Cruising on $5,000 / Month

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by Teknav

When all is said and done, no one can have the above under $3,000 USD/month, irrespective of their boat's size.

Those who appreciate the cruising lifestyle understand what it takes.

Having real life cruising expenses for a family of 4 (including everything including our Account fees for our annual tax filing) easily under $2k/mo it goes to show how two people can look at a traffic accident and see two different things.

Something of note that actually contributes to this duscussion:
Experience Matters.

Our first year of cruising was our most expensive ($2500/$3000 per month) and our last year was our cheapest ($800/$1500). Not because we stopped doing maintenance or sold our kids hair for diesel money, but because we simply learned how to comfortably live and eat like the locals and we stayed out of Marinas.

Heck, we actually went from a 36ft boat to a 50ft boat, completely shattering the myth about it costing more to cruise on a larger boat. Sure the haul out was a little more, bottom paint was a bit more...but when people talk about it costing more to cruise on a larger boat they mean one thing folks...MARINA SLIP FEES. As much as people like to talk about staying out of high priced Marinas...the Marinas in Mexico are jammed packed because the truth is, the majority of cruisers are drawn to the dock, shorepower and dock water like a moth to a flame and then they complain about the high cost of cruising... We had friends always struggling to stretch their cruising budget dollar but there they were tied to the dock at $400/Mo.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Hud3

Chartering can be a really great way to help crystallize your goals and plans.

I have never chartered a boat, but I read this a lot. It always has seemed to me that spending a week on a boat during a charter wouldn't really be anything like cruising.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I have never chartered a boat, but I read this a lot. It always has seemed to me that spending a week on a boat during a charter wouldn't really be anything like cruising.

What do you mean? That's kind of a big generalization.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

What do you mean? That's kind of a big generalization.

I feel that using chartering to decide if you want to cruise is like taking a weeks vacation on a island and deciding that living on the island would be the same.

But again I've never chartered so maybe it is just like cruising, but I doubt it.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I feel that using chartering to decide if you want to cruise is like taking a weeks vacation on a island and deciding that living on the island would be the same.

But again I've never chartered so maybe it is just like cruising, but I doubt it.

Will it be exactly like cruising? No

But if you've never spend longer than an afternoon aboard and if you go in with the idea that it is to learn about cruising, it can definetly give you a better idea of what you are getting into.
- Learning that you can't all take 30 minute showers.
- If you don't set the hook well, it's a nervous night at anchor.
- Getting to shore by dingy.
- etc....

[sailorboy1]

Again I've never chartered. I went from lessons to 3 months of weekends club sailing to owning a 39' boat. But it seems crazy to spend so much money to do a charter to rough it and then try to convince yourself that you want to do more of it.

[valhalla360]

Far more crazy to spend even more buying a 39' boat before you have any idea if you will even like cruising.

The idea behind trying it is if you don't like it, you can walk away without spending a whole lot.

[Mike OReilly]

I've never chartered as well (outside of taking courses), but while any experience is better than none, it seems to me that spending a week or two on someone else's boat is going to be a rather limited exposure to the reality of a cruising lifestyle.

I've always though of chartering as a great way to getting experience with different kinds of boats, and different cruising areas. But it's more of a vacation than actual cruising.

[jostalli]

Why is chartering always assumed to be a vacation? I charter boats in Los Angeles all the time. I guess it's sort of like club sailing in other areas. I am a member of two companies to get better day rates. I charter to gain experience but also to see what boat I like best.

[letsgetsailing3]

Think of it this way: Visiting a country for a week or two isn't living there, but it gives you a lot better understanding than reading about it. Maybe you'd want to do that before buying a house somewhere. It may turn out that you know in the first hour that it isn't going to work out. Sure there are differences, but it certainly tells you a lot.

So I don't think you can really say chartering isn't cruising. It's simply a subset of it.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Far more crazy to spend even more buying a 39' boat before you have any idea if you will even like cruising.

The idea behind trying it is if you don't like it, you can walk away without spending a whole lot.

I already had learned I liked sailing, try to fully follow the story. Got rid of that starter 39' boat after 2 years and got something better.

But I doubt that chartering if you don't really have much sailing experience would even allow you to know if you liked sailing.

I bet it would cost more than $5k/mo to cruise the way most people do on a charter based on the stories I've read.

[Doodles]

Here is the post re "chartering":

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1490999

As you can see it was a recommendation so that the poster could find out if his spouse even liked sailing enough to consider buying a cruising boat and if so, what size would she like best.

A lot cheaper approach than buying a boat and finding out the spouse hates sailing.

[a64pilot]

I'm buying a boat without chartering first. Seemed to me that chartering is really expensive, and I think it would be like going on a honeymoon to see if you would like marrige. I mean who didn't have a good time on their honeymoon (we didn't get one I couldn't afford it).
But did marriage turn out to be one long honeymoon?
My belief has always been that some people that have big expensive weddings and fancy honeymoons, end up divorced more often that ones that don't, reason is simple married life is depressing after the build up of months of planning the big wedding, being the center of attention etc, then the fancy honeymoon in a resort.
I'm afraid a charter in paradise would give us unrealistic thoughts of what a cruising life would be like and may even lead to us being disappointed life wouldn't live up to our memories of the charter.
Course I hope I'm wrong, I'm hoping the cruising lifestyle is one big enjoyable vacation with everyday spent is paradise, but I'm not expecting it

[Jim Cate]

G'Day all

I'm in the "chartering ain't cruising" camp! From my observations, the things that turn folks away from cruising are not the sailing issues, nor the "wrong boat" issues nor the "don't like the dirty, thieving folks in this rat-hole country" issues. Rather they are the issues around maintaining one's vessel , being responsible for all of life's decisions, being away from family for extended periods, having to provision in difficult areas and so on. Charter companies are well aware of such factors, and do their best to insulate charterers from them. Makes for a smooth and comfortable one or two weeks charter, but IMO does little to emulate "real cruising". It is aimed at generating repeat customers, not seasoned cruisers!

"Real cruising", to me is not a short vacation trip, but a committed life style where one expects to do it for months at the least and really, a period of years. A time frame where wear and tear, maintenance, weather decisions, dealing with officials, getting away from support providers, provisioning and all those things missing from the charter environment become major factors in ones life. All too often we see folks whose cruises are cut short when they are confronted with such realities, and are not prepared or willing to meet them.

Finally, for the many folks who are operating on a restricted budget, the costs of all these charters ("try out lots of different boats") represent a lot of cruising kitty funds. I think that there are better uses for that money if your aim is to really go cruising.

Cheers,

Jim

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I'm buying a boat without chartering first. Seemed to me that chartering is really expensive, ...

LOL .. you think chartering is expensive, wait until you OWN a 40' boat!

Have you heard of the expression "boat bucks" yet?