1/ How much cold hard cash can you front up with????
I decided, in my typical under-realistic dreamer way, to go against all my well thought out plans and instead bought a boat I fell in love with, that wasn't on my radar, and was bigger than I'd decided I could afford. I subscribe to the 10% rule: 10% deposit and borrow the rest! 
Well, not really but I did borrow to buy the boat. 
I have no assets and basically no debt. I just spend what I earn. People die. I will die. I'm living as fully as possible until I'm wrenched from this wonderful world. I had 2 kids I couldn't afford by the age of 23. I did three degrees that took thousands of hours and dollars for the joy and the journey (and as an investment, but I would have been better off if I'd been a plumber, I reckon). I took a year off five years ago and backpacking for a year with my wife, blowing $70K. I'm broke but I'm living as best I can.
2/ How much cold hard cash can you continue to fork out along the way?????
When I was looking at buying a boat some very experienced people on this forum gave great advice about how much it costs to run a boat, right down to categorised dollars and cents. One person just exclaimed, "Everything I earn". I was horrified, but in the end that's been my experience over the first two years. I've repowered her, rerigged her, and am on the long journey of replacing pretty much every pipe, bolt, screw, cable, chain and piece of cloth around her 30-year old bones.
3/ How much cold hard cash can you afford to drop at the end of the day??????
I can't - that's why I can't sell her! 
I have to keep taking wonderful, 'free' holidays to make all the expenses earn their keep. Maybe one day I'll sell and move on from sailing or (more likely) move up to a bigger boat I also won't be able to afford.
But that's just me.
FWIW I would have been better off waiting, saving, and buying a 60 or 70K boat instead of a 23K neglected boat. But I didn't have the enough knowledge in this area at the time. At the time, I would never have made that decision because that would have been 'too much money'!!! 
Okay my Experience.
Paid $73K
Annual Costs: $12K
Sold 3 yrs $47K (Dec 14)
Should of kept the boat 
Select to expand quoteMcNaughtical said..
Good points to consider Cisco. I'm a little perturbed by the negative sentiments towards the female species. Seems this mermaid might be sailing solo and the crusty old sailors might be doing the same for a wile to come.
Contrary to popular belief, yachts and sailing are not the last bastion of male chauvinism. It can be found just about anywhere you look. Seems to be particularly rife in middle eastern countries.
Let it be water off a duck's back, Ducky. 
Maths. 1x ex wife plus 0 ? current wife x not silly enough to do that again = bloody happy bloke cause I got a boat
Dr rig
To me your boat is far better than a 70 k boat
You know every square inch of her
And how she's wire ,rigged , seacocks the list goes on
Mines the same bought a cheaper h28
So I can out my own mark on her
And all going well by the time I retire she will be ready and will only need up keep from there on in
O I forgot, haven't got any money either. Boat took care of of all that. I'm not a wealthy bloke but when I'm sailing on MY boat that I own I am the richest bloke in the world. I wonder if many accountants own boats
I think we are getting down to the bones of the matter now. If you actually had to start putting accounting numbers to any of it you are not ready and should keep dreaming. It seems like the answer from all of those (excepting dear old Cisco) who own a boat is that our return on "investment" cannot be quantified and we enjoy a wealth that money cannot buy. There does also seem to be a pretty strong correlation between the harder you have to scrape to get that evil cash the greater the personal wealth of the individual.
I'm now in my second syndicate. Whilst there are pros and cons of syndicates, for me the pros outweigh the cons. I don't like the big commercial syndicates, ours is 4 owners this time and was 5 owners in my last one.
I get ownership in a boat I could not really afford. For me affordability is not just the costs of the boat. It's opportunity cost, the cost of other things I couldn't do if I had the boat on my own. I can still afford other interests, overseas holidays, pay for those horse riding lessons etc and not feel burdened by the boat.
Our owners bring quite a varied range of skill sets, from sailing skills to mechanical, electrical, boat building. Pretty much anything that needs doing can be done by ourselves, we can knock off the job list pretty quickly and share our skills, I've learnt lots.
I get some good sailing partners, we race together and sometimes sail together just for fun. I've met great new friends after moving across the country.
Cisco's famous "B.O.A.T" is only $250 for us. We bounce around ideas on improvements and are hopefully little less likely to make mistakes.
On the cons side, being joint decisions, I can't just go and buy stuff or do stuff to the boat. I can't leave my personal stuff on the boat (we treat it like a bareboat), but that also means the boat is always very tidy.
We share the usage by having a first choice roster, if it's my week, I have first choice if I want the boat, if I don't use it, then anyone else can. If someone ends up using the boat way more than the others, then that's fine. I'd rather the boat be used than just sit there.
Perhaps in the future I'll go for a boat on my own, but that will be a long way off when the kids are grown up and work winds down.
My first boat was in a syndicate with three others who I didn't know.
It worked out very well, we had a roster and regularly sailed together, shared costs and had maintenance weekends.
When I purchased my own boat the plan was to sell shares and start another syndicate.
Six years later I still haven't got around to it.
I think syndicates of 3 or 4 people are the way to go as it keeps costs down and gives you someone to sail with.
But I accept it may not work for everyone.
If anybody is interested in being involved in a syndicate in the Brisbane area to sail on Moreton Bay send me a message.
Select to expand quoteseabird said..
My first boat was in a syndicate with three others who I didn't know.
It worked out very well, we had a roster and regularly sailed together, shared costs and had maintenance weekends.
When I purchased my own boat the plan was to sell shares and start another syndicate.
Six years later I still haven't got around to it.
I think syndicates of 3 or 4 people are the way to go as it keeps costs down and gives you someone to sail with.
But I accept it may not work for everyone.
If anybody is interested in being involved in a syndicate in the Brisbane area to sail on Moreton Bay send me a message.
I got my first boat at 18. It was a 21 foot I-don't-know-what..... It was a piece of junk. It was swapped for a Suzuki Sierra which was also a piece of junk. It ended up being a sandpit in the local primary school.
I am now on my fourth boat and on the hunt for my 5th (another thread).
Is this the thread that compared boats to ex wives??? That was spot on in my experience. I Love my current boat and current wife. I look back at my previous boats with fondness. All bar the first one. I don't look back fondly at my first wife either....
I am of the rational mind. I have many interests, sailing is one of them. I am happily married to my wife of 36 years. Wife and kids don't like boats.
I know exactly what my boat has cost and how much I spend on it.
Being broke so I can have a boat is not my idea of fun. If I believe the opportunity cost of the boat exceeds what I can get out of it versus another interest (travel, sports cars, historic car racing, flying) then I will sell and move on.
I am looking at selling Morning Bird but only if it makes sense with my other interests. MB is now finished for what I want, an offshore cruising boat. I can afford to keep her but she has to provide a return more than another interest.
Select to expand quotefrant said..
I think we are getting down to the bones of the matter now. If you actually had to start putting accounting numbers to any of it you are not ready and should keep dreaming. It seems like the answer from all of those (excepting dear old Cisco) who own a boat is that our return on "investment" cannot be quantified and we enjoy a wealth that money cannot buy. There does also seem to be a pretty strong correlation between the harder you have to scrape to get that evil cash the greater the personal wealth of the individual.
I don't think you are reading me exactly right. For me it is not all down to return on investment. I only have moderate means and tastes.
I told my wife a while ago that if I don't have a yacht, I might as well be dead and that I was going to have a yacht with her or without her.
I love my yacht, and, I love my wife and family. I am a greedy bugger who wants to have his cake AND eat it. That needs a financial plan. Fortunately my wife and family love the yacht too and understand my peculiar mind set.
She is only a 30 ft Lotus but she is MY "Second Wind". 
and happy.
I think FreeRadical is in a very fortunate situation with their syndicate. He is getting to do many things (such as the trip over the top) that would be beyond the reach of most individual yacht owners.
Select to expand quoteToph said..
Is this the thread that compared boats to ex wives??? That was spot on in my experience. I Love my current boat and current wife. I look back at my previous boats with fondness. All bar the first one. I don't look back fondly at my first wife either.... That is really funny.
