You may be able to lower these expenses depending on your circumstances, but here’s a guide to typical operating costs:$700 = Launching and hauling$1,000 = Mooring fees $350 = Race fees (Wednesday nights + 3 regional regattas)$450 = Insurance $2,800 = Maintenance and repair (paint, engine service, sails)$700 = Outside storage in a yard or transport to your home (60-mile radius)$6,000 = Total operating costThese fees don’t include yacht club membership dues or professional in-water bottom cleaning services. If you live in a climate where you can leave your boat in the water all year long you may have higher mooring fees instead of paying for storage and hauling.A good way to save money is to perform many of the routine maintenance tasks yourself. To facilitate this, it’s best to have the boat close by¿in your own yard if possible. You’ll save the cost of storage but spend roughly the same having the boat transported to your residence. The real savings comes from the time spent going back and forth to the boatyard and in performing annual maintenance such as painting the bottom yourself. If you do intend to store your vessel at a boatyard, check the yard’s policy toward owners performing work on their own vessels. Lenders and SurveyorsYacht brokers can help you find a boat and usually have several lenders and surveyors that can help you secure a loan. There’s an expanded list of marine lenders on the National Marine Bankers Association website http://www.marine bankers.org. To find a certified surveyor, we recommend that you visit http://www.marinesurvey.org or http://www.nams-cms.org.¿Peter d’Anjou
