Cruising on $5,000 / Month

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Doesn't matter how much you pay in taxes, it only matters what is left over. If I wasn't making the money that I'm paying taxes on I wouldn't even have a boat or be saving the money for this cruising fantasy to start with.

If you are happy that is fine with me, but I believe my plans are a lot different than yours.

PS - I hit a milestone savings goal last week. 5 years ago it seemed like a LOT of money, but now it doesn't seem as much.

No Worries Don, I'm sure your plans are way different from mine too. But it's all good. Ya'll have fun..

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

.... Lets get to a real dream and shoot higher! In the almost impossible odds of winning the lottery; what would you do cruising if you had $5000/month to spend?

Go cruising.

[sailorchic34]

[QUOTE=Tony B;1453615]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

..... Who wants to pay taxes on 120K a year......QUOTE]

I do, I do (with hand raised). That means I would have about $80K left over and that's if I didn't have any deductions.

Being serious though, $3K/mo is a nice cruisiing kitty for most. Wont get you first class but a good second class.
I think the thing that some are not considering is the unexpected event. One can easily spend $10 with a blown engine or being dismasted and needing new mast, rigging and sails. $3K is fine is all goes well.

I've had the pleasure of paying taxes on my six figure incomes too, though not in some time :-). I must be weird as I actually enjoy paying very little for taxes and going sailing and living about, far more then making money.

While I'm sure it can cost $10K to rebuild an engine, I did that last year for a about $1k. $700 for parts and $300 machining. Now that did blow my budget for sure. If you had to pay someone for the labor it could be pricey, I guess. Me I just roll up my sleeves (Well ok put on a tank top) and get about rebuilding a diesel. Learned a bit too.

Ya'll have a lovely day. Its nice to see how others live. Happy Wednesday working people!!

[Red Sky]

[QUOTE=sailorchic34;Yes the $600 includes marina visits too. Just not in the central SF bay.[/QUOTE]


You're always welcome to come my way, Fortman Marina, Alameda. I think it's still the cheapest slips on the estuary.

[Tony B]

[QUOTE=sailorchic34;1453636]

Originally Posted by Tony B

I've had the pleasure of paying taxes on my six figure incomes too, though not in some time :-). I must be weird as I actually enjoy paying very little for taxes and going sailing and living about, far more then making money....

My mistake, I didn't realize we were talking about actually working for the money. I retired this past year so I have a different mind set, I was thinking strictly of income.

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Hum. OK last year with my %^&( engine rebuild, I actually got to 10% of the boat cost, or a bit more. Though my 42 year old tub cost less then $12K to purchase. So for those like Boatie and me with "Cheap" boats who do all their own work, the cost of ownership is not too bad. Most years I spend less then $300-$400 maintaining the boat. Purchased a new slightly used main sail for $300 three years ago. Though this year or next I'll need to do a bottom job again. Though the last one averaged over 4 years was only $250 and that included a new cutless bearing and 2-1/2 coats of paint.

Some need $100K a year to cruise, Some less then $10k. The trick is doing all your own labor, including engine rebuilds as it comes up.

Your engine rebuilding skills are exemplary but the question is how many miles do you cruise in a year? Would you sail your boat on a circumnavigation or even cross an ocean in it's current condition or would you want to perform some major overhauls first. I ask because I think that the substance of the topic is setting a realistic budget which will allow you to safely sail the boat. All I know is that if I take care of the boat in a prudent manner then she will likely take care of us when we need her to, otherwise we are just throwing caution to the wind. Would your rebuilt Yanmar engine get you out of trouble when she has too or will the main bearings or a connecting rod fail because you only did 1 piston and the head. Will the rigging stand up to 50kt winds close hauled to claw you off a lee shore when your engine fails?

I do a lot of work myself as well on the boat due to our location with minimal qualified people available but good parts cost money and a 40 year old boat likely needs lots of new parts to be kept seaworthy and not just do repairs as they come up which is a sure fired way to lose the boat.

Just saying.

[sailorchic34]

[QUOTE=Tony B;1453664]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

My mistake, I didn't realize we were talking about actually working for the money. I retired this past year so I have a different mind set, I was thinking strictly of income.

touche!

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by undercutter

Your engine rebuilding skills are exemplary but the question is how many miles do you cruise in a year? Would you sail your boat on a circumnavigation or even cross an ocean in it's current condition or would you want to perform some major overhauls first. I ask because I think that the substance of the topic is setting a realistic budget which will allow you to safely sail the boat. All I know is that if I take care of the boat in a prudent manner then she will likely take care of us when we need her to, otherwise we are just throwing caution to the wind. Would your rebuilt Yanmar engine get you out of trouble when she has too or will the main bearings or a connecting rod fail because you only did 1 piston and the head. Will the rigging stand up to 50kt winds close hauled to claw you off a lee shore when your engine fails?

I do a lot of work myself as well on the boat due to our location with minimal qualified people available but good parts cost money and a 40 year old boat likely needs lots of new parts to be kept seaworthy and not just do repairs as they come up which is a sure fired way to lose the boat.

Just saying.

Oddly except for the crank bearings, which spec-ed as new I pretty much rebuilt the engine, I re-did rings, big end bearing, hoses, belts, etc. Life is good.

Well If I had money for a wind vane, I could cross an ocean. Though I'm more a coastal cruiser.. I have an autopilot and a back up autopilot. Alas no windvane.... Bugger... Though you'll not find me out during named storm season anyway. I actually keep my boat with its simple systems in pretty good condition. Oh the hull could stand a bit closer to a paint can, but from a structural standpoint she's pretty stout. I did do a refit oh 5 or so years ago.

My boat is pretty simple, No pressure water or water heater, no TV or RO. I redid the electrical on the boat already. Mostly new hoses all about. Still have two I really should replace sooner. Engine is good. My 40 year old propane stove still works. Radio and GPS are newer and I have backups too.

My little boat is pretty much all I have, so I stay on top of things as best I can. Rigging is all staylock btw. So a spool of cable and some new cones and I'm golden. I do have spare wire on board too. Sails are newer, Running rigging is good, plus I have spare's. Three anchors. Solid fiberglass hull and deck, so no worries there.

So yes I could sail to Hawaii tomorrow. Just can't live there for $500 a month ;-) I've done about 1000 miles each of the last 3-4 years, btw...

[Teknav]

It is all relative...how about leasing a twin engine 15-passenger STOL plane, at around $4,000 USD per FLIGHT HOUR block-time rate! (flight attendant and catered meals are NOT included.) You only live once! So, whining is not allowed!

Mauritz
Going to behave now!

[undercutter]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Oddly except for the crank bearings, which spec-ed as new I pretty much rebuilt the engine, I re-did rings, big end bearing, hoses, belts, etc. Life is good.

Well If I had money for a wind vane, I could cross an ocean. Though I'm more a coastal cruiser.. I have an autopilot and a back up autopilot. Alas no windvane.... Bugger... Though you'll not find me out during named storm season anyway. I actually keep my boat with its simple systems in pretty good condition. Oh the hull could stand a bit closer to a paint can, but from a structural standpoint she's pretty stout. I did do a refit oh 5 or so years ago.

My boat is pretty simple, No pressure water or water heater, no TV or RO. I redid the electrical on the boat already. Mostly new hoses all about. Still have two I really should replace sooner. Engine is good. My 40 year old propane stove still works. Radio and GPS are newer and I have backups too.

My little boat is pretty much all I have, so I stay on top of things as best I can. Rigging is all staylock btw. So a spool of cable and some new cones and I'm golden. I do have spare wire on board too. Sails are newer, Running rigging is good, plus I have spare's. Three anchors. Solid fiberglass hull and deck, so no worries there.

So yes I could sail to Hawaii tomorrow. Just can't live there for $500 a month ;-) I've done about 1000 miles each of the last 3-4 years, btw...

Are you looking to crew or maybe for crew. We could probably help with the costs for that trip to Hawaii. Sounds like either way I could save a lot of money.

[blackkayak]

We like to see how much we can save rather than how much we can spend. We break it up in to smaller bites, that is, $100. per day for expenses. A few days on the hook, catch a nice fish for two or three dinners and you're ahead of the game. Being ahead makes three hundred bucks for diesel seem not so bad. For 15 days in Fla. in November, we spent $76, provisioning and fueling up before leaving NC. That's 2 days on a mooring ball in St. Augustine, dinner and a killer gelato.

[a64pilot]

Seemingly most time I let someone work on something of mine, I end up going back in and re-doing it right. So usually I do my own engine rebuilding etc as that way I know it's done right.
The guy I'm selling my airplane to told me he was going to pay $4,000 to have a Garmin 430 installed Labor only charge. I was shocked, that's a one day job, day and a half max

[roland stockham]

Only number I have heard that makes any sense is about 2/3 what you would spend living on the bank. It's like saying how much does it cost to live in a house. Is the house in Detroit of Beverly Hills...

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by roland stockham

Only number I have heard that makes any sense is about 2/3 what you would spend living on the bank. It's like saying how much does it cost to live in a house. Is the house in Detroit of Beverly Hills...

I have a regular budget spreadsheet for my current living (having both a house and a boat). A funny thing happens when I take the house expensives out and take a few related adjustments to the boat costs, it comes out to $3001. That is pretty close to my planned budget of $3000/mo and I came up with the $3000/mo before I did the spreadsheet.

[sailpower]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Gee who knew I was a prepper....

Technically you're not a prepper if you're not buying bullets!