Many people are of the opinion that owning a boat is expensive. Certainly, it can be expensive. The popular answer to the question: "How much does it cost?" is "As much as you have."
When I bought "Aphroditie", my 21-foot Southern Coast day sailer, I was a mature student at the university living on part time work and student loans. I was tired of paying rent on a basement suite in someone else's house and when a friend said that he was going to buy a boat to live on, I had never
thought about it before. However, after thinking about it for a minute or so, I decided that it was a great idea.
I sold my kayak, took out a cash advance on my Master Card and added to it the money for rent from the student loan. I then found the cheapest sailboat that was advertised in the local sailing magazine.
The owner of the boat was a hard negotiator but offered to throw in an old dinghy with the boat as well as dock space for a month, when he learned that I was going to live on board.
And so, for $2,500 I had my own home. I now know for a fact that there are boats much cheaper than my first liveaboard, since I just sold a 26-foot Folkboat for $1,000.
During the summer I anchored out and used the dinghy to row to shore and in winter I paid $60 per month to store it in a boat yard and with some tarps, a portable electric heater, and the occasional hospitality of friends managed to survive a Pacific Northwet winter.
When it was time to trade up, I sold "Aphroditie" for exactly the same price and I even kept the dinghy.
Owning a boat expensive? How much money do you have?
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