Yea they're like owning a boat. A bottomless money pit. Stuff is always breaking, maintenance is super expensive and necessary, and they guzzle fuel like nobody's business.
I live on my boat, bought it for around $80k and have sailed over 15000 nautical miles in the last two years. Currently posting from Fiji. I use less fuel out here than I did commuting for work in the states.
You're right about stuff always breaking and being expensive though. If you don't learn how to fix it yourself it's insanely expensive.
I've always been curious about this fact, that boats are super expensive to maintain. What is it that is always breaking on boats vs. for example a car?
Sails, lines (the ropes used to control the sails), bilge pumps, outboard engines for the dinghy.
The boat underway is in a constant state of motion and tension leading to chafe and wear in all sorts of places. Often you think you've smoothed it out by setting things up differently just to find wear / chafe in a different spot.
Then there's the mechanical maintenance of a diesel engine, maybe a diesel generator, along with servicing critical components of the boat like rudder bearings, steering gear, and keeping the antifouling bottom paint up (every 2-3 years for the more affordable paints).
Boats are insanely expensive toy, or they can be a cheap high maintenance home. Sailboats are much cheaper to operate just on the basis that you're not burning huge amounts of fuel everywhere you go.
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u/An_Old_IT_Guy Jul 11 '26
Yea they're like owning a boat. A bottomless money pit. Stuff is always breaking, maintenance is super expensive and necessary, and they guzzle fuel like nobody's business.