Cruising on $500 / Month

[sabray]

Nah you won't get kicked. I didn't read his remarks as negative. It would be really wrong if enciuragment were made while thinking this guy will never make it. Like yelling jump to a guy on a bridge.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by 7yrsorless

Wow MarkJ you're negativity just astounds me..I've been lurking here for years and love the fact that most people on here are so positive and encouraging...But you (MarkJ) really have to realize that we're all trying to live our dreams and to go and crush them with you're negative attitude is just not the feed back we're all looking at...As my dad always says if you don't have something nice to say ...keep it to you're self!! Yes this is my first post and I'll probably be kicked off for this but it NEEDED to be said!!

Wow what a first post, first im gonna say welcome and good that you posted what you felt, but then I have to say Mark is 100% right on the" mark "if you want the truth, if you would like us to give you half of the truth like some have on this thread - $500 is unrealistic -ongoingly and Marks post is dead on if not a little on the cheap side , I see no negativity in that post at all just real facts from someone who is living the life- I mean come on if you dont count this or that it could be $100 a month , truth is you need to factor in everything! My boat is 3 -1/2 years old and i have very little mantince costs but im still way over the $500 a month line- And im about as frugle as you can get its just my nature! all i spend on is fuel -oil/filters food and very little on marinias, customs fees, replacing dock lines, fan belts, that alone tops $500- not counting insurance ot transportation costs

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by 7yrsorless

Wow MarkJ you're negativity just astounds me

It doesn't astound me.

Because I'm out here doing it. But on a vastly higher budget. Still without a cent in the pocket in excess of whats budgeted to spend.

Then last night on the way to Christmas drinks the fuel shut off valve to the 3.3hp outboard sheered off totally unexpectedly. 2 friends arrive Tuesday for a week of using the dinghy for snorkeling etc.

Lose the idea that an inflatable dink can be rowed with 4 people in it.

Just to get to town I have to hire a motor bike.

In this part of the world no one gives tourists a discount when they need to buy the part!

The part, plus the hire would strip the flexability in a $500 budget.


And thats just an occurence thats totally unexpected, unforseeable etc, but just happens when you think everything is going well.




Negative?

Nope. I hope its the most positive advice I can give.



Welcome to non-lurkerdom

Mark

[Chattcatdaddy]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

These $500 per month, or $1,000 per month are ONLY limited cruising of a year or 2.
Most of the boats stores/provisions/spares are NOT included in the $500/$1,000 as they were prepurchased.
Little ongoing maintenance apart of roil changes done during the cruise.

Very good observation. I have cruised local waters for $500/month some years ago and was just fine. All supplies and spare parts were pre-purchased and did not count into the budget. Someone hoping across the gulfstream from the east coast of the US to the Bahamas could easily go for $500/month. Once you decide to go world cruising then it could be really tough to keep that budget, but not impossible just improbable.

[Ex-Calif]

"How much does it cost to cruise?"
"How much do you have?"

Open a spreadsheet
Buy the boat - fitted out
Sail the boat X years
Sell the boat
Close the spreadsheet
Report the results

(See you in X years)

[Christian Van H]

Dear Mark, your facts have really screwed up my dreams. Please refrain from stating anything factual from now on, as I believe I can live on virtually nothing...like an air fern. Now go back and live with your elf, sincerely, Chris

[CrazyRu]

Originally Posted by Brent Swain

I've avoided most of your so called "Neccesities"expenses for the last 35 years , and never missed them

Fuel? sail more. read more in calms and wait for the wind.
Marina stays ? Anchor and avoid them altogether.
Food , stop paying others to put it in cans , buy bulk.
Booze . I haven't had that expense in decades.
Insurance , Never bothered.

I was on schedule to get out of expensive area. I could sail more, and spend considerably more time and money on a food
I wouldn't worry about booze too. I was just too busy with other chores to experiment.
Every boat has all equipment necessary to produce a booze.
Pressure cooker, stove, bunch of hoses, There are two heat exchangers available - one on engine, another on water heater. Any organic matter can be converted into booze. Bag of potatoes , a bit of yeast...

Hmmm, isn't there a tank with organic matter on board already?

Why waste the product! Let's recycle

[Hampus]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

But they DO NOT account for the anual haulout that costs, with 2x gallons Micron Extra = $2,000
Thats 4 months budget for the $500 cruiser.


Mark

Included in the budget perhaps?

[Reckless]

Well we haven't actually left on our voyage yet, we are budgeting for $2500 a month, not that I want to spend that, we are hoping to get by on $1000-$1500 for the 2 of us. But I also don't want to have the stress of needing something and not being able to afford it.

We also have an emergency kitty which will be separate from our other investments just in case. Too many times in my life I have had financial stresses. Our cruise has been many years in planning to avoid this from happening. We don't plan on using many marinas along the way. Food we will try to eat fish and get local food where possible. Repairs when able I will do myself. We are not big drinkers so booze will be an occasional treat, coffee on the other hand in a weakness, however I have moved myself from double cream and sugar to black and quite enjoy it.

Insurance well I work as a broker here in Canada. Insurance has to be looked at as security. When you don't use it, it can be considered a waste of money, but when you need it it in invaluable. My grandmother lost her house a few years, back. She had lived there for over 60 years, it cost almost $750,000 to rebuild. Money she didn't have as a pensioner. Had it not been for insurance she would have been homeless.

I currently have full coverage on my boat, but navigation limits keep me in the great lakes. Off shore and global coverage is considerably more to insure.

Read your policy, look at the history of the company, in North american all insurance companies have to report their financial status to their governing body. They receive a rating much like a credit score. D Very Bad, AAA Very good. This shows the companies ability to pay a claim, remember you aren't the only one they insure. You might have a $100k claim, but if they also insured a large corporation that had a loss the day before yours and had to pay out $100 million, they that could bankrupt an insurance company and you are left holding your policy in your hands nothing more.

As a consumer be aware of what you buy. I don't have any of my clients with a company less than a BB rating, if your don't know ask your broker, if he doesn't know, get another broker.

Also be aware of the exclusions and limitations of your policy. Claims adjusters (I was one for 10 years) are paid very well to look for ways to get out of a claim, if they can prove you violated your policy conditions, they will decline. If they decline you fight it, you have rights under the policy know them.

I deal with people every day that have no idea what they are or aren't insured for. Knowing this before you need to make a claim goes a long way towards your peace of mind.

[hpeer]

Since it has not been mentioned in a while I would like to plug a couple of ladies who have put considerable effort to this topic.

First is Annie Hill "Voyaging on a Small Income"

Then

Beth Leonard " The Voyagers Handbook."

I find Annie's is somewhat dated and hard to translate into today's dollars. But she is really into doing it on the cheap.

Beth is a complete statistical nutcase. For this we are blessed with a wonderful store of comparative cost data, among many other useful things.

Saw her speak at the SSCA Annapolis Gam this fall. She got a standing ovation, well deserved.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by hpeer

I find Annie's is somewhat dated and hard to translate into today's dollars. But she is really into doing it on the cheap.

.

Annie was the one that did half it with her sister, right?
yeah, I thought she was really doing it on the cheap too. She did very well.
For gods sake crusing is meant to be the good times of ones life!
If you want to have a shitty and crappy 2 years why don't they just go work and then have a few years in some type of style and splendor.


If you want to live as rough as $500 per month go punch a Policeman on his nose.


Cruising is about good times

[7yrsorless]

Ok Markj I guess you got the brunt of my bad day..a very flooded basement and a broken toe to match(and maybe a little PMS). But everytime I read your post you seem to be saying you need oodles of $$ to cruise .And that is just not true..my husband and I have quite a few friends that do it on very little $$. So once agian sorry for the cranky first post

[SURV69]

If one wishes to live on $500 a month for sailing . . . no problem. It can and is no doubt being done by some.

My brother lived on about $3000 per year for about 20 years, in his own 16' Scampi trailer on his own land in down-town Akron. Of course this was on ground, but we're talking about $250 per month.

Almost anything can be made to happen, if one's willing to sacrifice most of what everyone else claims is needed to live a worthwhile life.

I'm sure there's a limit to this in sailing(with costs and such that we have no control with), but I'm willing to bet that the limit is considerably less than $500 per month.

SO . . . maybe this discussion should not be whether a person can live on $500 a month in a sailing environ, but rather, what can a person do or not do on that $500.

While a $500 budget won't allow for much, for a person who doesn't want or need much more than fresh air and minimal sustainance, $500 might be about right.

Gee . . . for $500, I can treat my sailboat as a moveable floating condo(electric & water paid for up to 8 months for $1550+$450 for lay-up) and still have a few bills left over for drinks & eats.

Even in the great lakes region, where boating is a 6-8 month endeavor, the off-months can be waited out in cheap rooms which owners feel they need/want someone to keep the water, heat and electric paid for . . . sometimes free for a trade of work.

Beyond all this, what's the worse that can happen? That someone expecting to live on $500 can't really do it and needs to get a part-time job or something? Welcome to the wonder of life.

For the most part, if one wants it to happen bad enough . . . it can happen, and I think it would be more worthwhile to talk about how it can happen rather than talking about how it can't happen.

[smj]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Annie was the one that did half it with her sister, right?
yeah, I thought she was really doing it on the cheap too. She did very well.
For gods sake crusing is meant to be the good times of ones life!
If you want to have a shitty and crappy 2 years why don't they just go work and then have a few years in some type of style and splendor.


If you want to live as rough as $500 per month go punch a Policeman on his nose.


Cruising is about good times

Markj cruising is what you make of it. If you have to spend lots of money to have a good time more power to you. I admire the people that don't have to spend their life savings to cruise, the one's that are just thankful to be out there doing it. Can someone cruise on $500 per month? Sure given a small boat and tight budget. Will they have as good a time as someone on a large boat spending a lot of money? Maybe better. We met a British couple circumnavigating on a 32' cat in 1993. It took them 11 years and they did it on $300 a month. If they weren't having a good time I'm sure they would have sold the boat long before the 11 years was up.

[SURV69]

I haven't decided whether MarkJ is bragging or complaining about HIS high costs of keeping his boat in order and the repairs that seem to plague him.

For person who looks rather happy in his sailing pictures, he sounds very unhappy at hearing about other people's hopes and dreams . . . enough so, to spend his energy squashing anyone else's "on the cheap" concept of happiness.