# Month 4 Expenses & Costs of Cruising



## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

Traveled from Green Cove Springs to Vero Beach FL after spending all of Dec in GCS so wife could visit mother-in-law for Christmas. GCS marina is either a place for boats to go and die or get DIY work done and then get the hell out of. Even though the month of mooring at GCS was only $171 it was an expensive stop. Since it was 2 miles to the nearest gas station store and more to anything else, plus that we were there to visit, we rented a car and that was $855 plus gas. Just a lesson that a cheap marina may not be overall. Only spent half this period at GCS but all of the cost is in this month’s numbers as that is when it got paid.

Stayed a night on mooring in St Augustine, a night on a mooring in Titusville, and 4 days on mooring in Vero Beach. Could have anchored those nights but wanted to go ashore and the cost to use the dinghy docks etc. are almost the same as just getting a mooring. We also spent 3 days at slip in Dayton to have power during a cold front.

It was Christmas so this month has a lot of gift costs. Gift costs probably could be called whatever you got in grifts as all it is you buying presents for someone and them getting something else for you that you wanted.

Boats maintenance/repair/upgrade costs were low till the end of the month when I found the voltage regulator was only charging at half the rate it should and I replaced it, which was $310. Other than that, most boat costs were small crap that adds up. Another major part of boat costs was buying Bahamas charts, paying my 2017 boat insurance, and registering the boat and dinghy in FL (aholes made me paid sales tax on my 4-month-old dinghy).

We had health costs of paying our premium (small), paying a dental bill, and getting a 6-month refill of prescription meds.

We went to the grocery store a lot plus did a major stock up and filled the freezer and most of the dry food storage lockers for going over to the Bahamas. 

We ate out of course. Mostly we ate lunches while running around doing other stuff. Most of the dinners out we had were with family. I also have come to realize that a lot of the eating out costs are related to entertainment because they happen at the same time.

So for month 4 we spend $7,602 cruising and living on the boat.

Grifts (it was Christmas) - $850
Food, soda, beer, sundries, clothes, etc - $1357
Boat maintenance, repairs, upgrades -$1041
Fuel - $145
Marina - $453
Entertainment - $143
Transportation - $894
Communication, storage, shipping - $326
Medical costs- $226
Eating out - $513
Florida boat registration - $358
2017 boat insurance - $1293


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Shall I read it first before I criticise it?

Hmmm that's a coffee decision.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

LOL $7.6k!

The $300 you spend getting into the Bahamas will seem very cheap as it will be the end of these huge monthly costs.

Sit behind an island a while.


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## Waterrat (Sep 8, 2007)

Let me give a few pointers to what you did wrong. 

Is that really the cost of rental cars in the USA? The rental car business must be quite profitable. Last year I payed significantly less for 10 days in Costa Rica granted it was a small car and I shopped around for best price. 

Thanks for sharing Don.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

Waterrat said:


> Let me give a few pointers to what you did wrong.


I didn't do anything wrong!


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## Minnesail (Feb 19, 2013)

Waterrat said:


> Is that really the cost of rental cars in the USA? The rental car business must be quite profitable. Last year I payed significantly less for 10 days in Costa Rica granted it was a small car and I shopped around for best price.


A lot of things are cheaper in Costa Rica!

I'm renting a car in LA for nine days and it'll be a tad over $300, so $850 for a month doesn't seem like a bad deal.


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## Waterrat (Sep 8, 2007)

Don0190 said:


> I didn't do anything wrong!


Sorry Don

I was being sarcastic. Trying to follow the themes of other posters from previous threads. I did not think you did anything wrong.


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## Waterrat (Sep 8, 2007)

Minnesail said:


> A lot of things are cheaper in Costa Rica!
> 
> I'm renting a car in LA for nine days and it'll be a tad over $300, so $850 for a month doesn't seem like a bad deal.


I thought it was a week. A month 850 seems pretty good.


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## Waterrat (Sep 8, 2007)

I need a sarcasm button.


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## rbrasi (Mar 21, 2011)

via GIPHY


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

I am anchoring right next to him next December.

He must do great Christmas parties!


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

My wife and I are sure we now know how to save money and I will share with you all the secret:

Never ever step ashore! Almost all our spending is a result of going ashore.


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## ianjoub (Aug 3, 2014)

Waterrat, I read the sarcasm as I was going to post roughly the same thing.

Good for you Don, hope you enjoyed the month.

What is your sailboat?


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

Beach fires can be a fun way to go ashore cheap. Bring something to cook on the fire (even hotdogs on a stick taste good on an open fire in my opinion), hopefully hook up with a crowd with a couple guitars and a harmonica. It can be pretty fun.

Not for everyone, but it's cheap and I enjoy that sort of thing. Might be hard to do in SE Florida though, just because it's so built up.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

Arcb said:


> Beach fires can be a fun way to go ashore cheap. Bring something to cook on the fire, hopefully hook up with a crowd with a couple guitars and a harmonica. It can be pretty fun.


Cook hell. Naked dancing around the fire all smeared with mud while shaking a stick at the Moon is fun enough. Now if you volunteer to be the blond chick tried to the tree well ......................... :devil


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## colemj (Jul 10, 2003)

About time for the update, Don. The waiting gets a bit tedious - do you think you could do the monthly updates more often? 

We just spent the past 2 months 100nm from any civilization. Total money spent: $10 (I had to send a cellphone battery to someone coming this way in a few weeks).

Mark


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

Well it appears they have internet


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

You must have rented a Cadillac Escalade. Why not take the bicycle to the grocery store and local liquor locker, like all of the cruisers I've met over the years? I'm in lousy physical condition and I rode an old, dilapidated bicycle to the Wynn Dixie every week, loaded the front basket and backpack with groceries, then stopped at the liquor store on the way back to the boat for the essentials. Total transportation cost "0". Whoops, I did spend $7 for an inner-tube after riding over a shard of glass at the marina parking lot.

Just checked the cost of eating out for December while on the boat - I blew a whopping $120. Damned, I must have been extravagant in December that year. As for clothing, I brought them with me when I left Maryland - besides, how much can you spend on flip-flops, shorts and Hawaiian shirts in a single month. Hey, that's considered formal attire in the Florida Keys and Bahamas for cruisers. Though I did see a lady wearing slacks one day.

Now, back to your regularly programmed station,

Gary


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## colemj (Jul 10, 2003)

Yep, one tower on an island with a population of ~30 (only 5-10 actually there at any given time). A blistering 2G EDGE connection generously serving out at 2-6kBps.

But we are back in LTE land (well, technically water since we are still under sail) as of an hour ago. 

Mark


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## colemj (Jul 10, 2003)

travlin-easy said:


> As for clothing, I brought them with me when I left Maryland - besides, how much can you spend on flip-flops, shorts and Hawaiian shirts in a single month.


Man, you must be made of money - I just buy extra large shirts and skip the shorts&#8230;

Mark


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

travlin-easy said:


> You must have rented a Cadillac Escalade. Why not take the bicycle to the grocery store and local liquor locker, like all of the cruisers I've met over the years?


The the bottom of the line choice that Enterprise had, but got a free upgrade to a Chevy Impala

6.5 miles each way to the grocery store, 25 miles each way to the mother-in-law's house which was the the reason we even were there. Wasn't a single non rusted bike at the marina!


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

6.5 miles would have covered the entire island of Marathon Key, Florida. Too long of a ride for an old man of 76 now, but back then at 72, no problems. What a difference a few years can make. 

What was neat on Marathon was that you could get a cab from one end of the island to the other for just $5. Neat package when I had to haul my music gear to one of the resorts. Cost me $5 to earn about $250 during the next four hours. Eventually, one of my friends that lived on the island transported me and my equipment both ways, then he and his wife spent the four hours at the tiki bar where I was performing.

Loved the cruising life,

Gary


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## mbianka (Sep 19, 2014)

travlin-easy said:


> 6.5 miles would have covered the entire island of Marathon Key, Florida. Too long of a ride for an old man of 76 now, but back then at 72, no problems. What a difference a few years can make.
> 
> Gary


Belay that aging talk! This might help. A compact piece of tech that I think would be nice to have on board for quick trips to the store and/or exploring the harbor town. A twenty mile range and has a basket option for shopping. Cup holder too! Easier to stow and ride than a bike on board too. Save money on car rentals and taxis.
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: GETTING AROUND ON LAND


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## Dfok (Apr 11, 2010)

Don0190 said:


> My wife and I are sure we now know how to save money and I will share with you all the secret:
> 
> Never ever step ashore! Almost all our spending is a result of going ashore.


Ashore is where the tigers are....


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

mbianka said:


> Belay that aging talk! This might help. A compact piece of tech that I think would be nice to have on board for quick trips to the store and/or exploring the harbor town. A twenty mile range and has a basket option for shopping. Cup holder too! Easier to stow and ride than a bike on board too. Save money on car rentals and taxis.
> THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: GETTING AROUND ON LAND


Wow! They could have purchased one of those electric scooters with the money they spend on car rentals alone during the past two months. Neat scooter.

Gary :2 boat:


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

I always get the feeling some take the numbers I post as a contest. It isn't, but they can take their overblown criticism and put it somewhere of use. 

Gary far as the car goes don't you think it is time to stop suggesting I'm some type of fool? Because I'm NOT!


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

I have done a fair bit of cruising and traveling in the USA and a car is NECESSARY at times in that country.

Except for Manhattan and San Francisco and a few other places the public transport is negligible or non existent. And that includes taxis and Uber.

To go provisioning with your wife on a scooter is a sure method of divorce " here, honey stick these 4 cases of beer in your backpack".

Town centers don't really exist as many of the big stores are out on the highway, West Marine for example doesn't have stores at the end of the dock in most places.

Also there *should* be a healthy component of tourism in cruising. Why travel to places if you don't give a damn about the history or geography of the place? A lot of those Must See historical places, forests, scenes etc are well out of town.

In my 1 1/2 months September and October I did about 5,000 miles in rentacars from Beaufort NC through a few Virginia's up to some bloody big lake and back, then flew to the PNW and did similar.

I KNOW parts of the USA that most Americans only know from TV. I've cuddled a redwood tree, visited a big boat show, been in Civil War battlefields and even attended a Trump rally(!).

Cruisers need to get off their asses and see the places they are in.

It's not about how much you spend it's about how effectively you spend it, and the life memories per $.

Btw, remember in 2015 I rode a bicycle from Omaha Nebraska to Memphis. It was about tourism in a different manner... Also for the challenge.

Life Memories Per Dollar.


Mark


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

And, yes, it is a neat scooter! :eek :laugh :eek


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> ........
> Cruisers need to get off their asses and see the places they are in......


An option...

If you're going to stay in one place for a while...a month maybe....just buy a decent used 160cc+ scooter or motorbike, and sell it when you are getting close to moving on.
Registration varies country to country - some make it easy but others not so - and you may be able to arrange a buy-back agreement if buying from a dealer.
Total expense prob less that ricksha hires...

This makes you very mobile and you'll see what you want to see, when you want to see it. Self guided exploration...
The backpacker guidebooks are worth their cost. 
Your cat can curl up inside your helmet when at sea...

Other than bikini watching, I really do not like tourist beach places. Places people fly or drive to for a few days or a week...to get drunk and show their ass....let off steam.
Explore in-country if you can....where it's real.
Lots of cool stuff to learn.
Who ever knew that we didn't know it all, huh?...


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## ianjoub (Aug 3, 2014)

RegisteredUser said:


> An option...
> 
> If you're going to stay in one place for a while...a month maybe....just buy a decent used 160cc+ scooter or motorbike, and sell it when you are getting close to moving on.
> Registration varies country to country - some make it easy but others not so - and you may be able to arrange a buy-back agreement if buying from a dealer.
> Total expense prob less that ricksha hires...


I hope to get a scooter on our sailboat and stow below deck for just that reason. The right tender will haul it in when not docked in a marina.


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## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

A scooter rents for 5 bucks a day in Thailand.....


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## ianjoub (Aug 3, 2014)

aeventyr60 said:


> A scooter rents for 5 bucks a day in Thailand.....


But we need to look at averages. How much does a scooter cost per day in Monaco?


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## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

If ya gotta ask, then you can't afford it. In Monaco I'd have a limo...


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## ianjoub (Aug 3, 2014)

aeventyr60 said:


> If ya gotta ask, then you can't afford it. In Monaco I'd have a limo...


Yes, and I would likely dock in Nice and rent a car there to explore the countryside.


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

Don, never thought you were a fool, and I'm happy you are having lots of fun cruising. Guess I may be a bit envious at this point and wish I were back out there enjoying the sun and fun in the sunny south. 

I hope to replicate what Raymond Burr did in his later years, piss away every dime of the children's inheritance before I'm dead. If the timing goes well, I'll be taking the dirt nap with $5 in the checking account and the kids will inherent $5 bucks cash, and one hell of a lot of neat toys the old codger managed to accumulate over these many years. Came close to taking that dirt nap about two weeks ago, but managed to dodge the big bullet. Besides, I still need to piss some money away at a higher rate of spending than I normally enjoy. Guess you have a head start on me in some ways, but I promise to do my best to catch up with you in the not too distant future. 

Enjoy every minute of the cruising life, Don - and enjoy it to the utmost.

All the best,

Gary


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## mbianka (Sep 19, 2014)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> I have done a fair bit of cruising and traveling in the USA and a car is NECESSARY at times in that country.
> 
> Mark


Quite agree. Like when doing big provisioning up for the next leg of a cruise a car/Taxi makes sense or as Don needed to do visit relatives while in a port. But, for those "Damn I need a new fitting from the hardware store or another bottle of Rum etc... needs. One of these electric scooters would be real handy to have. Easier to stow below and not taking up deck space on a smaller boats like a bicycles would. Much easier to take ashore in the dingy. Plus no need to leave it ashore like you might do with a bike means less chance of theft.


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## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

ianjoub said:


> Yes, and I would likely dock in Nice and rent a car there to explore the countryside.


This part of the tread made me think about all the transport involved out here. Tuk Tuks in Bangkok, Longtails in the islands, rickshaws in Penang, donkey driven carts in the Gillis in Indonesia, of course my bike, scooters at times, rental cars, buses, kayaks, dingies, the MRT in Singapore, small planes in Australia, Fishing boats, dwohs, elephants, bamboo rafts. Aways an adventure getting around out here.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

ianjoub said:


> Yes, and I would likely dock in Nice and rent a car there to explore the countryside.


The South of France has magnificent public transport most which travel among the most magnificent scenic routes at a magnificently affordable cost.

Near Nice, I anchored in Villefranche. The head of the beach, on the right of the photo is the train station to Monaco









All Monaco is walking, stuffed if I know where you could even park a car in Monaco...

Oh, and the McDonalds in Monaco is the most efficient in the world. Go figure.


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## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

Oh, and the McDonalds in Monaco is the most efficient in the world. Go figure.


Tell us it ain't true.....


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## mbianka (Sep 19, 2014)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> The South of France has magnificent public transport most which travel among the most magnificent scenic routes at a magnificently affordable cost.


Reminds me of a memorable meal I had in that area. We were staying in Nice France and took the train over to Ventimiglia Italy for lunch. Sitting on an outside deck enjoying Crab Pasta, wine and dozing at the table as the waves of the Mediterranean where crashing under the deck. Still think about it today. Nice savings in getting around when there is some local public transportation available.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

I like that traveling through 3 countries to get to lunch


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

Villefranche is incredible, and when I was just a wee lad of 18 years of age, I fell in love there with all the ladies on the beaches. WOW! Nice was very nice as well, and I spent some time SCUBA diving there. One thing I noticed back then was the lack of fish in the inshore waters. Two days of diving and probably saw nothing larger than a sardine. The water at the time, was gin clear. 

All the best,

Gary


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## ianjoub (Aug 3, 2014)

Time for month 5 yet?


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