[Arcb]

Well, it's really up to you, isn't it?

Sit down with some free budgeting software and create a budget. It's that simple.

 

[Arcb]

SFL, i think you really need to start with a destinaation. It sounds like you already have a starting point. I think you will find the really mainstream cruising areas or milk runs will be more expensive on average. Its a simple matter of supply and demand. Its going to be a lot harder finding somewhere cheap to park if you are hanging with the mainstream cruising crowd in SE Florida waiting to make the early winter rush to the Bahamas, vs getting off the beaten path and doing some wilderness cruising.

But you need to figure out where youre going, and roughly what path you are going to take to get there. Then its just a simple matter of googling the price of things at each destination and each stop along the way. In general: marinas are going to be more expensive than anchoring, large boats with complex systems will be more expensive to maintain than smaller boats with simpler systems, cooking on board will be cheaper than dining out, rice and beans will be cheaper than steak, rye and water will be cheaper than rum and coke. But each of these items has a finite cost that can be fairly easily researched then added up. The biggest red herring will be repair bills. A new inboard deisel will cost $15-20k installed. Pretty hard to budget for a wrecked engine or dismasting, so you want to try and avoid those expenses.

No matter the boat you take or the path you chose, the sunsets all cost the same.