What it really costs to own a boat: every line of the yearly bill

The price on the listing is the one number you pay only once. Everything else comes back every year: where she lives, insurance, haul-outs and bottom paint, engine service, repairs, fuel, taxes, gear and the value she loses. For a typical used boat, those yearly costs can run from a few thousand dollars for a trailered 20-footer to tens of thousands for a 30- to 40-foot boat in a coastal slip.

Over five years, a boat can easily cost more to keep than it cost to buy. That's normal. It's not a lemon; it's boating.

The twelve lines of a boat budget

1. Where she lives

For most coastal boats this is the biggest line, and the range is huge. Miami-Dade's county marinas charged roughly $22 to $23.50 per foot per month for annual wet slips from May 2025, and a city basin in Newport Beach, California listed a 40-foot slip at about $53 per foot per month for 2025 to 2026.¹² Small inland marinas can cost a fraction of that.

Many marinas bill the slip length or the boat's overall length, whichever is greater, including the swim platform and pulpit. A "32-foot" boat can be billed at 36. In cold climates, add the haul-out, storage, shrink-wrap and spring launch.

2. Insurance

A common rule of thumb is 1 to 2 percent of the boat's value per year, with higher rates for fast boats, older boats, hurricane zones and inexperienced owners.³ Minimum premiums mean small, cheap boats cost more as a percentage.

3. Haul-out and bottom paint

Boats kept in the water get hauled every year or two to pressure-wash, check the running gear, replace anodes and repaint the bottom. Published yard packages for a haul, wash and one coat of paint have run in the $20s per foot, with materials and extra coats on top.⁴

4. Engine and drive service

Every engine needs oil, filters, impellers, belts and anodes every year or every 100 hours. Yamaha, for example, lists engine oil and filter, gearcase lube, spark plugs, water pump and trim-and-tilt fluid every 100 hours or yearly.⁵ Sterndrives add bellows and gimbal bearings, and diesels add fuel filters, coolant and heat exchanger service. Double it for twins.

5. Repairs and the replacement reserve

Batteries, canvas, cushions, pumps, hoses, electronics and (on sailboats) sails and rigging wear out on a schedule. Setting aside about 3 to 8 percent of the boat's value a year for a sound older boat keeps a $4,000 canvas job from becoming a crisis.

6. Fuel

Fuel depends on the hull, the engine and your right hand. A planing boat burns a lot to climb on top of the water. A displacement hull can't go much faster than its hull speed but sips fuel there.⁶ A Mainship 34 owner reported cruising at 10 knots on about 4 gallons an hour, and Grand Banks 42 owners report about 9 knots on around 6 gallons an hour.⁷⁸ A 28-foot gas express cruiser on plane can burn several times that.

A rough rule many mechanics use at wide-open throttle: a gasoline engine burns about 1 gallon per hour per 10 horsepower, and a diesel about 1 gallon per hour per 18 to 20 horsepower.

7. Loan interest

LendingTree's index put average boat loan APRs at about 8.3 percent in the second quarter of 2026.⁹ See boat loans and insurance.

8. Taxes, registration and documentation

Sales or use tax at purchase, yearly registration, and in some states a yearly property tax. Florida, for example, charges 6 percent sales tax on boats but caps the total at $18,000 per boat.¹⁰ Call your state's revenue and boating agencies before you buy.

9 to 12. Gear, utilities, memberships and depreciation

Safety gear and the first-year shopping list, shore power and pump-outs, an on-water towing membership, and depreciation. For tax purposes, California's tax board uses a 12 percent drop in the first year for new powerboats, then about 6 percent a year up to 42 feet; sailboats lose about 3 percent a year for ten years, then about 1 percent.¹¹ Older boats lose little to the calendar and a lot to neglect.

Four sample budgets

These are illustrations built from typical ranges, not quotes. Your numbers will differ. Look at the shape.

Look at the sailboat: worth $30,000, costing $8,000 to $19,000 a year to keep. That's 27 to 63 percent of her value every year, and nothing is wrong with her. She's just a 32-foot boat in a place with a real winter.

Why the "10 percent rule" misleads

You'll hear that a boat costs about 10 percent of its value a year to own. It's a fair start for expensive boats. One couple who kept careful books on their Nordhavn 43 budgeted with it, and their real 2019 costs came in around 6 percent of the boat's $700,000 value.¹²

But the rule gets less accurate the cheaper the boat. A slip doesn't care what you paid, insurance has minimums, and bottom paint costs the same per foot on a $15,000 boat as on a $150,000 one. Budget by length, location and age, not by purchase price.

The first-year reserve

Every used boat comes with jobs the last owner put off. Hold back 10 to 15 percent of the purchase price for the first year's catch-up work on a sound older boat, and more for anything sold "as is." One guide to older Taiwan trawlers suggests budgeting an extra 15 percent of the price for upcoming issues.¹³

Your cost per day on the water

Yearly cost (budget + loan payments + lost value) ÷ days you'll really use her = cost per day.

If a boat costs $20,000 a year all-in and you use her 25 days, every day aboard costs $800. Now you can compare honestly with a charter, a boat club or a rental.

Can you really afford it?

You can afford the boat if all four are true:

1. The yearly budget comes out of spending money, not savings or retirement accounts.
2. You can cover a bad year with a $5,000 surprise without borrowing.
3. You could sell in a hurry and lose 25 to 30 percent without real harm.
4. Your partner has seen the numbers on paper and agrees.

If one isn't true yet, that's not a no. It's a smaller boat, a cheaper place to keep her, or not this year. Our guide to first-time buyer mistakes explains why this matters so much.

Common questions

What's the cheapest way to own a boat?

A small, simple boat on a trailer at home, maintained yourself. Storage is usually the biggest cost for coastal boats, so keeping her out of a slip changes the budget more than any brand choice.

How much does it cost to own a 30-foot boat?

It depends far more on where you keep her and how old and complicated she is than on her price. In a coastal slip, a 28- to 32-foot boat can easily cost $8,000 to $30,000 a year. Call local marinas, an insurer and a yard before you buy.

Do older boats cost more to own?

They often cost more in repairs and less in depreciation. A well-kept older boat can be a smart buy because the steep part of the depreciation curve has already been paid. Condition is what you're really buying.