The Cost of Sailing / Cruising

[anjou]

Osirissail

The accumulated precious things wont be going to sea with me in case they get lost or stolen. As for other life baggage, most has been dealt with years ago and going to sea is the way to get new baggage, (experiences) not take the old with me.

On a physical level, im severely limited in what i can take. My locker space is less than 24'' of hanging space, not even deep enough for an adult sized clothes hangar, and not tall enough for a dress. The shoes also have to go in there. The vanity top cant be cluttered as it has to come up to gain access to emergency tiller.

But the ensuite head is rammed full of spares and stuff, the under seat lockers in the saloon are full of tools and spares/paint etc. The forward cabin is full of sheets, sails, cockpit cusions.
Clearly, the boat has more need and priority for its own baggage than Im allowed.

Cant wait to get underway though.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Hi Don - I think the answer is that there is no clear answer.


So the question for boating is

What kind of boating lifestyle do you want?

Dan

I agree. So would be great to have answers to the crusing costs question the same way that address what type of cruising life you want! For me the goal would be to have a 40ish monohull, anchor out most of the time and maybe catch a mooring once in a while, eat mostly on the boat, eat out in a "local" place once a week or so, travel the sights by foot/bus (probably where a lot of food budget gets spent), not let the boat fall apart, in gneral be comfortable but simple.

[osirissail]

If you want a place "to live" on your boat or retire to and not travel the world - Try Luperon, Dominican Republic. I spent almost two years there over a 4 year span of time. One stay was 8 straight months. Single, eating out everyday, drinking Presidente's every night and horse back riding and exploring the island on motor-bikes - I averaged a total of less than US$300/month (including $15/month harbor charge for anchoring). That does not include fixed expenses tied to being a US citizen such as IRS taxes, etc.

Anjou - That is the "real beauty" of heading out to sea - it is almost a "forced" requirement to simplify an already too complicated land-based life. A chance to "get back to the basics". Liberating and refreshing to strip your baggage down to the core essentials. Makes you feel young again. But the "law of closets" reigns even in the cruising world - your boat always fills up with 10% more stuff than your boat has room for. The key to happiness is also getting rid of all the stuff in the boat that is "excess baggage" and not really needed. If for no other reason just to lighten the ship so it will go faster from exciting port to exciting port.
- I joke with fundamentalist people that yes, humans did not evolve from "apes" - we evolved from a mating of "pack rats" and "bears." All we do is accumulate stuff we don't need and want our backs scratched.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Dan

I agree. So would be great to have answers to the crusing costs question the same way that address what type of cruising life you want! For me the goal would be to have a 40ish monohull, anchor out most of the time and maybe catch a mooring once in a while, eat mostly on the boat, eat out in a "local" place once a week or so, travel the sights by foot/bus (probably where a lot of food budget gets spent), not let the boat fall apart, in gneral be comfortable but simple.

There are other factors but location is another big one. Where do you plan to cruise?

[sailorboy1]

The location I think is the key question. Going to a tourist area is really going the drive up costs, while adding nothing to the experience. My plan is to stay away from these mostly (I'm tried of people anyway). Before I decided to sail I looked at places like the Dom Rep for low cost to live, so they are OK with me in general. Don't see why I can not cruise basically by going to these low cost places on a $1000/mo budget. Stay there a while spending less and then move on to places that are more expensive and let it average out. I think that a $1000/mo average is still living the highlife as far as cruising goes. I don't really intend to have a plan on where to cruise! I don't care if I make it around the world, only what I get to see/do during the trip as it happens!

[Vic de Beer]

When I first started this thread, it was with a feeling..... and I am being very sincere and honest here.... that there is an "elite" or a boating "clique" that wants to,..... subconciously..... give the impressions that boating is for "us" and "you" need to have an income of XXX dolars to join this cruising "club"..... I think, but I may be wrong..that Mischief was getting the same drift.
Now, after all these discussions, I realise...... there is no answer to my original question.... or more likely..... everyone has his own answer to the question, but the answer is not the same for the next person.
The answer is something you have to find for yourself, but, just to make sure that you do not go and do harm to yourself or get into harms way, everyone (all the respondents to this thread) wants to give an opinion/advice, which again is different from the next persons opinion/advice.
So my resolve is: give it a try... and if you find that you cannot afford it, you know that it is beyond your capability and you need to re-evaluate your "want" and, if the "want is still there,.... increase your kitty.

[osirissail]

Three cheers for Vic de Beer - he nailed it. And I would wager will succeed if he finds out that he wants to.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Vic de Beer

, everyone (all the respondents to this thread) wants to give an opinion/advice, which again is different from the next persons opinion/advice.
.

Hey, Vic. Look up the top of the computer screen. This is a forum. That’s what’s meant to happen.

People can take what they want. If some believe the utter balderdash then they have a right enshrined in forum law to be alowed to believe it.

In amongst the posts will be some pearls of wisdom. Otherwise this forum wouldn't work.


Now, where are my socks?

[Vic de Beer]

This is great, it has put my faith back in the idea that cruisers are a unique bunch, all with one thing in common.... a love for the ocean.... well maybe 2 things a spirit of adventure....
welll maybe 3 , a desire to find the perfect beach....
wel, may ....... oh what the hell.....I think you all know what I' say, or trying to say..... you are all cruisers

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Vic de Beer

When I first started this thread, it was with a feeling..... and I am being very sincere and honest here.... that there is an "elite" or a boating "clique" that wants to,..... subconciously..... give the impressions that boating is for "us" and "you" need to have an income of XXX dolars to join this cruising "club".....

Sincere and Honest is good to be honest I do understand where you are coming from. Especially pre-credit crunch when the dreams ($$$ ) arriving on this site seemed bigger (and quite often involving a Catamaran ) I did at times feel that I was looking at the world from a different angle to many (and not just the boat related stuff) - but marching to the beat of a different drum has never bothered me, even if sometimes I have to supply my own drum

But really, this Forum is what we all make of it, put in and draw out. Of course Plusses and Minuses to that one

[anjou]

You pays yer money and takes yer choice.

So what if you dont have the mega yacht and endless budget. Each to their own. This isnt a comparrason game or race. You often find that the ones why 'buy' their way into things pay through the nose and all too often are insulated from the real feel and dont get the essence of what its all about.

Yes we want a bit more than 2 ply hulls al la Wharram, but the best things in life are often free or near to it.
Sod the pay scale or lifestyle hirachy, it doesnt matter what you have or how your get to sea, but how much it fills that place inside you that makes you want to be there.

[S/V Alchemy]

I would imagine that if you begin with a freshly updated and outfitted boat, filled with spares and new rigging and sails, and you anchor out exclusively, catch your own fish, boil your own rainwater in a solar still, and barter for diesel in return for mechanical or sailmaking help, bottom cleaning, anchor freeing, and so on, you could have a very low monthly outlay indeed as a liveaboard cruiser, particularly so if you travel from place to place with a limited number of services for cruisers and provide reliable work.

Of course, the "freshly outfitted" part could cost you a hundred grand, but hey, who's counting?

On the other hand, there are boats out there and people in them still willing to poop in a bucket and handle a sextant and read a compass and get their weather from a 1970s shortwave receiver run on D cells while they hand-sew one of the 18 hank-on sails they carry. There's nothing wrong with that, but I hear of fewer and fewer of those people every year.

My point? Boating hasn't got more expensive. People have.

[jm21]

I get a kick out of some of these sextant remarks. Last time I checked a sextant was more expensive than a GPS. So assuming prices haven't changed it's the high rollers who are navigating by the stars while the poor and humble use a handheld GPS....

I've never even been on a boat that took $100k to outfit . I guess I'm not part of the club at all. I putz around for a few days in my little ericson 27 that was basically free enjoying nice sails, fresh seafood, BBQing, running about in the dinghy, nice scenery....and don't even realize I'm not really sailing or boating, and will probably never be part of the cruising club. Woe is me...I've been so ignorant.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by osirissail

David O J has probably the best one sentence ever written

Maybe , but I still ain't lending you any money

Although my vote would go for:-

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

Boating hasn't got more expensive. People have.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by jm21

I get a kick out of some of these sextant remarks. Last time I checked a sextant was more expensive than a GPS. So assuming prices haven't changed it's the high rollers who are navigating by the stars while the poor and humble use a handheld GPS....

I've never even been on a boat that took $100k to outfit . I guess I'm not part of the club at all. I putz around for a few days in my little ericson 27 that was basically free enjoying nice sails, fresh seafood, BBQing, running about in the dinghy, nice scenery....and don't even realize I'm not really sailing or boating, and will probably never be part of the cruising club. Woe is me...I've been so ignorant.

Not if you inherit the sextant, or get it from Craigslist.

The 100K remark is an example of how gold-plated you could get. Ask Nigel Calder how his conversion of a Malo to all-electric is going.

It's not part of "being in a club" as much as it is "here's how I'm going to look when I'm in the club". Some people have simple, Contessa 26 tastes (to cite an example of a boat that probably hasn't been wired for widescreen TV and sports a washing machine). Others want to replicate life ashore, specifically "Condo Life", in most aspects. Look at the now-common situation in 40 footers of two heads. Considering what goes on in there, I prefer to have as few as possible. It's the same with all "conveniences": your tolerance for cost will dictate whether you pop for a watermaker or a separate genset as much as will your thirst for water or amps.

There's more than one way to do this, in other words, but all of them are compromises. No set of compromises is inherently better than another. Do I want to circumnavigate "Pardey-style"? Not quite, but then I'm happy with one head. It does have a Lavac, however.