Yachts owners, share your cost saving tips 

If you’re looking to keep your everyday outgoings as low as possible, there’s no better way to do this than by finding out how others are saving costs. You may have heard recently about the novice sailor who in his endeavours to keep costs down, successfully bid for a Sigma 33 on e-bay and then found he had to sail it home from the Greek island of Poros http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/bought-14k-boat-eBay-sail-Greece/story-13387540-detail/story.html - http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/bought-14k-boat-eBay-sail-Greece/story-13387540-detail/story.html

The story prompted yacht insurance provider, Towergate Insurance, to put together a Guide offering practical cost-saving tips for yacht owners who perhaps do not want to go the extremes of bidding on e-bay.   http://www.towergateinsurance.co.uk/boat-insurance/tips-and-guides/yacht-cost-saving-guide.aspx - Whilst the Guide offers advice in areas such as; buying, surveys, mooring, maintenance, lifting, drying out/anti-foul, hull scrub, paint around and craneage, the firm concedes that for it to be truly insightful, it should include feedback from you, sailors who are experienced in sourcing and securing the best deals.

Have you made some great cost savings when it comes to mooring or buying anti-foul?  What do you pay for your everyday yachting essentials and what are your top buys for the year?  

Your feedback will enable us to put together a definitive cost-saving guide, comparing the prices you pay for goods and services across the UK.  It will become a central point of reference for financially-savvy sailors and one we hope to build upon over time.

Please post your feedback here - we look forward to you helping us help others save costs in these financially-demanding times.

Be really, really honest with yourself about what you want to use the boat for.  As a dinghy racer, do you really want to join another arms race with all the associated stress, or would you prefer to be sat there on a floating caravan with 15 year old sails watching the sun go down as you have a fantastic BBQ with some mates at anchor?  I’ll keep my racing to dinghies thanks and yachting to an old ploddy 70s cruiser which will look after me in whatever weather.

If you have an inboard diesel, learn how to service it yourself.  You’ll save loads, possibly do a better job, and have a better idea how to fix something if the chips are down.

Shop around for insurance.  I pay less for a 27’ yacht sat on a swinging mooring all year than I do for a plastic racing toy that spends less than 1% of its time afloat.

Join a club.  A few good sessions with mates over a few weekends will get the membership fee back in cheap beer!  Add to that winter storage and a swinging mooring at 10-20% of yard prices and you are quids in.

Don’t go over 30’ unless you really need to.  For cruisers, this is where things become exponentially expensive.  A solid 70s cruiser just under the 30’ mark can cost you about the same as 2 new Lasers to buy, will be OK for 4 good friends for a week, and easily hop to France.  For a couple it’s perfect, and and it’s also OK on your own.  Go over 30’ and EVERYTHING becomes dearer…sails, ropes, fittings, insurance, fuel consumption, mooring fees, visitors fees, the lot.

The “For Sale/Wants” section of YBW.com is your friend.  I’ve picked up brand new instruments at a fraction of new costs.  I’ve even said “does anyone have a spare handle for a 1980s SL Hyspeed anchor windlass” thinking I had no chance, and guess what…one turned up for the price of a pint.

If possible, avoid marinas.  Some people may have to keep their boat there for convenience, however waking up on a beautiful morning and having a cuppa on deck in blissful solitude on your own mooring is sooooo much nicer than listening to someone’s aerogenerator going at Mach 4 inches from your boat all night and Tarquin and Jemima having another blast round in the Crazy Frog tender all morning.  Whilst they are a necessary evil in somewhere like Cowes, try and anchor for the night, pick up a visitors mooring or similar.  Half the cost and often infinitely more pleasant.

Avoid getting ripped off at boat jumbles.  Some of the cash that people want for what is basically scrap is astounding.

Get used to the idea that you do not need tapered ExcelNinjaBanzai Pro kite sheets, because then 120’ of kite sheets costs significantly less than ones for a Fireball, and will last a lot longer too.  Ditto ball bearing blocks…do you really need them?

Scrub off regularly.  Speed and fuel consumption are hugely affected by even a bit of grot on your bottom.

However, whatever you do, do not compromise safety.  Do not put yourself in the position where your other half can’t get you back on board after an MOB because you were too tight to splash out £40 for a rescue sling.  I carry lifejackets, harness lines (plus spares of everything, re-arming kits etc), flares, drogue, liferaft, emergency VHF antenna for the fixed VHF, handheld VHF, h/h GPS to back up the main one, wooden bungs, danbouy, lifering, rescue strop, throwline, lots of get your home spares/tools and I would not put to sea missing any of it. A lot of it was second hand (eg liferaft for £100 and then got it serviced)

There’s probably more but that’s a starter…