We are detailing every penny of every purchase we make while cruising. Â So after you’ve checked out the other cost page and have seen how much it cost to purchase and outfit our boat for cruising, now you can also find out how much it cost to maintain a cruising lifestyle. Our cost is broken down into eight sections.
Dockage/marina covers any time we stay at a marina, have to pay for a dock or tie up to a mooring ball, or pay to use a marina’s facilities.
Diesel is any fuel we take on our boat, in the tank or in the jerrycans we strap on deck.
Boat Maintenance includes anything related to the boat.  Spare parts we order, cleaning products, hardware, electronics, basically anything that is related to the boat itself.
Boat insurance is  what we pay each month for full coverage on the boat, should anything happen to us.
Groceries/general covers anything we’d purchase at a grocery store.  Food, toiletries, bed sheets, anything you could pick up at a Walmart or Target.
Eating out/Entertainment is for any food or drinks not purchased at the grocery store (we love our fast food) and whatever we spend money on to entertain ourselves.  Could be movie tickets, museum tours, or whatever floats our boat. (Ok, maybe that would fall into boat maintenance)
Cell phone is for our monthly pre-paid plan on our cell phone which includes 100 minutes and unlimited text and data.
Other is anything else we can’t fit into the categories above.  From laundry or clothing purchases to subway passes or the five bucks you hand to the homeless guy on the street, should you ever feel that generous.
January 2013
St. Augustine, Florida
Marina/Dockage: $0.00
Diesel: $0.00
Boat Maintenance: $274.46
Boat Insurance:Â 122.90
Groceries/General: $207.35
Restaurants/Entertainment: $162.75
Cell Phone: $59.36
Other: $545.43 Â ($536.74 is from purchasing a new digital camera and two new lenses)
Total: $1,372.25
 February 2013
St. Augustine, Florida
Marina/Dockage: $0.00
Diesel: $0.00
Boat Maintenance: $333.86
Boat Insurance: $122.90
Groceries/General: $509.93
Restaurants/Entertainment: $141.63
Cell Phone: $17.59
Other: $2,106.68 Â ($1,588.94 spent on offshore life raft, other large expenses consisted of: leather camera case, underwater camera case, 2 sets of snorkel gear, charts of the Eastern Caribbean)
Total: $3,232.59
March 2013
Florida & The Bahamas
Marina/Dockage: $0.00
Diesel: $304.42
Boat Maintenance: $315.46
Boat Insurance: $122.90
Groceries/General: $352.91
Restaurants/Entertainment: $128.43
Cell Phone: $72.38 Â (One plan for the US, one plan for the Bahamas)
Other: $349.35 Â ($300 to Customs for checking in a 34′ boat)
Total: $1,645.85
April 2013
The Bahamas & Jamaica
Marina/Dockage: $30.00
Diesel: $89.85
Boat Maintenance: $94.00
Boat Insurance: $140.00
Groceries/General: $72.15Â
Restaurants/Entertainment: $125.80
Cell Phone: $0.00
Other: $0.00
Total: $551.80
Any reason the costs aren’t shown past April? These rundowns are extremely helpful/informative.
The reason is unfortunately that I became lazy in writing down all off our spending since it went from 90% credit card purchases before then to 90% cash purchases. I have days there in there, but they don’t make up a whole month. 🙁
Hey guys!
I was wondering, what do you do when you run out of money? What are your plans for that? Are you able to make money on your boat?
I was inspired by you and would like to buy a boat (I have 10k to spend) and would love your advice. I’m a solo female though so I don’t know what my options are being alone and a woman.
Do you guys run into pirates? I was looking online and saw that there are places (like around Mexico for example) that have pirates. I wanted to kayak to Peru but I was afraid of this.
Do you have wifi on your boat?
All the best,
Thanks,
Kristina
Also, what do you do in colder climates? Do you bring your boat through wintery areas?
Hi Kristina!
So far we are still living off the savings we originally left with in 2012 and hope it lasts us for a few more years. After that I’m not sure what we’ll do for money, but the good thing is you don’t need a ton to get by in this lifestyle if you don’t mind living cheap.
There are a few boats you can purchase cheaply, but I guess it would depend on where you plan on sailing and how far you plan on sailing. As a solo traveler though you’re lucky that you’d do better in a smaller boat. (28-32 ft?)
We have not run into pirates but have also made sure to stay away from pirate heavy waters. We won’t sail mainland Honduras because of this. There are plenty of groups and forums of other sailors out there though and they can let you know what areas are good and what should be avoided.
We do have a wifi booster on our boat, but this only means that we can pick up signals within about a 1/2 to 1 mile distance. So we usually only have it when we’re at a marina or anchored in front of a restaurant or bar and can pick up their signal.
We haven’t brought out boat to winter climates yet, but that’s the plan for this boat we’re remodeling now. We plan to take it up to the Baltic Sea and then down to Patagonia.
Good luck with your adventures!
How do you not have any dock fees but the $30? We want to sail around but the docking/mooring fees look outrageous. Thanks Jared
Hi Jared! Most of the time we are at anchor and therefore have no docking fees. Sometimes we’ll have to pay a little money to leave our dinghy at a marina, so if you see a cheap fee like that, it’s probably the reason. Anchoring out is so much better than a marina though!, don’t look for those. 🙂