[RAGTIMEDON]

A cruising couple we met in our marina in October had left Norway in May 2005, wanderind the world. If you google BIKA, which is the name of their boat, you can find out their path which had led them to the Mississippi River in mid-America after 3-1/2 years. They told us their budget ran about 1,000 U S dollars per month on a Contessa 26. That included England, France, Spain, Portugal, some time in the Med, north Africa, 19 days across the Atlantic, nearly a year in the Carribean, U S east coast, Great Lakes to Chicago, and motoring down the Illinois River. The river passages were the most expensive because they had to buy fuel in the Hudson, the Erie Canal, and the Illinois. There's your passagemaking costs! And if you are on a time schedule, you may even burn fuel in areas where you might otherwise be able to sail. While crossing and spending time in the islands they used sail power propulsion and solar power for radio, lights, etc. That's a pretty simple lifestyle. I would probably spend 4 times as much and my wife would still feel deprived!