Financially Floating your Boat
There are people who just go after their dream and make it happen no matter what. According to research, only 2% of the Harvard Graduates in the class of 1960 made a written life plan. However, an astonishing 95% of those who had were able to reach their written goals. They are also probably the ones who don't have to ask the price of the catamaran they want to have.
Unfortunately, most of us barely belong to the other 98%.
Still, the important lesson is that a written goal is a huge step on the way for a variety of reasons. The most important reason is that by writing down (or mind-mapping) a goal, it helps to visualize your dream and THAT is an important step towards its realization.
What Should Your Plan Entail?
First of all, the plan should consist of two parts as far as finances are concerned.
A. How to finance the acquisition of the catamaran.
B. How to finance the live-aboard lifestyle.
Since we have a separate page on how to finance the lifestyle, please have a look there as well.
On this page, we will concentrating on Point A. How to acquire your catamaran.
Basically, there are three approaches. For each of these categories, similar pitfalls apply. Please, refer to the design criteria page on this site BEFORE you start looking.
To go shopping for the catamaran you want, based on the budget your have available.
- Buy a new boat;
-
Buy a used boat;
- Build your own boat;
(4) This is a bonus item where item 2 and 3 are combined. Assuming you have the necessary skill set, buy a boat,
improve it, sell it, buy a better boat, improve it, sell, it, and repeat until you have your desired boat.
1. Buying a New Catamaran
When making plans to get a new cat, there are a variety of factors to consider, such as Size, Comfort, Purpose, Maintenance, Brand, Model, Equipment, Electronics, etc.
All of the above will have an impact on the purchasing price, with Size and Comfort having the biggest impact on price.
The price for smaller (minimum) life-aboard Cats ranges from about 250,000 euro (about US$280,000) for a 38 ft (approx. 12 m) Lagoon Catamaran for a 4-cabin 2-head model to about 1.2 million euro (US $1.35 million) for a 62 ft (approx. 19 m) Lagoon Cat for a 5-cabin 5-head top-of-the line model. The prices are excluding VAT and of course, there is always more electronic equipment you might want. Lagoon is not the cheapest brand but is not by any means the most expensive one either.
2. Buying a Used Catamaran
The used boat market is very unpredictable. While the new cat market is slowly becoming cheaper, the used market depends on economic circumstances, both on the economic cycle itself as on the economic circumstances of the seller. The reason for that is that it is a luxury item, which means the item is totally at the will of the market.
However, there are a couple of things to think about. Here is a comprehensive article by David Pascoe on buying used boats. Please, remember that cats are a slightly different kettle of fish.
3. Building a Catamaran from Scratch
Building a cat with your own hands, sounds romantic, highlighting a rugged, individualistic and survivalist lifestyle, away from civilization. In the picture on the right,
Gibbs can be seen building a wooden boat which slowly progresses throughout the series, which
extends for at least 8 seasons. In other words, it takes Gibbs at least 8 years to build his boat. For more
info on the actual building of DIY cats, please click here.
In the 2nd picture Gibbs is sanding his boat, which is a very labor intensive process. On the page on DIY cats, the builder calculates he made roughly $11 (after taxes) per hour during the 3500 hours he spend building his boat.
However, several aspects are not discussed. The building method has changed radically, and the foam-injection method makes sanding virtually obsolete, saving a lot of time and money.
Building a cat with your own hands, sounds romantic, highlighting a rugged and free lifestyle, away from civilization. Of course, pursuing the dream is very much a part of the dream itself. But spending years building a boat takes that much time away from actually living and travelling on it.
For reference, a Sterling Hayden quote
"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called.
Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.
"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.
The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.
Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"
Sterling Hayden, Wanderer
“The biggest regret a few years down the line would be…I wish I could. So dare to do what you dream of…NOW.”
― Vikrmn, 10 Golden Steps of Life
“One day, you muster the courage and let go of the fear. In a brief moment of insanity, you give wings to the stories you had wanted to tell; some you didn't even know were in you. In that instant, something about you changes. You are born again.”
― Kaleb Kilton