The short version
- The 10% a year rule is a first check, not a budget.
- Dockage is usually the biggest fixed cost; crew overtakes it once a boat needs full-time crew.
- Systems drive maintenance cost more than length does.
- Ask the seller for two years of maintenance invoices. It is the best document in the deal.
There is a well-worn rule of thumb that a yacht costs about 10% of her purchase price per year to run. Like most rules of thumb it is useful as a first sanity check and misleading everywhere else. It over-states costs for a simple, lightly used outboard boat and badly under-states them for an older, crewed, heavily systemed motor yacht.
Here is what actually sits inside that number.
Dockage
Usually the largest fixed cost. South Florida marinas price per foot per month, and the rate swings enormously with location, season and whether you want floating docks and finger piers. Liveaboard status, beam charges and utility metering are all extra. If you are comparing marinas, compare total monthly invoices, not headline per-foot rates.
Insurance
Priced on hull value, vessel age, construction, your experience, cruising limits and. Importantly. Named windstorm exposure. A Florida-based policy that covers the vessel in place during hurricane season costs materially more than one requiring you to move north or south of a stated latitude. Expect underwriters to require a recent survey on older hulls.
Maintenance and haul-out
The category that surprises people, because it is not optional and it does not scale linearly with use.
| Recurring item | Typical interval |
|---|---|
| Bottom cleaning (diver) | Monthly in warm water |
| Haul-out, bottom paint, zincs | Annually to every 2 years |
| Engine service | By hours or annually, whichever first |
| Generator service | By hours |
| Detailing / wax | Quarterly to biannually |
Systems drive cost far more than length does. Air conditioning, watermakers, stabilisers, davits, hydraulics and tenders each add their own maintenance calendar. A 60-foot boat with stabilisers and a watermaker is a more expensive animal than a 70-foot boat without them.
Budget a refit sinking fund. Owners who set aside a fixed amount monthly for the big-ticket items: canvas, upholstery, electronics, paint, repower. Are the ones who are not blindsided in year four. Those items do not arrive evenly, but they do arrive.
Crew
Above roughly 60 feet, many owners run with at least a captain, and the calculus changes from a cost line to an employment relationship: salary, payroll taxes, health insurance, training, uniforms, and often accommodation. Rotational or full crew on larger vessels is frequently the single largest line item, exceeding dockage.
Fuel
Highly variable and, for most private owners, not the dominant cost. Because most private boats are used far less than owners expect. Planing hulls at cruise burn dramatically more than the same boat at displacement speed; on many vessels, dropping a few knots roughly halves consumption. If fuel is a real concern, that is a hull-selection question, not an operating one.
Depreciation
The invisible cost. New production boats take their steepest depreciation early. Well-maintained, well-specified used vessels from respected builders hold value considerably better, which is a large part of why buying a three-to-seven-year-old boat is often the strongest financial position. Someone else absorbed the first curve.
A more useful way to budget
Rather than a single percentage, build the number from the parts you can actually price:
- Get a real dockage quote for the specific marina and slip.
- Get an insurance quote for the specific hull, your résumé and your intended cruising area.
- Ask the seller for two years of maintenance invoices. This is the highest-signal document in the whole transaction.
- Add crew, if applicable, at market rate.
- Add a maintenance reserve sized to the systems aboard, not the length.
That exercise takes an afternoon and is worth more than any rule of thumb.
Common questions
Is the 10% rule accurate?
It is a rough first check, nothing more. It tends to over-state costs for simple, lightly used boats and under-state them for older crewed vessels with complex systems.
What is usually the biggest annual cost?
Dockage for most owner-operated boats; crew once a vessel is large enough to need full-time crew. Fuel is rarely the largest line for private use.
How much should I reserve for maintenance?
Size the reserve to the systems aboard rather than to length, and fund it monthly. Air conditioning, stabilisers, watermakers and tenders each carry their own calendar.
Does a used boat cost more to run than a new one?
Often slightly more in maintenance, but far less in depreciation. A well-kept three-to-seven-year-old vessel from a good builder is usually the strongest overall position.
Talk it through with Kevin
Coast Guard veteran. Fifteen years at Denison Yachting, where he managed new-boat sales for Selene and Hatteras. Founded Resolute in 2021.