A Proposed Pacific Crossing Budget

[Aussie_Sequoia]

Wait! This isn't one of those uninformed "How much does it cost to cruise?" posts

My wife and I are budgeting out trip back to Australia after buying a boat in California. We would like to spend three months playing on the Baja coast before starting the crossing and are thinking 9 - 12 months on the milk run with some time to play around the islands.

Some info about us:

We lived the best part of three years on a very small island in Fiji with no shop and very little fresh water and we are very used to provisioning (we would do three months at a time pre-shopping for all of our food in Suva). I fished every day for our protein and the rest was similar to cruising provisions (dried beans, rice etc.)

I mention this because we know that we can live very frugally when necessary and enjoy that lifestyle for the freedom it brings. We are happy to anchor out as much as possible when available but would obviously need to resupply sometimes at marinas/shops/etc.

We have budgeted US30k for this ~1 year journey. This would include food, marina fees, visas and entry fees, some recreation and a monthly maintenance allowance, but there would be a separate reserve for anything major.

Does this sound reasonable? We won't be staying at hotels and when we go ashore we have friends to stay with in many places (due to our time living in Fiji). We have a 1 year old son who obviously doesn't eat much

Cheers!

[daddle]

I don't know what it would cost. Not much in Mexico, certainly. But regarding your plans for visiting the Baja coast: I hope you mean inside, on the Sea of Cortez, because that's a real treat compared to the outside.

[Jamel]

Aussie, Budgets are a personal thing, what works for one is starvation rations to someone else! I'm presuming 30K is after all boat puchasing costs and equiping for trip.As a guide my wife, small son and I sailed for 6 yrs and the budget worked out at $10k/ yr. which included food, drink, boat maintenance,everything!

As you may be aware, Pacific crossing is about timing for best weather. Jimmy Cornell advises arriving Marquesus April/May, back in Australia before cyclone season October. Seasons dictate, you have to keep moving on. You can ofcourse stay longer in the islands and arrive back in Aus the next year. Your 30K would cover that I'm sure!

[Jim Cate]

Aussie, I think that your budget is completely adequate... no worries, mate!

Cheers,

Jim

[Aussie_Sequoia]

Thanks all,

Yes the budget was after all boat purchase and fit-out for cruising costs. I have read about many folks who cruise (very) frugally on ~$15k / year but wanted to throw it out there to the CF community. After a lot of research I figure we could do it on less than $30k but that is what we're budgeting for.

Also if we get the boat ready in time, we would try to leave Mexico by March. The year long idea would entail staying a cyclone season somewhere along the way and heading off again after. Of course we may just keep heading home but I wanted the budget (and we do have the time) to stay over if we wanted to.

Cheers!

[Aussie_Sequoia]

I also have left 10k (not in the 30k) in case I really didn't feel confident enough yet for single-handing the first long haul to the Marquesus - to pay for a skipper to help (as my son will take up almost full-time for one of us). That figures ~30 days @ $200-$250/day plus food and return flight. I base this cost on replies to posts requesting similar paid skipper ere on CF.

Sound reasonable?

[svcambria]

Both sides of the Baja are awesome, it's just that the Sea of Cortez side is a little more "user friendly". Anchoring possible in most towns and villages - except Ensenada apparently - some cities (such as La Paz, Cabo San Lucas) have the Port Authority for harbor maintenance which charges on the order of 7 to 10 pesos per day ($0.70 to $0.90) to anchor. Basic food is pretty cheap and you can go fishing... Six month visas for Americans, Canadians about $24 per person - don't know about Australians... Heck, you could live in Mexico on $30k for years!

Michael

[Jamel]

Aussie, No need to waste money for skipper on the run from Mexico to Marquesus.
With autopilot and conservative sail setting it will be quite manageable as you are. Consider heading down to Ecuador then across for more pleasant sailing conditions.

You will have a great time and wonderful memories with this trip, well done!