Cost of world crusing with 2 kids (4+7)

[Robinski]

Hi all family cruisers
We are taking the plunge and buying a cat to head off and start our adventures. We are currently in the process of finalising our funds and are wondering if anyone out there could give us a good ball park figure as to how much you need per year to cruise. We will be starting in the med the heading across the pond. We realise costs will be different depending on where in the world you are and as such we are not after specifics just a good ball park figure which includes running costs, maintenance and living costs. We are buying a 44" Cat which we are setting up with water maker and plenty of solar as we would prefer to spend more time at anchorage to help save on marinas.
We also understand that you can spend as much or as little as you want, we generally want a comfortable life onboard going into marinas occasionally as well as treating ourselves form time to time.
Any general information would be a great help and we appreciate you time to answer this, how long is a piece of string question.
Many thanks
Robin & Ciara

[2big2small]

Apart from health insurance, flights home and marina fees while you leave your cat behind, I’d say about 3k a month on average in the Med and for the Atlantic. I think the Pacific would be more, especially French Polynesia.

This is assuming a bare minimum of eating/drinking out and of docking in marinas, and with very restrained alcohol consumption even though somehow booze comes cheap in most countries with a nice climate. ;-)

So I’d say 3k, +- 1k, depending on how much time you spend in the rivieras vs the boonies.

[Robinski]

Originally Posted by 2big2small

Apart from health insurance, flights home and marina fees while you leave your cat behind, I’d say about 3k a month on average in the Med and for the Atlantic. I think the Pacific would be more, especially French Polynesia.

This is assuming a bare minimum of eating/drinking out and of docking in marinas, and with very restrained alcohol consumption even though somehow booze comes cheap in most countries with a nice climate. ;-)

So I’d say 3k, +- 1k, depending on how much time you spend in the rivieras vs the boonies.

Thanks 2big2small. Would that be dollars?
Also you mentioned health insurance, I have been trying to find some with not much joy below £5000 do you have any recommendations?
Thanks

[2big2small]

I was thinking Euros mostly but they’re all close enough together now, USD, GBP, and EUR. The guestimate is vague ennough that it doesn’t really matter. Much depends on your consumption pattern which I do not know, and the number of hours you’ll be motoring (lots in the Med) plus maintenance and repairs. All wildly unpredictable. Can I asume you’re going with a 10 yo Lagoon 44 or isn’t that set in stone yet?

I’m with AXA PPP for health insurance for just over 1k a year. It depends on the plan you choose, your age, etc. I’ll pm my contact.

[Robinski]

Yep looks like the lagoon 440, the space is just doing it for us, although not fully decided as we are looking at a privilege 435, not as big inside and would need a lot more work but could be good in the end, we are looking at refit costs at the moment. It's just so difficult to pinpoint the perfect boat for us.
Any other thoughts on this matter could help
Thanks guys

[SV THIRD DAY]

Staying out of Marina's will help your Budget!
We cruised Mexico with our 2 kids for 4yrs on an average budget of $1400/Mo
Including boat insurance/haulouts/maintenance and Taco Carts!

I'm sure you have seen it, but Check out the Totem Blog who has been cruising with their 3 kids since 2008 around the world.
http://www.sailingtotem.com/

[Robinski]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Staying out of Marina's will help your Budget!
We cruised Mexico with our 2 kids for 4yrs on an average budget of $1400/Mo
Including boat insurance/haulouts/maintenance and Taco Carts!

I'm sure you have seen it, but Check out the Totem Blog who has been cruising with their 3 kids since 2008 around the world.
http://www.sailingtotem.com/

Thanks Third Day
We have come across them as well as all the others now, when we decided to sell up and head of we didn't realise there where so many others doing the same. It's great to see there is such a big community out there and we can't wait to join it. YouTube is a great platform for seeing how others are doing it.

$1400 sounds great, especially all in. Any tips?

[2big2small]

There’s a very active Facebook group called kids4sail (or so) my wife hangs out on and they will provide you with the best info.

Never sailed Mexico but the Med won’t be that cheap on average. If you dock a Lagoon 44 in Ibiza city you’ll pay over 500 euro a night for the privilege. Of course you’d just drop anchor a few miles away, along the beaches of Formentera—I’m just saying. Conversely you’d only pay 12 euro to dock in a small Greek city harbor.

There are large swaths of the Med we don’t even attempt to dock in anymore and you better not break down on your way through. Most places west of Greece would charge 100 euro a night on average I think for your kind of cat. Fortunately there are many good anchorages.

[Robinski]

Originally Posted by 2big2small

There’s a very active Facebook group called kids4sail (or so) my wife hangs out on and they will provide you with the best info.

Never sailed Mexico but the Med won’t be that cheap on average. If you dock a Lagoon 44 in Ibiza city you’ll pay over 500 euro a night for the privilege. Of course you’d just drop anchor a few miles away, along the beaches of Formentera—I’m just saying. Conversely you’d only pay 12 euro to dock in a small Greek city harbor.

There are large swaths of the Med we don’t even attempt to dock in anymore and you better not break down on your way through. Most places west of Greece would charge 100 euro a night on average I think for your kind of cat. Fortunately there are many good anchorages.

Crazy prices, hence our decision to buy a cat and anchor, plus the healing of course.
On that subject I have found an app called navily it's an app that shows anchorages and allows people to add new ones. They seem to have a hell of a lot more anchorages than navionics, most of them seem to be edited in French. Just wondering if anyone has used it and to what success.
Thanks guys

P.s. my wife is checking out the Facebook group. Thanks

[Miguelso]

Cruising the US east coast, Bahamas and the Caribbean with two kids, we spend a average of US$2.5k a month. And we did do some marinas, car rentals, diners and some tours. For health insurance we used Seven Corners, which I cannot comment much because thankfully we didn't have to use it.

[Emerald Sea]

I believe 2big2smalls monthly budget estimate to be closer to a reality aligned with your cruising expectations are. Do allow for unplanned maintenance and repairs that inevitably happen and the additional shipment, duty, etc costs of getting parts to your boat in faraway locations. Any realistic cruising budget needs to allow for this.

As for med insurance and these talked about costs of $5k/yr, consider going self insured if you’re all in good health. Med costs outside the USA are a fraction of your home cost (Ive assumed your American) and $5k will go a long long way. There is a lot of discussion on this subject here in CF.

[akprb]

We did this, check out blog.

More than you think ;-)

[Jannie Radiance]

Originally Posted by Robinski

Hi all family cruisers
We are taking the plunge and buying a cat to head off and start our adventures. We are currently in the process of finalising our funds and are wondering if anyone out there could give us a good ball park figure as to how much you need per year to cruise. We will be starting in the med the heading across the pond. We realise costs will be different depending on where in the world you are and as such we are not after specifics just a good ball park figure which includes running costs, maintenance and living costs. We are buying a 44" Cat which we are setting up with water maker and plenty of solar as we would prefer to spend more time at anchorage to help save on marinas.
We also understand that you can spend as much or as little as you want, we generally want a comfortable life onboard going into marinas occasionally as well as treating ourselves form time to time.
Any general information would be a great help and we appreciate you time to answer this, how long is a piece of string question.
Many thanks
Robin & Ciara

We are leaving South Africa on our cruise in January 18. Our budget is 2k USD. Our health insurance is 800 USD pa. WE also plan minimum marina.
Includes 1 haul out.
Monohull 2 people.
Jannie and Christine.

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by 2big2small

I’m with AXA PPP for health insurance for just over 1k a year. It depends on the plan you choose, your age, etc. I’ll pm my contact.

can you share that info with me as well please ?

I assume 1K per year is per person ?


ive been looking at these guys , but always open for options as we dont have to decide for another few months



http://www.preuss-yachtversicherunge...slands-rkv.pdf

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by Robinski

On that subject I have found an app called navily it's an app that shows anchorages and allows people to add new ones. They seem to have a hell of a lot more anchorages than navionics, most of them seem to be edited in French. Just wondering if anyone has used it and to what success.

I have used it this year and found it helpful , good/great addition to your normal pilots and other apps