this post was submitted on 14 May 2024
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I had no idea about the yacht price. Do you have an example listing? Because if it's something as small and as cheap as you say then I have a hard time classifying a little boat with a motor as a yacht.
Wikipedia indicates that while not a standard definition, a yacht is generally classified as me having an overnight sleeping cabin and is at least 10 meters/33 feet long. I can't imagine something like that being as cheap as you describe, even if it's not a multi million dollar vessel.
Going from this random 2016 Harley for ~$18k, there are a lot of good boats that are cheaper and would qualify as a yacht per your definition (sleeping cabin, 33+ feet)
Overall, there are ~3 price ranges for used sailboats: Under $10k, you'll have small-ish boats (under 27 ft) in pretty good condition or medium-ish boats (25-35 ft) that need a little work. Around $50k you'll get older (1980's), medium-large boats (35-45ft) in good condition, or smaller ones in very good condition. And at $100k-$200k you'll get much newer medium-large boats (2005+).
For reference, my first sailboat cost me $2k.
Thank you for this, I had no idea. I now see that I also assumed that yacht = super rich asshole boat. They're so much cheaper than I expected! I could sail the ocean for less than $20k. Damn.
Just be aware that there's a huge difference between coastal sailing and bluewater sailing. You can sail "on the ocean" but stay relatively near shore in a lot of boats. All the ones I've mentioned would be good for coastal sailing, where you're never more than a few hours away from shore.
To go truly offshore and cross an ocean you really want something more substantial. Why? It's mostly because you're much more likely to get caught in bad weather or to get something that breaks, so you need a lot more redundancy (spare parts, etc) and the boat needs to be built to withstand a lot more forces. Offshore you're also constantly moving because of waves; something that flexes a little when you hit a large-ish wave will maybe flex 3-4 times during an outing in coastal or protected waters, but will flex every ~4 seconds for 20 days during an Atlantic crossing which adds up to about a half-million times. This can break a lot of stainless parts on your boat.
Anyway, still achievable, I just wanted to add some perspective
Thanks again. I know next to nothing about boats so this is all new, interesting information for me. I'm definitely not planning on getting one any time soon, I just never imagined it was even potentially achievable.
Super interesting! Thanks
gonna need a lot of work and other items to actually sail, fire suppression, satnav, depth sounder, licensing etc. its still a rich asshole boat but not a super rich asshole boat.
Not at all. Fire suppression on a small yacht is a hand-held fire extinguisher or two, which is $30. In fact, I don't know anyone who has more than that for fire suppression. Satnav is not necessary, but most boats over 30ft will have a chart plotter already because manual charting is a lot of work. Every sailboat over 30 feet has a depth sounder already. A decent chartplotter-depth sounder combo is about $1200, like a laptop, if you need or want to replace it for some reason, but they'll last 20 years no problem. Small sailboats don't require much paperwork and don't require annual licensing in many jurisdictions, just a small one-time registration fee when you buy it. Permits for international travel are cheap. If I recall correctly, the permit to sail to the US, for example, is under $100.
You definitely don't have to be a rich asshole to own a sailboat and it is weird that this perception persists. My first sailboat was a 1983 30-footer that I got for $18,000 about 10 years ago. My slightly newer 36-footer was $45,000 and it is big enough for a coastal cruising couple to live on pretty comfortably. The vast majority of boats are designed to be sailed by a cruising couple, and most sailors are stinky, sunburned, slightly stressed, somewhat impaired, and bruised from doing their own maintenance and being tossed around in rough conditions.
The average sailboat is basically a trailer on the water, except you don't need a big truck to haul it. You can spend as much or as little as you want to, of course, but the majority of boats in an average marina (ie, not a rich Florida asshole marina) are 1980s-era fiberglass boats in the 30-40 ft range. The engines are typically 3-cylinder marinized small diesel tractor engines in the 25-50 horsepower range that'll push the boat at about 6 knots (about 11 km/h). This is not the description of a rich asshole toy. This is a solid, middle-class hobby similar to trailer camping.
my brother you are out here with a 45000 pleasure craft that does literally nothing beneficial and think its nothing, i think you may in fact be a rich asshole.
My brother, I didn't say it was "nothing", I said it was middle class. I worked a second job in the evenings to save up enough to afford the first boat. Then I sold the first boat for the same amount I paid for it and used that plus some savings and a small loan to afford the second boat, which I just paid off. And I drove a rust bucket for an extra five years so I could afford to save for the second boat. I didn't just have a spare $45k laying around. And even if I did manage to save $45k over a decade, that's still not rich by any means.
Middle class is not rich. Fundamentally, it means you have to work for a living and make more than the bare minimum needed to get by. Middle class means you can save a little and be able to afford a little nicer house over time, a decent car, and a few luxuries. If you only make enough money to scrape by with no ability to save, then you aren't middle class, you are poor. Being middle class also means you need that pay cheque every two weeks and that you are vulnerable to becoming poor if you lose your job.
Licensing isn't really a thing in North America (except maybe the $50 card we have to get here in Canada), insurance can get complicated / pricey but you only really need liability which is much cheaper, and all the fire & safety stuff usually comes with the boat and isn't that expensive anyway.
You can obviously go crazy on electronics, and boy are these expensive indeed, but you can also just use any old tablet* with Aquamaps or Navionics installed. Try to get one that's waterproof or get a waterproof case.
The most expensive part, honestly, is where you park it.
So yeah, it's a money-pit, but it's possible to keep costs under control.
(*) You need a tablet with a GPS receiver. iPads used to only have it on cellular models (no need for a plan), but most Android tablets have it.
Although many things may differ in different parts of the world, this seems to be universal:
I used to sail with my friend sometimes, and his boat was parked in the town about a 100 miles away. It was because after the last cheap place closed to become an estate construction site, it would cost more than 2% of his yacht's cost per month to park it closer
With any hobby one can go above and beyond making it expensive af, or go above and beyond doing everything on their own with as little expenses as possible
There's a great story of a person who built his first yacht on his balcony and then proceeded to circumnavigate the world in it, and then some more
I don't exactly know how costly it was, but it definitely was not an example of a rich asshole:
To add to the excellent answer by @[email protected], sailboats don't require a motor, you may as well maneuver tight spots with a paddle and use sails on (relatively) open water
To add to some of the excellent answers: There is a whole category of folks who do van life, but it's sailboat life. They live on the boat full time and go extremely low-budget -- few of them are wealthy at all. People get hung up on "yacht" and all the baggage that word brings. Many purchased a boat in lieu of a van or a house. So even if you spent $100k it's a cheaper life than on land in most cases.
Examples of low budget sailors you can check out:
Sam Holmes - I don't know what he paid for his current boat but he's super frugal. I'd be shocked if he paid more than $15k and it was probably a LOT less, knowing him. While back in the US he was sailing a boat (Bayfield 29) he got for free.
Sailing Uma - While this couple are now doing much better financially (thanks to their Youtube content) they originally paid $3k for their boat, put as I recall about another $3-5k into it and have been sailing ever since, including across the Atlantic and up to Svalbard, Norway, Iceland, etc.
Wind Hippie Sailing - Holly, who is pretty damned poor, sails a Grinde 27 which was a real fixer upper when she bought it. Not sure of the price but probably under $20k.
There are of course a ton of sailers out there who are not visible. I know of a couple of people who got their boat for free and have sailed at least from the US West coast to Hawaii or around the Carribean living on practically nothing.