The Cost of Sailing / Cruising

[forsailbyowner]

Thousand a month sounds about right. That allows saving for one major breakdown a year or one major maintenance project along with the usual atropy items food and fuel. Eating out just doesn't happen. Much better food comes out of galley.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by positron

It apears that only multimillionaires like MarkJ are able to do it.

Hi Please don't be facetious about me. I wrote that post in good faith. I am not a multi millionaire. Nor am i suggesting one needs to be. Please go back and read my post again.

Welcome to the forum

[forsailbyowner]

Thousand a month sounds about right. That allows saving for one major breakdown a year or one major maintenance project along with the usual atropy items food and fuel. Eating out just doesn't happen. Much better food comes out of galley.

[capcook]

Originally Posted by forsailbyowner

Thousand a month sounds about right. That allows saving for one major breakdown a year or one major maintenance project along with the usual atropy items food and fuel. Eating out just doesn't happen. Much better food comes out of galley.

Now that's a budget I would like to see....

I think you forgot a zero...

Cheers

[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.

[MikeinLA]

Originally Posted by positron

There are to many government restraints now.

What government restraints?

I think there is validity in the presumption that one must have some means to go cruising. However, when you think about what cruising is, it's not surprising. You're basically talking about quitting work and going sailing....forever......in your 30s! I don't know many people who could afford to hang around their apartment for long without working, let alone buy & outfit a boat for cruising. I'll bet that many of the folks who appear to be having "the life" now scrimped and saved for many years to accomplish their goal.

Mike

[John A]

Don't worry about how others live/sail. Do your own thing and if you're happy why that's great!
We all should go cruising for personnal satisfaction and not to impress others or stress over the lack of stuff. IMHO
I was out there on a Cabo Rico 38 for nine years with a modest savings account and the last four years on Social Security. Yes there were things I'd wished for, but that was true when not cruising. But damn, I had fun!! Go for the adventure.

I will warn you though, don't burn the financial bridges because sometime, somewhere, for some reason, you're going to sollow the hook and become a CLOD.
Cruiser Living On Dirt.
regards John A

[osirissail]

- - The old buccaneer days and days of Eric Hiscock are gone. Just like the days of roaming the "wild west" of the USA and "staking a claim" on half of Oklahoma and the unknown oil underneath, are also gone. The civilized world is full up with people and politicians. That translates to you are going to have to pay for the privilege of visiting the "paradises" you want to sail to. Plain and simple.
-- How much? Well that is variable by an order of magnitude depending upon the boat and lifestyle you want to maintain. There is however a "floor" amount of money. Maintenance on the boat and the US$200/gallon bottom paint; Cost of gasoline or diesel; insurance if inside a country that requires it; Entry/exit fees at the countries you want to visit; Bonds that must be secured if you want to stop in some Pacific Islands; a certain level of food needed to stay alive and healthy (most countries import all their food except for household gardens); are all in the "floor amount" - oh! forgot you must have credit or sufficient funds to get your butt back to your home country should you get in trouble and they politely ask you to leave. If you don't, you will be deported and that will pretty much end any future travel outside your home country. As others stated it is about US$1k/month. That would, IMHO, constitute the "floor amount".
- - Above that "floor" cruisers will spend - as others have aptly stated - as much as you have available to spend. Increased boat size, added safety features, better food, medical insurance, and a million other "little nickel/dime" things soon add up to big money or more accurately put - all the money you have available to spend.
- - The old tales and feats of high adventure on the high seas are now Hollywood stuff - real life can really be a bummer when it comes to money. But there are hundreds of cruisers, if not thousands, doing the 6 months on the boat/6 months back working routine. And living the "dream" piece by piece.
- - The rest of us "planned ahead" (except for those that won the lottery) and saved and invested and now can live the dream full time (or at least a significant period of time).
- - You can enjoy a "piece of the pie of paradise" by starting local within your home country for far less than striking out around the world. Then over time you build your future cruising adventure by saving and investing until you exceed the "floor/threshold". Most likely you will build a little higher so that your adventure will not become an ordeal but rather an enjoyable adventure.
- - When looking at the cost on living on land we are mostly in the low income range (heck the USA poverty level in 2008 was about $14K a year) - but when we arrive at places like Trinidad we can throw around TT$100 bills with abandon as they are only worth US$16. In other countries, our US$100 makes us almost a millionaire in their local currency. So to the natives, we are "wealthy gringos". So the term "wealthy" is highly variable depending upon what you are comparing it to.

[Martinini]

You can do it on a thousand a month, I know. Remember when you are sailing you are not spending money you are saving it! If you are anchored out and fishing, swimming and just generally having fun you are not spending money. If you are hopping from marina to marina you are spending a lot of money! You don't have to have AC or TV or even internet to be happy.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by osirissail

- Trinidad we can throw around TT$100 bills with abandon as they are only worth US$16. In other countries, our US$100 makes us almost a millionaire in their local currency. .

We just had that!
1 000 000 Indonesian rupiahs = 105 U.S. dollars

And Nicolle sometimes forgets to say Rupiahs... we were in the supermarket (yes they have them and yes they use and sell Toilet Paper) and Nic is holding the calculator saying "Baked Beans only 80,000 dollars!"


I think she is trying to induce a heart attack. LOL

[shadow]

I always believe, "if there's a will, there's a way!" I've seen people living on just a few hundred a month for a small cozy boat. I've seen others needing at least $10,000 per month to barely "look" civilized. I think, if you want it bad enough, you will adapt to whatever it takes to fulfill your dream lifestyle.

[anotherT34C]

Seems to me that we shouldn't be too surprised that cruising around the world on a yacht is kind of an expensive hobby.

Personally, I have no real desire to do it on a shoestring, scrimping my way around. Too many other interests, I suppose.

[Vic de Beer]

This discussion certainly has generated a lot more replies than I anticipated and I must say, some very enlightening responses.
From the general discussion I can deduce that $1000.00/m is a bottom line sailing kitty.
When I did this, some 20 years ago, it was about $400.00/m. and we lived very well (2 adults and a kid), but finding work was almost a non-issue.... cleaning charter boats...even working as a contractor in St Maarten, doing boat (carpentry, engine repairs etc.) work in Annapolis Md., etc etc..
For me personally, cruising has become a bit of a dream. .. as a person who's had open heart surgery, venturing to far a way from a hospital has become an tether to the shore, close to home.
But, the discussion has given me some insight and a glimmer on some horizon, should I decide to stretch the tether, maybe as far as the Caribean....
Thanks for the input.

[osirissail]

#27 ->>>>Seems to me that we shouldn't be too surprised that cruising around the world on a yacht is kind of an expensive hobby.<<< Actually it might be a hobby for those doing it on the "high end" with their giant cat's or mega mono-hulls - but - there is a large amount of us who have made the cruising life - our final life or lifestyle until somebody drags us kicking and screaming away from it. We tend to be in the "middle" range of the three cost of cruising groups. As far as "expensive" I don't think so as the "low" end cost group is doing it on less than the official poverty level income inside the USA. Rather than living under a bridge in a cardboard hut in fear of druggies and police brutality, these folks are living under stars and sails and exploring the wonders of the world. It is no longer "cost-free" (I really don't think it ever was - if you adjust the costs which seemed low from 40 years ago to today's dollars) and the "floor" is still below what the average Social Security check pays. Try living on land on only a Social Security check.
#28 - - >>>>But, the discussion has given me some insight and a glimmer on some horizon, should I decide to stretch the tether, maybe as far as the Caribean...<<<<
With the improved medical care and the extremely low cost of medical care in some of the countries around and in the Caribbean Basin, you have little reason to be "tethered" to land anymore. Add in the very low cost of DAN med-evac insurance and anywhere in the Caribbean Basin is only 2 or 3 hours from a major USA city with advanced medical facilities. Remember that on average full time cruisers spend 90% or more of our journeys at anchor. Moving from one location to another the vast majority of the passages can be done as day sails. And with modern power assisted equipment on the boats, physical exertion is minimal with just enough real exertion to help your heart and other plumbing stay in tune.

[jm21]

Living what I consider pretty well on land (rent a small house, eat good steaks) I only spend about $1,500/month. When I was still in college/grad school it ranged from $700/month to $1,300/month (studied a year in southern california and it's damned expensive).

How does $1,000/month become a floor when you already own the boat? Maybe if you're buying a lot of visas and all that stuff, but if you're cruising relatively locally or just in a few countries it doesn't seem like it should be that high. I could spend a long time exploring the US, Canada, and Mexico.

So doing the math, I pay about $800 in rent and utilities, $220 on moorage...so I'd expect to spend about $500/month for what I consider the essentials (I'd eat out a lot less cruising and spend a lot less on gas and car maintenance, but would spend a bit on transient moorage and probably have some higher expenses in some ways). Assuming I stick to countries I don't have to pay expensive visa fees for that leaves about $500/month of a $1,000/month budget for maintenance. That's $6,000/year. You could buy an inexpensive 27' sailboat every year basically.

I think you've got to go before you get used to the good stuff though. 5 years ago I would have planned on buying big bags of frozen chicken, steel reserve, and 2 lbs loafs of cheddar cheese. Now I would plan on mostly ribeyes, micro-brews and specialty cheeses. We start earning more, we spend more, we develop more and more tastes we don't want to live without, and the dream gets further and further away.

Well, I'm way too young to be thinking about retirement and am definitely in the wrong occupation for taking long cruises. But $1,000/month doesn't seem all that unrealistic.