Month 34 Expenses of Cruising and Living on the Boat

[sailorboy1]

Traveled from Carrabelle FL to Pensacola Fl. Really the whole month except the last day was in a slip in Carrabelle to have electric for the air conditioning and as there was little to do there or to spend money on (budget control).

Did grocery, beer and supply runs a little more than normal as the dining choices in Carrabelle made cooking seem more attractive (I tried the top-rated Carrabelle place, they were 4.5 stars but really were 3 stars for the rest of the world) and there was a grocery store basically across the street from the marina (a big reason I stayed there).

Boat items included an EasyStart for the main 16K air conditioner so it will start and run on my Honda (enjoying that as I type on anchor). New cable for my topping lift (had to buy 250’ on Amazon because neither hardware store had it), a couple of new CO detectors (may have saved my life last night) and a couple odd things. Out of the “boat” items this month $268.53 was the EasyStart and it was well worth the cost!!

Only fuel this month was a propane tank refill.

Ate out twice for dinner, once for lunch with our daughter, and did a few bar stop ins.

Marina was for a month in a slip with power in Carrabelle ($427.73), but a return deposit on a slip in Panama City I decide to not stay at ($252.77).
The total expenses were $ 2,200.26.

Cost breakdown as follows for planners and hecklers:

Food, soda, alcohol, clothing, sundries - $ 1,200.20
Boat upgrades, repairs, maintenance - $ 425.90
Fuel (diesel, gas, propane) - $ 10
Dining and drinking out - $ 280.84
Entertainment - $ 20.95
Communication, storage, shipping - $ 96.41
Fees – $ -71
Marina - $ 174.96
Electric - $ 0
Medical - $ 5
Transportation - $ 0
Gifts - $ 0
Water - $ 0
Registration - $ 0
Insurance - $ 0

[sailorboy1]

I've been reviewing the last 34 months and how the overall financial plan has been working out. Based on this I'm going to try to start living a more fun cruising life. Now I know the low budget people are going to be clueless about this, but the numbers support the idea.

Due to the market I really haven't "spent" much far as the assets I started with. So basically I'm 34 months into the long term plan and still at about the starting level. I'm finding it pretty easy really to control costs except for the boat costs. Boat costs are going cost what they will unless I change to more of a living on a boat verse a cruising mode.

So next time I'm feeling like I need a boat spa day instead of anchoring out I'm going to think "marina day transit" rate (haven't done one of those in 9 months). If I'm somewhere that I like the spot, but want to go see some town/sight etc. out of the direction I am traveling, I'm going to think car rental instead of move the boat to a spot not as good for it. If it's going to be really crappy for a few days I'm going to start thinking "hotel room" instead of sucky bounce boat days.

So I'm going to change my mind thinking for the budget from $3000/motarget to the high life of ....................... $3500.

[Kenomac]

Why not really let your cruising hair down and have your boat shipped over to Greece and Croatia for a couple of seasons? You’ll probably make up the shipping costs and be even after three years due to the much cheaper cost of living over here. You can even cruise over here on the transport ship.

[a64pilot]

I thought your average was closer to $3,500 already?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I thought your average was closer to $3,500 already?

The actual spend is, but the mindset has been $3k. The last 2 full years the avg has been about $3600 & $3700. The main reason is maintaining the boat, which has been more than I had figured it to be. So I'm going to try to teach myself to spend $500/mo more on us.

[a64pilot]

Not at all being a smart behind really, but I’d say that your moving the budget to $4,000 a month then.
For most the budget is the limit, the max they have to spend, the number that they have to stay below, or at least the target. If they can’t meet the target, then of course a new target is needed or a change somehow to reduce expenditures.

It’s your money of course, but if you spending on average $3650 or whatever, then that’s by default the budget.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Why not really let your cruising hair down and have your boat shipped over to Greece and Croatia for a couple of seasons? You’ll probably make up the shipping costs and be even after three years due to the much cheaper cost of living over here. You can even cruise over here on the transport ship.

Just curious, do you have any idea of the cost of doing so for the average 40’ cruising boat?
I don’t, this is a real question, no sarcasm.
Once my Wife’s Father passes we may be able to go somewhere further, right now she wants to stay close to home, cause he’s been in congestive heart failure for more than a year now, so I can’t even get her to go to Mexico and South this year.
But if you remove the hardship of a crossing, then Europe sounds a lot more plausible.
Then there is the limited stay issue too though, that I have not researched at all.

[Kenomac]

Excluding the cost to aquire the boat, equip it to be self sufficient like ours and the insurance, I live on 15-20 euros per day which includes the cruising taxes, food and fuel.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Excluding the cost to aquire the boat, equip it to be self sufficient like ours and the insurance, I live on 15-20 euros per day which includes the cruising taxes, food and fuel.

So it's pretty cheap if you disregard most of the actual expenses.

Sailorboy does a nice job with actual cruising costs. Realistically, no matter how bristol your boat is, stuff breaks, there's maintenance, you spend some time in marinas, there are storage costs, and there is boat upkeep, you go out to dinner here and there, you catch a movie, you get the bottom cleaned, you repaint the bottom, you need to replenish the propane...

[Kenomac]

64pilot asked a serious question so I gave him an honest answer. Otherwise, I’m too busy enjoying Greece on 15-20 euros per day to be distracted by ignorant naysayers.

Goodbye.

[a64pilot]

No, I’m sorry I meant the shipping.
I believe you can live inexpensively just about anywhere if you work at it, and pretty much anywhere that the economy is depressed.
I hate to make it sound like that, but if livings cheap, then lots of people are going without jobs and the economy is depressed, if jobs are booming and wages high, so is the cost of living.

But I was wondering if anyone had shipped a boat to Europe and what it costs.

Ken’s ignoring boat costs and speaking to how much they spend themselves plus fuel I guess, and that’s fine. My boat costs so far have been almost minuscule, because everything was new to start with, all electronics, rigging, sails, batteries, anchors, rode, everything except the engine transmission and hull, so for now my upkeep expenses have been minimal, so boat upkeep expenses will vary horribly, depending on bait size, age, type and of course preventative maintenance and who does the repairs, how many spares you have, can or do you overhaul the spares, on and on.
So I’m comfortable with them being left out and only talking personal expenses.

I don’t post my costs to cruise because I’ve not added it and with as much storage as we have and a kid in College, multiple cars insured etc. the numbers are much higher than just cruising expenses.

I know that while in the Bahamas for six months we cruised on less than $2,000 a month, well less, but we brought 90% of the food, ate out rarely, never stayed in a marina, never rented a car and thankfully didn’t have any repairs that our spares didn’t cover, and that includes the bottom job we got in Spanish Wells.
I do live in fear of the day my water tank goes bad though, cause that’s expensive and an eventuality.
If you stay away from the tourists traps, there just isn’t much opportunity to spend money.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

64pilot asked a serious question so I gave him an honest answer. Otherwise, I’m too busy enjoying Greece on 15-20 euros per day to be distracted by ignorant naysayers.

Goodbye.

It's not ignorant, and one isn't a "naysayer" to point out that you are leaving major expenses out of your 15 euro/day budget. The Greek cruising tax would have increased that budget by nearly a third, but perhaps saying 15-20 euro/day is your way of accounting for that. Still, a couple eating in Greece (sometimes in restaurants) alone would cost more than that.

Any cruiser is going to have to come to terms with that.


I'm curious, too, what it would cost to ship a boat from the U.S. to the Med.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I've been reviewing the last 34 months and how the overall financial plan has been working out. Based on this I'm going to try to start living a more fun cruising life. Now I know the low budget people are going to be clueless about this, but the numbers support the idea.

Due to the market I really haven't "spent" much far as the assets I started with. So basically I'm 34 months into the long term plan and still at about the starting level. I'm finding it pretty easy really to control costs except for the boat costs. Boat costs are going cost what they will unless I change to more of a living on a boat verse a cruising mode.

So next time I'm feeling like I need a boat spa day instead of anchoring out I'm going to think "marina day transit" rate (haven't done one of those in 9 months). If I'm somewhere that I like the spot, but want to go see some town/sight etc. out of the direction I am traveling, I'm going to think car rental instead of move the boat to a spot not as good for it. If it's going to be really crappy for a few days I'm going to start thinking "hotel room" instead of sucky bounce boat days.

So I'm going to change my mind thinking for the budget from $3000/motarget to the high life of ....................... $3500.

Sounds like an excellent idea. After all, you may not pass through some areas again, so you might as well check it out, even if it takes a car rental to do it. And a hotel room instead of bouncing around is a great way to keep the lifestyle fun vs a grind.

Nice month, by the way!

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I've been reviewing the last 34 months and how the overall financial plan has been working out. Based on this I'm going to try to start living a more fun cruising life. Now I know the low budget people are going to be clueless about this, but the numbers support the idea.

Due to the market I really haven't "spent" much far as the assets I started with. So basically I'm 34 months into the long term plan and still at about the starting level. I'm finding it pretty easy really to control costs except for the boat costs. Boat costs are going cost what they will unless I change to more of a living on a boat verse a cruising mode.

So next time I'm feeling like I need a boat spa day instead of anchoring out I'm going to think "marina day transit" rate (haven't done one of those in 9 months). If I'm somewhere that I like the spot, but want to go see some town/sight etc. out of the direction I am traveling, I'm going to think car rental instead of move the boat to a spot not as good for it. If it's going to be really crappy for a few days I'm going to start thinking "hotel room" instead of sucky bounce boat days.

So I'm going to change my mind thinking for the budget from $3000/motarget to the high life of ....................... $3500.

What, and pretend that you're on vacation or something?


Seems pretty reasonable, particularly as you head towards N'awlins.

[sailorboy1]

had to check what thread I was on for a moment, thought I had clicked onto a different one