First Month Cruising Costs

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

So after 1 month we are in Hampton VA after leaving Salem MA. We have been going maybe a little fast, but at the same time have gotten stuck at places for 8 days due to weather conditions. Yesterday we did a first after 8 years of boat ownership and popped our cherries and pulled into a marina slip for 4 days and can see how one could get "trapped" by having all the water and power you would like.

Since I pay almost everything with a credit card it is easy to track where our money has gone and I post for your amusement.

Food/sundries/soda/alcohol - $432.11
Boat maintenance/repair/new accessories - $646.27
Dining Out - $799.58
Fuel - $197.68
Marina costs - $63
Entertainment - $201.50
Communication & storage - $217.36

So that's $2548.50, which less than our monthly budget of $3000, but doesn't include large deferred boat costs that need to be planned for like sails etc. in the future.

As can be seen we prefer to anchor out and use the saved money to dine out

Don't tell anyone were you got 4 days for $63. I would suspect a typo between marina and entertainment?

[skipmac]

I think we need more detail here.

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Food/sundries/soda/alcohol - $432.11

Care to break out the food/sundries/soda and the alcohol?

Boat maintenance/repair/new accessories - $646.27
Dining Out - $799.58

My goodness. I don't spend that much in six months dining out. See where I will be able to save a bit on my cruising budget. It does help that I have a wife that cooks for a hobby (as long as I clean or do some other nasty chore to even the score).

Fuel - $197.68
Marina costs - $63
Entertainment - $201.50

Wan't this included in the category above "alcohol"?

Communication & storage - $217.36

So that's $2548.50, which less than our monthly budget of $3000, but doesn't include large deferred boat costs that need to be planned for like sails etc. in the future.

As can be seen we prefer to anchor out and use the saved money to dine out

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by skipmac

That's just in the Delta, yes? Would be surprised to see rates like that around the city.

Not just the Delta. Marina Bay (richmond) is or at least was $15 a day, Petaluma and Vallejo run $28-$30 a day.

South beach harbour (SF) is spendy at $1.25/foot/night. Coyote Point Marina is only 50 cents a foot a night or $17/day for my 34' boat. Oyster Point is 60 cents a foot a day. So there are bargains even in the rich parts of the bay. Compared to the east coast it's the bargain capital of the us for slip costs. Housing on the other hand....

[sailorboy1]

Some repliers have a reading problem. I never said I stayed 4 days in a marina for $63. I said that last month I spent $63 total on marinas.

I'm currently at the Hampton Public Piers and with my Boat US discount it is $1.25/ft and stay 3 days get the fourth free. They also have a program that I could have paid $75 to join and then it would be $0.75/ft and every fifth day would be free.

BTW - I'm sorry if you guys can't dine out more (though we did dine out for lunch a diner a few extra times because we ran out of propane and there wasn't a place to fill the tank).

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by Teknishn

$799.58 on dining out while in the marina for 4-days? Must have been some really good food! That's almost a third of my monthly budget.

1/3 your monthly budget for food?! And you are a singlr guy? Good lord, what are you eating for 2400 bucks per month?
We live in an expensive area and I cook all three meals 7 days a week, for 2 and I dont think Ive ever spent more than 500 usd per month! We eat well too. Last night pot roast and mixed veggies. We eat low carb too and never fill up on bread, potatos, rice or pasta. We have plenty of snacks. What in the world are you eating to spend so much???

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

BTW - I'm sorry if you guys can't dine out more (though we did dine out for lunch a diner a few extra times because we ran out of propane and there wasn't a place to fill the tank).

Could dine out more, just too cheap to spend the money. Besides, wife cooks better than 99% of the restaurants we visit.

[Teknishn]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

1/3 your monthly budget for food?! And you are a singlr guy? Good lord, what are you eating for 2400 bucks per month?

LMAO...Sorry, let me clarify. That amount is 1/3 of my monthly living/cruising budget..not food!

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Could dine out more, just too cheap to spend the money. Besides, wife cooks better than 99% of the restaurants we visit.

Agreed! That is our attitude too. When we were working on our boat last week wo could not stay aboard so we ate every meal in a restaurant. By day 2 I was sick of it!

We cook simply but that is the way we prefer to eat too. We dont see food as entertainment but cooking can be entertaining!

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

We cook simply but that is the way we prefer to eat too. We dont see food as entertainment but cooking can be entertaining!

I'm not in any way trying to tell Don or anyone how to spend their money. If eating out is part of the sought-after experience (and you can afford it), then go for it. But I fully agree with SD here.

Both my spouse and I enjoy cooking. It's part of the joy of living on our boat. Our galley is small, but wonderfully functional. We have lots of storage space to carry a variety of foods. It's part of the learning adventure to shop and eat local, or to try and be creative with those mystery cans stuck at the back of the storage cabinet.

[Kenomac]

Don,

It sounds like you're having a great time. Don't let the tightwads on the forum make you feel guilty about eating out, you're well within your budget. It's not a contest to see who can spend the least, keep up the good work.

Cheers!

Ken

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Don,

It sounds like you're having a great time. Don't let the tightwads on the forum make you feel guilty about eating out, you're well within your budget. It's not a contest to see who can spend the least, keep up the good work.

Cheers!

Ken

Tightwads?

Your boy sailorboy1 is the guy that picked the public pier.

At least he has an interstate nearby to make him feel better.

Of all the places he could have picked in this area!?

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Don,

It sounds like you're having a great time. Don't let the tightwads on the forum make you feel guilty about eating out, you're well within your budget. It's not a contest to see who can spend the least, keep up the good work.

Cheers!

Ken

Frugal my dear. Never a tightwad. Anyway, I don't begrudge anyone's choices. I love seeing how others live. These budgets show what people value. That is separate from anyone else's judgments. For someone who likes to dine out, I see wanting to spend more time relaxing than anything else. I certainly won't judge that! But, for those of us with lesser means frugality has enabled us to cruise instead of parking our butts.

So go dine and be merry! It's all good in my opinion!

[zboss]

I'm a very unsuccessful tightwad. I'd like to be so tight with our money that the plastic in my wallet would create fission.

Marina's ARE the great sucker of money but so is life in general. No matter how much we like to just "sail away" family matters keep pulling us back. We have managed to spend $1800 on rental cars this year going back and forth from relatives. Then there are all those other non-sailing life opportunities that keep popping up.

I don't think most cruisers take those items into account when budgeting.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

BTW - I'm sorry if you guys can't dine out more (though we did dine out for lunch a diner a few extra times because we ran out of propane and there wasn't a place to fill the tank).

Don,

Get yourself one of those NuWave induction cooktops for $99 and you'll never go back to propane. You have a generator, so just do your cooking and battery charging at the same time, it's been working great for us for three years now. We also use the NuWave oven for baking, and have a full propane and butane bottle which haven't been used since 2012.

[Three Sisters]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

So after 1 month we are in Hampton VA after leaving Salem MA. We have been going maybe a little fast, but at the same time have gotten stuck at places for 8 days due to weather conditions. Yesterday we did a first after 8 years of boat ownership and popped our cherries and pulled into a marina slip for 4 days and can see how one could get "trapped" by having all the water and power you would like.

Since I pay almost everything with a credit card it is easy to track where our money has gone and I post for your amusement.

Food/sundries/soda/alcohol - $432.11
Boat maintenance/repair/new accessories - $646.27
Dining Out - $799.58
Fuel - $197.68
Marina costs - $63
Entertainment - $201.50
Communication & storage - $217.36

So that's $2548.50, which less than our monthly budget of $3000, but doesn't include large deferred boat costs that need to be planned for like sails etc. in the future.

As can be seen we prefer to anchor out and use the saved money to dine out

A month already ?

Was it fun, everyone is liking it ? Did youall get a chance to raise some hell ?