Our cruising costs - month two for a middle-aged couple on a modest boat

[Cthoops]

As we were getting ready to cut the dock lines, I found Sailorboy's monthly posts listing his cruising expenses were very helpful as a real world example of the costs of cruising. In the interest of paying it forward, I thought I'd list our monthly expenses for those who are dreaming and planning as we once were.

As background, we are a middle-aged couple (I'm 49, Mr. cthoops is 59) and we are cruising full-time on our 1977 Bristol 29.9. This is our second boat and we've spent the last few years sailing her in the summer and refitting during the winter.

This month we continued what may be the slowest cruise ever, going from Oyster Bay, NY to Hampton, VA. The cash outflow was better than last month, but would have been less had it not been for repairs necessitated by an unfortunate incident in what will forever be known on our boat as "that damn underwater dike in Delaware Bay." We are certainly glad that we have a nice cushion for unexpected expenses like that one.

Here's what we spent in October, keeping in mind that Mr. cthoops has congestive heart failure so we don't drink alcohol (his cardiologist says no) and we eat out infrequently (because of his sodium restrictions):

Groceries: $415.65

Diesel/Gasoline: $151.79. This includes a can of TruFuel (non-ethanol gas) for the dinghy which is $20 a can. Moving into states that sell non-ethanol gasoline at the pumps will help a lot with this.

Propane/Denatured Alcohol: $24.81. Two propane canisters for heat and the grill, and one gallon of denatured alcohol for the stove.

Health Care: $84.47

Cell phone and internet (2 phones, one iPad data plan, iCloud storage, and a
Garmin inReach subscription): $165.61

Mail Service: $10.60. The UPS Store charges $5.00 to have mail delivered and held.

Laundry: $31.75

Ice: $9.00

Showers: $2.00

Netflix: $11.10

Club annual dues: $550. We decided to maintain our membership for another year to keep our options open for returning to our slip in Groton next summer.

Boat stuff: $2,445.09. The repairs from our grounding and a power wash to Pegu Club's bottom cost $2,188.36. The rest is for a ditch bag, zincs, extra cotter pins, spare nuts for the windlass, a 5 gallon diesel jerry jug, disposable gloves, 2 hanging dehumidifier bags, and some hose to make oil changes easier.

Restaurants/Entertainment: $181.84

Uber/Bus: $16.00

New York Times subscription: $40.40 (gets billed every four weeks)

Marinas: $301. This is for one night on a mooring in Port Washington, two nights at a slip in Delaware City (where the boat was getting repaired), and four nights on a mooring in Annapolis.

Life Insurance: $220.75.

Random: $153.88 – this amount includes new v-berth sheets (the cotton ones always felt damp), a Kindle book and a real life book, a write on/wipe off board, a collapsible push cart for groceries, two Mega Millions tickets, AAA batteries, anti-skid for the galley cupboard, two DVD's, and tips for marina staff.

Total: $4,815.74

September/October average: $5,452.41


I hope this is helpful.

[sailorboy1]

Hey look up my month 2 and you will see how well you are doing!

Thanks for sharing.

[MV Wanderlust]

Thanks for sharing. We'll be following your adventures and expenses as you travel.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Hey look up my month 2 and you will see how well you are doing!

Thanks for sharing.

LOL! Yes, it could have been worse.

Thanks!

[Jaqun]

This is very helpful,Thanks
I thought that the moorings on port Washington were free for the first three days?

[boatman61]

I only use 100% Egyptian cotton sheets on board my boats.. the usual others are inferior quality cotton.. closest thing to silk on the skin..

[Shoalbay]

U$3000/month on the following 12 month journey on which provisioning was provided for 2-4 crew.

Departed West Vancouver, Eagle Harbour 16 Sept 2017
->Montague Harbour
->‎Blaine, WA
->‎Watmough Bay, WA
->‎Port Angeles, WA
->‎Neah Bay, WA
->‎San Francisco, CA
->‎Hilo, Lana'i, Molokai, Honolulu
->Marshall Islands: Majuro, various atolls
->‎Micronesia: Kosrae, Pohnpe, Chuuk
->Guam
->Rota
->‎Saipan*
->Japan: arrived Chichijima, departed Kushiro June 21, a dozen or so ports‎ in between.
->USA: arrived Attu, then Adak, Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, Graves Harbor, AK, Coot Cove, AK, Juneau (Auke Bay), Taku AK, Petersburg, Ratz Harbor, Kendrick Bay,*
->Canada 8/19/18 Prince Rupert
->Baker Inlet
->Bishop bay
->Klemtu
->Namu
->Allison Harbour
->Sointula
->Kelsey Bay
->Shoal Bay
->Westview
->Secret Cove
->Horseshoe Bay
->Eagle Harbour Sept 5, 2018

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1667

[DenverSailors]

Great info! Thanks muchly!!

[Paul L]

Shoalbay
That is some serious mileage in one year. And in a nice classic. Shows there are lots of different cruising styles. At our rate it would take more like 7 years to do a track like that.

[Drew13440]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I only use 100% Egyptian cotton sheets on board my boats.. the usual others are inferior quality cotton.. closest thing to silk on the skin..

This is long staple cotton, rather than the more common short staple variety. The seeds for it were developed in the South Carolina Sea Islands and sold to the Egyptians in the 19th century.

We do know something of cotton over here.

[Maka]

Thanks to all of you who shared expenses here.
Useful information.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Drew13440

This is long staple cotton, rather than the more common short staple variety. The seeds for it were developed in the South Carolina Sea Islands and sold to the Egyptians in the 19th century.

We do know something of cotton over here.

Thanks for that.. interesting reading the history.
Did not know about the 1000's year old S American cotton roots that exist.
But then coming from the Indian sub continent I'd be more aware of Indian cotton fueling the Industrial Revolution in the British mills and selling the goods back to the Indians who were forbidden from producing their own cloth.

[smjack1]

To echo others, thanks very much for taking the time to capture and share your costs. I am in what I hope is my last year of working before starting our cruising phase, at present just soaking up info from this Forum, reading all I can , and rereupdating a somewhat anal spreadsheet convincing myself we can afford comfortable long term cruising.

Thanks again

[pragmatist]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Thanks for that.. interesting reading the history.
Did not know about the 1000's year old S American cotton roots that exist.
But then coming from the Indian sub continent I'd be more aware of Indian cotton fueling the Industrial Revolution in the British mills and selling the goods back to the Indians who were forbidden from producing their own cloth.

Fascinating. I come from Lancashire stock on my mother's side - a county where there were plenty of cotton mills. Had no idea about the Indians being forbidden to produce their own cloth. Can you point me to any more info ? TIA Penny

[boatman61]

Apologies for the thread drift Cthoops..
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cotton
Also check out Mahatma Ghandi and his weaving rebellion..
Lancs roots here as well.. Moms side Bolton.