Luxury Yacht Living Cheaper Than A House? (full tour & monthly costs)
Living on a yacht can sound like a lot of things. And to us, it always sounded bonkers expensive. A pipe dream. But the reality is there is a boat for every budget. Chances are, you can take whatever your cost of living is now and move onto a boat for the same price. Or maybe even a lot less.
Seriously. We’ve maintained the same general budget for the last 10 years. From a condo in Downtown Dallas Texas to road trippers in a 33ft motor home to liveaboard cruisers on a 44ft sailing catamaran.
Another case in point is our friends Rico and Victoria (the couple in the photo with us). They lived in Los Angeles California on a power yacht that cost under $200k. I’m pretty sure you can’t get a parking space in LA for under $200k.
And so today, we’re stepping into the Motor Yacht world. Which honestly isn’t a type of boating we have ever considered or spent a lot of time exploring. Because for us, we want to travel around the world, and it just makes more sense (efficiency, redundancy, safety, etc.) to have a sailboat.
But not everyone is looking to sail around the world. Power boats make a lot of sense for coastal cruisers, river cruising, ice breakers, or as a liveaboard in a home port.
Rico and Victoria have invited us into their world to tour a 66’ Hampton Yacht. It’s a deep dive into what living aboard a luxury yacht like this looks like. We chat about polarization between sailors and motor boaters, maintenance, running costs, fuel prices, and even dockage fees.
So, what did you think? Are you a power boater, a sailor, or just a lover of all things nautical? We’re suckers for any home that travels. And while we won’t be giving up our sails anytime soon, we certainly see the appeal. If we had a job that kept us tied to a dock most days, I could see us opting for a vintage tug boat. I have always wanted to renovate one and who doesn’t love an old tugboat!?
This beauty operates as an expedition cruise in Alaska. Perhaps in our next life?
Check out Victoria and Rico’s channels
- NautiStyles: youtube.com/c/NautiStyles/videos
- NautiGuys: youtube.com/channel/UCOAWkOlfIRz89o8GO3W3H0w
Boat Listing for the 66′ Hampton Yacht: denisonyachtsales.com/yacht-listings/broker/66-Hampton-Cpmy-2007-Ft-Lauderdale-Florida/2783406
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Big
Great lifestyle . I lived on a 40-foot totally craft for 2 years . Lake Washington, Seattle. I loved it. A little pricey . $600 a month mortgage . Another $500 for liveaboard fee . Otherwise all inclusive . It was an adventure .
Nikki Wynn
Very nice and thanks for sharing the costs. That is a lot cheaper than most apartment rentals I have seen. So not too bad really for a nice lake house!
OjaiLynda
I absolutely enjoyed this video, well done! It was fun to ‘walk’ on board such a beautiful boat and have an extremely knowledgeable couple show us the way. This dovetails seamlessly into boat life. The questions you posed, Nikki, were spot on. At first the thought of $3,000/month for slip fees was crazy until I realized our Airstream nightly costs can range from free (boon docking) to $10,000 a month at an upscale resort in the Keys. What threw me upside down is finding out that condo HOAs are at $2,000/mo. in Fort Lauderdale. Keep the outstanding videos coming!
Nikki Wynn
We find the costs of living in most major cities to be really high on land or sea right now. But as you said, boondocking, or for us anchoring, is the affordable way to go. Because if you can avoid the RV parks and Marinas, life is a lot more affordable!
Gary Church
My wife and I spent almost 5 years on a 64’ Grand Banks Aleutian cruising the Caribbean.
I thought the numbers were pretty much on target. For example $1,000,000 boat realistically cost $100,000 to $150,000 annually to operate.
Although our boat would do 20 knots, cruising speed was about 8-10 knots at 10-15 gallons per hour – not the most expensive part of boat ownership. Docking in many locations were equivalent to about $3,000 per month and part of the $150,000 annual cruising costs.
There are a lot of robust systems on a 64 foot vessel. You need to have a good set of tools, some knowledge and skills and be able to physically carry on maintenance and repair. If not add another $50,000 to your annual costs.
The one thing to consider is the a boat can be a notable depreciating asset unlike a dirt home in normal times. Add annual boat depreciation into you costs and you my find even more dollars to be considered in annual operating costs.
I believe the total costs of a less than 20 year old year as shown in the video my be a little more than most could afford.
Mary
Perhaps useful information. It seemed to be an obvious advertisement for that vessel. I’ve followed you from RV days. Not a fan of this video. We are boaters capable of living aboard but we don’t select that option. So we don’t oppose that lifestyle.
Nikki Wynn
This was not an advertisement for the vessel as we have zero affiliation with the broker or the owner. We were not compensated in any way. It was a look at another type of boating with a channel that does boat tours like this every week (also not paid adverts for the boats). Completely fine if it wasn’t of interest to you, we create a wide variety of content. It’s inevitable you won’t love every video. Perhaps the next will be one you enjoy.
Alan Solomon
Thank you for this video.
A little overwhelming for me. It seems to me that there is a lot more to consider and keep an eye on living on a boat rather than living in a house or condo.
Living on a boat would not be my first choice but I can be influenced with extra luxuries, comforts and treats.
Happy travels,
Steve Tannenbaum
An amusing video, on your new boat you will be cruising at 17 knots and not burning 50 gal/hr! I really enjoy your videos, but you really threw me a loop on AG1. Where is the data to support their claims? Like most food supplements no data.
Nikki Wynn
I don’t know that we will be cruising at 17 knots but we are looking forward to figuring out our new cruising speed and burning zero fuel while doing it. But important to keep in mind the sails also cost a fair bit and no doubt took a fair amount of energy to make. As for the AG1, click over to their website and check it out. There is a ton of science-based, 3rd party research backing up the claims. It’s the first supplement we’ve been willing to spend money on because they are usually empty claims but we believe AG1 is different. https://athleticgreens.com/gonewiththewynns
Tev
So many similarities between the boat lifestyle and the rv lifestyle. Class A, B, C, towable, fifth wheel etc. But there IS something for everyone. I also saw so many things from the boat that have been implemented in RVs. The twin bed cabin is the same as the twin bed floorplan in many of todays RVs. Very interesting video today and I’m going to check out Nautiguys channel now. Thanks.
Nikki Wynn
There are a ton of similarities for sure. Our time RV’ing definitely made the transition to boat life easier.
Steve Gibbons
Appreciate the encouragement to make the leap. Were almost empty nesters ,,,,,,,,, so this has been a great help.
aboyandhisdog
Nope, you lost me at “Yacht”.
Michael
And what was the cost of that particular boat?
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Paul Reynolds
That was fun and interesting guys, maybe if I’d seen this before, my choices would be different, however i feel that any self respecting, successful couple like yourselves would have and should have a land based investment, I’m talking property of course, that in case something should change, as it can at a drop of a hat. The quality of workmanship aboard boats is astonishing, something that often makes me wonder why not such high quality in homes generally, then there is cost or your own skills to consider. Wow we are experiencing such an incredible storm right now, it sounds like a war zone and my power went off momentarily, I think it will again so chow for, take care, Paul.
Robert
Doing some fast math….I heard that annual maintenance on a boat is about 10% to 15% of the boats value. So on this motor yacht should the owners be budgeting between $100,000 and $150,000 for maintenance??? Hard to sell this as an alternative to home ownership if maintenance costs, after six years, would have bought me that investment home.
Angelo DiPietro
So what your saying that 10 to 15 thousand a year for Annual Maintenance? Are you talking rent/ parking? electricity and potable water/sewer services ? Cause that is the same for every house, land, sea, wheeled, unless your living in a tent………
Keith
Boats are not an investment. They are a depreciating asset in almost any market condition. I don’t think the wynns are “selling” the boat lifestyle as a replacement to land based lifestyle. They are pointing out that if you want to live in Miami/LA (horribly expensive places) with an ocean view the cost may not be that different from a boat or a condo (HOA fees).