Recurring Costs. What am I missing?

gene80 · #1 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

The day of our sabbatical approaches and I continue to edit and reconcile our budget models. I've read through threads on this site along with others and would like your opinions.

38 ft - Catalina
Cruising in the Bahamas

Which estimates are logical, which are too high, are there any recurring costs that I'm missing all together?

Monthly:
Insurance - $200
Gas - $25
Water - $50
Slip Fees - $120
Food - $200
Eating Out - $300
Land Transportation, Custom,Park Fees - $100
Entertainment/(Tank Fills) - $100
Cell - $50
Maintenance - ?

How far off am I?

poopdeckpappy · #2 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

I would stock up on extras like alternator, belts, oils, anti freeze, fiters, even extr injectors might not be a bad idea, all the little goodies that could give up the ghost and be a pita to get while crusing, even extra pumps ( ie freshwater,bilge etc,etc)

kd3pc · #3 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

I think your fuel cost is low, that is only 6-8 gallons monthly...

Also slippage, per night if you are cruising is at least $1.40/ft per night plus extra for internet, pumpout etc..

FOod and eating out....pretty low, unless you split meals and do a lot of your own...even then, supplies are very high in the islands

tommays · #4 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

well

I am not sure that budget would work even on the US east coast unless you were anchored out free full time ?

sailingdog · #5 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by gene80

The day of our sabbatical approaches and I continue to edit and reconcile our budget models. I've read through threads on this site along with others and would like your opinions.

38 ft - Catalina
Cruising in the Bahamas

Which estimates are logical, which are too high, are there any recurring costs that I'm missing all together?

Monthly:
Insurance - $200

The insurance sounds pretty low too. CD's boat is a 40' boat and his insurance is $4500 or so... your budget is for only $2400.

Quote:

Gas - $25

Really too low, unless you can manage to sail everywhere and not your dinghy's outboard much

Quote:

Water - $50

A bit low unless you've got a watermaker IMHO. Many islands only have RO water and you have to pay for it.

Quote:

Slip Fees - $120

This sounds low, unless you are anchoring out almost every day. If you used a slip and had to pay $1.50 a foot, you're looking at $114 for just two nights. There are also often dinghy dock fees, so even if you're anchored out, you might be paying something each night.

Quote:

Food - $200

Most of the food in the islands, other than what they can catch or raise locally, has to be imported. This makes the food far more expensive than you'd see in the US, where transportation costs are much lower. I seriously doubt that you could survive on this budget.

Quote:

Eating Out - $300

While you can eat reasonably inexpensive if you stick to the restaurants that the locals use, drinks will add up fast.

Quote:

Land Transportation, Custom,Park Fees - $100

Customs fees can be higher than that... so it depends on how often you change ports and/or countries.

Quote:

Entertainment/(Tank Fills) - $100

Why do you combine these two? Also, entertainment can be very expensive.

Quote:

Cell - $50

Depends on the service. $50 is normal for the states, but in most of the islands, you'll be using a pre-paid card and the minutes are far more expensive, especially if you're calling internationally.

Quote:

Maintenance - ?

I'd highly recommend putting aside a slush fund for major repairs that can crop up. The larger the boat, the more complex the systems, the more expensive the maintenance costs will generally be.

gene80 · #6 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

Alright, let's go at this again with feedback incorporated.

Monthly:
Insurance - $350
Gas - $125
Water - $75
Slip Fees - $160
- 3 nights/month
Mooring Fees - $150
- 10 nights @ $15/night
Food - $300
Eating Out - $500
Land Transportation, Custom/Park Fees - $200
Entertainment - $100
Tank Fills/Bait - $25
Cell - $75
Maintenance - ~$200

That puts 6/months cruising @ around $13k.

How much do you end up spending on communication? Phone, Internet, etc...

wind_magic · #7 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

If you haven't lived on the boat before I would suggest adding a "refit" cost of at least hundreds of $us a month for materials, tools, and services to make changes to the boat while you are living on it. There's no such thing as getting on the boat and living on it and not wanting to make somewhat expensive changes in the first few months. Even little stuff like adding a hook to hang something, grease to make a hinge stop squeaking, rubber bumper to make a door stop banging, etc, it all adds up. Add bits of wire, connectors, etc, and it adds up faster. Start adding radios, instruments, major cosmetic changes, etc, and it is a whole new game.

tager · #8 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

Stuff the insurance, don't eat, don't call, don't motor, drink saltwater and do not maintain your boat.

There you go. You can cruise indefinitely now.

AdamLein · #9 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

Insurance - wow, is it really that expensive? Is that a newer-boat thing, an east coast thing, or a Bahamas thing, or what? My boat is 70% the length of CD's and I pay less than a tenth part of that.

svHyLyte · #10 (**permalink**) 03-13-2010

Hopefully you have a water maker. If not, figure you'll be paying $.50/Gal for water in any of the out-islands.

Unless you don't drink, or are bringing a huge amount of beer/wine, figure a couple of bucks a pop for a bottle of beer. Food is cheap so long as you "go native" and/or can catch a lot of you dinner. Fresh veggies are an expensie novelty!

Good luck. No one has ever starved or spent too much time on the wagon in the islands. Just have a vew bucks in reserve!!

FWIW...