Wxx3
Dauntless Award
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2013
- Messages
- 2,820
- Location
- USA
- Vessel Name
- Dauntless
- Vessel Make
- Kadey Krogen 42 - 148
I'm very interested in this discussion because I'm looking at buying a boat in a few years for family long distance cruising and have a history in the Sailboat area. For family cruising I prefer the more open (i.e. windows) and weather protection (pilot house/cabin) of a power boat, but can also enjoy sailing but perhaps not as much in bad weather.
If the yearly operational cost is close - as it seems it might be with the longer, thinner designs like the Dashew FPB and Artnautica - and assuming depreciation would be similar on the sailboat and powerboat - then I'd prefer to go with the power.
But I've not done the full financial analysis - and as people have mentioned its really going to come down to the assumptions you make in the financial model - but from Dashew's calculations it seems so firmly to fall into the camp of the powerboat being more cost effective longer term.
I'm just wondering why so many people here seem to believe that the Dashew numbers are wrong. Is he too aggressive on the replacement of all the gear on a specific schedule (sails, etc.) or is it because he's doing offshore sailing and therefore he wants to remove as much risk as possible in the gear side of things so he's very regimented on his upkeep schedule on the sailboat.
Or, is it because the Beowulf 70 foot sailboat that he's using as a comparison is so much more expensive than most people's sailboats that we'd realistically be comparing a power boat against.
Any opinions on this?
I think the Dashew numbers were in the ballpark. he compared too expensive, long boats.
The only figure I question was the cost his cost of $2 per nm. I think $3 is more like it using his numbers and $4/gal fuel.
And that to me is a big deal because then the cost of the Dashew boat is at best three times my KK42.
ANd my trans-Atlantic trip, instead of costing $4k, would cost $12k and
At that point, I'd be sitting at home polishing my Dock Queen.