Average Yearly Cruising Budget

[jackiepitts]

I am curious what others that are working with a $2,500 a month budget (the same as our budget) are figuring for boat maintenance every month?
We personally put aside $500 a month for boat maintenance. We do almost everything ourselves but figure we need to have a certain amount put away for emergencies and a haul out every few years.
I am curious what others thoughts are on this. Is the figure I have chosen high/low or about average?
Jackie

[osirissail]

On a monthly average for the last 4 years in the Caribbean my boat costs have been:
2006 -> $480/month
2007 -> $470/month
2008 -> $737/month (new batteries)
2009 -> $752/month (haul and new battery charger)
That is for a 50ft monohull with no structural repairs, just replacement parts and repairs of existing equipment plus paint and haul-outs which I only have to do every 3-4 years.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by osirissail

haul-outs which I only have to do every 3-4 years.

Why? Pray tell, Oh cat person? the rest of us haul much more oftener....

[osirissail]

The secret is in the type anti-foulant and the way it is applied. Both of which is not available inside USA or most major western countries. . .

[Dockhead]

The question is somewhat absurd. It's a little like asking -- how much does it cost to live?

The answer is -- however much money you have. Just like the question of how much it costs to live.

The only difference is that on a boat, your expenses will expand even more aggressively to fill available space in your budget.

[osirissail]

The OP was asking about "boat maintenance costs" not over-all cruising costs. Given that before you set up cruising all major "re-fitting" costs have been accomplished and paid for then only average normal wear, tear, and replacement costs of failed equipment need be considered. That figure is pretty standard through-out the cruising fleet for boats more than 2 to 3 years old. And actually his $500/mo pretty much is as close to normal as you can get except that occassionally big ticket items like batteries or major damage or what-ever can jump the costs for that year.

[jackiepitts]

I don't think asking how much it costs to maintain a boat properly while cruising is the same as asking how much it costs to live but I THINK I know what you are trying to say..."the question is somewhat absurd".
Thanks for you opinion

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by jackiepitts

I don't think asking how much it costs to maintain a boat properly while cruising is the same as asking how much it costs to live but I THINK I know what you are trying to say..."the question is somewhat absurd".
Thanks for you opinion

Well, look -- a lot. OK? You will get a relatively lower figure if the boat starts out in good condition and you do the absolute minimum to keep it floating and moving. If you keep up with regular upgrades and replacements of systems, it will be a whole lot more. I guess I am on track to spend $25,000 this year. And I'm doing far less than I would like to. Much of this is upgrades to certain systems -- I just bought the boat last year. For example, I'm just about to change the ground tackle -- $3,000 down the drain. And the boat is fairly large and complex.

But still, my point, expressed perhaps a little less flippantly, is that the answer is highly variable, depending on your means and your desires.

[Bash]

I figure I've got to contribute $1,000 per year into each of three kitties: sails; haul outs/bottom paint; and rigging (both running and standing.) At that point I've already committed $250 per month. Could I make do on the remaining $250? In theory, yes. But then things happen. For example, a few months back my wife grew impatient with how I generally defrost the fridge, which is to turn the thing off until everything melts. So, when I went over to visit a neighbor's boat, she took a wooden spatula to the ice to help it fall off, and in the process cost us $1,800.

There are some maintenance items I find it difficult to budget. I bought AGM batteries last summer, and have no idea how long they'll last. My dodger is three years old, and I'm hoping it will outlast the one on my last boat, which was getting shabby after eight years. The anchor chain is ten years old, and I'm still not certain whether I should replace it or re-galvanize it. I'd love to get a few more years out of it before having to do either.

So, on my boat, $500 per month might be a bit tight. I could do it if I didn't mind sailing a stretched, nasty-looking main. But....

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Given that before you set up cruising all major "re-fitting" costs have been accomplished and paid for then only average normal wear, tear, and replacement costs of failed equipment need be considered.

This is what we thought too. We put almost as much into refit/upgrade as we paid for the boat. And we were right - just about everything worked fine. But two observations:

1. Cruisers have a kind of strange way of characterizing certain expenses. I can't tell you how many times I've heard something like: "The water pump died, but it didn't cost me anything because I had a spare." Well, if you thought it was a good idea to have a spare, and now you don't ...........

2. In our first year we spent a lot of money on the boat. Not for things that broke, but for things we belatedly decided we needed/wanted. It took us just two weeks in the Bahamas to realize that we really wanted dinghy davits - had them custom made in Marsh Harbor. One close encounter in the Bahamas Channel and we got radar in Luperon, etc. I don't think we were bad planners. It's just that until you're really cruising, it's hard to anticipate all the "boat stuff" that's going to be important to you. For various reasons I think it's common to have the first year of cruising turn out to be kind of frontend loaded with boat expenses no matter how thorough you thought your refit was.

[osirissail]

- - The first year can be traumatic financially if you have not excessively sought out other experienced cruisers and found out what you really need and do not need. And there are so many different opinions about what that includes it is sometimes difficult to get a real list.
- But also the first year can see many perceived important items/equipment on the boat be thrown over the side because they don't really work or the item is more trouble than it is worth. Normal or pre-mature failures of pumps and other systems is normally included in annual maintenance costs as they occur to just about everybody. Upgrades or "new" equipment can be thought to really be in the initial "re-fit/out-fit" costs but deferred spending. Sometimes lack of resources means certain desirable equipment must be deferred to a later point in time. Or, the very wise decision to "get out there and do-it" results in certain "nice to have" items to be deferred. But I would suggest that they are not in the annual maintenance costs of cruising category. I suspect that all cruisers have a mythical "slush fund" which is put aside for the acquisition of new or newly recognized equipment to make cruising easier and more enjoyable.
- - Cruising inside your own countries waters is quite different from cruising in foreign waters and countries and the priorities of equipment needed can be quite different. So it would be wise to budget a little for "upgrades" aside from budgeting for normal annual maintenance requirements.

[slomotion]

Originally Posted by osirissail

But also the first year can see many perceived important items/equipment on the boat be thrown over the side because they don't really work or the item is more trouble than it is worth.

This is so true. For us the most surprising thing turned out to be food. We way over provisioned - probably because of all the advice from veteran ocean crossers/circumnavigators. Surely no self respecting cruiser would set out with less than 50 lbs of flour.

What we found was that in the Bahamas/eastern Caribbean we enjoyed island grocery shopping (well, my wife did) and we could afford to eat out much more frequently than we planned. But, we didn't know that would turn out to be our preferred cruising style until we were actually doing it. As a result we wound up trading and giving away a lot of staples because we were never going to use them; they took up badly needed storage space; and they represented unnecessary weight in a boat that was close to being overloaded.

[osirissail]

slomotion ". . . . and they represented unnecessary weight in a boat that was close to being overloaded."
- - "Close to being overloaded" - I only dream of my boat being so light. A "real" cruiser is normally grossly overloaded. I had to raise my design waterline 7 inches match the real waterline.

[slomotion]

Yeah, I might have understated it a little.

Let's just say that after jettisoning most of our extra food we were less overloaded. But somehow it didn't stay that way.

Raised our waterline about 3" when we had our bottom job in Florida before we left. The troubling part is that a year and half later we had another bottom job in VZ - had to raise the waterline another 2". I thought that by then we had become a lean, mean, cruising machine; but well ...... I know that the freed up storage space where the food used to be didn't last very long.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by osirissail

slomotion ". . . . and they represented unnecessary weight in a boat that was close to being overloaded."
- - "Close to being overloaded" - I only dream of my boat being so light. A "real" cruiser is normally grossly overloaded. I had to raise my design waterline 7 inches match the real waterline.

That Gold Bullion weighs a LOT!! ;-)

Cheers,
Extemp.