Appreciate the HONESTY you two give to us viewers on the cruising life... so we dreamers at least have an idea of what it takes! Kudos Nick and Megan. 😉❤⛵
I watched quite a few cruising channels. y'all are, hands down, my favorite. down to earth. realistic. but still positive and fun. thanks for everything you do!
Again, some of the best content on sailing on this medium. You two just come across as a solid couple that can be trusted, and that’s not always the case with other channels. ❤️ it!!
You two have become my "way back" machine. Thank you again for helping to revive some very old memories of me and my wife doing what you two are now doing, about 55 years ago. Thank you again! Cheers! :)
My wife's eye glazed over for a bit. LOL. I found it necessary to remind her what our expenses are on land. Most people simply do not realize just how much money they spend when it's divided 300 different ways.
Thank you, this was a great insight into your financial expenditure and it was fun (which is hard to say about spreadsheets). All the best with Clarity 2!
As always.. great information for all the dreamers and planners out there (uh, yes, hello there). You take on a bunch of the maintenance and work that comes up and that definitely helps you control how deep your pockets need to be. I commend you on the proactive work to keep Clarity with a smile on her face. Stay safe!
I'd love to see an episode on what you do to make fresh provisions last. I see some people with fruit in hanging slings. Do you chop and freeze vegetables? What are your secrets for provisioning a passage or a long stay away from amenities?
really appreciate this one! we're doing the calculations as we work towards early retirement. factoring in how far your pension will take you is certainly more involved when you have unknown variables to consider.
On our 250k cat we've been right around 10% of the purchase price every year, according to our spreadsheets. It's a 2009. We anticipate this year and next year we will go above that as we've retired and are ramping up our cruising lifestyle
Wonderful video, as always! The Seattle Boat Show is starting! I'll be dashing up to Seattle on Monday (where it's COLDER than Portland!), to begin looking at anchors, running gear and a lot of other things you've mentioned in your videos. Can't thank you enough for the incredible inspiration. Enjoy the delicious tacos in the gorgeous and warm weather!
We just got our boat. Lagoon 42. Elonda and I have followed you guys to understand what our life was going to be like. We are on our 2022 Lagoon 42 now. We sailed it with the delivery Captain from the Miami Boat Show to Kemah Texas. We are going West. Panama Canal.
The bigger the boat and the more systems onboard, the higher the expenses. At one end is Sam Holmes sailing a 22 foot Ranger from Los Angeles to Hawaii and sailing around Hawaii with a gimbled sterno for a galley and a bucket for a head. At the other end is Delos, who is continuously upgrading. You almost have to do a 20 year cycle to get a good yearly average. Over that time, multiple upgrades and refits would be averaged in.
@@tomriley5790 There is a pretty long list of upgrades on Delos starting with their excellent dingy (sponsored). They've replaced their rigging themselves ($10.000+/_), electronics at least once, upgraded their solar system (the Victron 3K inverter in Madagascar was paid for with cash), installed a new 8K generator (sponsored) in South Africa, new air conditioning unit(s), new washing machine, new sails, bottom jobs, stills (2nd one sponsored), cameras, drones & laptops. Those are the items off the top of my head. Granted, Brian does a lot of the work himself and saves lots of money but the average cruiser won't have the sponsorships and maybe not have the ability to fix things themselves. I think Brian mentioned during one of his talks that his yearly costs were about 10-15% of the value of the boat. That was years ago. More systems, more money.
@@lowellmccormick6991 Most of that isn't upgrades - it's requried maintenace or to replace stuff breaking. Dinghy - necessary (old one would have fallen apart by now probably), Electronics - you can count that as an upgrade - previously it was a Pc screen with I suspect a program Brian had written, they never went into the original but yep B&G helped them. New Generator - upgrade, I don't recall them replacing the AC so not sure if it was an upgrade or the old system falling apart. Washing machine was to replace the old one that had failled. Sails, bottom jobs are all necessary boat maintenace, Sam has to do this too. The most major upgrade I can recall is their internet connection and solar. Cameras drones laptops are all part of being a youtube chanel at sea - technologgy moves on salt water kills electronics and drones crash - more systems more money yes but that's reflected in necesary maintance of those systems rather than upgrades. E
@@tomriley5790 Agree a majority of those are maintenance items and not upgrades. And 10-15% per year in maintenance costs is in line with what others have mentioned for full time cruisers. That said, it helps that Delos can do most of the work themselves. That seems to be nearly a requirement for successful cruising, for example when you physically can't pay someone else to fix it because you're in the middle of the ocean, and/or to make it relatively affordable. So it kind of self-selects for people who can do much of the work themselves, or are wealthy enough to pay others to do it in port. Probably most are a balance between those.
Your costs are very reasonable/inexpensive. Boat Insurance at 2.4% of boat value is great. Health care very cheap. Data normal for anyone with Internet & phones but no TV. Boat Expense at 7% of value normal if you are keeping it up to get a good resale. Provisioning normal for you diet demands and shopping area. Only cost I was surprised about was Fuel of $2058 although that includes propane and dinghy fuel and its a big boat with two engines. What is your mpg?
Most live to their means. I live way below of what I could live but I like having oh crap money for when things go bad. I live so far out in the woods that I only went 3 times to the grocery store last year and only once so far this year. Thank you for the videos. It’s a nice step away from daily life.
Thanks for sharing such a great view into your cruising costs. Everyone is always curious about this topic but at the same time this is very personal information so major respect for putting yourselves out there.
Nice breakdown on your expenses. It really boils down to the life style you want and the amount of expenses that you can afford for the size of boat that you have. I wanted to stay with the sailing yachts but the admiral nixed that. Cannot have an unhappy admiral.
7,000 deductible.. LOL I don't know if I have shared this with this channel. I have an autoimmune disorder called Stiff Man Syndrome. My immune system attacks my central nervous system. To keep it in check I take Hizentra. It is a subcutaneous infusion once a week. A month supply is over 35,000. I would max out your plan in 1 month with just that medication alone. So it doesn't take a heart attack or cancer to get into those amounts.
I think one thing I've learned from watching a number of these vids is that an older 30-36 foot monohull is likely to be my sweet spot. Smaller everything = cheaper everything. And I'm far more comfortable with the idea of doing all the maintenance on a small mono than I am a bigger cat. Just need the wife to get into that glamping mentality. ⛵️
Yea, you spend what you have. We we went full time RVing had a $4000 pension that was adequate. Now own an RV park and home and income is $10k and we spend it all
Thanks for the very detailed honest breakdown, this is really helpful to future cruisers like us! Do you have any land-based expenses still that are not included here like keeping a homebase or vehicle somewhere?
@@TheOKellys So is keeping some sort of home base even it is very modest or you rent out something you’d suggest to future cruisers now that you’ve been doing it for 5 years, or is it more of a hassle than it would be worth?
We had a rental, once. Once. It was a hassle. It can work out. You have to have someone managing the property for you. If you have a really strong equity position and a high rent area, that can work but otherwise there are other investment instruments that far outperform real estate. If we were going to have a small land base of some sort, which would be nice I suppose, we wouldn't rent it.
@@TheOKellys curious if there are other cruisers that put up their main house under Airbnb et al (with management), then use that to live on. In a big city that would seem like a fantastically viable way to afford being on the water. Most cities in the US allow you to short term your main residence.
Your view on this is refreshing to hear because it’s a fact. You could do it almost nothing if you had to. People do. I wouldn’t want to of course. But some people act like the way they do it the only way. Which like you said just isn’t the case.
Fantastic video. I love your interaction. I just discovered this channel and so far, everything I have seen simply is high quality video and content. I'm smiling because these two are my new best friends and they don't even know me.
@@TheOKellys we wish! 😂 we’re definitely higher. That new boat thing and half the year living mostly a land based life is expensive! This year we’ll be out cruising much more so we’re thinking expenses will go down.
No hat Nick! But get why your wearing it. Makes that boat fly so much better. But wonderful break down and as usual clarifying everyone is different. I think the insurance cost made me choke a bit. I'm around 3 k a year for my small catamaran. Makes me reconsider a lot when Annette wants to get something bigger. Like you said that 23ft boat was doing just fine out there". Great episode guys.
Seems high. I am cruising in Turkey at the moment and during 2021 spent roughly 30.000 US$, including a annual contract in a first class Marina, eating most of my meals in restaurants, annual drydocking etc. Bahamas seems to be expensive. but it sure looks nice.
Thanks for this honest report! Well done. We were laughing so hard as I am the one who keeps the spreadsheet and it's SO gratifying at the end of the year to show off the totals....or not! HA! Well done...another super helpful video!! Thanks you guys!!
Nicely done, per usual. I've found that there are some big items that are going to come up on a regular basis which may be overlooked in planning. Over the past few years I've spent big $ on a new tender & engine, standing rigging, anchor windlass, etc. Also, unless you're actually 'out there' full time the slip fees are huge. It was costing ~ $ 900 per month for my North Carolina slip (41 foot cat).
Hey there Ross, where are ya? Yes, some biggies every year. Seems the annual 10% of value including insurance is a good rule. And slips….well those are a killer.
@@TheOKellys We're at Farmers Cay heading south . . . slowly. I owned a Moorings boat once and found that they calculated the boats value at an annual 9% deprecation rate which in normal times is probably about right. Another 'hidden' cost of this lifestyle ehh? Hope to run into you somewhere down here!
great vid as usual, it would have been nice to have other cruisers to share and compare their expenses, (not everyone would do that), in the music intro, was that you on the guitar...thank you for sharing your lives, always inspirational.
So 40 grand and a bit in real money. To be truthful, thought it would be more. It’s an expense that you could probably resolve with a live-aboard day job beyond u-tubing. Programmer or something. I might find it hard to keep out of those marinas though. Especially if the Apres ski is good..
If you're American, you can generally obtain the "Three months' of medications (Atorvastatins, Insulin, Elequis, etc) for the price of two" through your insurance company (with or without co-pay), and have it shipped to the closest port. The shipping can run up a bit, but you'll have your meds and peace of mind. From what some Canadian friends have told me, who winter down in San Felipe, Baja California, it runs about US $45 to ship down their meds, if they've run out during the trip. I hope that this helps.
I'm hoping you see this question.... I'm wondering what your Vaccine status is and if that has been an issue with the places you have visited. I'm looking to jump onto a boat and get started on a 3yr journey.
I got way behind on your videos working on some projects. Trying to catch up now. My question is are you able to write off any of the money you spend as business expense's since you run a UA-cam channel? Good luck with the new boat. I haven't got to that video yet. 🙂 Thanks for the video. Sail On!
What makes me happy is to think you could shoot this video with a single, fixed camera, quickly mix in some old footage for variety, upload the result, and get back to what you love-sailing and living the boating life. Happy sails to you, until we meet again!
Good Evening Megan and Nick, one thing puzzled me: Why take laundry out when you have a washer dryer? I have a vented Splendide unit, and would always prefer to use it rather than use a machine I don’t know ashore. I may not be able to do big loads, but don’t mind doing 2 or 3 loads. Best, Maldwin
Hey Maldwin, nice to hear from you. Short answer is we have a lower capacity watermaker, so to do the big loads we would running it all day and night to keep up. The other answer is time….with limited drying space, it would mean hanging laundry for days when we do sheets and floor mats
Good day. Would you be able to make video about boat insurance. Share your experience, "underwater" obstacles, tricks to lower payments, factors affecting premium, best companies for hope to be newbie soon sailors. I am sure you have enough experience to share with us in your unique style. Thank you in advance.
Thank you for being honest in this calculation Some things are cheaper but some things are much much more expensive than on the Adriatic (Croatia) Such as health insurance and internet data traffic and it seems to me that marinas are much more expensive I have a 14 meter (45ft) monoholl on a private pier for the whole year is about $ 5,000 And that is the most expensive item The only thing I don't know how much they would charge you to raise the catamaran and clean the hull with protection for my ship is $ 2,000 every year, so it would probably cost you twice as much BUT you have more "wind" that you can use, so we spend a little more fuel in the Mediterranean But I always say true love doesn’t ask how much it costs
Good job breaking down. Thank you. We’re not quite done a whole year with our 1st boat and there is quite a bit to update as she is an old girl. I mean the boat not my wife ….. we’ll…..
Opportunity cost and/or capital cost could be considered. The capital tied up the boat could be getting a better RoI, e.g. on the tax-free capital gains of a principle residence. As a lifestyle choice, one might consider 60K$ p.a. in another context. For example what if you owned a residence in the PNW, summered there, and then flew and chartered worldwide for six months minus a day the rest of the year. Think the Med, NZ, or SE Asia. 60K$ would go a long way. Thanks for sharing and apologies if this was mentioned.
That is definitely a consideration people should understand! Like Nick mentions that their boat has actually increased in value, this is a complete anomaly in these inflationary covid times and future cruisers should go into this assuming their boat will depreciate during their time at sea. At some point though, if you own a boat you need to throw out the concept of efficiently using your capital, it's atrocious use of funds from a fiscal perspective...but there are two other units of measure that determine your utilization of your wealth, your health and your time. Neither of those two are guaranteed, so you have to balance out how to use your money most efficiently while you still have time and your health. Boats can be pretty fantastic ROI from that perspective, but it certainly is not for everybody!
Thnx for that...btw I probably would be on the $8000 side. But I'm just starting, thnx to you guys im gonna learn how to sail. Just walked up to a guy who was doing boat work at our local marina and said : will you teach me how sail in exchange I help you with your boat. He said yes his name is Pieter. Thnx Pieter and thnx you guys
Such an informative video. We hope to hit the water one day soon. Love the idea of the spending tracker. Any suggestions on tracker or do you just use excel?
Hey kids..., thanks for the honesty per the expenditures. I thought maybe just a little bit more, say..., $75, - $80,'ish. But you guys do make it look smartly practicable, no (excessive) frills & easy. Thanks & fair winds...
That was great to hear you had a Freedom Cat Ketch. Do you have more information anywhere about your days with that boat? We are thinking of getting a Freedom Cat Ketch. Thanks.
One question I never see anyone answer! Is it possible to take guests and charter them around and “work” to cover costs and make money while you sail? For those of us who can’t work remotely and would be leaving our job completely.
Maybe you can shed some light into the 10% rule of thumb. When it is said that maintenance costs 10% of the purchase price annually, how does that change over time? I would expect a new boat to have less maintenance needs than an old one, yet old ones are bought second hand and the new owners still seem to apply the 10% rule of their purchase price, which is lower than the original price of the boat. So it seems the rule of thumb expects maintenance cost to go down over time. How does this counterintuitive concept work?
Well, first of all I hate rules. Second, typically 10% per year includes insurance. Third, yeh this is a really loose guide at best. Depends on so many things including the quality of the boat. Also greatly depends on geography and how much DIY is involved. Also depends on materials used….I know a guy who spent as much on repairing a single carbon spreader on his mast as we spent on haulouts for two years. So….. a lot of variables. I do think that 10% per year whether used or set aside for future big ticket expenses like sails, engines, rigging and upgrades is a good ballpark for a 5-7 year old boat that still has some life left in the engines, rig, and sails. Upgrades are another super mushy variable that can put an easy +/- 5% into the equation. Typically, what you see are new boats that see an initial fitout but then often not enough money spent over the first five years. Then maybe a second owner does a refit. The combination of the money and time spent gives you the variable in value and the cost of maintenance for the third owner. When people are “surprised” about the 10% rule, it’s typically because they aren’t aware of how much more it costs to work on boats to begin with. Blow one saildrive on a 300k boat and you’ve spent at minimum 5% of the value of the boat to replace it.
Bah now i need to re-watch and do a tally >.< been hearing that cats cost 2-4x more to maintain and run then mono hulls... kinda want to contrast that to what we know but kinda passed the writing it down >.
![How much does Boat Life REALLY Cost? CRUISING on a Bluewater SAILBOAT [2 years to 2020]](/img/n.gif)
Appreciate the HONESTY you two give to us viewers on the cruising life... so we dreamers at least have an idea of what it takes! Kudos Nick and Megan. 😉❤⛵
Thanks Russ, appreciate it. We try to keep it real.
Of course if you eat less taco's you costs might come down, but then again if your replacing taco's with caviar it might be quite a bit more 🤣
I watched quite a few cruising channels. y'all are, hands down, my favorite. down to earth. realistic. but still positive and fun. thanks for everything you do!
Again, some of the best content on sailing on this medium. You two just come across as a solid couple that can be trusted, and that’s not always the case with other channels. ❤️ it!!
So we got you fooled! Lol. Thank you for the nice comment.
You two have become my "way back" machine. Thank you again for helping to revive some very old memories of me and my wife doing what you two are now doing, about 55 years ago. Thank you again! Cheers! :)
55 years ago! Right on. Wow! Back with Hal Roth and the like? I bet you have great stories.
Thank You kindly for sharing this valuable information with us all. smooth sailing.
My wife's eye glazed over for a bit. LOL. I found it necessary to remind her what our expenses are on land. Most people simply do not realize just how much money they spend when it's divided 300 different ways.
Thank you, this was a great insight into your financial expenditure and it was fun (which is hard to say about spreadsheets). All the best with Clarity 2!
Glad it was helpful! And THANK YOU!
Good info, we are with you on enjoying eating out, that and groceries are our second largest expense behind the house mortgage
As always.. great information for all the dreamers and planners out there (uh, yes, hello there). You take on a bunch of the maintenance and work that comes up and that definitely helps you control how deep your pockets need to be. I commend you on the proactive work to keep Clarity with a smile on her face. Stay safe!
Thanks Karl. She is faster when she smiles….lol
I'd love to see an episode on what you do to make fresh provisions last. I see some people with fruit in hanging slings.
Do you chop and freeze vegetables?
What are your secrets for provisioning a passage or a long stay away from amenities?
really appreciate this one! we're doing the calculations as we work towards early retirement. factoring in how far your pension will take you is certainly more involved when you have unknown variables to consider.
Great video! Really appreciate the insight you’ve given.
I like your break down of cost and the last vlog on ac was great!
On our 250k cat we've been right around 10% of the purchase price every year, according to our spreadsheets. It's a 2009. We anticipate this year and next year we will go above that as we've retired and are ramping up our cruising lifestyle
yep, seems like no matter how you dice it, it's around 10% if you include insurance.
congrats on the retirement!
@@TheOKellys Thanks! It may be a sabbatical if it gets too expensive, ha ha.
Thanks guys. Great information.
Wonderful video, as always!
The Seattle Boat Show is starting! I'll be dashing up to Seattle on Monday (where it's COLDER than Portland!), to begin looking at anchors, running gear and a lot of other things you've mentioned in your videos.
Can't thank you enough for the incredible inspiration.
Enjoy the delicious tacos in the gorgeous and warm weather!
Thank you Leon! Enjoy the show!
Great dose of reality about the range of costs of cruising. Thanks Megan and Nick!
You two are great.
You are!
ya'll are a joy to watch. Fascinating details on the varying costs, boat to boat to boat.
Good video, thanks for sharing
Thanks for the detailed breakdown. The one that surprised me was provisions with how expensive food in the Bahamas can be.
We just got our boat. Lagoon 42. Elonda and I have followed you guys to understand what our life was going to be like. We are on our 2022 Lagoon 42 now. We sailed it with the delivery Captain from the Miami Boat Show to Kemah Texas. We are going West. Panama Canal.
Congrats! Fair winds!
The bigger the boat and the more systems onboard, the higher the expenses. At one end is Sam Holmes sailing a 22 foot Ranger from Los Angeles to Hawaii and sailing around Hawaii with a gimbled sterno for a galley and a bucket for a head. At the other end is Delos, who is continuously upgrading. You almost have to do a 20 year cycle to get a good yearly average. Over that time, multiple upgrades and refits would be averaged in.
I don't think Delos has upgraded much - apart from their internet that they got for free, most of their stuff is fixing things that have broken.
yep, ya spends what ya got for sure
@@tomriley5790 There is a pretty long list of upgrades on Delos starting with their excellent dingy (sponsored). They've replaced their rigging themselves ($10.000+/_), electronics at least once, upgraded their solar system (the Victron 3K inverter in Madagascar was paid for with cash), installed a new 8K generator (sponsored) in South Africa, new air conditioning unit(s), new washing machine, new sails, bottom jobs, stills (2nd one sponsored), cameras, drones & laptops. Those are the items off the top of my head. Granted, Brian does a lot of the work himself and saves lots of money but the average cruiser won't have the sponsorships and maybe not have the ability to fix things themselves. I think Brian mentioned during one of his talks that his yearly costs were about 10-15% of the value of the boat. That was years ago. More systems, more money.
@@lowellmccormick6991 Most of that isn't upgrades - it's requried maintenace or to replace stuff breaking. Dinghy - necessary (old one would have fallen apart by now probably), Electronics - you can count that as an upgrade - previously it was a Pc screen with I suspect a program Brian had written, they never went into the original but yep B&G helped them. New Generator - upgrade, I don't recall them replacing the AC so not sure if it was an upgrade or the old system falling apart. Washing machine was to replace the old one that had failled. Sails, bottom jobs are all necessary boat maintenace, Sam has to do this too. The most major upgrade I can recall is their internet connection and solar. Cameras drones laptops are all part of being a youtube chanel at sea - technologgy moves on salt water kills electronics and drones crash - more systems more money yes but that's reflected in necesary maintance of those systems rather than upgrades. E
@@tomriley5790 Agree a majority of those are maintenance items and not upgrades. And 10-15% per year in maintenance costs is in line with what others have mentioned for full time cruisers.
That said, it helps that Delos can do most of the work themselves. That seems to be nearly a requirement for successful cruising, for example when you physically can't pay someone else to fix it because you're in the middle of the ocean, and/or to make it relatively affordable.
So it kind of self-selects for people who can do much of the work themselves, or are wealthy enough to pay others to do it in port. Probably most are a balance between those.
Your costs are very reasonable/inexpensive. Boat Insurance at 2.4% of boat value is great. Health care very cheap. Data normal for anyone with Internet & phones but no TV. Boat Expense at 7% of value normal if you are keeping it up to get a good resale. Provisioning normal for you diet demands and shopping area. Only cost I was surprised about was Fuel of $2058 although that includes propane and dinghy fuel and its a big boat with two engines. What is your mpg?
Transparency was really helpful!
Most live to their means. I live way below of what I could live but I like having oh crap money for when things go bad. I live so far out in the woods that I only went 3 times to the grocery store last year and only once so far this year. Thank you for the videos. It’s a nice step away from daily life.
Your life sounds fascinating. I’d like to try that. Where approximately do you live?
@@TheOKellys closest big city is Charleston SC. I live in the middle of the national forest. It’s nice and quite out here with no neighbors in site.
@@TheOKellys if you have the room for storage, i’m sure you can do it. Prepares you for your long passages that I hope to do one day.
Really enjoy the show. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing such a great view into your cruising costs. Everyone is always curious about this topic but at the same time this is very personal information so major respect for putting yourselves out there.
Our pleasure!
Thanks for sharing!!!!
you should put some off-cuts after the credits!
Health insurance is crazy. Thank God I’m 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦. Thanks for sharing! VERY INTERESTING
New sub binge watching and of course liking every video.
Thank you
Nice breakdown on your expenses. It really boils down to the life style you want and the amount of expenses that you can afford for the size of boat that you have. I wanted to stay with the sailing yachts but the admiral nixed that. Cannot have an unhappy admiral.
Thank you for the information. Well done video.
7,000 deductible.. LOL I don't know if I have shared this with this channel. I have an autoimmune disorder called Stiff Man Syndrome. My immune system attacks my central nervous system. To keep it in check I take Hizentra. It is a subcutaneous infusion once a week. A month supply is over 35,000. I would max out your plan in 1 month with just that medication alone. So it doesn't take a heart attack or cancer to get into those amounts.
I recognize that gas station, Salt Pond Long Island
You’re good. How did you possibly know that?
@@TheOKellys My cousin owns it :) My parent live about 3 minutes away
Awesome I interesting breakdown....
Appreciate your insights!
I think one thing I've learned from watching a number of these vids is that an older 30-36 foot monohull is likely to be my sweet spot. Smaller everything = cheaper everything. And I'm far more comfortable with the idea of doing all the maintenance on a small mono than I am a bigger cat. Just need the wife to get into that glamping mentality. ⛵️
Hey whatever works for ya. No right answer….however we have seen that when it comes to a resistant partner….glamping is a though sell.
Yea, you spend what you have. We we went full time RVing had a $4000 pension that was adequate.
Now own an RV park and home and income is $10k and we spend it all
thanks for sharing the numbers
Thanks for the very detailed honest breakdown, this is really helpful to future cruisers like us! Do you have any land-based expenses still that are not included here like keeping a homebase or vehicle somewhere?
No, we are out of real estate at the moment….sadly….lol….so we don’t have any significant land base expenses. That my change.
@@TheOKellys So is keeping some sort of home base even it is very modest or you rent out something you’d suggest to future cruisers now that you’ve been doing it for 5 years, or is it more of a hassle than it would be worth?
@@kirkb3473 as someone considering selling their house and moving onto a Prout Snowgoose Elite, I definitely would love their input on this as well.
We had a rental, once. Once. It was a hassle. It can work out. You have to have someone managing the property for you. If you have a really strong equity position and a high rent area, that can work but otherwise there are other investment instruments that far outperform real estate. If we were going to have a small land base of some sort, which would be nice I suppose, we wouldn't rent it.
@@TheOKellys curious if there are other cruisers that put up their main house under Airbnb et al (with management), then use that to live on. In a big city that would seem like a fantastically viable way to afford being on the water. Most cities in the US allow you to short term your main residence.
Possibly the best cost breakdown I have ever seen!
Your view on this is refreshing to hear because it’s a fact. You could do it almost nothing if you had to. People do. I wouldn’t want to of course. But some people act like the way they do it the only way. Which like you said just isn’t the case.
Love it thanks guys!
Thankyou 👍
Kerry’s Gold! You bonuses out
Always fun and informative!
Fantastic video. I love your interaction. I just discovered this channel and so far, everything I have seen simply is high quality video and content. I'm smiling because these two are my new best friends and they don't even know me.
Thank you so much, we appreciate you!
Commenting primarily to boost the algorithm. I'm just a weekend cruiser in the Chesapeake.
Good job. Hardly anyone does this with that much empirical information.
Thx! Very helpful. Can you pls share more details about who you use for your catastrophic healthcare policy? Researching options.
Happy to help - send a note to info at symbol sailclarity.com
Very nicely done :)
Thanks so much for sharing this information! It’s definitely helpful to see what the costs may be once you’re out cruising full time.
You guys in the same range?
Just thought of a question, does this include video production/filming costs? It’s not applicable to most cruisers but just curious.
Aside from data costs, we’ve kept that in business expenses….so, separate.
@@TheOKellys we wish! 😂 we’re definitely higher. That new boat thing and half the year living mostly a land based life is expensive! This year we’ll be out cruising much more so we’re thinking expenses will go down.
@@TheOKellys Makes sense!
No hat Nick! But get why your wearing it. Makes that boat fly so much better. But wonderful break down and as usual clarifying everyone is different. I think the insurance cost made me choke a bit. I'm around 3 k a year for my small catamaran. Makes me reconsider a lot when Annette wants to get something bigger. Like you said that 23ft boat was doing just fine out there". Great episode guys.
Seems high. I am cruising in Turkey at the moment and during 2021 spent roughly 30.000 US$, including a annual contract in a first class Marina, eating most of my meals in restaurants, annual drydocking etc. Bahamas seems to be expensive. but it sure looks nice.
Loved this behind the scenes info! Are you going to next explain how you make your income while at sea? Now THAT I’m dying to learn!
Very helpful information. I enjoy watching your channel
Thanks for this honest report! Well done. We were laughing so hard as I am the one who keeps the spreadsheet and it's SO gratifying at the end of the year to show off the totals....or not! HA! Well done...another super helpful video!! Thanks you guys!!
Thanks for the video, really interesting!
Nicely done, per usual. I've found that there are some big items that are going to come up on a regular basis which may be overlooked in planning. Over the past few years I've spent big $ on a new tender & engine, standing rigging, anchor windlass, etc. Also, unless you're actually 'out there' full time the slip fees are huge. It was costing ~ $ 900 per month for my North Carolina slip (41 foot cat).
Hey there Ross, where are ya? Yes, some biggies every year. Seems the annual 10% of value including insurance is a good rule. And slips….well those are a killer.
@@TheOKellys We're at Farmers Cay heading south . . . slowly. I owned a Moorings boat once and found that they calculated the boats value at an annual 9% deprecation rate which in normal times is probably about right. Another 'hidden' cost of this lifestyle ehh? Hope to run into you somewhere down here!
we in the Raggeds, pinned down pretty good.
great vid as usual, it would have been nice to have other cruisers to share and compare their expenses, (not everyone would do that), in the music intro, was that you on the guitar...thank you for sharing your lives, always inspirational.
I wish....that was a sample. But I am working on it. It's a tough instrument.
Well done very informative.
thank you for sharing
Great video
You need to add the I Love Taco shirt to you merch catalog... Great video guys!
That’s our brother in laws Taquería, Porque No, in Portland. You can buy them off their website. Or better, go get one in person. Best tacos ever.
@@TheOKellys Thanks for the heads up. Just ordered me one. Tocos look fantastic.
Thanks for the info.😀
So 40 grand and a bit in real money. To be truthful, thought it would be more. It’s an expense that you could probably resolve with a live-aboard day job beyond u-tubing. Programmer or something. I might find it hard to keep out of those marinas though. Especially if the Apres ski is good..
Are you guys going to the MIA boat show?
No, sorry
Provisions (food) for 2 🤔 quite hige. Are the food more experience vs home on land ? ÷ even eating out and gas.
Food on many island nations are heavily marked up due to importation costs. Kind of like how much more expensive it is in Hawaii vs. mainland US.
I actually ment you got to keep on the DL 😆 😆 Dirk and Mary
Thanks for sharing.
What I'd like to know is the cost of meds in the Caribbean. Meds like blood pressure, insulin. No one talking about it
Would if we could but we don’t know…
Maybe someone else on here does.
If you're American, you can generally obtain the "Three months' of medications (Atorvastatins, Insulin, Elequis, etc) for the price of two" through your insurance company (with or without co-pay), and have it shipped to the closest port. The shipping can run up a bit, but you'll have your meds and peace of mind.
From what some Canadian friends have told me, who winter down in San Felipe, Baja California, it runs about US $45 to ship down their meds, if they've run out during the trip.
I hope that this helps.
I circumnavigated on a 29 ft boat and spent about $6000 a year.
There's an old adage in racing that applies here... "Racing is no more expensive now than it was 50 years ago... it'll still take everything you got."
great info
Including the boat depreciation...?
Our boat has appreciated
I'm hoping you see this question.... I'm wondering what your Vaccine status is and if that has been an issue with the places you have visited. I'm looking to jump onto a boat and get started on a 3yr journey.
I got way behind on your videos working on some projects. Trying to catch up now.
My question is are you able to write off any of the money you spend as business expense's since you run a UA-cam channel? Good luck with the new boat. I haven't got to that video yet. 🙂 Thanks for the video. Sail On!
well done now can safely say that was some Clarity on expenses , fair winds kids thanks for efforts , blessings :)
Our pleasure!
Loved it!
What makes me happy is to think you could shoot this video with a single, fixed camera, quickly mix in some old footage for variety, upload the result, and get back to what you love-sailing and living the boating life. Happy sails to you, until we meet again!
“Quickly mixing old footage” Is like an experienced sailor who has never run aground. They both don’t exist.
@@markrickel1632 oh, well said. Ouch!
Great episode!!
Good Evening Megan and Nick, one thing puzzled me: Why take laundry out when you have a washer dryer? I have a vented Splendide unit, and would always prefer to use it rather than use a machine I don’t know ashore. I may not be able to do big loads, but don’t mind doing 2 or 3 loads. Best, Maldwin
Hey Maldwin, nice to hear from you. Short answer is we have a lower capacity watermaker, so to do the big loads we would running it all day and night to keep up. The other answer is time….with limited drying space, it would mean hanging laundry for days when we do sheets and floor mats
Good day.
Would you be able to make video about boat insurance. Share your experience, "underwater" obstacles, tricks to lower payments, factors affecting premium, best companies for hope to be newbie soon sailors. I am sure you have enough experience to share with us in your unique style. Thank you in advance.
Thank you for being honest in this calculation
Some things are cheaper but some things are much much more expensive than on the Adriatic (Croatia)
Such as health insurance and internet data traffic and it seems to me that marinas are much more expensive
I have a 14 meter (45ft) monoholl on a private pier for the whole year is about $ 5,000
And that is the most expensive item
The only thing I don't know how much they would charge you to raise the catamaran and clean the hull with protection for my ship is $ 2,000 every year, so it would probably cost you twice as much
BUT you have more "wind" that you can use, so we spend a little more fuel in the Mediterranean
But I always say true love doesn’t ask how much it costs
Yes, between 2500 and 4000. So, yeah, almost double
Good job breaking down. Thank you. We’re not quite done a whole year with our 1st boat and there is quite a bit to update as she is an old girl. I mean the boat not my wife ….. we’ll…..
Lol
Thanks guys…very interesting.
Opportunity cost and/or capital cost could be considered. The capital tied up the boat could be getting a better RoI, e.g. on the tax-free capital gains of a principle residence. As a lifestyle choice, one might consider 60K$ p.a. in another context. For example what if you owned a residence in the PNW, summered there, and then flew and chartered worldwide for six months minus a day the rest of the year. Think the Med, NZ, or SE Asia. 60K$ would go a long way. Thanks for sharing and apologies if this was mentioned.
That is definitely a consideration people should understand! Like Nick mentions that their boat has actually increased in value, this is a complete anomaly in these inflationary covid times and future cruisers should go into this assuming their boat will depreciate during their time at sea. At some point though, if you own a boat you need to throw out the concept of efficiently using your capital, it's atrocious use of funds from a fiscal perspective...but there are two other units of measure that determine your utilization of your wealth, your health and your time. Neither of those two are guaranteed, so you have to balance out how to use your money most efficiently while you still have time and your health. Boats can be pretty fantastic ROI from that perspective, but it certainly is not for everybody!
Thnx for that...btw I probably would be on the $8000 side. But I'm just starting, thnx to you guys im gonna learn how to sail. Just walked up to a guy who was doing boat work at our local marina and said : will you teach me how sail in exchange I help you with your boat. He said yes his name is Pieter. Thnx Pieter and thnx you guys
Can you share which health insurance company you guys used?
send me a note on sailclarity.com - contact page
Such an informative video. We hope to hit the water one day soon. Love the idea of the spending tracker. Any suggestions on tracker or do you just use excel?
Hey kids..., thanks for the honesty per the expenditures. I thought maybe just a little bit more, say..., $75, - $80,'ish.
But you guys do make it look smartly practicable, no (excessive) frills & easy. Thanks & fair winds...
I WISH I could get on the $5-10k budget!! Thank you for sharing 🙂
That was great to hear you had a Freedom Cat Ketch. Do you have more information anywhere about your days with that boat? We are thinking of getting a Freedom Cat Ketch. Thanks.
Little more coming up with this weeks video. We really loved the boat.
One question I never see anyone answer!
Is it possible to take guests and charter them around and “work” to cover costs and make money while you sail? For those of us who can’t work remotely and would be leaving our job completely.
Maybe you can shed some light into the 10% rule of thumb. When it is said that maintenance costs 10% of the purchase price annually, how does that change over time? I would expect a new boat to have less maintenance needs than an old one, yet old ones are bought second hand and the new owners still seem to apply the 10% rule of their purchase price, which is lower than the original price of the boat. So it seems the rule of thumb expects maintenance cost to go down over time. How does this counterintuitive concept work?
Well, first of all I hate rules. Second, typically 10% per year includes insurance. Third, yeh this is a really loose guide at best. Depends on so many things including the quality of the boat. Also greatly depends on geography and how much DIY is involved. Also depends on materials used….I know a guy who spent as much on repairing a single carbon spreader on his mast as we spent on haulouts for two years. So….. a lot of variables. I do think that 10% per year whether used or set aside for future big ticket expenses like sails, engines, rigging and upgrades is a good ballpark for a 5-7 year old boat that still has some life left in the engines, rig, and sails. Upgrades are another super mushy variable that can put an easy +/- 5% into the equation. Typically, what you see are new boats that see an initial fitout but then often not enough money spent over the first five years. Then maybe a second owner does a refit. The combination of the money and time spent gives you the variable in value and the cost of maintenance for the third owner. When people are “surprised” about the 10% rule, it’s typically because they aren’t aware of how much more it costs to work on boats to begin with. Blow one saildrive on a 300k boat and you’ve spent at minimum 5% of the value of the boat to replace it.
@@TheOKellys thanks, that is helpful.
just curious. what do you do for income besides the UA-cam videos and website. What did you do earlier in your cruising life for income?
Bah now i need to re-watch and do a tally >.< been hearing that cats cost 2-4x more to maintain and run then mono hulls... kinda want to contrast that to what we know but kinda passed the writing it down >.
can you put starlink on the boat?
You can but not while moving