An inconvenient truth?

Every boat owner has probably on one occasion or more wondered exactly how much time and money that is spent on “my little precious” each year. Those of you who have been able to stay away from that calculation I can only congratulate because the truth is far from uplifting. It’s actually rather inconvenient to even accept. Some years ago I read that any boat owner should be able to pay at least 10% of the purchase value on yearly maintenance. Back then, being the happy owner of an Albin Express I thought that this surely could not make sense for larger boats whereas you on the other hand might just pay a little more than those 10% for a 24-footer. I think my rationale was that I knew that I did spend much more than those 10% each year (a new set of sails, a new outboard engine, anti-fowling coating etc – it all adds up over a couple of years) and I just could not imagine that the cost would be that much higher for a larger boat. I did sell that boat at a higher price than I purchased it for but that was only fair given the improvements I had made. So with the Dehler 29 I thought to myself – just to be safe - let’s make darned sure I can pitch in at least those 10% before I move forward and go buy one. And I’m glad I’ve saved up that bit of margin because just like with the Express the Dehler is a black whole where you are free to place as much money as your wallet can afford and the “spendometer” will allow you to do. Still – whichever way I look at it – it’s worth every bit of the money. So have I lost my mind? Not necessarily and in order to explain this I need to turn to some other options. Ok, let’s say you want to sail every weekend from May to August (like I do...), how much would that cost you in terms of rental boats? Definitely well beyond those 10% of the boat’s purchase value. So then you might argue that you don’t use the boat every single weekend during the spring and summer months - indeed if it rains for three consequtive days you probably don't - but if you rent a boat you cannot lend yourself to the luxury of sailing only those weekends when the weather is good. You are left to accept whatever weather is available that particular weekend and if you rent a boat for a full week in July there are obviously no guarantees that the sun will be visible a single day. Sure – that could be the same also for a boat owner but we can then instead chill and head out a week later (jobs permitting etc…). My experience is that people who sell their boat for the flexibility of rental/charter end up not doing just that. They simply stop sailing. It’s after all different to pay up 15-20’000 SEK per week for a boat than to spread out the cost over a longer (and more "invicible") period of time. So instead they end up doing all kinds of fun stuff but they don’t get to sail. End of story. If I look at my "generation" of sailors (born in the 70s) I don’t see the same wish to own a boat as with our parents. This "new" generation just never even considered owning a boat. Yes, even here people would enjoy that sunset with good friends around an evening or two each summer but they just cannot imagine learning everything that is required in yachting let alone do the actual work. This category does occasionally rent a boat for a weekend or two but that's pretty much it. So whichever way I look at it - if you own a boat you use it. If you don't - well you just might have lost a great summer in the archepelago. And that "truth" for a boat owner is not very inconvenient at all...