What's the secret?
 

Ok, my wife and I are in our late 30's have one child and both have what we consider well above average professional careers for our area. We have been off and on boat owners over the years owning 3 boats (20 Crownline, 272 Baja, and a 24' pontoon). We have always been intrigued by the "go fast" world of boating and poker runs and have been dreaming of someday owning a boat capable of a Key West or LOTO style poker run. We have been looking at Fountains and Formulas for a few years in the 35' - 40' range. We are not wealthy people, just an average couple with a 7 yr. old kiddo. a mortgage and a college savings plan. What's the secret to owning our dream boat? I see younger and younger people owning boats we only dream of and wonder how they hell they do it. I'm not jealous or anything but was wondering if there is some type of strategy that people take to get their dream boats without being highly successful entrepreneurs or being the recipient of substantial inheritances.

Good credit!

Good credit and sacrifices in other areas. I see pictures of boats in the driveway of houses that are likely less than the asking price of the boat. That is if they own a house. I don't have a problem with that, it's a choice.

I look back at what I would spend on a big go fast back in my 20's and as a mid thirty' guy with 2 good incomes I couldn't justify it now. These things are a huge commitment at purchase, use and maintainance. The situation where people own a boat that they cannot afford to fix a catastrophic failure is very real. You don't want to be taking a home equity loan to rebuild a motor on a boat that is financed.

Inheritance

hard work early that paid off

lotto

determination


they all will get you the boat of your dreams, pick one that applies and enjoy.

We had our Sonic in our rented town house I couldn't even keep it at. That was a life choice I made and was more than ok with. Everyone has different priorities is all.

I am with you. My 40 blocked the condos on either side of mine when we would park it there to load or unload. My wife and I agree, wouldn't do it different if we had the choice. Good memories before life got serious.

Pay cash if possible and keep a nice reserve for fuel and unexpected repairs. If a large boat you have to be able to safely tow it and then storage and and maintenance. Learning to do most of your own upkeep will save a ton if done properly.

I spend way less on my boating lifestyle than the average household spends on junk brand new cars. Maintenance is huge $$ if you can't do it yourself, even more $$ if you don't do it at all.

Prioritize.

Sounds like youve got good incomes, congrats to you on that side of things. You're at the right age to enjoy a toy or two but just don't go silly on it. What's more important, a house or a boat? With money, comes responsibility. If you can't save and plan financially then you're money will not go far.

" A fool and his money were lucky to get together in the first place." (Gordon Gecko - Wall Street)

Don't be the fool, boats are expensive to buy and maintain, then they're hard to sell and usually at a pretty hefty loss. Calculate the rough cost of ownership and what you can afford, then lower your spending budget by about 20% and enjoy boating!

Make sure you buy something your wife and 7 yr old will enjoy because they are far more valuable than any boat and there's nothing more miserable than having a nice boat in the driveway that the family can't enjoy.

RR

Sounds like I'm in your same position. Wife and I are late 20s with a 3 year old. Reasonable mortgage. Nice house, nothing over the top. Nice vehicles that are paid for. We arent the type that will need to purchase a $70k Tahoe. I had a 19' jet boat and sold it, which made a good chunk for another boat. I'm very happy with my 27. It was in our price range and in great condition. Didn't put us in a financial bind. Everyone wants bigger and better. So for that cure, in a couple years I'm going to sell it and put that money towards a 35' and again, finance a reasonable amount. Look for stock power. Something that I can for the most part maintain myself. Already have a truck that will handle. Only drive it in bad weather and to pull so it will last for a long time. Not sure if that helps but that's my game plan. Take baby steps and snowball some money towards a bigger boat.

Become a community organizer, promise the world to become a senator, and then the world seems the limit.

You just have to be an extremely good liar and believe yourself.

If you become great with that, not only will you make a ton of money but no matter what you do, you will not go to jail, and millions of people will praise you.

Maybe even enough to become Secretary of State and maybe even the President !

Being able to do the work yourself is mission critical in my mind.......

Being a slave to a marina at 100-125/hour can make or break you.....

Out here that question more pertains to real estate holdings than boats , even though it does apply .
Everywhere I look I see guys who dropped out of school at 16 , never had a single legitimate job in their lives and made babies with every willing whore who would drop her panties. But they have paid for houses all over the place . Of course they like to try and keep it quiet and are still hateful towards people who did it the old fashioned way through honest hard work and sacrifice .
The drugs trade was very good to a lot of people from the 70s through the 90s !

not sure how others do it, but I work on my own boat and I make sacrifices that I think are worth it to have a nicer boat. Another big thing for us is not having payments. We owe money on our house and that is it. We have one credit card for emergencies that probably always has less than $500 balance on it.

Good credit no kids!!!

If you think a 35' is good for your needs I would look at the 35 Fountain and Donzi models that came with 496 motors. Run high 70's easily and the 496Mag HO is a solid motor with a long shelf life.

They have fallen to a reasonable price point that probably isn't a stretch given your situation. Easy to tow and easy to store. Capable of the type events you described and have enough of a following you could sell again later to move up the ladder.

All of what others have said is on point, but what hasn't been said is that you don't need to break the bank to have your 'dream boat.' Like Cash Bar said, get a twin 496 boat. It isn't that expensive to fix them when they break, they're easier to sell than big power, are pretty reliable, and run a long time before rebuilds. A couple of good incomes should have a problem with this type of boat in most circumstances.

Some people think that a 'dream boat' by definition is a 46 Cig Rough Rider (or 52 OL, or {fill in the blank}) with big blower motors. Not necessarily. The key is being content with whatever will fit in your budget. You'll be happier not stretching yourself in the long run anyway.

I always said I was fortunate enough to be able to afford to buy a dream boat, then smart enough to get rid of it. Problem is once you taste that honey...that never goes away.

If it's any consolation procharged, I've pondered stealing CashBar's boat and riding off into the sunset toward Cuba, where I would use my prowess and rugged good looks to convince beautiful local women to become a guerrilla army and do my bidding.... But the logistics aren't right at the moment, so I'm stuck in my 24ft'er.

But just to clarify, that thing's insured, right Greg?!


(Dear NSA, please disregard this post, it is not a form of collusion or conspiring)

Research the hell out of boats that meet your needs while saving for that down payment. Once you have a short list, watch all available web sites almost daily to see if something goes up for sale. Be willing to travel out of state and buy the biggest boat with the highest STOCK HP engines/drives you can find. Interest rates on used boats under 10 years old are awesome. Good luck.

How I did it...I found a rigged hull needing drives and power for 8K. Hull is a 35 Fountain. Seller is also an engine builder so we negotiated for a pair of fresh 502's. Machined 30 over, Merlin heads, Wiseco pistons, Comp cams, Holley 850's, fully balanced rotating assembly, Stainless Marine manifolds, Silent Choice. These are being put through a pair of XR's that have been completely rebuilt. 3 gallons of paint at $700 a gallon, plus thinner and primer, 25 hours of wet sand and polish. Complete set of new Autometer gauges into a new dash panel with Stainless Marine tab/drive indicators. Sure, it's an older boat, flat bottom, non-staggered...I'll be the poker-run style boat watching the poker runners...it sure won't be the fastest boat, nor do I need or want to be.

How much boat can I afford?...well this boat, and I'm into it for just under 40K, on a tri-axle trailer is about as much as I'm prepared to afford. It's built strong, I have no need to run that hard so it shouldn't break the bank in repairs after each weekend. It needs the vinyl freshened, material and style, but that will come next winter. The pricing is right, and I know how much of a deal I got, the downside is the boat is being built around his schedule...started in January and I think I will see it splashed finally next week. And in the case of failures, I have recourse and support until my learning reaches a point where much of the work I can do myself.

Double R is 5 minutes from the house here...would have been easy to run up there, he's got 4 or 5 35' Fountains, a couple of 32 Velocity's and a few others sitting around, couple of Cig's (a Revolution he's had around for a long time he wants sold badly)...all 35K more money with engines needing attention and a crap shoot for drives condition.

It's taking it's time, and that is torture but in the end, for me, my needs...I'll be content. Set your budget, be patient, and diligent in searching. Keep an open mind about possibilities and different ways to approach your goal. Know what you can do yourself and what you'll need to send out. Factor in all the indirect expenses and make sure to leave a contingency. Plenty of contingency...it's a boat after all.

What works for us is a decent house at a decent price, my truck is paid off although it is a dodge, her car is almost paid off, I bought an older (late 90's) baja for a good price and my family owns a local marina so I get free dockage/storage. We work within a budget and don't get stupid with our expenses. Sure there are bigger, newer, flashier and faster boats out there that I would love to afford if money were not an option but the boat we have works for us.

If you are looking to spend any amount of time on board the boat and possible overnights, then I would seriously look at the Formulas, Donzi ZX series and even the older Bajas like the 382. They might not be the fastest but these types of boats offer a few amenities that make them more comfortable. Hence why I went with a 36 Outlaw. Big cockpit and big cabin for that size boat along with overnight accomodations.

But take your time and look keep looking at boats until you find what fits for the type of boating you want to do.

No offense, what's that 7 year old cost you a month with clothing, food and child care and college savings plan?

That's a pretty good boat payment.

Nothing against those that have kids, they aren't for me and God would they kill my boating.

I hear "Good Credit" a lot, depending on what you buy you can turn that good credit in BAD credit. I don't know you or your wife's work schedule or where you live but you also have to look at the amount of time you will be able to enjoy the boat because believe me the money does not stop flowing because the boat is sitting still. I have been asked many times about cost of ownership and the only answer I can come up with (depending on the boat) you can figure about 30K to 40k a year and that's for the average "Go Fast" some of these boats are over 100k a year. Also God help you if you have a major repair.
I am not trying to scare you but to prepare you. I would consider my boat to be an average Go Fast/Cruiser and with the maintenance (4k year), Storage (7k year), (cleaning 3k year), insurance (4k year), Fuel (18k year), misc (who knows a year). There is only me and my wife (0) kids and with my work I can come and go whenever I want and stay away for however long I want. I spend this money on boats, cars, ect because if I work it just right the last check I write will bounce.

As Tom Cruise once said "If you have the means I highly recommend it"

I would have to disagree with the above estimates, if it cost that much I'd never own one, I'm fortunate enough to have indoor storage at home for my boat, that said, I pay around 100 a month for fully enclosed storage in the summer months, may- end of sept, insurance costs me around 1000 a year, fuel cost 150 a weekend depending on how much you run and what power, maintainence is done by me and costs me under 500 to change fluids, filters, I opted for a twin HO boat for the longevity and general easy maintainence, it's def more expense but it's not ridiculous, anyone who owned a boat knows what comes with them

My first boat was a 21' Baja, ran it for 6 years, paid off, bought a 25' Nordic, used money from Baja as down payment, ran for 5 years, paid off, used that money as down payment, got into our 32 this year and only had to finance 40% of surveyed value, if you buy right and resell without losing your ass, which I've been lucky with, it snowballs itself without thinking about it, I do tend to maintain with the folks that have ocd, which has helped tremendously when it comes to resale

Like I said "Average Go Fast Boat" there are some that are much more expensive and some that are much less. My expenses are just that "mine".

I mean even the average go fast is way less than that I think. I mean is that including the 1,500 a month payment? 18k for fuel, I mean even in Cali where I live that's 6k gallons at 3 bucks a gallon. Even if you made 20 boating trips a year that's 300 gallons every time out. Wow that's just not what people do on most boats anymore. There is rafting up, docked at the restaurant or bar. Then 7k in storage, I guess of you are keeping your 35-40 ft boat in FL inside by the water then sure. Out here we pay 200 a month for a 30 ft boat. Indoor climate controlled thats way less than 7k. Cleaning at 3k,an I wish all my boat clients spent even 20 percent of that when I had my detail business. To me those numbers are just way way to high even for the average go fast. I think those numbers are even high if you towed your boat a few states away for some poker runs.

agreed that is high.

my Sonic was pretty trouble free and low cost.

*storage $300 a month ($3600 year)
*insurance $2700 a year
*Fuel.... $500 - $1000 a month depending how much we boated....some months were 1 time boating for maybe $200-$300 bucks.
*Maintance with my 496's was maybe $1000 for the entire year.

i cleaned my own boat....so supplies.... $100/$200 a year maybe.


that was really it.

Take money from 401k then hope you die young.

No mention of a payment, tow vehicle, etc. You spent 13K a year with nothing breaking and no payment.

Even at that $1000 mark per month if you used it twice a month it is $500 every time you take it out. I had a guy tell me at a poker run that his 47 Outerlimits cost him over $500 an hour to operate (pro-rating ownership/maintenance costs to a per hour figure). It was cheaper to trailer boat back from Key West and fly home than to run it back to Miami in the water.

Boat storage is 780.00 month includes trailer and a storage room. Gas is 4.15 a gallon and tank is 230 gallons, we use that in 5 days on water. I don't do my own work because I'm green and boat is 5 hours from where I live, I did change a lightbulb once. I will wash it down once in awhile but at 40 per foot to detail it's expensive. I owned a 23 ft boat and that was very inexpensive compared to the bigger boats. I understand what you guys are saying but everybody and every boat is different.

To get back to the OP:

I would consider how much work you want to do on that boat (Are you mechanically inclined and have the space/tools to work on it?). Does your area allow you a lot of boating or do you live 3 hours from the nearest lake? Does your area allow 4 months of boating? 8 months or year round? Are you a day boater or weekender? If you were going to the lake Friday afternoon and then going home Sunday afternoon you would feel like you got a lot more use out of the boat than if you dunked it for just a couple hours and drove 4 hours to/from to do it.

I can do minor mechanical (changing oil/filters/batteries/belts/gauges/wheel bearings on trailer type stuff) but not equipped to do heavier jobs (both space and tools). While I would get the satisfaction of doing that type of work it certainly isn't what I would want to do if I had 2 days off on a sunny weekend. I would rather have a mechanic do it, pay the bill and use the boat on those 2 sunny days.

People are putting out estimated numbers for normal boats, lets take a look at the other end. A very high performance boat going to several poker runs a year.

Boat (assuming you financed it for 10 years)(just to get a number) $15,000 Per month
Truck to haul it $3,000 per month
insurance for both $2,000 per month
full time Boat hauler/washer/mechanic $5,000 per month
Boat Fuel for one poker run and one fun weekend (116 race fuel) $11,000 per month
Truck Fuel and expences to poker run $2,500 per month
enter poker run plus a few additional hands (fpc) $1,200 per month
rebuild engines, trans, drives,ect. After one season (if your lucky) $3,000 per month
Break a prop, scratch some paint, ect. $1,800 per month
Storage $900 per month
Hotel rooms and entertainment while at poker run $3,500 per month
Flights to get to poker run (assuming you don't have private jet) $2,000 per month
Misc. $2,000 per month

Total $52,900 per month
Per hour total use $7,500 per hour

Don't anyone tell me my numbers are way to high. These are actual costs. I know several guys that spend more then this and would love to only spend this much doing it.

I don't think any one formula will apply for everyone. I have insurance, fuel and maintenance. My truck I would have regardless of the boat so that is a wash. I don't spend near what you guys are talking about even with a failure or two thrown in.

Truck to haul it $3,000 per month
insurance for both $2,000 per month
Truck Fuel and expences to poker run $2,500 per month

at those numbers I have a truck for hire. Add a reasonable wage, a well season driver/boat detailer comes with the truck. Only condition would be the truck can't run California.

Wage was listed at $5,000 per month

Pretty sure the op is asking how everyday folks afford their "dream go fast boat", sure the maintainence can get that high, and we are talking boats 750k up as well, most being able to own a 100k go fast boat is their dream boat, it is mine anyway, just trying not to scare the op away with crazy numbers not related to the boats listed in his post

I don't think mine was crazy but to each his own

40 a foot to detail? Man that's crazy

had no payment on either which is why they were not listed


but yes even at once a month operation it was still $300 to store it and $300 or so in fuel for that 1 time a month....so $600 for a single use for the month......not cheap but not as crazy as some of the other estimates i see people are paying.