Yearly Cost of Family Cruising

[Randyonr3]

Just got an E-Mail from some friends of ours in Mexico.. They anchor in out-of-the-way places, take the buss for tours, eat where the locals do and shop wisely...
They go out a couple times a week, and have drinks with friends now and then..
Their monthly budget is $500.00 and the e-mail I got said they are comming in under the budget and are able to stick a few bucks away for unexpected expence..
The boat is paid for, the insurance for the boat is better ground tackle, and they dont live the "high Life" of cruising..
For us, we've been on both sides.. we've stayed at Avalon Harbor in the channel islands on a mouring and paid 50 a night, but on another trip down we anchored off of Two Harbors and paid zero... Still had to take the dink to shore, and visited the same places..
The more we travel, the more we look for the least expencive ways to go.. And the way we look at it, The money we dont spend will keep us out on the water cruising longer.......

[Roaring Girl]

Couple of points to add:

in some ways it's not a monthly budget but an annual one. Summer is really cheap - lots of anchoring, markets etc. Winter can be dearer depending on where you are, are you afloat, are you actually on board. Spring gets dear because then you do the jobs you've been putting off. So the cost of year round liveaboard cruising is not just the lotus eating of the summer when (most) things are working (about half the time!), but the more expensive breakages/upgrades and marinas.

Secondly it absolutely depends where you go. We are thoroughly enjoying seeing Italy/France/Spain at a very leisurely pace but it ain't cheap. Even taking buses (we have hired cars three times in four years in southern Europe), rarely eating out etc, it adds up.

Thirdly, many marinas require some form of 3rd party insurance, at least in Europe. No insurance, no berth. And you do need one occasionally unless you're very tough.

We certainly try to keep it down - the less you spend the longer you have - but we are lucky enough to still be earning part of the year.

[Cruisingdad]

I guess it would be interesting to see how all of our costs differ based upon location and how we cruise with kiddos, type of boat, insurance or not, how we live, etc. I sometimes wonder if a real number can even be put to it? For example, I drink a Miller Light every once in a while. Dirt cheap in the staes, but for some reason, they always seem to charge me more in the islands (snicker).

We are in SW Florida, two boys 6&9, for the next month or two. If there are any I cna help, let me know.

Brian

[capcook]

You all do give me hope... If I could buy an Orana for say $450k and use it for 4yrs and sell it again for $450k or close...that would be hugely helpful... I don't count on it, hence my higher costs, but it sure would be a pleasant surprise... and yes renting out the house would be nice but that has it's own set of problems... I do understand that we will be doing this differently than most, but different strokes for different folks... it's all good...

Cheers

[DaveSherman]

I remember on my circumnavigation that the prices in Europe were shocking -compared to the rest of the world.

I think that on my voyage coming up, I will sail from Asia to Africa to avoid the Red Sea Canal and the expensive Mediteranean. Besides, I hear the the East coast of Africa is an interesting adventure.

Dave

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by DaveSherman

I remember on my circumnavigation that the prices in Europe were shocking -compared to the rest of the world.

I think that on my voyage coming up, I will sail from Asia to Africa to avoid the Red Sea Canal and the expensive Mediteranean. Besides, I hear the the East coast of Africa is an interesting adventure.

Dave

At different times different places are cheap. It depends on what dollar you are spending, Euro, US, Can, Aus, NZ, Pound etc. A few years ago the US dollar was way over priced I wanted to go to Europe but didn't have the funds. Now the US dollar is cheap compared to the Euro so Europe is expensive for us Yanks. Mexico is a good value and Asia but I would wait to go visit Europe right now. Eventually it will be more favorable.

[Randyonr3]

There is a series of books out there from Liza & Andy Copeland...They did a 6 year trip around the world with their 3 sons.. Great reading and it might give you some ideas on what kids need.. they also Home schooled their sons.....

[TabbyCat]

Lots of good advice here. The only thing I would add is that we spent way more the first year out than any other year so far. Some of it was due to repairs and adding equipment (even though we had a brand new boat, you still end up with repairs!), and some of it was just plain overspending. While on land, we had two incomes, 3 cars, and a nice house. It took a year to adjust our spending levels down to an income that was about 1/5 of our former income. We logged our expenses in a book, and it was shocking to see how much we managed to spend. So we looked at the log, and made some adjustments. We have never been ones to go to marinas, and we rarely pick up mooring balls- we anchor 99% of the time. But we did cut back on meals out, clothing, gifts, paying for guided tours, etc. So if you're thinking of a budget of $35K a year, you might be surprised to find you spend $50K the first year. But don't be alarmed, if you track your spending, you can make adjustments & bring your spending in-line with your budget.

[barnakiel]

Ooops,

I lost my original post.

It will cost you as much as living on land. Less, if you give it a try.

But do give it a try!

b.

[JiffyLube]

Originally Posted by capcook

You all do give me hope... If I could buy an Orana for say $450k and use it for 4yrs and sell it again for $450k or close...that would be hugely helpful... I don't count on it, hence my higher costs, but it sure would be a pleasant surprise... and yes renting out the house would be nice but that has it's own set of problems... I do understand that we will be doing this differently than most, but different strokes for different folks... it's all good...

Cheers

Is there some reason why the boat has to be a $450,000 one? There are lots of much less expensive boats out there, with a little upgrading will get you what you need.

[capcook]

Originally Posted by JiffyLube

Is there some reason why the boat has to be a $450,000 one? There are lots of much less expensive boats out there, with a little upgrading will get you what you need.

No, but we like the FP Orana and they look to cost more than that used... don't want too old a boat, it will get old soon enough... we want the space of a Big CAT.. so leaning towards this one... you can easily spend much more... and you can also spend much less..

Cheers

[JordanRHughes]

Interesting.. I am curious of your results and feedback.

Cheers.

Jordan.

[JordanRHughes]

I guess it is possible. That for the share. I found this links to be helpful.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by GordMay

There’s a wealth of valuable information available on Beth Leonard & Evans Starzinger's home page at bethandevans.com/:
Welcome to Beth Leonard & Evans Starzinger's home page

Including:

COST OF CRUISING ~ Beth A. Leonard & Evans Starzinger
This article was written in 1997 and since then costs have about doubled for ‘moderation’ and ‘highlife’, while ‘simplicity’ has stayed about the same. Fully updated numbers are in the new 2nd edition of “Voyager’s Handbook”.
Goto: Cruising Costs

Other articles by Beth & Evans: Articles
Faqs: FAQs

Beth has written three books: Beth's Books
“Voyager's Handbook“
"Blue Horizons"
“Following Seas”

[Augusto]

I believe that cruising costs is a hard to determine for the simple reason that not all cruiser report their actual costs while cruising. therefore there is not enough data out there for someone to determine what the cruising cost for each different type of cruiser lifestyle, boat type and size, and cruising location will be.
I can say for sure that cruising in the Med. will cost a lot more than cruising in Vanuatu or in Thailand. Cruising on a Catamaran will cost more than a Monohull with the same LOA. Finally cruising with amenities will cost more than cruising without them.
But what are cruising costs? Cruising costs are the costs associated with the act of Cruising on a Sailboat. To me, that means Boat maintenance, boat depreciation, fuel, transiting fees and dockage.
All other costs, food, education, entertainment etc, are not really cruising costs but living costs that most of us already have in our daily lives be it on land or on a boat. The question is how much do they change when we are cruising? Again that depends where you are cruising to.
If you are a British citizen cruising in America today, you will probably feel very good for your living costs will be cut in half. But the US citizen will hate cruising to the UK.
So if you take your home costs today: Taxes, utilities fee (cable, water, electricity) and add them up you will have a value that you should try to budget for you boat costs in order to even out land based life and cruising life.
One major savings in the cruising life is car costs, that goes way down (you will still spend some with cabs and busses).
Two types of expenses that go way down are the so called Impulse spending and Discretionary spending. Impulse spending simply goes down because when cruising you are not tempted to buy stuff all the time like you are on land. How much money you spend on Expresso, unnecessary clothing, clothing accessories, eating out, food delivery etc.
So if your home costs you 20k a year in Taxes plus utilities, sell it and try to buy a boat that costs you 20k a year to maintain (including marina fees and diesel).
Your change of lifestyle will automatically reduce your discretionary and impulse sending, and you car will not burn a whole in you pocket anymore.
I hope it helps.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Augusto

The question is how much do they (the costs) change when we are cruising?

THX for a good post Augusto. I like your take and agree with most of what you say.

From my observation, the costs change little, because we tend to drag our land lifestyles with us. I am yet to meet a family who got miraculously transformed by the sheer fact of moving into a boat. I think people will spend cruising more than they did in their land lives, we will spend less only if misjudged the depth and got ourselves into a financial quagmire.

Note the quote from Herreshoff. See the analogy. Note that most of us will do otherwise.

Cheers,
barnie