Cost To Live On Board? Poll

[Fishigan]

Per Month NOT counting health insurance or boat payments. I am wondering what a reasonable budget is for slip fees, mooring fees, fuel, travel etc.

[ThereAndBack]

You need to put forward a ton more info.

Where? What type of boat? Do you need shore power? What does your lifestyle demand? etc etc etc.

It can be done for very cheap or very expensive. This is like asking what a house costs. It might be 20k for a shack or millions and millions of dollars for a mansion.

[sailorboy1]

this much

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by ThereAndBack

You need to put forward a ton more info.

Where? What type of boat? Do you need shore power? What does your lifestyle demand? etc etc etc.

It can be done for very cheap or very expensive. This is like asking what a house costs. It might be 20k for a shack or millions and millions of dollars for a mansion.

Way too many variables to give a meaningful answer. I can tell you what it costs me to live this way. But my circumstances are likely significantly different than yours.

[Fishigan]

Just wondering what the average is. It's like an RV, some spend 10k a month others 1k. Regardless of boat and what not, I am looking for a range.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Fishigan

Just wondering what the average is. It's like an RV, some spend 10k a month others 1k. Regardless of boat and what not, I am looking for a range.

That's a reasonable range. As with RVing, most will fall somewhere in the middle.

[MicHughV]

Most dockage is based on a " per foot" basis, so the length of your boat becomes a decided factor.....then you have to add in all the " hidden" fees that marina's seem to favor these days....environmental fee...dockbox fee...are you using 30 amp or 50 amp service....etc...etc..

But really...if you have to ask....you can't afford it....

[Fishigan]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Most dockage is based on a " per foot" basis, so the length of your boat becomes a decided factor.....then you have to add in all the " hidden" fees that marina's seem to favor these days....environmental fee...dockbox fee...are you using 30 amp or 50 amp service....etc...etc..

But really...if you have to ask....you can't afford it....

Really.... if I have to ask.
I get that the price will very depending on boat length, marina charges your use of electric, your life style, however there is still going to be an average. It's not about knowing what I can afford, I know that number, But if I get 100 people say they average 10k a month, then that's not an amount I am interested in spending. If that average comes to say 4k a month then I know it is plus or minus that number for me.
For some reason I thought it was going to be simple click a number that your range falls in or don't participate. But.... that was too much to ask.
Admin can delete the thread if they like FFS.

[ThereAndBack]

Originally Posted by Fishigan

Really.... if I have to ask.
I get that the price will very depending on boat length, marina charges your use of electric, your life style, however there is still going to be an average. It's not about knowing what I can afford, I know that number, But if I get 100 people say they average 10k a month, then that's not an amount I am interested in spending. If that average comes to say 4k a month then I know it is plus or minus that number for me.
For some reason I thought it was going to be simple click a number that your range falls in or don't participate. But.... that was too much to ask.
Admin can delete the thread if they like FFS.

You can be upset by the response that you're getting but you're getting these for a reason. I've lived extremely frugally in central America aboard smaller monohull for 0 dollars a month (for months and months at a time) while anchored out. I've also lived in Charleston SC on the city dock for 2k+ per month in dockage alone. So what answer would you like me to give you? 0 dollars? 3000 dollars?

We aren't jerking your chain. Your lifestyle will heavily dictate the costs you're hoping to understand. It is manageable in almost any budget but a lot is going to depend on -YOU-.

This forum sees literally hundreds of people asking this very question and inevitably every is frustrated when they don't get a straight answer, but there are good reasons there isn't a golden answer.

If you just -NEED- an answer, assume 4k per month and you'll be good.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Fishigan

Really.... if I have to ask.
I get that the price will very depending on boat length, marina charges your use of electric, your life style, however there is still going to be an average. It's not about knowing what I can afford, I know that number, But if I get 100 people say they average 10k a month, then that's not an amount I am interested in spending. If that average comes to say 4k a month then I know it is plus or minus that number for me.
For some reason I thought it was going to be simple click a number that your range falls in or don't participate. But.... that was too much to ask.
Admin can delete the thread if they like FFS.

If you simply ask what people spend?, that is an answerable question. Doesn't tell you very much, but it's certainly answerable. Asking what it costs? is a different question that can only be answered by knowing a lot more about the circumstances in question.

Take this as your first insight into the cruising lifestyle. Circumstances vary widely, just as they do in the RV lifestyle. You'd get the same "it depends" response to your question on an RV site.

[TrentePieds]

Fishigan:

Since you clearly have a computer - or are you trying to get by with a "smart phone?" - you can obviously use a spreadsheet.

So the way to get the answer you are looking for - nay, an even better one, because the answer will be peculiar to you, is to set up a budget. Nothing to it, as I'm sure you know, though I grant you that doing it can be tedious and boring :-)

A bit of systematic thinking, a bit of sculling around in the company of the all-knowing Ms. Google and Bob's yer uncle!

Best of luck with it!

Cheers,

TrentePieds

[Dogscout]

Dont forget that the month of the year also affects the cost and it can be location dependent. You could be in the Balerics at 250 Euro and night or in Hammamet at 250 Euro a month.

Your average monthly depends significantly on where you are. But just go with Sailorboy's spreadsheet and figure out a multiplier for location.

[MicHughV]

Don't forget that these days, marina's are ever conscious of their profit line.

If your dockage is going to be based on a " per foot" number, the marina will measure your boat from the tip of the bowsprit/pulpit to the dinghy hanging off the stern.

Your 30' boat could easily be viewed as a 40' boat, by the time the marina is done crunching their numbers...

Conversely, some marina's charge by the slip....eg, if you have a 30' boat, they might but you in a 40' slip...and charge you accordingly..

'jes sayin'......

[Simi 60]

And then there are those of us who never use a marina
$1500 a month in front right there.

[zstine]

I guess people have a hard time with reading. The OP is not concerned with "his" projected monthly cost. He is looking to find a statistical average and maybe even a bell curve with standard deviations... not bad to know

for a family of 4 NJ to Caribbean, our monthly was below $2k

Over 12 mo, $0 on slips, about $150/yr ($12.5/mo) on moorings, $600/yr fuel ($50/mo), $2000/yr of flights home (166/mo) food/booze/entertainment $600to800/mo. about $50/mo data... $200/mo boat parts... $27/mo in_reach plan... a few hundred misc. that's most of it.. food/booze/entertainment is by far the highest single cost. there were 4 of us and I don't fish, so food alone was $500/mo and we ate out a few times and another $100 for beer and wine.. I think we were pretty frugal for a family of 4 and if I did it again I would have spent more and did more touristy stuff.