The Cost of Sailing / Cruising

[Hampus]

I don't know if this has been posted before, it's awicked long thread. Anyway, here are some numbers, cold hard facts

D'oh, forgot the link
http://www.norsiglar.com/english/costf.html

/Hampus

[S/V Alchemy]

I met that couple and bought their book. They know their stuff.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Hampus

I don't know if this has been posted before, it's awicked long thread. Anyway, here are some numbers, cold hard facts

D'oh, forgot the link
Nor Siglar website

/Hampus

Great link Hampus.
40 footer.
6 flights home for both in 9 years. One or 2 could be cut. perhaps a trip home every 2-3 years.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

I met that couple and bought their book. They know their stuff.

Did you meet them in a restaurant and were they drunk?



I'm just trying to check their lifestyle against ours (or what I want ours to be like)


Mark

[capcook]

Originally Posted by Hampus

I don't know if this has been posted before, it's awicked long thread. Anyway, here are some numbers, cold hard facts

Thanks...good stuff...maybe there is hope...

cheers

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Did you meet them in a restaurant and were they drunk?



I'm just trying to check their lifestyle against ours (or what I want ours to be like)


Mark

No, I met them at the Toronto Boat Show. Different strokes, I guess. I figure I can manage with five to seven thousand a year less, and I have a kid. But we don't live that expensively ashore, so it's not seen as a hardship. We had a nice talk about pushing off, and they were supportive of our plans.

Also, we are younger (well, my wife is...) and our son will be between 10-15 years old...old enough to contribute plenty of labour, and young enough to get into tight spaces without throwing out a back muscle!

Lastly, we are only contemplating a single return home in five years. Both my parents are dead, and my wife's father is just 66, with a living 93 year old mother of his own, so we don't have those particular responsibilities...yet another reason to go in mid-life, I suppose.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

I figure I can manage with five to seven thousand a year less, and I have a kid.

Lastly, we are only contemplating a single return home in five years.

They note 6 trips home in 9 years - thats every 18 months x 2 people. That would have been quite an expense. For us, flying home once in 5 years the expense would be high because we live so far away...

The other things we saw immediately that we don't spend as big on:

Gifts "&" Souvenirs 1,928


$2k per year! Wow! A representative souvenir from each country can be virtually free (shells, sand, dried flowers etc) or supermarket bought, or even better made, or local handcrafts not from tourist shops.
Save $1,000?


Boat Insurance 1,913

Restaurants 1,802

Medical "&" Insurance 1,370

Charts / books / film / development 1,312

Clothing "&" Personal 1,260

Communication "&" Postage 882

So for us Medical and boat insurance 3,500... we can chop out but need the boat insurance in Europe for 6 months. Save $2,000
Restaurants look high but thats only $150 per month. I think we spend more than that and we never seem to eat out! Add $1,000
Charts/books etc. Charts are only a max wide chip per years ($300) and books only at book swaps, so save another $1,000.
Clothing: Nic is sewing her own! Hand sowen too, no machine! And she bargain shops. I just wear rags so save another $1,000

Communications: if internet and satellite phone incl then its prolly right.

So thats $4,000 savings per year pretty easily


One difficulty we are having is that our budget hasn't stabilized yet! We're 18 months out and the account hits rock bottom once per month, without fail, just like clockwork!
We are, of course, putting a fair bit into the boat as we go along, and others who were better set us before leaving would be more stable. I would recommend a higher contingency fund for the first 2 years!


Mark

[Legendsailing]

10 years ago I left my cosy little job in Manchester to pursue my dream of having my own sailing centre in Scotland! I set out with no more than a car which I hadn't finished paying for and several thousand pounds worth of debt. Despite this I now have my own sailing centre in Scotland with a fleet of: 3 Soling Keelboats, 5 Wayfarer Dinghies, 2 Laser 2s and a Fireball. It has been a long hard struggle but I have enjoyed every minute of it and continue to do so. I agree with the original comment on this thread, whole heartedly too often we wait until we can afford our dreams or we downsize our dreams in order to afford them. But once we make the decision and step out in faith the universal tumblers fall into place and doors open before us.

Follow your dream! Don't wait for the means to show themselves, set off on the journey and the means will come!

[Dune]

I read the following quote, here I think, from a source I don't recall. I apologize for the plagarism, but I would give the credit to whoever wrote it if I remembered. That does not change the impact it left me with.

[quote] To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?[quote]

I would hate to have ended this journey bankrupt of life.

[John A]

That's taken from a book written by Sterling Hayden, The book is
Wanderer and this excerpt has appeared in the pages of Latitude38 several times. I first posted this about four months ago. One of the mods deleted it.
regards John

[rebel heart]

For whatever it's worth (and I just started), I'm going to start keeping track of everything I spend from this point out (unless I fall off the wagon). But I need to know the cost of maintenance for budgeting purposes, so here goes. Not much on there just yet.

Rebel Heart - The boat and her crew - Expenses & Costs

[bobfnbw]

Its a good Idea... I just put the reciepts in a folder... but a spread sheet would be better.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Dune

What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all...

Theres the one error.

'Man'. 'What does a man need'

Thanks, but I am in love. I have a woman and I want to keep her. To do that I have to make sure she is comfortable and happy.

Apart from that if she doesn't wash she smells so I need running water, heads, shower etc.

She sometimes cooks for me so I give her a good kitchen to lord over.

She is good in bed so I only have beds built for 2 - she can't escape.

Her cooking sux so I need money for restuarants.

and, finally,

I drink beer so I need refrigeration.





Mark

[billyehh]

I'm a part time c ruiser who is retired in Toronto in the summer and the Eastern Carribean in the winter. I note all kinds of people from those who are on small boats with no insurance (life, boat and health) to Mega Yachts. I havemet many at social activities and happy hours and most are people you would like to meet. The common thing is they are doing what they want and most of the time enjoying it. (who wants to be upside down in an engine room).

In my 25+ years years of sailing down here the boats are getting larger and more luxurious. My 38 foot catamaran is quite modest in todays standards and is one of the smaller boats around. Twenty years ago it would be large.

Now in my senior years, I want some creature comforts, hence big fridge, freezer and good barbecue. It all revolves around beer and food, Isn't that right?

I anchor out most of the time because the anchorages are beautiful and I can go for a swim first thing in the morning as the sun comes up. Oh, and the cheapest marina I could find in St. Maarten was $250 a night. I try to find a marina at least once a month so I can clean the boat with fresh water.

In the eastern Carribean you do not need air conditioning, infact most nights I need a sheet over me and sometimes even have to close the hatch.

I could go on, but most people have their methods of cruising and all are valid if you respect the people around you.

[bobfnbw]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Theres the one error.

'Man'. 'What does a man need'

Thanks, but I am in love. I have a woman and I want to keep her. To do that I have to make sure she is comfortable and happy.

Apart from that if she doesn't wash she smells so I need running water, heads, shower etc.

She sometimes cooks for me so I give her a good kitchen to lord over.

She is good in bed so I only have beds built for 2 - she can't escape.

Her cooking sux so I need money for restuarants.

and, finally,

I drink beer so I need refrigeration.





Mark

Ah Mark, no way to talk about such a fine woman and Nicole...She should make you sleep in the cockpit for a few nights for that..
of course... most of that could be applied to my own lovely wife, who puts up with me.... and I too like to drink beer, wine... whatever... so point taken.