Cost of owning a 38' cigarette on lake michigan
 

Hey Guys, I'm doing some research..

I'm looking at a 35'-38' cigarette boat.. I'd like to use it on lake michigan, the chain is just too crowded for my tastes..

I'm not sure how things work on lake michigan though..

What I'd like is for my boat to be stored at a marina in the racks.. then, to call them up and let them know when I'm coming out for the weekend, they bring my boat out and put it in the slips..

Is this common? I'm not really interested in towing/launching a 38' cigarette..

How much would something like this cost me per year? Also, would I have to purchase the slip as well?

I'm not looking for the most jumpin area for now.. something north of Chicago is fine.. maybe after I get into the swing of things I can move the boat but for starters I'd like something in a more calm atmosphere..

Thank you!!

btw, you guys all have some really awesome boats. :)

Sounds like you are in the right place. Both OSO (welcome) and being North of Chicago. I believe North Point and Waukegan have what you want. I am sure you'll get mot\re replies with specific info. good luck

Don't forget to figure in maitenance cost, little and large. Hammer 01 can give you some of the best advise he has been recently checking since he is moving to the north side.

Yeah...don't forget to contact Kool-Aid Man regarding said maintenence costs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11:D

As long as you've got $$$$ to toss away, you're picking a good hobby.:rolleyes:
Before you buy anything, ask a few guys with those kind of boats what they're spending a year to run em. Unless you're real good on doing ALL your own maintenance, be prepared to be at the mercy of the mechanic you choose to do it for you.
If you have a loan on a boat, let's say you have a $1000/mo. payment, that's $12000/yr.

Usually insurance is around $3K-$4K a yr.

Over the summer, everytime you fuel the boat, you're gonna drop around $900-$1000. The Top Gun holds 260 gals, and at $3.75-$4.00 a gal, figure it out. Those boats get around 1.5 to 2.0 gals. to the mile. So if you take a 50 mile trip and come back, you just used up at least 2/3's of the fuel it cost you $1000 to fill. Do that twice a month, along with all the other cruising around you'll want to do, and you'll be spending about $2500/$3000 a month on fuel. Over the 4 month summer we have, it starts to get costly. Make sure you have a budget of $10,000 for fuel.

Figure about $2000/$2500 for winter storage, unless you have a place indoors to keep it.

Then, where ever you decide to keep it over the summer, whether in the water in a slip, or on a lift in a rack, that's another $2500/$5000 depending on what you choose.

Well, hopefully you won't break anything on the boat, cause you don't even want to know what those amounts are. So, if all goes well, and nothing breaks all season, you should only have to spend around $30K a year to have 4 months of fun. Be glad that we don't boat all 12 months of the year.

Dammit Frank! Why did you have to do that! :violent040: I never wanted to add up those numbers!

I have been checking all up the northshore and the best program appears to be at the Skipper Bud's dry rack facility next to Northpoint Marina. Skipper Bud's said they are full right now for floor rack storage for 42' cig style boat but does have trailer storage in a heated shed next door. It seemed to be around $5k for the rack storage (summer in and out and heated winter storage) or around $1400 for the summer for the heated trailer storage inside and then find a place for the winter. Regardless around $5k for the year or possibly look at Northpoint and they have slip rentals available for around $3-4k I believe they said. This would mean getting a lift or leaving it in the water and but that was not an option for me. Good luck and hope this helps. Hammer, btw, I think you can pm Kool-aid and he can help you on the maintenance side of the costs, sorry B.B., I had to jump on Hippiekids jab as well.

What could possibly break on a Cigarette boat???:rolleyes:

Cigarette, Fountain, Donzi, Formula, Apache ets. they ALL break at one time or another.