready for winter storage as well as spring usage
• Replacing the sails

While some of these tasks might not need to be performed every year (like for example, your sails might be in good shape for a couple of years), annual checkups are still advised. 

As a general rule of thumb, the average boat service and maintenance cost amount to 10 percent of the cost of the boat. In some cases, it can also be calculated as 2 percent of the original price of the boat.

Typically, however, older boats are more expensive to maintain. Therefore, the 2 percent rule can be applied in this case as the 10 percent rule might not give you a proper cost.  

But how can you know for sure?

Keeping track of the annual boat maintenance cost

Keeping track of the annual boat maintenance cost can be difficult, especially when you have so many other aspects to consider such as the maintenance tasks themselves, alerts, itineraries, documents, checklists, and more. 

This is why we have introduced a boat management and maintenance app, you can use online and offline to keep track of everything related to your boat, including your annual boat service cost. TheBoatApp is an all-inclusive platform that contains everything related to your vessel in one place. All in all, it is your marine life, fully organized and cataloged. 

By using TheBoatApp to keep track of your expenses, you can generate an average annual boat maintenance cost and get some real data to base your decisions upon. Therefore, if you want to keep the boat, you know how much it costs per year, and if you want to sell your boat, you can price it right and advertise it correctly to anyone interested in taking it over.