Where the money goes
We are not hiding the figures. Here is what it actually costs to rebuild a 16-metre ketch from 1979, line by line: what has already been paid and what is still to come. The amounts come from our own refit tracker and are updated as the work goes on.
Buying her
€68,500 for the boat. That is the starting point, and by a long way the biggest single line. Everything else is what it takes to get her safely back to sea.
What she costs every year
Charges that land whether the boat sails or not, and that everyone forgets while daydreaming over a listing.
| Item | Per year |
|---|---|
| Berth | €6,600 |
| Insurance | €460 |
| French annual registration tax (droit annuel de francisation) | €400 |
| Annual total | €7,460 |
That is roughly €620 a month before buying a single screw. Over the four years between us and the departure it comes to nearly €30,000 — more than all the refit materials put together.
The refit, line by line
€6,156 already spent, €20,979 still to find, so €27,135 for all the work identified to date. Two lines alone account for nearly three quarters of what is left: the standing rigging and the hull protection.
Hull and underwater
€1,704 paid · €4,765 to come · total €6,469
| Item | Qty | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finsulate (adhesive antifouling) | — | €4,700 | to come |
| Epoxy primer 2.5 L | 1 | €481 | paid |
| Fittings, hoses and sundries | 1 | €264 | paid |
| Valve fittings and epoxy | 1 | €264 | paid |
| Skin fitting and valve | 1 | €105 | paid |
| Sealant | 1 | €100 | paid |
| Sundry materials | 1 | €100 | paid |
| Bathroom fitting | 1 | €81 | paid |
| Additional valve | 1 | €74 | paid |
| Scrapers and blades | 1 | €64 | paid |
| Hose clamps | 15 | €45 | paid |
| Sikaflex 291 black 300 ml | 5 | €90 | paid |
| Masks | 2 | €36 | paid |
| Anodes | — | €45 | to come |
| Propeller anode | — | €20 | to come |
Electrics
€2,951 paid · €650 to come · total €3,601
| Item | Qty | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victron units | 1 | €556 | paid |
| House batteries | 2 | €730 | paid |
| Battery charger | 1 | €389 | paid |
| Engine batteries | 2 | €377 | paid |
| Electrical panel | 1 | €240 | paid |
| Switches and Argofet | 1 | €242 | paid |
| Controller | 1 | €168 | paid |
| SmartShunt | 1 | €74 | paid |
| Electrical cable | 1 | €72 | paid |
| Battery balancer | 1 | €51 | paid |
| VE.Direct cable and solar connector | 1 | €35 | paid |
| Terminals | 1 | €17 | paid |
| Forward battery | — | €500 | to come |
| Back-contact solar panels | — | €150 | to come |
Rigging
€0 paid · €15,000 to come · total €15,000
| Item | Qty | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing rigging (complete replacement) | — | €15,000 | to come |
Deck
€100 paid · €30 to come · total €130
| Item | Qty | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saloon boards | 1 | €100 | paid |
| Sikaflex for the seams | 2 | €30 | to come |
Interior and engine
€281 paid · €34 to come · total €315
| Item | Qty | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine parts | 1 | €101 | paid |
| Paint | 1 | €130 | paid |
| Engine filters | 1 | €50 | paid |
| Bilge pump impeller | 1 | €34 | to come |
Tools
€249 paid · €0 to come · total €249
| Item | Qty | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angle grinder | 1 | €55 | paid |
| Multi-tool set | 1 | €55 | paid |
| Router | 1 | €45 | paid |
| Vacuum cleaner | 1 | €42 | paid |
| Multi-tool | 1 | €34 | paid |
| Moisture meter | 1 | €9 | paid |
| Multi-tool accessory | 1 | €9 | paid |
Paperwork
€871 paid · €500 to come · total €1,371
| Item | Qty | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance (current year) | — | €460 | paid |
| DAFN (French registration) | 1 | €321 | paid |
| Boat paperwork | 1 | €90 | paid |
| Crane fees | — | €500 | to come |
How we count
- Amounts are inclusive of VAT, as paid.
- Anything marked “to come” is an estimate, not a signed quote. The standing rigging in particular will move depending on which rigger we go with.
- Where our tracker had no quantity, the line is counted once.
- €671 of skin fittings and seacocks were given to us by a supplier. They are not in the totals: they cost us nothing, but that is what they would have cost.
- Not counted: our own hours, the travelling, the meals on site. Two of us, over whole weekends, that is far from nothing.
And then there are the costs you do not see coming. That one earned a write-up of its own: the €14,000 debt I never saw coming.
Why we publish this
Because it is the information we missed most when we were looking for a boat. Listings give you a purchase price; nobody tells you what comes after. If these figures help you decide, they will have done their job twice.
To follow it line by line as it changes: the logbook, the yard letter, and the countdown to the day we leave.
These figures make more sense set against the timeline of the refit: Rebuilding a sailboat: how long, how much, in what order.