Living On A Boat In Hong Kong

[biggles72]

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of living on a yacht in Hong Kong?

Cost per month for a walk on mooring (not a swing mooring)?
Do you have to join the yacht club?
Cost for electricity, and phone, and any other expenses?

Basically I was wondering of it is worth while living on your own yacht and paying it off, or paying your landlord 10000 HK per month dead money to live in an apartment?

Any input appreciated

[flyer_spotter]

My dad's friend lives on a boat, and he loves it.:)

[Itswindyout]

I live on boat in Gibraltar, and am seeking relocation to HKG. With the addition of air con, I would like to live on boat in HKG, too.

I am visiting HKG Marina next week, and hope to have the answer.

Windy

[biggles72]

I asked this question because I have heard of many Expat pilots living on boats in HK. I looked on the Hong Kong Royal yacht club website, and the fees are quite high. http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/

one off Membership which I assume is mandatory $10,000 AUD
cost per month $160 AUD
In addition to that mooring fees $360 AUD per month and not sure if that is a walk on mooring either.

It seems like allot of money so I assume that people that live on the boat do it for lifestyle rather than to save money?

Anyone with more info?

[Itswindyout]

Not in HKG this week, so not able to report re the live aboard situation.

Rescheduled for december.


I would be very interested in relocating (corporate) to HKG, and have my boat in the Gold Cost Marina.

[swish266]

Hi,
I hav ben juggling this idea for a while as well. I get to fly a couple a times to HKG per year and I would like to meet someone that has done it. I have info that s/one paid off his Beneteau (45+ feet) in 5 years on a F/O salary in the late '90/early00. Don't know if it was new and how a Beneteau got that far...:D

[bjbb]

Yeh i lived on a boat for 11 years at Clearwater bay Marina. I loved every minute of it. I recommend it to everyone. CWB arent offering live aboard slots anymore incase any of you are wondering. I beleive that fee's in RHKYC have gone up and r steep altho im not totally clued up on that one. Hebe is goin well , they've got some relatively new berths and i hear they are planning more. Unfortunately i think there is a prety large waiting list and fee's have gone up too. Location wise it is amazing, best crusing waters, although a bit of a treck to work according to my old man.
Living on boat is amazing, although the costs of upkeep and maintenance can be large and never ending as most yachties will tell you, but in terms of what you get out of it lifestyle wise, second to none.

Hope this helps

bjbb

[biggles72]

Thanks for the reply. Good post. :ok: I have heard there are house boats for rent at DB, for live aboard purposes. Anyone heard this?:cool:

[birddog]

We bought a live aboard shortly after arriving in Hong Kong. We lived in the marina in Discovery Bay for over 3 years before recently selling it and moving ashore. It is definitely a great way to live here. However, the costs do mount up. If you decide to buy a boat you can plan on spending between HK$3.1 - 5 million new. Second hand boats can run anywhere from HK$ 2.7 million up. You will then have to find ( can be difficult now) and buy a debenture for the marina. This will run from a HK$ 150,000 up. Berthing fees will run you from around HK$ 6700 (for a 55 ft) to about HK$ 10,000 (for a 65 ft) per month. Club membership fees will then run another HK$700/month and electric will run on average HK$ 1,500 - HK$ 4,000/month depending on time of year, etc. License fees for the boat are HK$ 4,100/year and boat insurance will set you back another HK$ 20,000+/year. Annual maintenance on the boat will set you back an additional HK$ 12,000 - HK$ 20,000/year on average. You should allow a budget of at least HK$ 15,000+/month to cover these running costs plus whatever mortgage you may carry for the boat itself. All said it was a great way of life which we certainly miss now but we made a killing when we sold the boat so had to take the money and run.
Finally, it is possible to rent and rents generally run about HK$ 38,000 - 42,000/ month not including electric and some other fees. Hope all this helps.

[6HKATC9]

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of living on a yacht in Hong Kong?

Cost per month for a walk on mooring (not a swing mooring)?
Do you have to join the yacht club?
Cost for electricity, and phone, and any other expenses?

Basically I was wondering of it is worth while living on your own yacht and paying it off, or paying your landlord 10000 HK per month dead money to live in an apartment?

Any input appreciated

My father has a yacht and he parks it in Causeway Bay near the Yacht Club. He is going to sell it away the end of this year, perhaps, you should go to the Yacht Club and find out what are the good offer there.

Living on a boat is not a bad idea except during typhoon season that could be very very "interesting". That feeling of moving "up and down" not many one can afford that. Think of it carefully.

Cheers!

[hongkongfooey]

Basically I was wondering of it is worth while living on your own yacht and paying it off, or paying your landlord 10000 HK per month dead money to live in an apartment?


Biggles, you crack me up ;)
A live aboard in DB, albeit a very nice one, around $45000/month. There was one for sale recently for 4.2 mill inc debenture. I believe, as stated earlier, there are no debentures avail ( basically a debenture is a wet berth ) if there was they are around $165k HKD, then you and everyone on the house boat have to join the DB marina at about $700/month etc etc.
The one big disadvantage I can see is the LONG walk just to get back to the clubhouse ( unless you were one of the lucky ones with a close berth ) and then its a bus to the Plaza, and then a bus to work.( not such a drama if you a long hauler I guess )
It looked like a pretty cool lifestyle tho.

Not sure if your first post was a typo " $10000hkd a month " but for that you would be struggling to live on a junk in the middle of the bay I reckon.

[biggles72]

That’s why I asked the question hongkongfooey; because I had no idea of the costs involved.

I got a few good replies which explained the costs, and decided to live at central. So yes I am paying the landlord 15 grand a month.

I will wait for the imminent Asian market crash and buy a boat then.:ok:

[stillalbatross]

It's a bit of a distorted time to do the figures on live aboards. As there are not a great deal of berths currently available at DB Marina the costs of purchasing a current one are high. Naturally this will/may change in the future, in a normal world boats depreciate at an alarming rate, I would estimate a junk is worthless at the 10 year mark so there is no way you could plan on selling for a profit, ie at a price above what you paid. And the mortgage will be a couple of percentage points higher since finance companies aren't as keen on boats as they are on bricks and mortar.

But for all the reasons listed above you do get a lot of sq ft for your money and if you enjoy boats then the upside of being happy living on one may even outweight the greater expense.

[badairsucker]

I would estimate a junk is worthless at the 10 year mark so there is no way you could plan on selling for a profit


How wrong you are,

My mate is selling his junk for 1.6 mil, 11 years old and the debenture is NOT included.


DB junks have been selling at over 3.2 mil for 6 to 8 year old boats with a debenture.

[stillalbatross]

How wrong you are,
My mate is selling his junk for 1.6 mil, 11 years old and the debenture is NOT included.
DB junks have been selling at over 3.2 mil for 6 to 8 year old boats with a debenture.
maybe you should read my first sentence:ugh: Currently there is a shortage of berths in DB. What Junk builders have done is to snap up the berths and then sell them to you providing you buy their boat. Go and ask the bank what finance they offer on a Junk over 10 years old. There is a supply and demand issue going on here that has waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay distorted the value of a plywood box that won't last 5 minutes in open water.
Maybe that supply and demand issue will remain as it is, I don't know, but historically Junks have been precisely that when it comes to return on investment in comparison to a house of the same value.
And goody good good for your mates who are making money on junks. I've been offered 12-14 yr old boats for free. I'm still waiting for old residential property in hong Kong to do the same:ok:

[hongkongfooey]

DB junks have been selling at over 3.2 mil for 6 to 8 year old boats with a debenture

Gotta get that guys name, no. etc incase I am ever selling something, obviously could sell sand to the Arabs.
I looked at a 6mth old, 2000' of living space, plus a huge deck, made alot of the flats in DB look sorry, aluminium house boat, and the ASKING price was 4.2 with debenture.
So " over 3.2mill for a junk ", is good going.

Either way, 10k a month wont cover it.

[badairsucker]

There is a supply and demand issue going on here that has waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay distorted the value of a plywood box that won't last 5 minutes in open water.

Well this is Hong Kong, there will aways be supply and demand, take the golf carts in DB...you gotta be out of your mind to pay 700K for a golf cart.
As for a plywood box that won't last 5 minutes in open water!!! What has this got to do with the price of boats. These junks are built and marketed as HOMES not ocean going vessels. By the way, they are usually built of fiberglass or teak.

Bottom line is at the moment boats are selling very well indeed.



Gotta get that guys name, no. etc incase I am ever selling something, obviously could sell sand to the Arabs


Ask the guys who sell the golf carts in DB, I am sure they could sell sand to the arabs as well.


All said it was a great way of life which we certainly miss now but we made a killing when we sold the boat so had to take the money and run.


Supply and demand boys.




stillalbatross...... And goody good good for your mates who are making money on junks

I will pass on your kind words.




stillalbatross...I've been offered 12-14 yr old boats for free


Well that's it then, the market is finished, stillalbatross as been offered a boat for free.

[fix it]

I have a 13m (43ft) yacht available for rent as accomodation in FH as I cannot race it being in Europe. Very well appointed! H&C everything 2 heads.
Looking for long term let of $US 5,000 /month + bills.:ok:

[CXpletive]

If you can drag yourself away from DB, cant be that hard surely, there are a number of yachts available for sale in Sai Kung, complete with Marina Berths .... No debentures just a $20000 joining fee for Hebe Haven Yacht Club and $6000 per month berth rental. The Marina Berth transfers with the boat if the seller agrees. Check out the board in the crew room or at ABC, Royal Hong Kong or Hebe. Some good European boats on the market .... No comment please JTR!

[Average Fool]

This pretty much sums it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU

[Yonosoy Marinero]

Nice self-interested resurrection of an 8 year old thread, driftwood.
:ok:

But I'll bite... I thought Marina Cove didn't accept liveaboards?