ray lunder wrote:
I've only owned small sailboats before but now,.. I'm looking at a
pretty good deal on a 41 footer that needs some work. Can anyone
comment on the less obvious costs of owning a boat this size? I do
most repairs myself on smaller boats. Thanks as always.

You need to specify what sort of work and if you can do it yourself. A
good rule of thumb for any boat is that if in perfect shape, it'll cost
10% of its value per year in maintenance charges if you hire it all out.
How much you'll save if you DIY will depend on the job.

I bought a 42' boat in decent shape needing some minor work. My first
brush was redo the running rigging, I found a bad water tank so I needed
to have a new one fabbed, and the reefer needed re-wiring. The cost of
those modest items (SS tank) was $12k all farmed out to a yard.

Later I found too much water in the fuel so I had the diesel polished -
another $1k. Standing rigging redo after I found a frayed wire at a
fitting (also missed during survey) $5k with me doing most of the work

I can go on. My boat wasn't expensive. Some other guy bought a similar
sized boat with an electrically operated swing keel which got stuck in
the box. I think that one cost about $30k to sort out.

So you really need to specify the boat type, its systems and what sort
of issues you KNOW it has now. I will say with 100% certainty that you
don't know the entire story at this point.

-paul