Month 7 Expenses & Costs of Cruising

[daletournier]

You get better at relaxing in your time, not hurrying is a talent that takes time to master. And of course there is Cf to waste a good part of your day on :-)

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by daletournier

You get better at relaxing in your time, not hurrying is a talent that takes time to master. And of course there is Cf to waste a good part of your day on :-)

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

And if you don't have good internet you get to save all the cf time for something else of equal long term value

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Swim, sunbathe, read, listen to music, tinker while listening to music.. walk.
Luckily in many places outside the USA a car is not a necessity.. people actually walk places..

Understood Boatman but many here walk or run much less than I do.

Believe it or not, I'm just trying to get them to see without changing their entire life and being disappointed.

Test it first.

I got quite bored on a 6 day cruise in 2014. The only thing that made it fun was that I got caught in 30 mph winds on my return trip down the bay.

And yes, I know it takes longer to adjust but still ........if you are used to a fast paced life, job, apartment, home, etc it's a real change

If you are not a person that likes to tinker on things that don't actually need to be tinkered with it gets boring.

You can swim, sunbath, listen to music in your back yard.

Cruising seems great to me but I can see how it can become slow and boring.

I may cruise one day but it will be with a destination and total plan.

If you aren't learning and busy that isn't good.

[Matt Johnson]

I was a very, very high stress, active, and an always in a hurry type person before we started cruising. After just a month or two, life was no longer a race. Standing in lines suddenly became no big deal. Taking a day or two to get laundry, shopping, whatever, became nothing. The stress just melted away and I became completely relaxed. I spent 10 days in the USVIs never touching land.... Just reading, swimming, lounging, enjoying my time.

Thomm225, you may be surprised if you ever push off for longer.
Granted, after 2-1/2 years of this, and just having sailied across the Atlantic, I needed to do something different and decided to rebuild a boat back in Florida. Sailed back across and have been stressed for two years doing that

Matt

Sent from my LG-V410 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[waltdrechsler]

We are about 1 year from casting off the lines. I really appreciate the information you are providing. It gives me insight into reality. Keep it coming!

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Understood Boatman but many here walk or run much less than I do.

Believe it or not, I'm just trying to get them to see without changing their entire life and being disappointed.

Test it first.

I got quite bored on a 6 day cruise in 2014. The only thing that made it fun was that I got caught in 30 mph winds on my return trip down the bay.

And yes, I know it takes longer to adjust but still ........if you are used to a fast paced life, job, apartment, home, etc it's a real change

If you are not a person that likes to tinker on things that don't actually need to be tinkered with it gets boring.

You can swim, sunbath, listen to music in your back yard.

Cruising seems great to me but I can see how it can become slow and boring.

I may cruise one day but it will be with a destination and total plan.

If you aren't learning and busy that isn't good.

Maybe cruising isn't right for you?

We go ashore nearly every day, explore the area via folding bikes, take walks, go on photography adventures which even included white water river rafting last summer. Sometimes we just sit around eating fresh tuna we caught, or eat gelato purchased at the corner store. Scuba diving and paddleboarding. Reading a book or pissing away time here on CF.

We both work very hard six months of the year and walk nearly five miles per day on the job, so when on the boat... we do the opposite.

[thomm225]

Cruising isn't for everyone and may not be right for me but I do want to try it one day. Probably for a few months here and there at first

When first arriving on the Gulf Coast in the 90's I thought it was heaven, but after sailing, cycling, and running in that summer heat for 12 years I learn this:

It's really HOT in the summer!

But the hurricanes did make it exciting until Ivan and Katrina in 2004 and 2005. Those were not exciting or fun. The water level from Cat 5 Katrina was almost as high as a normal hurricane when it passed 180 miles to the South. Cat 3/4 Ivan was a direct hit and we had the national guard and a curfew for a couple weeks (and no power)

I'd see boats anchored along the ICW coming back from sailboat racing in Panama City, and I would wonder what they did all day

I've seen boats anchored just on the side of the Destin Bridge and for some reason I always thought that was a nice spot. It was on the south west side if memory serves. Lots of things happening there

The folks/cruisers at Pirates Cove (located on the Redneck Riviera) also seemed to be enjoying themselves and were in no real hurry to sail or do anything but sleep late and drink early. They always seemed happy though when we'd drive over there to hang out

I did get excited though watching the start of the yearly race to Mexico by the monohull sailors which normally started in Pensacola Bay.


Regata Al Sol – May 2018

[zboss]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Folks seem to be missing the obvious.

What are you going to do with your time while anchored day after day after day?

Or at a Marina with no car.

You are very limited in what you can do especially at anchor

Whaaaaat? We only like being anchored out. There is no lack of other boats to hang with. And I agree... less money wasted on marinas is more money to go out.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by zboss

Whaaaaat? We only like being anchored out. There is no lack of other boats to hang with. And I agree... less money wasted on marinas is more money to go out.

Agreed.

Money wasn't my point. I'm talking activity, purpose.

Maybe I spent too much time "parked" on beach cats waiting between buoy races while I was on the Gulf Coast. (10 years of racing 8-10 months a year most weekends and some Wednesdays plus crewing on monos from time to time)

Sometimes we had to wait 1/2 hour for the other boats to finish!!!

Being anchored for days seems scary, but I may be able to do it in my early 70's

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by zboss

Whaaaaat? We only like being anchored out. There is no lack of other boats to hang with. And I agree... less money wasted on marinas is more money to go out.

As a coastal cruiser, I always anchor out also and never stay at marinas unless it's my permanent marina.

I just don't anchor out for too many days at a time.

I'll be "cruising" next weekend and anchored out for a couple days while crisscrossing the bay. While anchored, it will be hiking, reading, observing, and kayaking.

Sail miles may be around 60-70 depending on the wind.

I'm now trying to figure out if I need a smaller, faster, more performance oriented sailboat if all I'm going to do for the next few years is "go coastal."

A Merit 25 has a PHRF of about 171 while my boat is about 240.......it might be a fun boat plus you can race it. A couple of these boats have completed the 2,100 mile SHTP Race from San Francisco to Hawaii.

[sailorboy1]

And here I thought this was a budget thread.

[wayne.b]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Folks seem to be missing the obvious.

What are you going to do with your time while anchored day after day after day?

Or at a Marina with no car.

You are very limited in what you can do especially at anchor

===

We haven't found that to be true at all and we anchor out about 90% of the time. That's what the dinghy is for -- going ashore, exploring new places, etc. Sometimes we'll rent a car for a day or two if we're at a new island. Sometimes we go exploring on bicycles, other times we'll take an organized tour or just go hiking around. You can always find something to do if you try, and of course you can always move on to a new port or new island. That's the fun of it. There are so many great places out there and I'll never see them all.

[akprb]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Jim,
I'm having trouble sleeping worrying about this very issue myself. It used to be financial concerns that worried me, but I now think we will be OK. Not rich, but OK.
However I now worry that after a few months that I will become bored and wish I hadn't gone cruising.
However I am a worrier, I would worry that I wasn't worried if that makes sense. I'd worry that I had missed something important.
Cruising can't be for everyone, nothing is, however we only hear from those that like it, People that quit are unlikely to be here, wonder what the failure rate is?
Last day at work is May 31, then a couple of weeks to pack things away and we are gone, at least to have the chainplates replaced, then go aground until after Hurricane season.

That was our experience, we ended up with a hybrid lifestyle ;-)

[MarkJ]

I fill every day with exactly what I want to do. Exactly. Today I did nothing.

Fanbloodytastic!

[Nooka]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

g'Day 64,



Understandable concerns, ones that likely affect all soon-to-be cruisers. But, I remind you that if you don't take to it, well, it isn't the end of the world. You'll move on to something else. There may be a financial hit, and regrets about the loss of money and time, but there's nothing terminal involved with getting out of cruising.



Another thing: when you get away, don't let the newness of the first few months discourage you. For many folks, the combination of retiring after a lifetime of working coupled with the change in lifestyle with going cruising is pretty upsetting. It may take you a full year to make the emotional adjustments that allow you to sit back and say to yourself "wow, this is getting to be really good". But it does usually happen if you keep with it and have as much fun as you can while adjusting.



You have my best wishes for a successful and rewarding cruising life. It has been so good for me that it's difficult to imagine not liking it, but I must bow th the reality that it ain't for everyone.



Jim



PS You maybe should rename your boat "Rainbow Worrier"!

This seems like sage advice. Personality type and state of mind are so important. We cast off on 22 May. During the several year dreaming stage we imagined that would be the beginning of a multi-year round the world voyage. But in the 6 months after I retired last June, I found myself fretting about all the 'what if' questions: what if we don't like it, what if we don't get on, what if we are not as brave as we would like to be... And (early) retirement, which had seemed such a gift at the time because work had become a great strain, came to feel like the entrance to a one way street to the graveyard. When I articulated these concerns to my wife, turned out she felt the same way (except the courage thing - she is way braver than me!).

So we have unretired - we are now on an open ended career break! We have bought a little house in a lovely waterside village which will provide useful beer money through short lettings while giving us somewhere we know we will be happy to come back to. And perhaps most importantly, we are now setting off on a 6 month cruise to the Med.

We still both hope that we will love it, and that we will just keep on going, all the way round if we feel like it. But for us, this recalibration of our thinking has been transformational. There is nothing to worry about, nothing to fear. Just pure excitement. And if I get bored I am going to train myself ready to start a new career when I get back!

Wouldn't work for everyone, but sometimes changing ones mind can be as or more powerful than changing physical circumstances.