Licensing isn’t really a thing in North America (except maybe the $50 card we have to get here in Canada), insurance can get complicated / pricey but you only really need liability which is much cheaper, and all the fire & safety stuff usually comes with the boat and isn’t that expensive anyway.
You can obviously go crazy on electronics, and boy are these expensive indeed, but you can also just use any old tablet* with Aquamaps or Navionics installed. Try to get one that’s waterproof or get a waterproof case.
The most expensive part, honestly, is where you park it.
So yeah, it’s a money-pit, but it’s possible to keep costs under control.
(*) You need a tablet with a GPS receiver. iPads used to only have it on cellular models (no need for a plan), but most Android tablets have it.
Although many things may differ in different parts of the world, this seems to be universal:
The most expensive part, honestly, is where you park it.
I used to sail with my friend sometimes, and his boat was parked in the town about a 100 miles away. It was because after the last cheap place closed to become an estate construction site, it would cost more than 2% of his yacht’s cost per month to park it closer
Licensing isn’t really a thing in North America (except maybe the $50 card we have to get here in Canada), insurance can get complicated / pricey but you only really need liability which is much cheaper, and all the fire & safety stuff usually comes with the boat and isn’t that expensive anyway.
You can obviously go crazy on electronics, and boy are these expensive indeed, but you can also just use any old tablet* with Aquamaps or Navionics installed. Try to get one that’s waterproof or get a waterproof case.
The most expensive part, honestly, is where you park it.
So yeah, it’s a money-pit, but it’s possible to keep costs under control.
(*) You need a tablet with a GPS receiver. iPads used to only have it on cellular models (no need for a plan), but most Android tablets have it.
Although many things may differ in different parts of the world, this seems to be universal:
I used to sail with my friend sometimes, and his boat was parked in the town about a 100 miles away. It was because after the last cheap place closed to become an estate construction site, it would cost more than 2% of his yacht’s cost per month to park it closer