How much would it cost to sell up and sail……………..

[BigJoe]

I am in the early………………. ( very early ) stages of planning 10 year adventure.

We already have a boat, that would need some bits and pieces.

I am more interested in the day to day stuff. Food, wintering in marinas, communications, etc.

We wont be eating out every night, just some nights.

But also................wont be eating spam....................................... ( every night )

We plan 2 spend 2 years in the med moving down to the Canaries, then venturing further a-filed.

Thanks in advance for any advice and help……………………..

 

[Ludd]

I am in the early………………. ( very early ) stages of planning 10 year adventure.

We already have a boat, that would need some bits and pieces.

I am more interested in the day to day stuff. Food, wintering in marinas, communications, etc.

We wont be eating out every night, just some nights.

But also................wont be eating spam....................................... ( every night )

We plan 2 spend 2 years in the med moving down to the Canaries, then venturing further a-filed.

Thanks in advance for any advice and help……………………..

You're asking the "how long is piece of string "question.
The answer is "whatever you spend"!

Most things cost about the same everywhere ,one way or another!

As long as the boat is well fettledand you carry plenty spares ,and don't want to live high on the hog,you main variables will be how much sightseeing will you do,will you hire cars or use local transport?
Will you try to be independent of shore,or will you spend a lot of time in marinas? That's the expensive bit!

 

[saltwater_gypsy]

Having completed a five year liveaboard spell I can report that , at todays prices, you need between 1,000€ and 2,000€ per month to have a reasonable standard of life in the Med. I know people who can do it on much less but usually stay in the same (cheap) place and of course,in the other direction, sky's the limit.
If you are going to cruise around the Med. and include France and Italy, that's the sortof money you need. If you are staying in Turkey or parts of Greece then the costs are much lower.
Good luck!!

 

[TQA]

If further afield from the Canaries includes the Caribbean be aware that marina charges here are moving up with $2 US a foot for monohulls and x2 for multis being the norm in some places.

Living on the hook is still possible but acne in the form of white and yellow mooring buoys are polluting some of the best anchorages with charges as high as $60 a night with $20/25 being the norm.

So if you are not comfortable anchoring then these charges will feature large in your budget.

 

[Richard10002]

We already have a boat, that would need some bits and pieces.

I am more interested in the day to day stuff. Food, wintering in marinas, communications, etc.

Having spent only a year as a liveaboard, before my adventure was cut short, I would fit a watermaker, the best possible anchor, (Rocna, Manson Supreme, Spade), and some form of generator, fixed or portable. I would also have bought a better dinghy, (Honda?).

The above would have made me almost self sufficient and independent of crowded expensive marinas, and saved a lot of money.

Communication via cheap PAYG mobile broadband was excellent in Italy, but elsewhere it was expensive and/or difficult to get hold of. I would research this in advance of heading anywhere if it's important. Skype calls via mobile broadband are very cheap compared to mobile calls.

 

[BigJoe]

Thanks for the replies, we don’t have a water maker yet………………..but do have a portable genny, which will be upgraded before we finally do IT.
Very interested in the 1,000 to 2,000 euro per month, as I feel that if we stay clear of the marinas, then we can do it for less, but can spend, say 1 or 2 nights a week in a marina, living it up.

 

[gavin_lacey]

Some areas are well provided with secure anchorages but many are not. Marina charges can be hundreds of euros per night. The lowest budget I know of was 300 euros per month for a couple but they spent much of their time anchored in Senegal as this was the only place they could afford. Cruising along a coast there is frequently little alternative to marinas. Many of the harbours where anchoring was permitted have now got marinas and port police to make you use them. When you find an anchorage safe in all wind directions you stay a while to balance the budget. 1000e is low but do-able for most boats. 2000e would allow for eating out regularly. Under a 1000 you would have to be pretty hardy or in a very small boat or both.

 

[Happydaze]

We have spent a lot of the last nine years away cruising, mainly the med, first in a 27 footer and now in a 36 footer. Our joint income has been about £9K per year and it has covered all we wanted including flights back to the UK when wanted or needed. It's a way of life, not an extended holiday, so we eat ashore 2-4 times a month and have the occasional beer but rarely get into drinking sessions ashore. We entertain on board once or twice each week and get invited out about the same. We shop for food carefully, not in the nearest holiday shop, and do my own repairs and maintenance. We have lived on board in a marina most winters for a fair price, but in the summer, we only use when needed and will not stay if the price is too high, haggling works in Italy sometimes. We much prefer good company and a good wine while gently swinging at anchor to squeaking ropes and fenders and the bass beat of music from the marina bar. Still, you pays your money and takes your choice. It's a fine life.

 

[Mr Cassandra]

We have spent a lot of the last nine years away cruising, mainly the med, first in a 27 footer and now in a 36 footer. Our joint income has been about £9K per year and it has covered all we wanted including flights back to the UK when wanted or needed. It's a way of life, not an extended holiday, so we eat ashore 2-4 times a month and have the occasional beer but rarely get into drinking sessions ashore. We entertain on board once or twice each week and get invited out about the same. We shop for food carefully, not in the nearest holiday shop, and do my own repairs and maintenance. We have lived on board in a marina most winters for a fair price, but in the summer, we only use when needed and will not stay if the price is too high, haggling works in Italy sometimes. We much prefer good company and a good wine while gently swinging at anchor to squeaking ropes and fenders and the bass beat of music from the marina bar. Still, you pays your money and takes your choice. It's a fine life.

I am with you on this subject ,you have to think it as a way of life. I still cannot understand the need to winter in a marina there are lots of town quays around in Greece that are for free ,all you need is a small genny and some form of heating

The food cost in the markets are about the same as in England ,drink cost a lot lower,
when we stay the costs avarage out about 220 pw in summer and 300 winter for two on a 44 footer

 

[BigJoe]

I am intrigued to see the different takes on the budgets and lifestyles, that people lead, and the pros and cons of doing the marina thing.

It can be done on as little as a couple of hundred a week, to the sky is the limit, but its all to do with the kind of lifestyle that we decide to lead, and the fact that we are all different, dictates the way we choose to live.

 

[tcm]

In my view it won't work very well long term if it's sort-of generally worse than your lifestyle based from a house. Not eating out, not having a decent dinghy etc etc will eventually grate. Essentially, most of the problems can be solved by money. Work harder and/or be luckier and get lots of the stuff.

 

[Appleyard]

I am in the early………………. ( very early ) stages of planning 10 year adventure.

We already have a boat, that would need some bits and pieces.

I am more interested in the day to day stuff. Food, wintering in marinas, communications, etc.

We wont be eating out every night, just some nights.

But also................wont be eating spam....................................... ( every night )

We plan 2 spend 2 years in the med moving down to the Canaries, then venturing further a-filed.

Thanks in advance for any advice and help……………………..

A helluvalot will depend upon your ability (ies) to carry out the maintenance and repairs on the boat,because if you have to depend on getting outside help ,especially when away from the UK it can be a real ballbreaker.So this should be taken into consideration when making out a budget.Don't forget that spares etc are more expensive abroad.

 

[Happydaze]

In my view it won't work very well long term if it's sort-of generally worse than your lifestyle based from a house. Not eating out, not having a decent dinghy etc etc will eventually grate. Essentially, most of the problems can be solved by money. Work harder and/or be luckier and get lots of the stuff.

On the other hand, work too long for more money and your dead, or past it.

 

[RAI]

On the other hand, work too long for more money and your dead, or past it.

Statistically perfectly correct. People retiring at 50 live very significantly longer than those working until 65. Why else do the government want us to work longer, - more high end tax payers paying longer for less return.

 

[Gerry]

In my view it won't work very well long term if it's sort-of generally worse than your lifestyle based from a house. Not eating out, not having a decent dinghy etc etc will eventually grate. Essentially, most of the problems can be solved by money. Work harder and/or be luckier and get lots of the stuff.

I disagree, purely personal of course but it's a lifestyle choice...

From turning left when getting on a plane and living a 'high maintenance' lifestyle we now enjoy our aging 40footer. The small things in life become far more valuable viewed from the deck of your own boat. A sunset, swim in tropical waters,surviving a nasty passage!

I would say though that if you don't relish the life of self sufficiency then sailing on a budget is probably not for you! We have lived aboard for 10 years now and look forward to the next 10 with relish.
Time to cook, to enjoy a geography, to repair something. It may sound crazy but I get far more pleasure from these small incidentals than I ever did from a big bank balance, or hectic work schedule.

You will end up spending what you have available, good luck. Enjoy.

www.gerryantics.blogspot.com

 

[mollyoxford]

@HappyDaze:

Ah - just the sort of budget I had kicking around in my mind - and the same sort of attitude. Much cheered!

 

[BigJoe]

Unfortunately, I am not a world leader in the do it meesell department, its more a fear of not knowing what to do, than not being able to do it, must be a name for that……………………………..

Oh, and its not lazy

 

[Artic Warrior]

Hi peeps..
We are on a 47 footer in a marina in eastern med and live well. power by solar and wind,,,make and fix all we need...bread made in the preasure cooker..the annie hill way, Hat off to the lady. and all for around 100 pounds a week,,and i likes me drinking..

 

[Baggywrinkles1]

47 footer living in a marina in Marmaris for £100 a week thats probably the mooring fee!! Well £76 of it. food and drink are now on a par with the UK.

 

[Sy-Revolution]

Depends how you live. If you stay up some river somewhere or anchor in the same place for long periods I guess you can live pretty cheaply. We have an 8 year-old lad on board and we need to keep him entertained so........

If you're planning to cruise around you'll be forking out for fuel, the odd marina etc. We like/need to go sight seeing so entrance fees kick in. However we're choosy and usually only one adult goes to each attraction to save money. We like to eat well but cook all meals on board and go out for coffees as our treat. Beer is from cans.....

We're spending around 300 euros per week excluding the costs of the many breakages/modifications that we've had to deal with. We're in Gib at the moment and it's been low season prices so from now on we've got to anchor 99% of the time to stay in budget.

We really don't live it up (no, really, we're a bunch of crustys) & I'd say for 3 of us 300 euros pw is hard to keep to.