Winterizing
Flushing, anti-freeze, battery pulls, trailer greasing. A full day of your life, every single autumn.
The sticker price is just the down payment. Here’s what a $75,000 boat actually costs over five years — and the hours you’d spend paying for it.
A fair, conservative estimate for a $75,000 boat with a 10% down payment and a 5-year loan at 7.5% APR. Every line item below is something the seasonal lease bundles in for you.
| Line item | 5-Year Ownership | Seasonal Lease |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase + financing | $60,000 | Included |
| Insurance (5 seasons) | $5,000 | Included |
| Winterization (5 seasons at $800) | $4,000 | Included |
| Winter storage (5 seasons) | $7,500 | Included |
| Fuel (5 seasons) | $4,000 | Your own |
| Repairs & maintenance | $3,000 | Included |
| Depreciation (loss of value) | $7,500 | $0 — we own the loss |
| Total 5-year cost | $91,000 | $50,000 |
| You save by leasing | — | ~$41,000 |
Numbers are illustrative and will vary by boat, loan and lake. And because you already own the lake house, there’s no dock fee on top — plus you’ll reclaim roughly 500 hours over five years.
Flushing, anti-freeze, battery pulls, trailer greasing. A full day of your life, every single autumn.
Finding, paying for and driving to a winter slot and a summer dock slot — and fighting for one.
The drop-off, the wait, the “parts are on order” call. When it’s gone a month, your season is over.
Leasing means you hand all of that back to us. Your time goes to the people, not the boat.
Adjust the calculator to your own purchase price and watch the five-year total climb — then compare it to one clean seasonal price.