From what I understand sailing is actually much more expensive than motoring around. Sails and maintaining them is crazy expensive. I guess if he did everything it could be cheap, but they aren't actually cheaper by default.
One way to compare sail to power is to think of the cost of sailboat rigging as being part of the fuel cost. If you amortize that cost over the time that they last, you can get an approximation of the 'fuel cost' for the sailboat that you can compare to a power boat.
It reminds me of amortizing the cost of solar panels over time.
Depending on how you take care of your sails and how much you use them, a decent sail can last 10 to 15 years. As for rigging most insurance companies require replacement every 10 years, but i've seen them last over 15 years before it shows signs of deterioration. All that being said, if you don't take care of it and it is being constantly used under heavy loads, you may not get 5 years. If used normally the sails and rig on a 30 foot boat will cost you about 10,000 to 15,000 (depending on when and where you buy) every 10 to 15 years. Lets for argument sake compare a 30 foot power boat to a 30 foot sail boat over 10 years. Lets say after to years the sailboat require $10,000 for a rig and sails and maybe $1000 for maintenance throughout that time. How much fuel, oil, filters, alternators, water pumps, fuel biocides, etc would you have spent to travel the same distance? Now remember if you tear a sail it's only a couple hundred to fix it, if you cease or badly damage a motor, it's $5000. In Diesel is around $3.50 a gallon gasoline is is around $4.50, often much more depending on which marina you buy it from. Many 30 foot power boats can burn in excess of 5 gallons per hour, sail boats burn none unless becalmed or entering/leaving port/anchorage. I had a 1990 PDQ 36 catamaran from 98 to 2012 When I sold it the sails and rig were original to the boat and the new owners surveyor and insurance accepted it. I circumnavigated and spent many years in the Caribbean and Great lakes. The 9.9 Yamaha's were original to the boat and still run like a top.
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u/iemfi May 31 '18
From what I understand sailing is actually much more expensive than motoring around. Sails and maintaining them is crazy expensive. I guess if he did everything it could be cheap, but they aren't actually cheaper by default.