The Cruising Life - What Does it Cost?

From a shoestring budget to a relativelyareas you travel.
extravagant lifestyle it depends entirely on theBased on cruisers I've talked to your total fuel
sailors, their financial situation at the time, and abudget can range from $10 to $50 a month,
number of important factors that have to bedepending on if most of the time you spend
taken into consideration.sailing or at anchor.
Cruisers come in many different categories...Communication:
• Ones who have sold up to sail, and haveMobile phones and the internet for most of us are
some savings!a necessary part of living and keeping in touch.
• Sailors who have retired, possibly withPrepaid phone cards help you keep your call in a
pensions they will live on!set budget and that too depends on the individual
• Those that have an income or are able toit can be $20 to $50 a month.
work from a yacht!Satellite phones will keep you in touch anywhere in
• Many who have to take breaks to build upthe world and have many added features... look at
the 'kitty!'the cost and build it into your cruising budget!
• The lucky ones who have found alternativeThere are internet cafe's all around the world if
ways 'to live the dream!'you don't have the facilities on board.
These are some of the questions that need to beThere is also Sail Mail for off shore sailors with
answered...SSB radio, it can be hooked up to your computer
• Are you able to handle maintenance and basicand costs around $200 per month.
repairs yourself?Clothes Budget:
• Is it likely your boat will need a haul out in theThis depends where you sail; the tropics or a
future, when is it due for the next antifoul; willcolder climate. In the tropics minimal clothes are
you do it and what about emergencies?needed and washing and drying them is easier.
• Will you be looking at flights back to yourWinter woolies and heavy fleecy clothes cost
home or family?more and are harder to wash and dry.
• Do you like to dine out at times or go onIt's often better to wash and dry them ashore in
sightseeing tours?a washing machine and a dryer; they do not dry
• Are you going to spend time in marinas orvery well when washed in salt water. So laundry
anchorages?cost will have to be put into the cruising budget.
• What about other living expenses like fuel andOnes own style and values and how often there
communications?are shore trips and what kind of entertainment is
It comes back to desire. If you really want to goenjoyed will also dictate the type and cost of
cruising your budget whatever it may be will fitclothes. I personal like to have some shore
into place, you will make sacrifices and improviseclothes set aside and ready to go! Sailing clothes
so you can live your desired lifestyle.can sometimes look creased or get stains from
Low budget cruisers can live on small fixedyour last meal tossed on them when you miss
incomes such as a pension, living extremely simplyyour mouth hitting a wave. So the cost? This is
with none of life's luxuries. It is the freedom andas individual as it is on land!
pleasure of the cruising life that give themEntertainment:
satisfaction.Travel a few hundred miles or over seas and part
For others a reasonable budget can rangeof the enjoyment is getting out there and
between $15,000 and $30,000 a year. It meansexploring the sites, natural wonders, history and all
focusing on good money management,that the culture has to offer. Cruising budgets can
preventive maintenance and being true to yourbe guess'termated according to the destination
values.A lot can be seen free; walking, hiking, snorkeling
Cruising Food Budget:or scuba diving, and beachcombing. Some
Food is individual and costs vary between cold andmuseums and cultural events can be free.
warm climates and coastal or off shore sailing. IfCinemas and local café's need not break the
you have good storage some things can bebudget, but a good concert may cost us a little
bought in bulk or even shared between severalextra.
other sailors. Shop where the locals shop it'sEntertainment aboard is different between
always cheaper than the smaller stores on thecruisers. Most read, listen to tapes and CD's also
tourist strips. Meat keeps better and is tenderwatch DVD's, there are also electronic games and
when vacuum packed.board games and cards.
At some islands you can exchange goods forNone of these things will cost much and books,
fruit, vegetables and seafood's. For example atgames and DVD's can be swapped between
Minerva Reef on the way to Tonga we swappedsailors; marina laundries are notorious for have a
cans of beer for whole lobsters. Buy fruit andlarge range of books left for the next person to
veggies that are in season at markets and longread. Hobbies like writing journals of the places
life vegetables like potatoes, pumpkins, onions andtraveled, or painting is enjoyable too. Some play
garlic can be bought in a bigger supply.musical instruments and sing... great at pot-luck
If you're lucky to catch a few fish it's a greatparties or bar-b-que's on the beach it's
supplement for meat that may be expensive inentertainment for everyone!
some areas.Medical - Dental - Optical:
One of the 'must haves' in the galley is a pressureThis varies in different countries and the
cooker. It saves time, money and in the tropics isindividual's health. In Australia there's Bulk Billing
so fast in cooking it keeps the heat down in theMedical Centers which are free and dentists if you
cabin. A pressure cooker makes a great potare on a pension and join the free dental waiting
roast, can turn cheaper cuts of meat into tenderlist.
and savory meals. Try baking bread in it if youMagnifying glasses can be bought at a chemist for
don't have an oven.reading. That doesn't discount going to an optician.
Eating Out:Health Insurance can be a protection in cases of
Dining out and entertainment can varyemergencies, some have it, some don't; this is no
enormously depending on sailors and just wheredifferent to when you're on land.
you happen to be. If you go out for lunches, or aOther Costs... you may have to consider things
'take away' that you can eat down on a beachlike fishing licenses, prescriptions and souvenirs and
with a bottle of wine it is far cheaper.flights home. These things are all individual and
In a different country part of the fun of cruisingthings like Customs and Immigration fees for off
is tasting the local cuisine. Some countries areshore travel must be considered.
fantastic with cafes and delicious meals and itSome cruisers can live on $5,000 a year if an
doesn't break the budget. With other places youextremely frugal cruiser with no luxuries. Others
may need to budget more money for eating out!say they live on around $10,000 a year on a
The cost of fuel:pretty strict cruising budget and from there it can
The best part of the cruising budget is the wind isincrease according to values and the way one
free, and we are sailors so cruisers prefer to uselikes to live.
their engine as little as possible. Entering andYou can spend what ever you have and live
departing anchorages or at times marinas there isextremely well when the budget reaches $20,000
minimal use of fuel.to $30,000 a year. For most people they can
If coastal cruising and its necessary to make acruise for less than they can live on land.
destination before night fall or against current andA lot of stuff to think about!! A lot to calculate
wind the motor can be used to get in beforeand weigh up when looking at your cruising
dark.budget! And good news! You won't have
My diesel inboard motor runs on the smell of anmortgage payments or rent, electricity bills, car
oily rag. The other two fuels we have to takepayments and fuel for your car and all the land
into account are dinghy fuel and cooking gas,based costs that eat into your finances very
neither should put much of a dent in the budget.heavily.
When planning your fuel cost take into accountThe other big bonus is your vacations and travel,
the distance you are traveling, if you are goingwhich are endless are all taken care of too! No
blue water sailing consider the cost of fuel in thehotel or transport to pay for!