Reality check for future solo cruising budget- $70k to start and $3k/month?.

[JebLostInSpace]

My knee-jerk reaction is that your proposed budget is fairly close. I would tend towards a little more money on the initial purchase, and a little less money on immediate upgrades/repairs. For one, you spend less time land-bound immediately after purchase, which cuts down on dock fees before you get into the anchor lifestyle.

Also, adding equipment and maintaining a boat generally doesn't improve the value of the boat by as much as the equipment/maintenance activity cost. This means that if you find a seller who has already done things like install solar, upgrade ground tackle, replace running rigging, renew sanitation hoses, etc, you can probably buy that boat for less than it would take to buy a boat that needed those upgrades, and then install them yourself. This is of course not universally true. It helps if the upgrades were done a couple of years before the sale, so that the seller doesn't feel as justified in jacking up the asking price based on his/her work.

[Bill_Giles]

Spend more on a newer boat, not a bigger one. That should reduce immediate major replacements. use any deficiencies on purchase to reduce the price so you should not have any immediate expense not covered. Do as much work as you can yourself to learn as much as you can about your systems. Try to sail lots between now and when you buy, sail a dinghy as well.

[Rainy]

I love the prospect you are presenting here... there is always the more sustainable roughing it route but you will not be lacking creature comforts should you need them on that budget. LA I have been knocking on doors for months and simply living in the marina here will eat the budget alive. Best straightforward quote I got was 1600. Better off heading out Catalina, up Ventura, or just making your way down the Baja Coast and into Central America. Any maintenance down there will cost 10% of what it costs here and you will find loads of marinas run by massive communities of expats scattered all about the edges of the jungles.



Best of luck to you and enjoy the travels.

[Captain Bucknut]

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...at-252044.html

Sailorboy has been posting his monthly expense for a couple/few years now and he is living on $3,500/month. He appears to have a contingency for the unexpected.

[flightlead404]

I think you're better off spending the $70k on a boat that's close to what you want, close to where you want it.

[sailingharry]

When we cruise, our monthly expenses are closer to 4000. That's not full time, but it's full time for several months. But we definitely don't skimp, we have occasional narina/mooring nights, occasional car rentals, etc. We also motor far more than we'd like because we are on a schedule. We could easily dial that back to $3,000.

As mentioned up thread, the cheapest upgrades are the ones the previous owner does. Our boat is loaded with features that I would never have actually paid for, that had very little impact on the purchase price of the boat. But they do need to be recent, if they are too old they still need to be replaced (our life raft was already expired when we bought the boat four years ago, and now it is even more expired)

I would consider pushing up your purchase budget and down your refit budget. While not really in your price range, our 43 foot boat from 1998 was truly offshore ready for $140,000. You could probably get a nearly ready boat for under 100,000. But recognize that at any price, you will still need certain things.

I would strongly caution against 30 to 35 ft. While many do it, including some on this thread (and they are certainly not regretting it), it is tight for liveaboard. Very tight if you have guests. Our previous boat was 34, and while we absolutely loved her for weekend cruising while working for a living, a week aboard was about all we could take. 35 to 40 is the sweet spot in my mind for a single hand live aboard, and 38 to 45 for a double hand liveaboard.

[5BTM]

This would be my budget for a CRUISING budget, not "LIVING ABOARD" budget .

Boat; a strong 27 to 30 footer.

Probably can get one for free or almost free.

Will need new standing and running rigging, ground tackle, sails, new outboard, new battery, liferaft.
$25K

Electronics; An IPad,another one for backup, annual subscription to Navionics, cheap depth sounder, EPIRB, AIS/ VHF $5K



MIscallenous: $10K


Once I get there (variable expenses) : marina berth, hotel room, restaurants, haul out and storage while I explore other places. $3- $6K per month.