Cruising for
Non-Billionaires

So you’ve paid off the mortgage on the house, sent the kids to college, purchased your dream boat, and you feel it’s time to take it out beyond the realm of day-sailing and into the world of cruising. 

Or perhaps none of the aforementioned conditions apply to you, and you’re just looking to get away from it all and enjoy the peace of self-sufficiency on the high seas.  Whatever your status in life, cruising is something that appeals to virtually all sailboat owners at some time.

It can be anything from a couple days’ sail down the coast, to a transition from life on land, to a new one on board.  You can experience the freedom of traversing the expanse of the oceans and ports of call around the world.  To a sailing enthusiast there are few things as rewarding as the thrill and solitude of setting your course from destination to destination, and sitting back to enjoy your surroundings on the water.

But while visions of tropical islands are dancing through your head, it's equally important to pay some mind to some of the expenses you'll likely incur once you set sail. 

Who

To insure a pleasurable journey, it is important to do a little pre-planning.  First and foremost you need people in order to operate your cruising platform. 

All of your budgeting will begin with how many passengers you’ll have on board for the duration of the expedition.  Think about how much it would cost to sustain your family and/or friends and pets for an average day. 

When

Secondly, you will have to be aware of your expenses as a function of time.  If you have specific departure and return dates set, you can determine an overall budget, and then establish an incremental budget allowance per day or per week, for example. 

If you’re not exactly sure how long you’ll be gone, or if cruising is your new way of life, you’ll want to be even smarter about budgeting. 

Set a weekly budget that remains constant throughout your journeying, such that you can estimate monthly and yearly expenses, and be able to comfortably adhere to them. 

Where

Where you’re going will also determine what kind of money you’ll be spending, literally and figuratively.  Different parts of the same country can have drastically different prices on everything from gas to food.  And if you’re going international, you may need to be aware of currency exchanges and how far your money will travel there. 

You can try to avoid particularly expensive locales, or just make sure you anchor offshore and avoid tourist traps. 

You need not avoid places that are known to be expensive, just plan ahead so that you don’t need to go ashore for anything that will drain your funds.

 Size does Matter

The bigger the boat, the bigger the budget.  The size of your vessel will be an issue when planning your cruise.  This doesn’t mean that a bigger boat will make cruising under a budget unfeasible.  But with additional feet in length  comes additional amenities, bigger machinery, more sail related materials, i.e. greater propensity for things to breakdown. 

If you have a 45 foot boat, don’t think you need to downsize to a 26 footer in order to afford your trip, but don’t try to budget as if you have a 26 footer.  You can’t predict all the possibilities for things to fail, but a little pre-planning for the who, when, and where should help you keep your budget on track and insure a more enjoyable sail.