Have you ever sat in front of your computer and dreamt about sailing on a big yacht? If you’re someone who’s become obsessed with the idea of yacht cruising and are on a spree to see if you can afford it or not then you’ve come to the right place. 

Yachts are huge boats, that are mostly used for pleasure trips and need much space to get on and sail. They are typically very expensive and high maintenance and need proper yacht management such as sydneyprestigeyachting.org.

In this article, we will specifically look for things you should keep in mind before buying a yacht. 

So, what yacht size can you afford?

This question depends on several factors like yacht size, guest capacity, insurance, etc. Let’s take a close look into these factors:

1. Size of the yacht.

There are many types of yachts like megayachts that are longer than 200 feet, superyachts that are longer than 120 feet, or an average family size normal yacht that is around 40 to 70 feet. You can opt for any of these yachts according to your needs or wants. 

But one thing to keep in mind is that the larger the yacht the more expensive it will be. Another thing to keep in mind is that you’ve to employ a professional captain and a cabin crew to make everything easier for you. Although you can skip a professional captain if you have the required qualification to drive a yacht.

2. Research if you qualify for a boat loan or not.

There are many criteria and difficulties when applying for a boat loan. You can go two ways with this. Take a secured loan in exchange for collateral with lower interest rates or take out an unsecured loan with higher interest rates but no collateral. 

The choice is yours and you can decide on any of them after careful consideration. You also must know that to qualify for a boat loan your debt to loan ratio has to be below 40%.

3. Yacht insurance.

Since a yacht is a luxury it must be secured. Yacht insurance depends on the size, type, and location of the yacht. The insurance will cover any sudden damage to the vessel or damage to others but it will not cover gradual wear and tear, electrolysis, blistering, freezing, etc.

4. Consider hidden costs when buying a yacht.

Considering these luxurious vehicles it is likely that they will have many hidden costs which can increase the purchasing costs quite a bit. One of the many hidden costs is buying life jackets for the guests, engineers, captain, a chef that will cost you thousands of dollars if you need top-notch quality. 

You would also have to stock fire extinguishers, a radio system, a GPS chart plotter, etc. Other costs may include monthly recurring maintenance and design payments.

5. Fuel costs.

Fuel costs for yachts vary from one model to another. The costs depend on how fast a yacht burns the fuel and its storage capacity. Nowadays there are plenty of yachts that are fuel-efficient and can help you decrease your costs but still the fuel precise is likely to remain steep.

All in all, yachting is quite an expensive hobby but if you can afford the purchase price then it is all up to you to enjoy the experience.