8 years of cost data

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

The surgery does drive costs up doesn't it?
If you don't mind the question how did you handle it? Do you have an uh-oh fund? Do you intend to try to replenish the fund if so by tightening the belt?

Money issues aside how was the standard of care? Did it seem clean and sterile? Successful outcome? Are you glad you didn't fly back to the US? Would you do anything different?

If these are too personal, of course just tell me so, I'll bug off.

I do want to thank you for sharing what a great many would consider none of our business. I am not trying to pry too much, just I have zero experience with cruising full time, and at this stage in my life, its unlikely that I could cruise for five years, run out of money and go back to work, so I'm trying to get a realistic view of what it costs.
I know that if I try to cover every base, we will never leave, so I'm trying to determine that balance of realistic risk.

Before you left, did you replace all standing rigging, get new sails etc. or is that something you plan on buying as necessary?


Again, thank you

A64 - first I was an isolated duty medic in the Air Force and spent some time in surgery and in a emergency room where is was me and a doc - worked my way through college in a emergency room and later was a backcountry emt - so know a bit about medical stuff
We have had a bit of surgery in several different places - Patty had hand surgery in Cartagena Colombia by a hand surgeon and was first class - in Trinidad I had 1/2 my nose replaced due to too much sun - everything in the surgery suite that you would see in the usa - in Tunisia I ripped a shoulder tendon and had it replaced and 2 screws now hold it in place - again the doc was first class and a sailor to boot and the quality was outstanding and very inexpensive - patty also had hand surgery on her other hand and it was the same as Colombia and excellent results -- I got pneumonia in the Balkans and got it treated in Serenade Albania and it was first class from the emergency to the lung doc and inexpensive meds --
In Turkey it could not have been better - we paid cash and it did hurt a bit financially but we will get over it as we were going to go to the boat show in Istanbul this month but may put that on hold but then again we need parts and the chandlery in Kusadasi closed so we may go to get some hard to find parts

this month I am going to see the dermatologist in Izmir and I have seen her before and she is as good as anyone in the usa - and probably a bit more through as she takes her time to not just look at what I think are a problem but goes over the entire body looking for anything out of the ordinary - try to get a doc in the usa tell you no just take your time we want to make sure and I have time
hope this helps

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by StuM

See you worked out how to save a .xlsx as a .xls file.


Very interesting data. Thanks for that.

yea took an old one and pasted over it - seem to work

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by nextis12

Alcohol runs at 5%! Is that due to quality or quantity?

Alcohol should probably be higher as we have a glass of wine with dinner and that sometimes got included in the eat out - we are not beer drinkers - we do drink wine and some times it is very expensive and sometimes not so - and it depends on the country - if we visit a winery or cognac distiller we have a tendency to buy a few bottles -
In Turkey we go to farmers every Friday and on the way back stop in a pub and have a glass of wine at 22t/l at say 3.5t/l to 1usd 3usd a glass - in Sochi alcohol was expensive, it is a resort town -

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by Rigdaddy

Agreed, every time I get serious about keeping track of boat expenses, denial sets in. Glad somebody perseveres.

once you get into the routine it is not that hard and just becomes natural - but it take discipline

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

When we were in Turkey we utilized their medical system and found it pretty much as good as our own. Obviously no country even comes close to the costs of the USA system that's for profit. We had American friends who had a last minute medical emergency that required high tech eye surgery and we discussed the option of flying home. They decided to have the operation done in Turkey as the costs we quite a bit less than the airline tickets back home. Everything turned out just fine and it was a real eye opener for them, no pun intended. I saw two specialists when I was there and my fees were around $30.00 US. It will be interesting to hear Chucks views on this. R

I just got an eye infection and the doc charged 150 t/l at say to be conservative 3.5 to 1 is 43usd for the exam and prescriptions and told to come back for a compete exam which I did and no added cost and they found the usual high pressure (been there for 40 years) and new glasses needed and a very very small cataract that he wants to see me about in a couple of months - very modern and very good and preventative and not that expensive -

BY THE WAY - one new thing in the med kit is antibiotic eye drops - think about it - on a long sail you get something in your eye (not that hard) and it gets infected (not that hard) what do you do?

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by sailorcherry

I've family on the SW coast of Turkey, part of the year for over a decade now. Overall, it is a wonderful country and I really hope you can get down to its jewel: The Turquois Coast.

From seeing doctors/hospitals for antibiotics to back surgery, our family has had a lot of experience with HC there. On my first visit I had an infection and went to the local tourist doc and I totally got taken, for sure! But she is known as the one who rips off tourists and we we're still new there. So those Turks are probably right. You need locals to help you, to translate and such and shop around for HC or other important, costly matters. Opinions/help from a few different local expats will also help. Although, tese things can be difficult for cruisers as they move around a lot.

From my research and family exp in T, I believe its HC costs are less expensive than Mexico's. Particularly now with such a strong USD and weak Lira (1:3.6).

Mom had back surgery, done by a brain surgeon. Cash of course, but certainly a fraction of US prices. It was and is still successful.

Chuckr, feel free to PM for any questions. Our immediate and extended family do/have businesses there, we understand the Turkish culture pretty well.

thanks for that - we will keep it in mind as we spend another winter here - depends on what happens in april and after that - the lira seems to stabilize somewhat then drop a bit - we'll see what happens
as you know over 65 I do not have to prove med insurance for the residence and as I am 71 I get very inexpensive care at the local hastane that are good - I went to a private hastane and that was the problem -

I was talking with an expat from the UK and he has a great dentist at the local hastane who he said is excellent so he is going to check the cost for us old guys and I will bet it is not much so we will probably go there - She is on vacation right now so it will be a week or so before we get and answer but we got until april

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by fabgo

Hi Robert

What kind of boat do you sail (age and what size?). I am trying to get a better understanding of your maintenance costs.

Best regards,
- Fabian

Fabian - I am not sure if you are talking to Robert or us -- if us we sail a Jeanneau DS40 that was built in 2001 and launched in 2003 - we bought her new and had a few goodies put on her prior to launch and then have been adding since -
We check our rigging yearly and before any major sail such as before and after a crossing or very long multiday sail we get a pro to come in, go though it and adjust it - as you can see we spend over 28% of what we spend on the boat - we simply believe that we need to keep the boat in first class condition and do a lot of pm to keep her that way - we will sacrifice other things to spend money on the boat - we constantly have list of things we want to upgrade and knock some of them off gradually

We sail between 2,500 and 3,500 miles a year - last year we did over 2,650nm and stopped at 42 different ports and 6 countries in the Black Sea -
and we are starting year 10 and over all we think we probably got between 35-40,000 miles on her - not a lot but some

[StuM]

Originally Posted by chuckr

yea took an old one and pasted over it - seem to work

Next time, just try File- Save As and select Excel 97-2003 Workbook (.xls) in the "Save As Type" box at the bottom.

[zeilersailor]

Thank you very much for this really interesting information.
Can you please give me a little bit more information on what you catalogue under boat parts, boat supplies and boat repair?
Thanks in advance

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by fabgo

Hi Robert

What kind of boat do you sail (age and what size?). I am trying to get a better understanding of your maintenance costs.

Best regards,
- Fabian

Fabian,
It's a 1990 Moody 425

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by chuckr

I just got an eye infection and the doc charged 150 t/l at say to be conservative 3.5 to 1 is 43usd for the exam and prescriptions and told to come back for a compete exam which I did and no added cost and they found the usual high pressure (been there for 40 years) and new glasses needed and a very very small cataract that he wants to see me about in a couple of months - very modern and very good and preventative and not that expensive -

BY THE WAY - one new thing in the med kit is antibiotic eye drops - think about it - on a long sail you get something in your eye (not that hard) and it gets infected (not that hard) what do you do?

We carry antibiotic eye drops and also for ear infection which are common.

[chuckr]

Originally Posted by zeilersailor

Thank you very much for this really interesting information.
Can you please give me a little bit more information on what you catalogue under boat parts, boat supplies and boat repair?
Thanks in advance

Sure -- boat parts are what you may call depreciable items - such things as a water pump, copper for the ssb, fan, batteries, ect

Boat repair is bottom painting, fixing broken stuff, overall of the prop or windlass and includes the labor for that - I am getting a bit long in the tooth and last year we hired someone to help sand the boat and paint so that went into the repair cost

boat supplies are disposable items like wax, varnish, soap, wd40, dry lub ect

hope this helps

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

We carry antibiotic eye drops and also for ear infection which are common.

I am no Dr., but I have been told the difference between ophthalmic antibiotic drops and regular ones is the level of purity or sterility, meaning the eye drops can be used for ears, but you shouldn't go the other way around.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by chuckr

hope this helps

It does, cause even though I have medical care at reduced costs from Military retirement, there is still the cost of flying back and forth, staying somewhere and getting in line for the system to react, may be best to just buy the care overseas if the quality is there.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

It does, cause even though I have medical care at reduced costs from Military retirement, there is still the cost of flying back and forth, staying somewhere and getting in line for the system to react, may be best to just buy the care overseas if the quality is there.

I wouldn't give it a second thought. We simply pay cash for all our medical costs and while similar in age to Chuck our costs have been very low. The quality of health care in most of the countries has been just fine. If I had a major problem I'd fly back home as our medical is covered by the government. If I was cruising in the USA I would not make the same comments. I had a rather bad motorcycle accident in Northern California 5 years ago and I was in the hospital for 19 hours. I called my wife and had her come down and fly me home immediately and other than a cast on my leg and a couple of MRI's the operations were all done in Canada. My bill for my 19 hour stay in the USA was a little over $49,000 dollars.