The Cost of Sailing / Cruising

[Vic de Beer]

From reading the threads on this forum, I get a general, kinda felling that: most people that are on this forum must be independently wealth, or have some income other than working for it.
Judging by the responses to questions, if one should take an average, one would require an annual income that would sustain a lifestyle onshore.
Whatever happened to the "sailing on a shoestring" that so many sailors have written about.... working your way around and at the same time ejoy life...?
I was once asked by a couple, while at anchor in the Bight at Norman Island: what does it cost to go cruising? before I could answer, they then started elaborating on stuff like:
how do you account for airfare home once per year, (sometimes more often ie. Christmas, Thanks giving...etc). Haulout and storage of your boat while home, renting a car while at home, etc etc.
I was flabbergasted as I had a very small kitty and relied on finding odd jobs wherever I went, buying produce and fruiit at local markets, fishing over the side for a fish supper...... careened the boat when it needed new bottom paint.....
I lived that life on a 30ft sailboat, with a wife and child, for many years and, should I choose to, could write a pretty good book on the experience, but I said to myself when I left South Africa, many years ago: I want to be the first person to sail around the world and NOT write a book about it.
Now, as I read this forum, I see that there is still the same number of dreamers who would love to take on the trip of a lifetime, but if I had to go by some of the stories and advice from this forum, most likely would never be able to afford it......
To all those dreamers out there..... you can move a mountain, it just depends on how badly you want to move it.....

Just to add my two cents worth