The Cost of Sailing / Cruising

[butterchurn]

Hey, MarkJ

I like many am also tired of the rat race wondering if there is more than this out there. Perhaps it is just peace and rest for my soul I'm looking for. Perhaps it is wanting to live and just enjoy being alive before I croak!

[butterchurn]

If I go to the Casinos and win BIG I can flood the streets and sail down them in Vegas!

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by butterchurn

Hey, MarkJ

I like many am also tired of the rat race wondering if there is more than this out there. Perhaps it is just peace and rest for my soul I'm looking for. Perhaps it is wanting to live and just enjoy being alive before I croak!

Folks who think all boat owners are loaded could not be more wrong... we're just prepared to give up things like fancy restaurants, nite clubs, gyms, nights out with the lad's, the latest fashions, the latest car etc... it takes that for some of us just to get/stay afloat...
But Boy.... is it worth it....!!

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by butterchurn

Hey, MarkJ
I like many am also tired of the rat race wondering if there is more than this out there. Perhaps it is just peace and rest for my soul I'm looking for. Perhaps it is wanting to live and just enjoy being alive before I croak!

- - Everybody thinks the "grass is greener on the other side." I am assuming that your "if there is more than this out there" is about comparing the cruising life to living on land in North America.
- - Life out here cruising is very different and not all that peaceful and restful. There are encounters with "difficult" officials, gouging by boat repair facilities and technicians, double/triple/quadruple prices on repair parts that do not last long. And a whole list of gripes and frustrations with systems that refuse to work or stay fixed. Weather and storms, dragging anchors and dead batteries. Add in security considerations to protect what is yours. Not so much that it is your stuff they are stealing, it is the fact that you cannot replace it without extreme hassles and costs.
- - In between all the repairs and problems there are indeed times when you can kick back and smell the roses and enjoy good company. In fact since you have to walk most everywhere with a loaded backpack of food and parts, it is also quite healthy and vigorous.
- - Total it all up and life out here cruising is light years ahead of life on land - if - you are a self-sufficient, centered and secure person who does not need or want huge governmental support systems taking care of you whether you need it or not. Which is why the vast majority of folks continue to live on land and are not out here on boats. So if you are trying to "escape" life on land you might just be jumping from the frying pan to the fire. Mother Nature does not suffer fools or stupidity. She can take you out in the blink of an eye.
- - What makes the big difference is your life-style and personal sense of independence and responsibility for yourself. Some folks like and need to be "kept" while others want to get away and be in charge of whether they live or die by their own wits and skills.

[butterchurn]

I know about the "life is better on the other side" syndrome. No fantasy land here. I know what it would take. The freedom would make the sacrifices worth while

[Khagan1227]

Most people estimate their expenses low, it is very helpful seeing real life numbers!

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

We post our monthly cruising expenses on line at http://www.svthirdday.com/PDF/expenses.pdf

and are definitely on the "cheap go now" approach. The truth is...it will cost you what you have to go cruising, but it will gain your everything money could never buy!


Rich
S/V THIRD DAY

[kehalm]

nobody here mentions health care. While we're still healthy we're going cruising, but what if...you break a leg, or whatever...Unexpected health costs. I'm not sure what it's been like, but we'll be sailing in 2012, I need some background..still not sure I can come up with a health care figure.

[boatman61]

Only speaking personally here.. but then I'm healthy, a good healer and have a fairly high pain threshold... no health provision... break ribs... go to hospital and get sorted (Portugal)... slice foot open and go to hospital to be stitched up(Carib)... total cost for both... less than$100... thats since 2007... oh and paracetamols for everything else
How much would insurance have cost me over that period...

[osirissail]

Accidental injuries you can deal with yourself or go to clinics/hospitals in the islands/countries for almost free service. The medical treatment available varies with the size of the population of the country and is slanted to "fixing" things that the local citizens encounter.
-- For exotic or stuff that is not seen locally you should have "med-evac" insurance. For North Americans, DAN.org DAN Divers Alert Network
has med-evac insurance for anybody, not just scuba divers - that gets you a ride on a jet plane back to the USA/Canada for treatment. For other countries you can get "International Health Insurance" policies to cover most anywhere in the world.
- - For USA citizens you may or may not keep your "inside the USA" health insurance active while you are cruising. It is a personal decision based on your general health and whether you think you might be needing medical service back inside the USA. Remember, in the USA - no insurance => no service (except poor folks in the emergency room). If you have assets and no medical insurance you can generally kiss your ass or assets good-bye - your decision.
- - So it is totally a personal risk decision on your part. One of the cruising life's main attractions is the chance to be totally in charge of your life - live or die depending upon your own decisions - nobody (bureaucrat) there to save you from yourself.

[capt_douglas]

When I considered all the "difficult officials" and other problems associated with living off the grid in a third world country, they pale in comparison to quiet anchorages, pristine waters, great sailing, meeting new folks, learning new things, and working with Nature rather than against it. But then my boat was a KISS, not kitchen sink, so with fewer systems but better maintained, I had lots of time to enjoy the "life in the slow lane".

Yes things can be more stressful, but if you know the basics and are willing to ask for help, I was very pleased with the outcome. I've been feeding the cruising kitty for more than a decade and can't wait to get back to the sanity, warts and all.

[osirissail]

When you add it all up "warts and all" cruising is still light years better than the manufactured stress and manufactured food back there in "civilization."

"Sanity" - I could give you 7 years of discussion of why being out here cruising is a "sanity-saver."

[Saltwannabee]

Originally Posted by bobfnbw

While I'm sure you could do it on the cheap, I have no reason to do so.
About 10 years ago we lived aboard in Breadenton florida while working at a local hospital. The guy in the slip next to us lived aboard as well with his daughter on a 22' popup with a outboard. I had bigger camping tents than that. I would not ever want to travel in such a fashion. To much like camping to me.
My boat has to have stuff. Inverters, water makers, solar, freezer and fridge, ice, stores.
I want to live in the style I like, not change my way of living to fit someone else's idea of what it should be like. I would in no way do that than cruise without a engine. But people do it. I choose not to. When the time comes where we can slip the dock lines and cruise full time, I expect to spend about 3000 per month averaged over the year. Our current home budget is over 3 times that.

Boats are incredibly expensive. We joke about $1000 boat bucks, but its true. Every thing costs more on a boat. And things wear out faster in the marine environment.

I think it is a disservice to allude that cruising can be done cheaply. Yes I'm sure it probably can, if you go without a lot of things, like health insurance, computers, trips, diving, new cloths or dive gear once in a while, maintenance on the boat, occasional slips in a marina, and a host of other things.
Sure you can get by cheaply, but who would want to.
Not me.
But I am in no way rich or well off. I work hard, as does my wife, for every cent we earn, and spend.
Seriously, if you like your lifestyle, thats great. But don't begrudge others who may be different. Just be happy you like yours.

I tell you, IF, your Home budget is $9000 a month .. Your Frikkin RICH in my book..
even if its $3000 a month. thats my whole income..

[zeehag]

ones cost of cruising depends upon what one wants and what one is able to afford. and what one WANTS to afford.

you dont know what you CAN do without until you GET there.....LOL

[adriadream]

Originally Posted by Saltwannabee

I tell you, IF, your Home budget is $9000 a month .. Your Frikkin RICH in my book..
even if its $3000 a month. thats my whole income..

Amen! If we spend more than $700 monthly for marina, insurance, towing and other marina related fees, then I would be definetly thinking I am doing something wrong. Even $700 is high for some. Anchor and avoid $350 and plus marina fees, you can be truly saving. That extra money you can use in upgrading/fixing your boat. $3000? OUCH!

[John A]

Originally Posted by zeehag

ones cost of cruising depends upon what one wants and what one is able to afford. and what one WANTS to afford.

you dont know what you CAN do without until you GET there.....LOL

Great response !!

Three fourth of the threads on this forum can be answered with the words 'it depends', what worked for me may not work for you.

Something else to consider: Since returning from cruising a year and a half ago the docters have just concluded a revenue producing witch-hunt on me and I now have to resort to medication to support this lifestyle on land.
I won't say "go now", but I will say "go before you can't". If you continue to find reasons to not go just yet, you probably never will go.