How Much?

Every time I walk past this boat on the hard at Cardiff Bay Yacht Club part of me chuckles and part of me silently weeps inside! The perception is that yacht ownership requires limitless funds but in reality you can keep spending under control by budgeting carefully.

For years Dave had been looking online at yachts for sale. The time had never been right - work commitments, tight finances, caring responsibilities and various other factors meant it wasn’t possible or practical. It kept him occupied for hours and he didn’t seem to mind me rolling my eyes and dashing his hopes! He retired in January 2024, received a small inheritance in 2025 and we could see a window opening up where we could be away from the UK for a short time before grand-parenting duties would ramp up. Suddenly the search became more serious. 

Trips to see yachts in every corner of the UK - Scotland, North Wales, East Coast and South Coast ensued, thankfully I didn’t have to go to see ALL of them. Dave spent hours opening every cupboard, hatch and locker, lifting up all the cushions and floorboards, and checking the bilges, electrics, sails, rigging and seacocks. Some exasperated sales people just left him to get on with his very thorough inspection and asked him to meet them back in the brokers office when he was finished.

The effort Dave put in was definitely worth it though. Despite being 24 years old, Seascape is in immaculate condition and, prior to us, had only had one, very careful, owner.  Originally put on the market at £40,000 when we first saw it the price had dropped to £35,000 and we negotiated a final price of £32,000. I’m hoping when we come to sell it in a couple of years it won’t have depreciated too much in value.

On the technical side it’s a Bavaria 32, built in Germany, and is 10.3m long, 3.35m wide and has a draught of 1.5m. Using the saloon/lounge area it can sleep up to 6 people - plenty of room for visitors! 

I’m keeping a close eye on the finances and our budget. There’s fixed annual costs (berth mooring fees, insurance, yacht club membership), kitting out costs (essential and desirable) and variable day to day running / living costs (marinas, fuel, food, communication subscriptions etc). 

Like most people we love a bargain - probably our best to date has been an old inflatable dinghy, with a broken Mariner outboard motor, purchased as a job lot from EBay for under £100. Dave spent a few days tinkering with the outboard to get it working reliably again and took it down to the River Severn on a calm day for a test run! 

Boat names deserve a separate blog post all to themselves, but we’re very happy with ‘Seascape’ - the name and the yacht.