Yacht Economics

A yacht is in fact any type of vessel, other than a dinghy, propelled by sail, power or both and used for pleasure cruising or racing.

Depending more on your budget, and less on your pleasure, you can determine what kind of yacht you can afford. A yacht is an expensive toy, and not everybody is made to possess one. (You know, if I want to sell a boat to anybody, I can pretend the contrary, and be quite believable). If you buy something with less than € 20,000 the thing you bought is not a yacht, is something else. A masted dinghy is cheaper. The rough wood price is between $ 500 and $ 1,500 per cubic meter.

Some skills are required to maneuver a yacht, some papers and certificates, brevets and licenses, exams passed and so on, even if someone, a former client, told me that in France you are allowed a lot or funny things if you keep some limits, to have one means a lot more responsibility than having a car. In Turkey for sample, the Coast Guard (Sahil Güvenlik) is prosecuting everybody if they don’t present the required papers, I mean the dinghy owners as well. 

                                  (courtesy of Coast Guard site, Turkey)

Formed in 1982 as the maritime wing of the gendarmerie, the coast guard is now separate but also reports to the Ministry of Interior. The coast guard is responsible for maintaining the security of the coast and territorial waters, for conducting missions to protect its Exclusive Economic Zone in the Aegean--the boundaries of which are under dispute with Greece--for search-and-air-rescue operations, and for protecting the marine environment.

Sometimes they are right, most of the time, they aren’t. They allow the daytrip boats to carry tens of drunken tourists through the bays, not serviced by more than two or three people at the same time, only if the boat owner presents the crew’s papers and the boat assurance with the fire department approval. Don’t think I have a sting against Turkey, on the contrary, Turkey is a perfect place to buy a yacht (almost the yacht buying heaven, another exaggeration from my part and not only), and less regulations to register one and more…

In Turkey you can find the boat of your dreams, with a real price. This “real” price is closer to the building materials value, adding the manufacturing value.

A yacht is going to cost you after you buy it, as well. Try to find the price of Marina’s rentals per week, and you may have a idea then, of what to do investing in a yacht.