SerpApi.Org
This couple bought an (admittedly spectacular) abandoned ship, but that’s when the trouble started.
The boat was in horrible condition, and the fact it was so old and large didn’t make it any easier.
Four years and several thousand dollars later, it’s almost seaworthy.
But this is a cautionary tale.
There’s a common theme here
In general, people seem able to more or less correctly estimate the amount of cash they need to maintain a classic vehicle or an aircraft.
However, for some reason, the costs of running a boat are often underestimated.
There must be a reason why so many celebrities, even the very rich ones, own cars and jets but generally prefer to charter yachts.
Yachting is one of those fields where a seemingly minor hiccup can lead to catastrophic financial consequences.
Then there’s fuel – because, apples to apples, boats are perhaps even thirstier than planes – along with docking and insurance fees.
These professional sailors had a similar problem with their classic boat.
This historic ship was in fairly terrible shape
Daniel and Barbara, professional sailors from Austria, bought Flying Coney, an abandoned 82-foot historic Dutch vessel, around four years ago.
Over the last four years, they’ve been trying to fix the abandoned ship, which has cost more than they expected both in terms of cash and also emotionally.
They’ve been documenting their progress on their YouTube channel, The Sailing Ship Project, and while they didn’t reveal the exact amount, it was implied it wasn’t a small sum.
“We completely underestimated the time, the money, the emotional roller coaster. [And we had to invest] large amounts of money on repairs we had never planned for,” they admitted in the video.
The list of things that needed fixing was very long.
They had to strip the entire interior to allow for shipyard repairs, and that also revealed rotten frames and holes in the hull caused by poor maintenance and previous coal storage.
Then they had to restore the wheelhouse, service the engine, and rebuild the cabin pretty much from scratch.
The bad news is the project is ongoing, and it’s far from finished.
However, the good news is the boat is now almost fully seaworthy.
