2007 SEALINE SC29, SWEDEN – £5,150
TERENCE ACTON
My current boat is a 2007 Sealine SC29
with twin 160hp Volvo D3s that I imported
from the UK four years ago. It had one
owner from new and just 120 hours
logged on the engines. It cost £75,000
to buy and a further £3,000 to transport
it to Sweden. It was worth buying in
the UK because there was a much larger
range of boats to choose from than
in Sweden and the purchase price was about 20% lower. It also
means that I’m confi dent I could sell my boat today and still get
my money back, avoiding the usual hidden cost of depreciation.
I keep the boat about ten minutes away from my home on
the east side of Stockholm in the inner archipelago. It takes about
30 minutes to cruise into the centre of town where an overnight
berth with electricity, water and Wi-Fi costs about £25. This
year, we spent 35 nights on board with quite a few day trips
over a season that starts in mid-April and ends in mid-October.
Over winter, I keep the boat on the hard outside my house.
Last season, our fuel bill came to approximately £2,500, which
isn’t too bad given the price of diesel here. I do all the maintenance,
valeting and antifouling myself. The only job that I am not able
to do is change the bellows as the SXA drives are too heavy for me
to manhandle about on my trolley jack, so the local boatyard does
this for me every third year at a cost of £600 plus parts. I change
the leg oil and anodes myself every year. As we are in brackish water,
we get very little fouling so I only have to antifoul every other year.
To date, I have not had any unexpected costs over and above
the normal maintenance costs, although I may need to replace
the sliding canvas roof next year. The biggest expenditures since
purchase have been adapting the boat for use in the Swedish
archipelago. This involved fi tting a stern anchor winch, a Raymarine
plotter, a fuel cell (instead of a generator) and opening up the front
pulpit to install a boarding ladder. I did all of the above work myself
at a cost of £8,000 but it has enabled us to stay off grid in small,
natural, free-of-
charge harbours,
with only occasional
visits to marinas
and ports to bunker
up if the weather is
bad. There are over
40,000 islands in the
archipelago and with
no private property
restrictions, it’s never
a problem to fi nd
a sheltered berth.
FRED HAINESOur boating adventure actually started
with a holiday home in Bournemouth,
which we bought in the late 1990s.
Having watched with envy from the
packed sands of Bournemouth beach
people bobbing around on their own
little islands in sand-free isolation,
we decided to take the plunge.
We became the proud owners of a 17ft White Shark,
which we kept in Poole and used to learn the ropes, literally.2010 BÉNÉTEAU SWIFT TRAWLER 34,
PORTUGAL – £17,25054REAL LIFEDepreciation None so far
Berth £600 per year
Fuel £2,500 per year
Insurance £700 per year
Engine service £500 per year
Leg service £200 (£600 / three years)
Lift in/out £250 per year
Polish/antifoul £200 per year
Harbour fees £200 per year
Costs converted from SEK (£1 = 11.3 kr)
Total cost £5,150 per yearBuying in the UK
saved Terence a
small fortuneA single engine keeps
fuel and servicing
costs in check