Budget - Purchase vs Expenses

[lindabarzini]

I read somewhere that 50% of your budget should be for the boat purchase and 50% should be for expenses, including diesel, marina fees, provisioning, some upgrades, etc.

If you had a $100,000 budget for a boat and 3-6 month cruising in the East Coast and Caribbean, how would you allocate the money?

[monte]

It depends a lot...of course..
Is it a yearly plan or a one off cruise?
Percentages are useless anyway. Costs will depend on the boat and crushing style. Will it need repairs and upgrades etc. will you need to store it after or sell it. You might be better to tell us your overall plan and then put pen to paper...or fingers to spreadsheet. Marina visits are rarely needed in the Caribbean there's so many protected anchorages nearby provisions etc.
Personally if I just wanted 6 months in the Caribbean I'd likely find a local boat for sale at around $30K for a well found 36' cruising mono. No need for bells and whistles here, just some decent sails so ex charter bare necessities is fine. No real need for water makers and solar but they are a nice addition for autonomous cruising.
The $70K remaining would allow for around 3-4 years of living expenses, summer storage, maintainance etc.
Or sell the boat after the season and all up cost would be around $30K for a quick sale.
Groceries in the Caribbean are a bit more expensive than what you are used to, so allow an extra 20% of what you spend now. Marinas are maybe $20/day for a 36' mono. Hard storage maybe $10/ day plus $400 hauling in and out. Anchoring is free everywhere. Mooring buoys range from $10-$30 or are free in a lot of areas, but you can anchor everywhere anyway.
I would probably look at buying in euros, given the exchange rate. You will likely find a European cruiser ready to sell and pick up a good deal in USD. Either that or an ex moorings from BVIs where it should be in decent ready to sail condition at a decent price and a fairly simple transaction with a large range of late model benetau etc to choose from.

[Adelie]

The rule of thumb I recall from Beth Leonard is 35-50% of purchase price for outfitting/ upgrades. For a short 1 or 2 year cruise figure 60-75% and that will cover repairs and upgrades while cruising as well provided you don't have any extensive yard repairs required.

Figure out your monthly costs times the expected duration then subtract that from the total budget to get buy&outfit&maintain cost.

Monthly costs are going to greatly depend on crew size, willingness to consistently anchor out and willingness to live low on the hog.

For a couple, 6mo down the ICW and back, with $100k I'd drop $30k max on the boat, $20k max on upgrades and live comfortably on the remainder which would provide a very nice contingency fund.

[double u]

"crushing style" - freudian, ha?

[SaltyTanned]

You might want to consider long term chartering. There are advantages if you do not plans to sail after the cruise.

[Dave22q]

I might be a little cheaper than some, but I think $2-3,000 /month buys a good cruising life style for two. That would leave roughly $70,000 for the boat, fitting out and upgrades. Assuming the boat is in reasonable to good shape, I would try to get something in the low 40's. Your budget is very workable. Go for it!

[pjeffarch]

I too am interested in that exact same scenario, and was wondering about "long-term chartering" of up to 3 to 4 months. Does anyone have resources to look into? Do large charter companies offer that? I'm worried it would cost so much that one would be better if off just buying a boat as in this scenario. Thanks all.

[barnakiel]

What boat you want, how many crew you have, what your idea of cruising is. All these will influence your choices and your split.

100k is a huge budget if you are one or intimate two and like small boats and simple life.

100k is not a huge budget if you are a family of 4 and want to sail a cat and eat out every night.

How I often use (as a very broad picture only) the 50/50 rule is when we talk the BOAT BUDGET only. Say like 50% on the boat the remaining 50% for upgrades, mods and other post purchase costs prior to departure.

In very broad terms, given 100k, you can calculate things backwards:

e.g.

= opening balance 100k
- (deduct) (your monthly spending x number of months x factor 1.5), (e.g. 40k)
= pre-purchase balance (e.g. 60k)
- (deduct) boat @ 30 to 40k,
= balance to be spent on mods and prep (20 to 30k).

An alternative for one or intimate two: boat at 25k + 5k in preps + 6x1k in cruising kitty. Sell boat at 20k afterwards. Balance 84k. Pocket it.

Or anything in between, if you are in between.

b.