COST OF BOAT: Our 25-footer Chaparral came with a S$123,300 price tag, including the cost of freight. We chose to pay for it in full. If you decide to take a loan, you'd end up paying more, with interest factored in. A five-year repayment schedule is usual.
When we bought our first and second boats more than a decade ago, they cost under $10,000 each - but they were old, very old, and gave mechanical problems. But that was a long time ago, when boats were a lot less well-appointed, less high-tech. So no meaningful comparisons can be made here.
ELECTRONICS: We didn't want all the tech bells and whistles for their own sake. We just wanted the doo-dads that were integral to safety and navigation. The cost of the GPS on board, a Garmin Echo 70s, was bundled in the price of the boat. It costs about US$1,000, going by an online check.
We don't fish (at least, not yet!), so we haven't bought a separate fish radar, but apparently our well-regarded Garmin model is a fish finder too.
Beyond the GPS, another piece of electronics is the Marine VHF phone at S$288. This is so you can communicate with the marinas, or, if you are bored en route, eavesdrop on the conversations mariners have at sea - which are neither terribly scintillating nor very often even in English.
Then there is also this little box called the AIS Transponder, which cost S$1,782, including installation. It sits unobtrusively in a corner of the hold. There is no saving on the cost of this gadget, which is compulsory for Singapore's maritime security. It enables the Police Coast Guard and other vessels in the vicinity to pinpoint your location, and you, theirs. SGBoating gives an explanation of this thingy on its website. Read it here.
OFFICIAL STUFF: One of our invoices lists S$207 as the cost of two items, the Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number and the Ship Station Licence. The MMSI number is like the boat's telephone number and is assigned by the telco, Singtel. It is what enables you to use your VHF phone. The Ship Station Licence, which alone costs S$100 a year, is applied for through the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore with your SingPass. It is the licence to operate the ship-board radio station.
INSURANCE: Coverage for Little Wanderer with AXA costs $1,391 a year.
MARINA MEMBERSHIP: The (once-only) entrance fee varies from marina to marina. Ours at Raffles Marina cost S$2,500, bought from someone who was giving up membership, plus another S$500+ for the membership transfer fee. And then there are the monthly membership dues, about S$130 a month. You need to be a member of the marina in order to berth your boat there, which brings us to the separate costs of...
BERTHING: Little Wanderer is dry-berthed for $470 a month, including unlimited launchings. The cost depends on the size of the boat. If your boat is so large that it has to be wet-berthed, it'll cost a lot more. Two weeks afloat on the water is all it takes for barnacles to grow on the hull, so the cost of the berthing space aside, you'll need to pay a diver to go scrape the critters off on a regular basis... unless you DIY.
CLEANING: The Raffles Marina staff clean the boat every week (whether or not it goes out) for $300 a month. Maybe this expenditure can be saved - but first, we'll have to retire to be free enough to DIY this job!
SERVICING: We expect this (and attendant repairs) to be done down the road. If you are still reading at this point and holding a calculator, said calculator might have started smokin' already! Our boat is still too new for us to know the cost of servicing and/or repairs.
FUEL: A full tank of petrol - yes, not the cheaper diesel - for Little Wanderer costs nearly S$500, which should be good for a few trips out. We don't yet have a gauge on the consumption for this single outboard engine.
MISCELLANEOUS SUNDRIES: We have a yet-to-be-used stand-up paddle board and that hammock (tassels included)!
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| Me, on Lazarus (see Oct 17 post). |
We also have on board a slew of boat-cleaning detergents (for the times we might want to DIY), sunblock, beach towels, wet wipes and plastic storage boxes with lids to keep everything in place. And then there is C's "tactical case" (more than S$100!), for carrying his Rambo weapons and snorkels (see the Oct 17 post).
Do you have anyone on board your boat who is prone to seasickness? We bought a Sea Band in case we have such a person on board. Check back on this blog soon to find out whether this wristband does stave off nausea; we are expecting the sometimes-barfy J1 to come out with us on the water this month.
We won't go into the cost of the above items. Most are nice-to-haves. We once asked Eric what he regarded as essentials on the boat. Right off the bat, he said the VHF phone, a good torch and a knife (check, check and check, the last two in C's "tactical case").
One item we expect to buy soon is the Weber Go-Anywhere portable gas-powered BBQ grill for our picnics. Chef C and all of us enjoy a good BBQ. That's just the hardware. You'll still need to pony up for the food, drinks (preferably alcoholic), the dining ware and the (S$19) gas canisters to power that grill...
On the cost of boating, Eric Koh of SGBoating says it well: "I can't tell you why any practical person would buy a boat. There is simply no way to justify the hundreds you will spend every month on payment, gas, marina storage, registration and the like. Add up your monthly boating expenses and you'll see that you could easily be driving a second new car instead."
True. BUT.
There is a but. He says boating is about life, about getting together with people, about waking up your senses and making memories that only those of us with boats will have. We couldn't agree more. (Read Eric's full piece here. Scroll to halfway down the page to the headline "Why I started boating".)
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