Typical Vacation vs Gateway Getaway
ONE WEEK TYPICAL AIRLINE VACATION COMPARED TO ONE WEEK YACHTING
A week spent adventure yachting in the Puget Sound is a week spent close to nature – whales breaching, seals sunning, fish-a-plenty, eagles soaring, fresh air and a lot of really memorable places on shore to visit.
A week spent traveling to and from, let’s say Disney World, is a week of hassles through the airport, arriving in a crowded environment, and then being bombarded with commercialism at every step of the way.
Which activity do you want your family to experience? And which is more costly? The perception may be that yachting is too expensive, especially with the high cost of fuel… so let’s take a look at how the expenses compare for the week for a typical family of four.
| Airport/Marina Parking | $130 | $0 |
| Airline Fare SEA – MCO | $2,329 | $0 |
| Rental Car & fuel | $320 | $0 |
| Moderate Disney Resort Hotel | $3,088 | $0 |
| Disney World Tickets 6 days | $1,036 | $0 |
| Yacht fuel (5 hours run per day – $4/gal) | $0 | $630 |
| Resort moorage, electricity, 4 nights | $0 | $160 |
| One week Gateway ownership costs* | $0 | $1,234 |
| TOTAL EXPENSE: | $6,903 | $2,024 |
Let’s call food and incidentals a wash, even though you can choose to prepare your own meals aboard your yacht, but you can also choose to dine out. One week ownership cost is found by dividing 7 year ownership cost by 7 (years), then dividing that annual expense by the minimum of 5 weeks available – that’s your cost per week of use, but does not give credit for potentially higher use, nor does it credit any possible charter revenue.
Which vacation would you rather have your family experience?
(*1/8 fraction 28’ C90, seven year total cost, 5 weeks per year, not considering charter revenue which would make this figure smaller )
