Story by Andrew Holland / July 20, 2017
When you are starting your search for a catamaran, one of the first and most important questions you need to ask yourself in your search for the right catamaran is “What is my budget?” Usually, however, trying to answer this question will only lead to more questions on asking price, costs of dockage, repairs, offseason storage, insurance and any of the other costs that might come with boat ownership. To help put some of these items in perspective, we put together this guide to help you successfully determine a proper budget and to outline some of the costs you will incur after the purchase. However, if there is a consistent in yacht sales, it is in the inconsistency. Each yacht sale is an individual transaction with it’s own set of circumstances and it’s own story, so exact costs will vary in each transaction, however this cost outline attempts to provide you with a tentative guide on what to expect.
One of the most common questions we are asked from potential buyers is “How much can I expect the seller to negotiate off of their asking price?”. To the surprise of some buyers, there is no typical percentage that a seller will negotiate off their asking price. In some cases a seller may accept an offer at 50% of their total asking price, in others a seller may not be willing to negotiate off their asking price in the slightest. Now, does this mean that the boat that accepted an offer price at 50% off their asking was a better deal? Not necessarily. It may simply mean that this seller was drastically overpriced from the start and had to negotiate that far off of their asking price. Further, the seller that may not be negotiating off their asking price at all may have the boat at an asking price that is far below market value and is a tremendous value as is.
In the end, asking prices means very little. What is most important is the True Market Value of the given yacht according to market dynamics and the condition of the vessel. Determining the True Market Value of a given yacht can be done by having your broker perform a personal inspection of the yacht and having them compare the yacht to others currently on the market of a similar vintage while also factoring in the sold comparables for that particular make and model in the current market. After having this information, you should successfully be able to determine a True Market Value for the boat and feel confident in making offers.
It is important to understand that these sold figures and comparables are not available to the general public, so it is important to contact your broker to help attain the true market value of your vessel of interest.
After you have successfully placed a boat under contract, the first thing you will have to arrange payment for is the survey and haul of the boat.
Below is a cost breakdown of costs according to several surveyors we have used in the past in several locations to give you an idea of the general cost of the surveyor in these areas:
Jonathan Sands
Certified Marine Surveyor, Florida
+1 (954) 881-5588
Boats under 60 feet: $25 / foot
Boats over 60 feet: Based on quote
Brian Stetler
Certified Marine Surveyor, Florida
+1 (561) 312-7544
Boats under 42 feet: $22 / foot
Boats over 42 feet: $25 / foot (price may increase based on age and complexity of boat)(price may increase based on travel expenses)
Peter Muir
Certified Marine Surveyor, Florida
+1 (877) 787-8398
Flat rate prices, unless quotes are being used for insurance purposes.
Usual rate: $1,500 / day
Smaller boat rate: $1,250-$1,350 / day
Over 65 feet: $1,650 / day
Over 80-90 feet: 2 days; $1500 / day
For insurance and bank surveys:
Condition and Value (New Boat): $18 / foot
Condition and Value (Old Boat): $20 / foot
Caribbean Marine Surveys
Bill Bailey and Benson Baker
Virgin Islands+1 (284) 494-2091
Local old or new boat under 50 feet: $28 / foot
Local old or new boat over 50 feet: $1,600 / day
Non-local old or new boat: $1,600 / day + travel
Flying Fish Ventures
Bob Goodchild, Grenada
+1 (473) 407-4388
For insurance purposes:
Boats under 40 feet: $560
Boats over 40 feet: $14 / foot
More complex boats and older boats: Based on quote
Secondly, during the survey, you will need to arrange for a “Survey Short Haul” of the boat. For clarity, a Survey Short Haul is a brief haulout of the boat so that the surveyor is able to inspect the bottom for any damage or water incursion below the waterline. Below is a cost breakdown of several marinas in the United States and Caribbean.
Lauderdale Marine Center
Florida +1 (954) 713-0333
Up to 21 foot beam: $10 / foot
Up to 30 foot beam: $20 / foot
These rates are for up to 3 hours.
Broward Marine, Florida
+1 (954) 927-4119
First Hour: $12 / foot
Each Additional Hour: $175
Maximum Beam of 27 feet
Georgetown Yacht Basin, Maryland
+1 (410) 648-5112
First 30-40 minutes: $10.50 / foot
Cost is situational and may vary
Price may increase after first 30-40 minutes
Maximum Beam of 30 feet
Grenada Marine
+1 (473) 407-2090
Rate by foot: $6.50 / foot + “In Sling Charge”
Additional “In Sling Charge”: $150 / hour
Maximum Beam of 33 feet
Nanny Cay
British Virgin Islands+1 (284) 494-2512
Rate by foot: $9 / foot
With hull wash: $5 / foot additional charge
Maximum Beam of 32 feet
Gambol Industries
California +1 (562) 901-2470
Sliding scale based on boat length
38 foot boat: $343 – about $9.02 / foot
45 foot boat: $420 – about $9.33 / foot
Maximum Beam of 40 feet
Additional Costs of Survey will include: Airfare, Lodging and Food for +/- 2 days
Yearly insurance on the boat will run on average at about 1.5% of the value of the boat. The cost of insuring a catamaran is based on hull value, location, and type of use of the boat. These rates include $1M liability and medical insurance.
In the Hurricane Zone (Florida, Bahamas, Caribbean)Annual insurance in this region will generally cost you 1.5%-1.7% of the hull value.
Outside the Hurricane Zone (North of Florida)Annual insurance in this region will generally cost you 0.8%-0.9% of the hull value.
California and Pacific IslandsAnnual insurance in this region will generally cost you 2.0% of the hull value.
In the MediterraneanAnnual insurance in this region will generally cost you 1.0% of the hull value.
Insurance for a Chartering Catamaran will cost up to 2% on average.
Above rates apply, however there is an additional “One Time Crossing Fee” that will cost you $500-$1,000. Pacific Ocean crossings may raise your annual insurance rates.
The yearly cost of dockage will be dependent on how often you are indeed at the docks. If you are able to anchor out, there is little to no cost involved. If you will be staying on the docks, the cost can rise dramatically and quickly. A quick suggestion to keep these costs down is to invest in a high quality dinghy that enables you to drop anchor and get into shore comfortably and quickly. A high quality dinghy will pay itself off in no time.
The yearly service and repair costs of a catamaran can vary greatly depending on the age and condition of the vessel. This yearly guide only takes into account for yearly maintenance, and not necessarily major upgrades that may need to be made, or major issues that may be revealed during a survey.
The yearly service and repairs for a 2-5 year old boat in average to above average condition will run between $3,000 – $5,000. This cost includes yearly haul out, bottom paint, changing zinc anodes as well as other miscellaneous items that may arise.
Dependent on location you are storing the boat, yearly long term storage on the hard could vary greatly. The quotes below are provided by Grenada Marine.
0-120 days US $0.57 per foot/day121+ days US $0.52 per foot/day
The hope of this guide is to provide some broad insight into the cost of yacht ownership, but it usually wise to expect the unexpected when it comes to boat ownership. A general rule of thumb that is presented to many of our clients to keep the cost of ownership down is to buy the smallest, cleanest boat that you can afford and feel comfortable aboard.
Yacht Broker Micheal Streng did a fantastic job helping us buy our dream retirement boat. He is pleasant, professional, smart, diligent, and totally focused toward ensuring the best outcome for us- his clients.
He helped us identify the key features we wanted. And, helped us then learn the market by seeing firsthand seeing all the boats available. How? By organizing a two day driving extravaganza to see as many boats available from dawn to dusk.
But, his crucial expert assistance continued throughout the whole buying process… helping us craft multiple offers and counter offers to ensure we “bought-right”!
His expertise continued with calmly helping us organize the multitude of details, from sourcing survey experts and renegotiating credits for issues… to ensuring our foreign manufactured vessel had duty paid receipts… thus all saving us much aggravation and thousands of dollars!
In closing, sourcing and buying a boat right has adventurous elements of the “wild-west”. Our Broker – Micheal Streng was our LoneRanger & Tonto… expertly guiding and helping us to help make our dream a reality.
Tom & Danielle
Waterford, Connecticut
We purchased a Lagoon 470 catamaran through Zvonimir (Zee) Kalinic, TMC’s broker in Croatia and Italy. Zee is the ultimate professional and by far the best broker we have ever had the pleasure of doing business with. Thankyou Zee for your professionalism, guidance and support in securing this purchase for our family! Not an easy task being Australian and purchasing in a foreign country but thanks to your help and the assistance of Andrew Holland in the office, this process was made so much more stress free.
Thank you Zee and The Multihull Compnay!
Andrew Hodgdon was a pleasure to have as a broker. He was always there for me and I appreciated his help and professionalism. Thank you Andrew!! Highly recommended.
Just wish to share our thanks with Cal Landau and The Multihull Company for their service selling our catamaran that we owned for nearly 15yrs. Cal our broker in West Palm Beach was THE BEST!
He worked with us beyond the call of duty in helping us prep and moor our boat during some horrendous weather that came through last Winter and always offered to lend a hand while we were in West Palm procuring supplies. etc. Cal was always present to show the boat, learned about our boat systems to answer questions from shoppers and made a very informative listing with great photos and video that attracted a lot of action. I wish to highly recommend Cal and The Multihull Co if you’re planning on putting your boat on the market.
The entire company was committed to my satisfaction as a seller. Andrew the broker went out of his way to help me prepare the boat for sale and in just 3 weeks we had it under contract. I had to be away from the country but Andrew the broker and Andrew (same name) the Chief Operating Officer walked me through all the paperwork needed and kept me informed at every stage of the sale. Boat owners don’t remain without a boat for long, if this is the case for me, I will certainly contact Andrew and the Multihull Company to be my broker.
Successful relationships cannot exist without it. At The Multihull Company we base every relationship on a firm commitment to earning and retaining our client’s trust.
Advice of any kind is valuable only when grounded in hard-won expertise. It too, must be trustworthy. Trust and expertise define the heart and soul of The Multihull Company. We are a team of skilled professionals who thrive on providing expert, trustworthy advice and service to catamaran and trimaran sailors around the globe.
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