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How to get a job on a sailboat?

How much does it cost to live on your sailboat?

  • So i recently came up with this idea to eventually buy a boat. Im thinking that after college after 5 years or so on a mechanical engineers salary i would have enough cash to buy a used sailboat that is 30-40 feet for between 20-50 thousand dollars (tell me if im off). in a san diego marina, how much would it cost to live on this sailboat? im talking about everything like slip fees, boat maintenance, electric, insurance, etc. Also do marinas have washers/dryers and showers? And tell me if this is far fetched. Would it be possible to run my own boating business and get groups of people interested in a day in san diego bay to pay me to take them out on my boat? Im thinking if i did that most weekends with a group of 5-12 people (depending on boat size) who will pay 100$ each for the day, then i could make a fairly good amount of money every year having a good time on my boat while only working the business one day of the week (allowing me 5 normal days to do my regular job). Is all of this far fetched or have you seen people actually do this type of thing? Also i have done some craigslist surfing and most of the sailboats currently on there are from the 70's or the 80's. So with a sailboat, does the year its made really matter because you dont really have to worry about expensive motors about to go bad right? Thanks a lot to any boaters out there who answer

  • Answer:

    While the dream is good, you have some issues to overcome. First thing, a sailing vessel that old, few people are going to pay $100 for a day of sailing. You'll need something recent and modern to fetch that kind of fee. Second thing is that you are going to need to get a USCG Captain's License to be able to charge to take people out sailing. It's called "Captain for Hire". The minimum license is a "6 Pack" License. This means you can carry up to 6 paying passengers. You cannot operate without this license without getting shutdown and fined by the USCG and the local Courts. Next thing is the vessel will now become an "Inspected" vessel. To carry paying passengers, the USCG will be doing at the very least, an "Annual" Safety Inspection. You'll need to carry "Commercial" insurance which isn't cheap to carry passengers. I don't know of any Marina in California that will allow you to live aboard and run a "Charter Service" from the dock. You either have a "Live Aboard" situation or a "Commercial Business" situation in the marina. No exceptions. It'll be in the standard rental agreement. Typical dockage fees are $8.50 - $15 per foot of vessel. The cost is going to be in the desirability of the Marina and the amenities. Live aboard fees are an additional $250 if you can find one. That fee includes a sewer hookup which is mandatory in CA. Electricity is metered from the Service hookup. Water fee is usually $25. Most Marinas do NOT have a laundry, but have bath rooms with showers. Maintenance fees are going to be all over the place and dependent upon what you have and the size. Haul out fees average $1000-1500 in many yards plus daily storage costs. Maintenance is dependent on the work being done, but you can expect about $5K on a low average. I own a 60' Motor Yacht with "Live Aboard" status. I pay about $1000 per month with my utilities. I'm up in the SF Bay Area, but the same conditions apply down in the San Diego area. I won't tell you what my maintenance costs are, it's up there though. I don't run a business off of the vessel but I do spend time on the boat and still have to pay the fees when I'm out on a long cruise (usually 3 months). Also, I don't live full time on the vessel either, but I can stay anytime for as long as I want and nobody comes down to tell me I'm in violation of anything. BTW, new Sail Boats in that size go for closer to $300K. And the sail sheets are expensive to repair or replace when they get worn/torn. Used newer boats ('00 - '08) to be price in the $60K+ range.

Mike_M5 at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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I can tell by your question that you have given this some thought. It's not only doable but others have done exactly what you are contemplating. Since you are looking 5 or more years down the road, I'm sure you can workout the issues other answers have suggested. I might make a few comments. As for the boat, I know a captain that is sailing a 80' 1920's wood boat, who carries 10-12 passengers for day sails in the Chesapeake Bay. And occasional sails to the Caribbean. Clearly he enjoys this, and makes enough to continue doing it. I would go for a 37 or 42 Tartan, sailboat from the mid-80's which you can find in your price range. I know of a well equipped one for $57k. It has a diesel auxiliary engine which is in very good condition. It's not original to the boat. There is no reason you can't keep maintenance to a few thousand a year. The slip issue is difficult, in San Diego, however I might make a suggestion. Other than "Marinas" There are many private docks in the area. Either buy or lease water front property, with a dock, or build your own dock, and equip it as required in CA (you'll need parking as well). You can then live on the boat and rent the business or property out. This is just one way to accomplish what you want to do, but I'm sure your smart enough to work something out. I would suggest you work on getting a Captains License, and even a starter boat sooner rather than later. Really good engineers figure out solutions to problems every day, and the same skills will serve you well in accomplishing your dream. Keep in mind that you should be making pretty good money, if you don't run up to much school debt, so living on a sailboat is not as wild a dream as some may think.

Richard C

Basicaly it will cost you a small fourtune with little benifits!

Pace stick and proud of it!

@ Shark Weak you seem like a biter old man. Are you ok? You really need to learn how to use spell or at least learn how to use spell check.

ANOTHER MORON with a WET DREAM.. and how many more times are you going to ask this? Obvisouly you don't know SH*T about SAILBOATS and SAILING.. all you have is a WET DREAM with some kind of DELUSION. Just finding a place to put that sailboat is not cheap.. world wide, marinas charge an average of $0.60 CENTS per FOOT per DAY per MONTH.. which is about $740 A MONTH plus UTILITIES just for a hole in the ater big enough for your 40 footer... assuming you can find a marina that will let you LIVE ABOARD of which here are very FEW, especially in Amerika AND.. if you knew ANYTHING AT ALL you would know the only way to get a slip in a Marina in San Diego is to BUY A BOAT ALREADY IN THE SLIP that will let you STAY IN THE SLIP and that depends on what boat you buy. INSURANCE .. and you MUST have INSURANCE to put boat in ANY Marina.. will cost you about HALF THE COST OF THE BOAT EVERY YEAR... then there is MAINTENANCE which averages about $100 per foot every year. To do CHARTES you will need a CAPTAIN'S LICENSE and the BOAT will have to pass Coast Guard inspection before you can CHARTER IT. However, Before you go out on your FANTASY ADVENTURE you need to spend some time AROUND BOATS

Shark Weak

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