Month 2 Expenses & Costs of Cruising

[sailorboy1]

So it doesn't take all that much to go off the rails on expenses. For our second month out cruising we replaced the boat batteries and the autopilot drive twice. This also resulted in a couple of unplanned stays in marinas, which greatly increased our marina costs from the lowly $40 last month to the amount this month (having power is nice ). We are also weak and a marina stay also results in more dining out and access to movies and other entertainment. So these are our expenses for month 2 of our live on the boat and cruise (traveled from Yorktown VA to Beaufort SC):

Food/beer/soda/sundries/clothing/personal care - $657.56

Boat maintenance and repairs - $3,497.63

Marina costs - $855.6

Entertainment and sightseeing - $303.89

Transportation - $234.16

Diesel - $188.85

Dining out - $1,174.82

Storage and communication -$481.11

That's $7,159.46, which is way over out budget of $3,000/mo and much more than the roughly $2,500 last month.

Your results will vary, but this was the real world of month 2.

[JPA Cate]

sailorboy,

This situation will improve. It is just that the free lifestyle shows up weak points in one's plans. Batteries, autopilot, and often, refrigeration are common teething problems. Good on ya for having enough reserves to handle this hit with such aplomb.

Ann

[Bleemus]

Wow. You must have gotten the batteries with the solid gold cases.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by Bleemus

Wow. You must have gotten the batteries with the solid gold cases.

Nope, got 4 Trojan T105s for $593 from an auto part store than even delivered them to me at the marina. I feel this was reasonable and probably within $50-75 of what I could have found 4 golf cart batteries for if I had a car and could have shopped around long enough for them. Plus the the whole project from the time I docked at the marina, called the store and ordered them, removed the old batteries, installed the new ones; was 3.5 hours and since I value my time I was very happy with the whole thing.

[zboss]

The old story goes - if something breaks once, fix it! If it breaks twice, replace it!

We spend a lot just because we are still working a full time job, so we can relate to how things can add up quickly. Much of the year we are stuck finding a marina to get into for a month or two while I go off working. So, of course, there are lots of ways to spend your dimes when you are in a marina.

That's a good price for the trojans. You can get a Duracell equivalents for $99 (215 Ah) to $197 (255 Ah) from batteries plus. Right now they are having 10% off if you order on line and go pick them up.

[Bleemus]

Good price on the Trojans. So guessing the AP drives was what goosed the maintenance bill. Ouch.

[robert sailor]

Depending how much traveling you do there is also a direct connection between how many miles you sail every year and what your boat costs are. The more miles the higher the expenses. Those folks that don't spend much on maintaining their boat usually don't go very far, which is certainly an option for a great number of cruisers. If you keep doing lots of traveling the breakdowns and expenses never stop, it's one thing after another, just the way the game is played. Hope you get a bit of a reprieve for awhile and your goals fall back in line. Once you are away from the mainland all the parts are much more expensive and in some cases, hard to come by. It's still worth it, great lifestyle.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Not to put you on the spot, but what kind of AP, & what about it failed, how/why?
Also, any good movie recommendationss?
Glad you're enjoying the life!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

Not to put you on the spot, but what kind of AP, & what about it failed, how/why?
Also, any good movie recommendationss?
Glad you're enjoying the life!

It's a Raymarine system. The computer and control head were replaced 3 years ago, but the rotary drive motor was 15 years old and the motor finally gave out. If I had been land living I would have taken the motor to have new bushes etc. installed, but cruising I just ordered a new one. But the new unit failed in 2 hours with a bearing issue in the gear box. It is a warranty thing but I didn't have the time to just sit around for weeks while I sent it in and got it back. so I got another and will hopefully be able to sell the other once it is fixed under warranty. But in the meantime I spent the money and it is part of the monthly costs.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

It's a Raymarine system. The computer and control head were replaced 3 years ago, but the rotary drive motor was 15 years old and the motor finally gave out. If I had been land living I would have taken the motor to have new bushes etc. installed, but cruising I just ordered a new one. But the new unit failed in 2 hours with a bearing issue in the gear box. It is a warranty thing but I didn't have the time to just sit around for weeks while I sent it in and got it back. so I got another and will hopefully be able to sell the other once it is fixed under warranty. But in the meantime I spent the money and it is part of the monthly costs.

At that age it didn't owe you anything. And the new one's quick death is kind of common. In that usually such things, & electrical/electronic items either fail soon after purchase, or years later. Thus the sea trial/shake down cruise idea. And why you wait until but a few months prior to leaving to buy electronics, so that they're new gen. & under warranty, but have time to test them.

Might your budget allow for keeping both APs so that you have a spare? And then to use the ancient one for parts, or to possibly have it rebuilt.

[SV THIRD DAY]

It takes about 6 months after leaving the dock to get out of shake-down mode and into real cruising budget mode. It seems that everyone we talk budget numbers with agrees that their first year of cruising is the most expensive because that is when the inadequate or on the edge gear breaks and you also find out things you want/need. People are also still in the "US Spending" vs "Cruising Spending" habit mode.

Our first year full year (2009) Cost of Cruising was an average of $1964 per month, while 2011 was an average of $1435 per month.

[thomm225]

It seems like you are overly concerned with how much you spend.

Why not just enjoy cruising for a while, and if you spend a bit too much, you can get a job here and there.

We coastal cruisers/day sailors had an awesome day sailing today. Winds gusting to around 20 knots, but in close to shore, it was fun.

Maybe a movie tomorrow after working out then a trip in the car/Jeep for Thanksgiving

I'm thinking variety is the spice of life............

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Nope, got 4 Trojan T105s for $593 from an auto part store than even delivered them to me at the marina. I feel this was reasonable and probably within $50-75 of what I could have found 4 golf cart batteries for if I had a car and could have shopped around long enough for them. Plus the the whole project from the time I docked at the marina, called the store and ordered them, removed the old batteries, installed the new ones; was 3.5 hours and since I value my time I was very happy with the whole thing.

4 golf cart batts cost me $340 this past summer at a local Sam's club. They were Deka batteries not Trojan but still serve their purpose well!

[jdazey]

Sailorboy1, thanks for sharing. This is all good, real world information.

Cheers,

[Kenomac]

Sailorboy,

Stuff happens. It's your careful planning that enables you to weather the temporary maintenance financial storm.

Maybe it's time to buy a fishing rod.