Cruising on $5,000 / Month

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by RainDog

Does moving make it cheaper or more expensive?

from the years of blog reading it seems to me that moving makes it more expensive

[zeehag]

moving means fuel as well as regular expenses, and oil and filters and spares, yet again..... can be done comfortably on 1000 or less usd per month with fuel included. i know personally. i was doing this on just under 800 usd per month including fuel and ancillary services provided in each bahia here...laundry, water delivery, fuel delivery, trash removal, trips to shore in a panga......etc

[MarkJ]

Moving being cheaper, but depends on the fees in the next country.

A 30 day passage is a very cheap month! No bars, no resturaunts, not a single luxury just reading lots of books, no shopping.


Mark

[rw58ph]

If before tax then its really $4,000 to spend. Also it assumes everything is paid for, no debt, no large monthly payments. I plan on retiring July 1 this year, and budgeting $5,000.00 gross before tax or 4,000.00 net. If/when we sell the boat we will rent as renting is as cheap and allow us to be mobile not tied to one place.

We been a live aboard for 16+ years, but we do not have any long range cruises plan. Since moorage is freed up and moorage is available we do not have to have a year around moorage like we have tied to the dirt. So we will move the boat around during the summer months, but will still need 9 months of permanent moorage during the winter. We plan on being snow birds and land cruise.

Per month

Moorage/fees. $800
Medicare/supplement health insurance 600
Insurance boat/car/motor home 500
Food/entertainment 600
Diesel/maintenance/repair 500
Misc surprises. 500

Total $3,500

Moorage/transient fees could be more, depend how much we stay tied to a dock vs anchoring. However, anchoring is not cheap either as there are a lot of indirect costs.

Health Insurance/prescriptions/co pay is the second largest month expense and it’s some what fixed. Medicare - $105/months and supplemental, 175.00/month for each of us.

Boat car and motor home insurance is also expensive, trawler/run about/dink - $250.00/month, auto/motor home - $250.00/month.

Food/entertainment is what we are presently spending.

$2,500.00/month is some what fixed. $500.00/month seems very low, and $5,000.00/months is not that far out of line.

[RainDog]

That is my assumption too. Not moving means marinas, restaurants, shopping, excursions, etc. Moving means at anchor or sailing with no place to spend money. Of course if you break stuff...

[sailorboy1]

then it sounds if not is moving is less expensive IF you aren't a marina/restaurant person, and where you stopped at

in end don't you still eat underway plus break things?

[Pelagic]

I think it is a bit of a tradeoff. Fuel and cruising fees vs longterm marina fees. Food and consumables even out

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[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

then it sounds if not is moving is less expensive IF you aren't a marina/restaurant person, and where you stopped at

in end don't you still eat underway plus break things?

You might need to edit the first line... It doesn't make sense.

I am not a marina person and I can tell you that a passage is far cheaper than being anywhere. And sailing doesnt mean breaking things. In a trans pacific I broke one split pin in 6,500 nms. Its how you sail. If you want to break your boat you can, but if you want a passage with breakages you can too. Its your own choice.

Anyway in a $5,000 per month budget thread it MUST be cheaper at sea.

If you are talking about a budget much less than that then theres other threads.



Mark

[sailorboy1]

Mark I thought that in a PM you told me you had been spending about $_____/mo while in Grenada.

I'm just asking as I don't know the answers or I wouldn't ask.

[svseachange]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

And sailing doesnt mean breaking things. In a trans pacific I broke one split pin in 6,500 nms. Its how you sail. If you want to break your boat you can, but if you want a passage with breakages you can too. Its your own choice.

That's a darn good point. If you grew up racing you need to change your mindset if you want to be a budget cruiser.


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[Pelagic]

If you live on the hook in a quiet free Anchorage reading free books, catching your own seafood and buying rice/veggies from local village markets... This cruising Lifestyle has the best value

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[sabray]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

You might need to edit the first line... It doesn't make sense.

I am not a marina person and I can tell you that a passage is far cheaper than being anywhere. And sailing doesnt mean breaking things. In a trans pacific I broke one split pin in 6,500 nms. Its how you sail. If you want to break your boat you can, but if you want a passage with breakages you can too. Its your own choice.

Anyway in a $5,000 per month budget thread it MUST be cheaper at sea.

If you are talking about a budget much less than that then theres other threads.



Mark

But wait you need to calculate in the new main after the crossing and that dinghy that was sinking. What happens to the costs of the rigging and the blown forestay. These were all gradually breaking while you crossed the pacific.

[a64pilot]

OK in airplanes at least its common to have a set aside per hour of operation. It goes like this. Engine 50K for overhaul, prop 10K for overhaul, overhaul interval 2,000 hours. 60 K div 2,000 = $30 an hour for maintenance.

I don't see anything like this in the how much does it cost to cruise calcualtions, but I feel sure that sails, rigging, engines etc do have a life limit, and if your not saving for that eventuality, then your cruise will come to an end as soon as a big ticket item breaks.
Plus I see very little for clothing and other necessities of life.
I'm planning on 5K a month when I retire as I'm afraid any less and my cruise will be cut short, and I'd be too old to make a living in my profession

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Mark I thought that in a PM you told me you had been spending about $____/mo while in Grenada.

I'm just asking as I don't know the answers or I wouldn't ask.

Jeeezuz PM means private!

Thats about right. But I didnt do any work on the boat, I have been saving for 2014 and 2015. This year I will spend about $20,000 on boat upgrades. Plus living, plus I need to go home and visit mum. Each year is different.
Next year I want to go to the Med and eat in restaurants in the south of france.

But the average over all years is what I am talking about. One cant say "my budget is, say, 3,000 per month therefore each month I will spend between $2,900 and $3,100."
One year is all fine, then the next year the bimini dies in the ass the same week are the dinghy sinks and the outboard farts its swansong.

And then theres a contingency sum that one needs in their bank for troubled times.... Mum or dad decides to die, or best mate wants to get married and you have to be best man... Or whatever.

The damn boat budget is a fluid thing. Yes I can live on a low amount per month, but thats not sustainable. It doesnt cover the boat, it only covers me.


I hope this explains


Mark

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

If you live on the hook in a quiet free Anchorage reading free books, catching your own seafood and buying rice/veggies from local village markets... This cruising Lifestyle has the best value

Fine for some. But for others thats not cruising but being a castaway. Anyway I dont like eating fish, which is lucky because Im the worlds worst fisherman