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Maintenance & Operating Costs for a ~30 ft. Boat

13K views 32 replies 25 participants last post by  REDRAIDER  
#1 Ā·
My employer is looking to purchase an "offshore" style boat in the 30-ft. range, and I've been nominated to lead the project since I have the most experience researching boats on the Internet while at work. šŸ˜† I'm trying to put together a 10-year budget that includes all maintenance and operating costs, and I'm hoping that you all can help me figure out what sort of expenses I should anticipate. I'm not completely new to ocean boating, but this boat will be newer, larger, and fancier than any of the boats that I have personal owned.

We're currently looking at a 31' North River Seahawk Offshore with twin Yamaha 300's and a 15 kicker, but we're also looking at similar-sized fiberglass and aluminum boats from other manufacturers. The boat will be used for a variety of tasks including monitoring & research, SCUBA diving, and fishing/crabbing/shrimping trips. I anticipate that we'll use the boat an average of 4x monthly, and travel about 45 nm (round trip) per trip. The boat will be stored out of the water, and we'll tow it about 5 to 30 miles to the ramp depending on the bar that we're crossing. We may tow it an extended distance of 1000 miles once per year.

I figure we'll need to have the engines serviced every 100 hours, and we'll also need to have the trailer bearings serviced once per year. Beyond that, I really don't know what to expect in terms of repairs and maintenance. I have a million questions that I'm hoping all of you can help answer:

- What should we expect to break and need replacing over the course of 10 years? Batteries? Pumps? Electronics? Rigging? What should we budget for these and other miscellaneous repairs?

- What sort of fuel burn rates should we expect? Should we plan on running premium non-ethanol, or is it OK to run pump gas in these newer motors?

- I'm assuming we'll need to factor in for fuel additives (Yamalube ring-free and stabilizer), correct?

- What would the standard procedure be for washing this boat down and flushing the motors after each use? What sort of cleaning/flushing products will we need?

- What am I not even thinking about that we'll wind up spending money on?

Thanks in advance!
 
#2 Ā·
I can't begin to answer all your question but two items you left out are boat registration fees; will it be a state registration or Coast Guard Documented? If it is considered a commercial boat you may need the latter.
Then there are trailer registration fees. Because I do all my own maintenance and repair I have no estimate of what that would cost at a shop. Do you already have a suitable tow vehicle and will it be exclusively used to tow the boat?
Talking to a boat dealer would be a good place to start.
 
#5 Ā·
man that is a tough questions. I operate a guide business and even still it is difficult to budget when it comes to the boat maintenance, upkeep and purchasing the latest gadgets...

My advice, whatever you decide on for a budget expect to go over and don’t get upset when you feel like your spending money after you just spent a bunch of money...
 
#6 Ā·
I'm in process of building a 35 foot boat with 300's, and like fishmanmike said "A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into. It never gets full".

Here is a quick snapshot of what to expect:
Boat / Motors (if you can get motors): $200 - 400K
Electronics: $5,000 - $60,000 (It costs more for redundancy and bigger screens)
Insurance: $1,800 - $2,500.00 (you get a discount with a captains license)
Boat Maintenance: $1,200 - $5,000 (based on how well you take care of the boat and how much you run it)
Fuel: Tuna $400.00 - $600 per trip / Close trips $75.00 - $200
Registration: $189.45 Every other year for a 30 foot boat
Coast Guard Documentation fee: $386.00
Title fee: $75.00 One time fee
Gear - (Lines, life jacket, ext... $3 ,000 - 5,000
Trailer Maintenance: $300 - $500 / Yr
Parking costs: $10.00 per trip
Batteries / pumps / switches: $1,000 - $2,000 every five years (You will be lucky to get 5 years life out of these)

I can keep going...It is a matter of time before something major occurs that will cost big $$$. I had a 21 foot boat that was used at least 200 hours per year and the average cost of maintaining it was $2,500 per year (I calculated rebuilding and replacing a motor, kicker upkeep, new outdrive over 15 years.

It's important someone take ownership and cares of the boat. Flush the engines after each use, keep of with maintenance, inspect it and address the little issues before they become major costly issues.

Good luck with the boat hunt.
 
#7 Ā·
I'm in process of building a 35 foot boat with 300's, and like fishmanmike said "A boat is a hole in the water that you pour money into. It never gets full".

Here is a quick snapshot of what to expect:
Boat / Motors (if you can get motors): $200 - 400K
Electronics: $5,000 - $60,000 (It costs more for redundancy and bigger screens)
Insurance: $1,800 - $2,500.00 (you get a discount with a captains license)
Boat Maintenance: $1,200 - $5,000 (based on how well you take care of the boat and how much you run it)
Fuel: Tuna $400.00 - $600 per trip / Close trips $75.00 - $200
Registration: $189.45 Every other year for a 30 foot boat
Coast Guard Documentation fee: $386.00
Title fee: $75.00 One time fee
Gear - (Lines, life jacket, ext... $3 ,000 - 5,000
Trailer Maintenance: $300 - $500 / Yr
Parking costs: $10.00 per trip
Batteries / pumps / switches: $1,000 - $2,000 every five years (You will be lucky to get 5 years life out of these)

I can keep going...It is a matter of time before something major occurs that will cost big $$$. I had a 21 foot boat that was used at least 200 hours per year and the average cost of maintaining it was $2,500 per year (I calculated rebuilding and replacing a motor, kicker upkeep, new outdrive over 15 years.

It's important someone take ownership and cares of the boat. Flush the engines after each use, keep of with maintenance, inspect it and address the little issues before they become major costly issues.

Good luck with the boat hunt.
What's included in that $2,500/year figure? I'm guessing that excludes fuel and insurance?
 
#8 Ā·
100 hour service could easily be $500 per motor. Fuel/water separators $40 each plus labor. Lower unit water pumps $500 each. Basic maintenance like that gets silly expensive to pay someone else.

if you’ll be using the boat for commercial purposes, expect higher insurance rates.

Figure 1.3-1.5 mpg in the ocean. Tuna runs could easily be 150 miles r/t.

new bilge pumps every few years $200 each. Bait tank pump $80 every couple of years. Washdown pump $250.
 
#11 Ā·
AS is illustrated above there are two tracks for maintenance and repair costs. Parts cost and DIY or Parts and labor. There are now more things on the new engine that I am not qualified to work on. But the engine is also more reliable so I think it will work out. I look at my boat mechanic every morning in the mirror when I shave. That guy also makes every voyage and all decisions on maintenance and repairs are influenced by that fact. A sort of accountability that I am comfortable with.

You can guess which track I am on and not just for the apparent cost savings.
 
#12 Ā·
As far as fuel…..good news….

copy/paste 300 Yamaha
  • Recommended fuel: 89 Octane
The new engines are designed and built for lower octane fuel. I was told and it was true after numerous trials, that you do not get any better mileage running 5 dollar a gallon gas.

It was hard for me to switch nozzle, but I was finally convince the manufactures kne what they were talking about…ps ā€œdon’t store E fuelā€ but I sure you already knew that.
 
#13 Ā·
Thanks for all of the input. I'm starting to get things narrowed down. Can anyone give me an idea as to what I should plan for as far as trailer maintenance? I'm guessing this boat would be on a triple-axle trailer with disk surge brakes on all 3 axles. The boat would be hauled < 30 mi. about 4 times monthly, with a 1,000 mi. trip thrown in about once a year. What should I expect for annual maintenance? What should I plan on repairing/replacing over the course of 10 years?
 
#30 Ā·
I have surge brakes and would recommend trying to get the electric over hydraulic on something that big. It will be a better towing experience and less hassle at the the dock as you have to get the piston fully disengaged prior to backing the boat down the ramp. I am currently saving up the money to switch over from surge to EOH. But to each their own and I am sure there will be someone saying surge is better. I use a Tacoma to tow my 25' OAL with a double axle trailer and regret ever trying surge brakes.
 
#14 Ā·
Tires would be the expensive part. Even if they don't wear out they "should" be replaced every 6 years. That is considered the life of a trailer tire and it is marked on he tire. Brakes will be a check the wear and replace as needed but the brake fluid should be changed at least every 3 years and in sale I would do it every 2 years. With brakes there is always the problems of corrosion and caliper pistons sticking from internal corrosion mostly. Bearings properly serviced should last several years.
 
#23 Ā·
This is something no boat owner actually wants to know, and definitely wouldn’t ever want his significant other to know! It’s called a B O A T for a reason, and with an offshore boat it should be B O A T T. (Break out another ten thousand)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#24 Ā·
An ocean fishing boat breaks stuff constantly, from shock, vibration, salt and the list goes on and on. I don’t know that you’ll ever have more than a couple months without doing some type of repair if you are fishing a fair amount. I would always have a slush fund of $1500 per season for miscellaneous repairs ā€œmarch-Septemberā€. Then factor in a few hundred dollars in fuel every trip, $50-$75 dollars in ice, $50 in bait, $45 in hooks/weights/gear, $100 dollars in food and drinks, per day of fishing… this will give you a look at what I was spending in a 22’.

I would always stop in land at a boat ramp on the river, pull the plug on my boat, back in let the bilge pumps pump freshwater start the motors and run them for several minutes To get all of the salt out of everything including the boat trailer brakes, trailer bumpers rails etc.

as far as the equipment, electronics etc. have two of everything because like I said you will break one of everything eventually and it sucks to be on the ocean without it.

with clear fuel prices the way they are right now I would puke to even think about filling up a 30 foot boat

🤢
 
#25 Ā·
- What should we expect to break and need replacing over the course of 10 years?
If it can break it very well may break. Donā€˜t forget spare boat parts and dedicated tools that will live on the boat and trailer parts that will live in the rig.

You will break rods, have rods/reels/gifs/and other stuff break or go in the drink. In 10 years you will burn through miles of spectra, lead and enough tackle that may cause a divorce.

Then there are the bones that break and stitches to be had. So many sharp objects on a boat in flailing seas & fish thrashing about. Cuts, hooks/gaffs in hand an so on. You can do a search here on ifish to see some of this carnage that we should have a volume discount at the ER.
 
#28 Ā·
Back in the day we had an informal 'Arrangement' with the ambulance service that services the Newport - Depoe bay area. They would hang out at the Depoe Bay cleaning station and would get a bag of fresh cut tuna when the pack went out that day and came back to clean the fish. If someone got sideways with a filet knife .. that got taken care of. They have to park somewhere along that stretch of 101. Might as well help out the crazy tuna guys.