The affordability of a boat is not only calculated through the initial cost of the purchase. Other factors should also be taken into consideration such as taxes, insurance, registration, mooring, dingy and outboard, trailer, winter storage, gas, safety items, other equipment, and most importantly maintenance. Maintenance is crucial in preserving the integrity of your vessel and ensuring that your investment is taken care of in the long run. After all, when you buy a boat, you want it to be lasting since the amount you are paying is quite considerable!

Calculating the average boat maintenance cost means you have to use the boat for a year or two before coming to a correct number. However, a simple rule of thumb does exist, based on predictions from other boat owners. Bloomberg.com has estimated that the average boat maintenance cost amounts to almost 10 percent of the overall cost of the boat, annually. This number can vary however based on what maintenance includes. For most boat owners and managers, this task covers painting the hull, cleaning the deck and also changing the sails once every couple of years. This amount can also vary depending on the type of boat you are interested in, as a sailboat has a different maintenance cost than a motor yacht. 

Keeping track of your boat maintenance cost

It is evident that a boat does require a lot of maintenance. Calculating the average boat maintenance cost can be tricky if you are only looking into boats as of lately. If you have already made a purchase however, here’s a simple way on how to keep track of this cost during your first few years of owning the vessel. Once you have the numbers from the first few years, then you can make an informed prediction on the annual average maintenance cost of your boat.

The first step in keeping track of the maintenance cost is actually making sure that you are on time with the maintenance. You should never neglect it. In addition, you have to make sure to divide all maintenance tasks accordingly, as larger vessels cannot be looked after by one person. You would need a trained and preferably certified maintenance crew to make sure everything is done properly. This way you can be proactive about the maintenance of your boat, schedule it when it is more convenient for you, plan all the costs before the work actually starts, and also make sure to find the right crew to perform the whole process. A simple way to do all these tasks is by using a boat maintenance app like TheBoatApp which will allow you to also store vital information on the cloud. You can access the relevant works and figures everywhere, thus allowing you to know in real-time the cost of the maintenance and what it means!