Low Cost Cruising Details

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by newhaul

all irrelevant to low cost cruising

Post your numbers man we want to know the facts and just the facts

Beers are €3 a pint..

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Boat $2,000

Upgrade over 8 years $10,000

New:

Mainsail (replacement)
Mainsail cover (replacement)
Dodger (replacement)
engine (repelacement)
autopilots (2x)
bottom jobs (3X)
custom 6" settee cushion (for sleeping)
outboard bracket (2x)
Inverters (400watt/1500 watt)
Solar (4 controllers, one Victron MPPT 75/15. 4 panels 155 watts total
two 90 ah 12 volt batteries in parallel
2 fans. one dc. one ac
2 led cabin lamps
4 shades
paint interior and exterior
bilge pump (replacement)
HDTV/Monitor
Raspberry Pi 4 Computer
Chart plotter w/AIS
SH GX2200 GPS/AIS/VHF
Handheld VHF / GPS (2X)

I'll cruise for around $1,000 - $1,500 per month while also maintaining a home for family and several vehicles, but I will not be putting it on an excel spreadsheet as I do that every day to track numbers and budget at work

Plus maybe $500 here and there when I want to do something else or leave the boat for a while

As I said, experience helps. Be that experience with boats, marinas, living in different coastal areas ........it all helps

excellent thanks for posting

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Beers are €3 a pint..

Damn that's an expensive short term rental cost .

[a64pilot]

Daluz,
If you really used brass caps on your thru hulls, you May consider changing them to bronze.
Personally I don’t think it’s a big deal so long as they are closed, but brass will fail in a salt water environment in a surprisingly short time.
Bronze even though it looks like brass will last a very long time.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Damn that's an expensive short term rental cost .

Well it is Desperados..

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Beers are €3 a pint..

Awesome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vng66yaAtdI

[DaLuz]

A64pilot,

Noted, thanks for bronze the suggestion!

Be safe.

[jaffadog]

Maybe this fits your definition of cruising, maybe not.

But these guys (worth a follow on YouTube for sure) have laid it all out here. 3 years, $1500 average, totally transparent.

They also do a really good job of talking about how to figure some of this out for yourself - it depends on what you sail, where you sail, and your attitude towards sailing.

I really hope this URL worked. Sailing Florence Around the World is the YT channel.

https://sailwiththeflo.wordpress.com...-as-you-think/

Our expenses, back in the early 1990s, on our 28' boat in the Eastern Caribbean and Bahamas, were $750 a month. All in. Back then, we didn't have health insurance. Our attitude toward cruising was pretty close to Matt and Amy's. Attitude has not changed, but our budget has (and so has the need for health insurance, possibly the biggest OH **** for American cruisers who aren't of Medicare age). Boat is the same. Place to cruise will be more far afield.

[Mike OReilly]

It's interesting how many of us are quoting in the $1500 USD range (for me, about $1400 for two adults).

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by contrail

Thomm,............Unless, of course, your true satisfaction comes from demeaning and irritating people, by whatever means you can. There are people who do that.

You think?

[dwedeking2]

while a global forum, people on the internet discussing about living on a boat are going to first worlders (primarily) with some set costs (fuel, mooring, insurances, food) and norms of a acceptable lifestyle you going to find clusters at certain dollar amounts.

$1500 - frugal ”tiny housers” (those that look at limiting the commercialism footprint but still have ability to enjoy certain luxuries)

$3000 - this was a level I found when my father was retiring, in listening to his associates - middle class worker bees - city employees, school employees, middle management - talk about retiring.

why?

those thinking more about what they can experience vs how hard they can work are still qualified to make above minimum (per effort or hour) so have more than the $500 a month club.

those retiring from well paid jobs with existing pensions are belt tightening to a lower fixed income (no bonuses for a good month, extra overtime) which from my informal survey is the $3000 - $4000 range.

bottom line for a majority of the developed world you spend what comes in each month.

Me, personally, I'm in the $1000 month range, have prepared plans to be in the $500 range, and am looking to marry into the $3000+ range.

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

It's interesting how many of us are quoting in the $1500 USD range (for me, about $1400 for two adults).

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by dwedeking2

while a global forum, people on the internet discussing about living on a boat are going to first worlders (primarily) with some set costs (fuel, mooring, insurances, food) and norms of a acceptable lifestyle you going to find clusters at certain dollar amounts.

$1500 - frugal ”tiny housers” (those that look at limiting the commercialism footprint but still have ability to enjoy certain luxuries)

$3000 - this was a level I found when my father was retiring, in listening to his associates - middle class worker bees - city employees, school employees, middle management - talk about retiring.

why?

those thinking more about what they can experience vs how hard they can work are still qualified to make above minimum (per effort or hour) so have more than the $500 a month club.

those retiring from well paid jobs with existing pensions are belt tightening to a lower fixed income (no bonuses for a good month, extra overtime) which from my informal survey is the $3000 - $4000 range.

bottom line for a majority of the developed world you spend what comes in each month.

Me, personally, I'm in the $1000 month range, have prepared plans to be in the $500 range, and am looking to marry into the $3000+ range.

Fits with what we see here. Which is why the adage that, it costs what you have, seems to ring true for most of us. If I had a gold (or even silver) plated pension I'm sure I'd spend more. As it is, I have no pension, and was lucky enough to 'marry' into the $1400 range. If she ever gives me the boot I'll definitely be in the sub $500 range .

[AmericanVagrant]

Excluding fitting out of the boat I would generally fall in the $500-1000 range (limiting the accounting to myself alone). I would say $150-300 goes to food provisioning on the boat, with an additional $200-400 going to eating and drinking on land. Gas/diesel/consumables are minimal as I row around in a dinghy or kayak and sailed all but ~5 hours during the crossing to the Marquesas.

My costs for maintenance have generally been minimal. Even when I sheared the rudder from it's stock a bit south of Ensenada I was able to get myself to La Paz and track down a yard that patched me up for around $800 all in. I'm typically a frugal bastard but that's because I enjoy maintaining a strong financial buffer and have a penchant for discomfort.

I have plenty of envy for those that can afford a more comfortable sailing lifestyle but I chose to go now rather than save for later. Maybe one day I'll do it again as a yachtie but for the time being I settle for being the smallest vessel in the anchorage

[dwedeking2]

as an example how costs can quickly escalate.

when I first got to key west I rowed in (a mile) old dinghy $300

got enough money - 3.5hp for $800 just motor

when 3.5hp stolen 6hp - $1500 motor

how quickly an escalating standard can go

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by AmericanVagrant

Excluding fitting out of the boat I would generally fall in the $500-1000 range (limiting the accounting to myself alone). I would say $150-300 goes to food provisioning on the boat, with an additional $200-400 going to eating and drinking on land. Gas/diesel/consumables are minimal as I row around in a dinghy or kayak and sailed all but ~5 hours during the crossing to the Marquesas.

My costs for maintenance have generally been minimal. Even when I sheared the rudder from it's stock a bit south of Ensenada I was able to get myself to La Paz and track down a yard that patched me up for around $800 all in. I'm typically a frugal bastard but that's because I enjoy maintaining a strong financial buffer and have a penchant for discomfort.

I have plenty of envy for those that can afford a more comfortable sailing lifestyle but I chose to go now rather than save for later. Maybe one day I'll do it again as a yachtie but for the time being I settle for being the smallest vessel in the anchorage

just remember you share the same sunsets but spend in a year the months maintenance budget of some of those bigger yachts . The deck hands usually wish they were where you are at :-):-):-)