Realistic Sailing Expenses: Cost of Sailing After Year 1
In August 2023 I wrote about our realistic sailing expenses and how we performed against our original budget over the first six months of cruising on our sailboat. Up to that point, and after saving up for 6 years, we had sailed from the Gulf of Mexico, through the Florida Keys and Bahamas and then up the east coast to the Chesapeake Bay region. Up to that point we had performed fairly well against our monthly budget of $4,700, however we found that we were spending on average $248 more per month.
In this article we are sharing our realistic sailing expenses living on a sailboat through the second half of 2023 and our cost of sailing per year for a better picture of what our annual spending was for our first full year of cruising. The second half of 2023 was highlighted with a three month stay in Solomons, Maryland where we accomplished several boat projects (a significant budget item discussed below) and then our trip down the east coast and back to the Bahamas where we rung in the new year.
Here are all of the numbers for our 2023 spending in this table below. This article will go into more detail for each category on what we spent our money on in the second half of 2023 and how we did compared to our budget.
Monthly Budget Vs Actual Spending: Realistic Sailing Expenses Living On A Sailboat
As noted above our monthly average sailing costs over the first six months cruising was $248 more than our original budget. While we were looking to try to improve upon that in the second half of 2023, we found that the reality of maintaining the boat and making improvements to make the lifestyle easier and more comfortable was contradictory to our goal.
During the second half of 2023 our average monthly spending was $1,545 greater than our monthly budget (ouch!).
It turns out that we did a pretty good job of reigning in our most significant budget buster culprit from the first six months: Marinas and Mooring Balls. However, those boat projects that we undertook during our three months in Solomons were well beyond what we originally budgeted. These are covered under our first budget category below, Boat Expenses.
Annual Budget Review By Category
As discussed in our Sailing Budget Categories article, we came up with 11 budget categories to help us keep track of our spending while living aboard a sailboat. That article goes into more detail on what items are included in each category.
1 Boat Expenses
| Monthly Budget | $748 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $709 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $2,098 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $1,404 |
I noted this in our first semi-annual update back in August and we knew our spending in this category would increase during our stay in Solomons.
We completed several boat projects before we left Mobile, AL in January 2023. However, after 6 months of cruising full-time, we felt the additional boat maintenance and upgrade projects listed below were worth the investment for our full-time liveaboard lifestyle.
We frankly did not anticipate maintenance costs and upgrade projects to be this high, but I believe this is a good reality check on what it really costs to maintain and make improvements on a full-time cruising boat.
The major projects we completed over the summer included:
- Replacing our aft head with a composting toilet
- Replacing the sanitation hoses on the forward head
- Replacing a number of our running rigging lines
- Adding another 198Ah AGM battery to our house battery bank
- Replacing the forward cockpit Strataglass enclosure panels
- Installing new Starlink system
Beyond these projects we also undertook normal maintenance activities including oil changes, anchor chain inspection and removing bad links, resealing leaky window and hatch covers, repairing gel coat dings, etc., etc.
Looking forward we are hopeful that we have accomplished the major improvements that we found would be worthwhile during our first six months of cruising, however we are now more aware of the general sailing cost to keep up a full-time cruising boat and we will be reevaluating our budget thresholds for these Boat Expenses.
2 Fuel (Diesel, Gasoline, And Propane)
| Monthly Budget | $280 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $254 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $173 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $213 |
We were not surprised to see our actual spending decrease in the second half since we were able to save money on fuel staying in the marina. Instead, we were spending all that Boat Expense money during these three months at the marina. Overall, we feel the budget we have established for Fuel is appropriate for the way we operate the boat and will continue to monitor this boat cost in the years to come.
3 Marinas And Mooring Balls
| Monthly Budget | $750 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $1,165 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $753 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $959 |
Clearly an improvement in the second half of 2023 on what was the original most significant culprit to our budget overrun in the first half of the year.
While we did stay at a marina for three months in Solomons, the benefit of an occasional ‘long-term’ or monthly slip rental is that the rate is much more economical than the single day to weekly rates. We did spend $850 per month at Safe Harbor Zahnisers through July, August and September, but we found that we did a much better job of staying at anchor or on less expensive mooring balls during our trip down the east coast and over to the Bahamas from October through December.
We will continue to seek good safe anchorages or mooring balls in favor of marinas as we continue our travels. But, we also recognize that from time to time a break at a marina dock for particularly nasty weather systems is a safe alternative and provides you with some nice rest and relaxation.
4 Groceries And Restaurants
| Monthly Budget | $1,400 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $1,382 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $1,539 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $1,460 |
We did see an uptick in spending on this category in the second half of 2023. I attribute some of that to the ease of going out to eat and/or just going to a grocery store at any time during our stay in Solomons.
Additionally, we made several provisioning runs late in the year as we prepared to cross back over to the Bahamas. Those additional expenses were incurred in 2023 and we are reaping the benefits of them through early 2024 while we eat away at our provisions while riding at anchor in beautiful locations from the Abacos to Eleuthera, and down through the Exumas.
I still feel our budget for this category is appropriate and we will continue to track against it in 2024.
5 Internet And Cell Phones
| Monthly Budget | $280 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $269 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $206 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $238 |
For 2023 our budget for this category included ‘bundled cell phone service’ in the US as well as additional dollars for Starlink, which we did not start using until late in the year.
We made some fairly significant transitions within the category by the end of 2023. We eliminated all of our domestic cell phone service with bundled internet in favor of local relatively inexpensive, basic voice service in the Bahamas. We are now relying on Starlink for 100% of our internet service.
We did perform well against our budget in this category in 2023 and we will likely have opportunities to perform better or perhaps reevaluate the budget for this category going into 2024.
Unfortunately, this won’t really close the gap on those Boat Expenses, but every little bit helps!
6 Healthcare And Medical
| Monthly Budget | $625 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $350 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $354 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $352 |
As I noted in the Six Month Budget Update, this category was established to cover both the fixed costs of medical insurance (I used Medi-Share in 2023) as well as some buffer room to cover unexpected medical costs such as doctor visits, medications, etc.
We are making some changes to our medical insurance in 2024 by replacing the Medi-Share coverage with an International Health Care plan since we plan to be out of the United States for the entire year. I will also have coverage in the US through an Affordable Health Care plan in case anything happens while I am in the US visiting friends and family.
Although we are making some changes, we still feel this budget is appropriate for our needs and will continue to monitor our spending in 2024.
7 Travel
| Monthly Budget | $250 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $250 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $382 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $316 |
Another reason we stayed in Solomons, MD for 3 months was to have a safe place to keep the boat while traveling on land.
During our stay in Solomons, we went on three separate trips to visit with our families, including one trip overseas for a beautiful wedding. We were lucky to use our air miles and car rental points we’ve accumulated during our working days, but have realized we will need to increase this category a little bit in 2024. We plan to be out of the USA, and we definitely want to visit family again in 2024.
8 Pet Care
| Monthly Budget | $100 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $154 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $266 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $210 |
I have unfortunately underestimated the cost of traveling with a dog to foreign countries. For our 2023 budget, I knew that we would be traveling to the Bahamas, and was able to anticipate the expenses for getting him there. However, in the second half of 2023, I started planning for Mangaux to get into Caribbean countries in 2024. This includes a Rabies Titer Test, which cost us over $600!
Before traveling full-time, Mangaux would visit his regular vet twice a year. In 2023, Mangaux has been to 5 vet appointments with 5 different vets for his routine vaccinations, rabies titer test, and health certificates for two trips to the Bahamas.
With our 2024 plans to travel to the various Caribbean countries, we will need to relook at this budget category as well.
9 Laundry
| Monthly Budget | $20 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $20 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $4 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $12 |
One way we conserve water on a boat is by doing most of our laundry at a laundromat or marina. (A washing machine on a boat would use more water than we use in one day).
Our first 6 months, we were right on target. Our spending went down considerably in the second half of 2023 due to the free laundry at Safe Harbor Zahnisers in Solomons, and visiting our family for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
10 Mail And Packages
| Monthly Budget | $25 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $20 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $55 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $38 |
As mentioned in our Setting Up Florida Residency article, we use St. Brendan’s Isle for our mail forwarding service. We are very happy with their service and pricing.
As you can see, there is an uptick in our packages and spending in the second half of 2023. I inadvertently sent a very heavy Amazon package to the St. Brendan’s Isle address instead of the marina address. They in turn had to mail it to us in Solomons, which was rather pricy due to the weight of the package. You can bet that I double and triple check my shipping address going forward!
11. Clothing, Gifts, Entertainment, And Hobbies
| Monthly Budget | $222 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (First Half 2023) | $375 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Second Half 2023) | $415 |
| Monthly Average Actual Spending (Full Year 2023) | $395 |
We continued to overspend in these last remaining items for this category. I believe the major culprit is the Hobbies Item which includes setting up this Money For Mangos blog. There are several fees for web hosting, domain hosting, and helpful tools I purchased during Black Friday sales to help me be more efficient with the upkeep of the blog.
My hope is one day to bring in some income from this blog to help offset the costs and maybe pay for a sundowner drink (or two)!
Realistic Sailing Expenses Summary – Year 1
As illustrated in the graph above our most significant budget categories are Groceries & Restaurants, Boat Expenses and Marinas & Mooring Fees. Our most significant budget gaps fall into two of those categories, namely Boat Expenses and Marinas & Moorings.
While we did not meet our budget objectives in our first year of cruising (actually running roughly $900 over budget each month on average) we still feel that we can strive to meet that original budget in 2024. However, we also recognize the realities of the costs of living on a sailboat in the fashion that we enjoy the most (i.e., occasional stays in marinas and upgrades to the boat).
Therefore, for 2024 we are working to keep our realistic sailing expenses within a ‘budget window’ with the goal of maintaining he original budget of $4,700 a month but setting a new upper boundary of $5,590 per month. We have found that this new upper boundary still maintains our overall long-term goals of cruising and not returning to work but working toward a lower spending rate will only enhance our ability to do so. We also anticipate that this new upper boundary may fluctuate year to year, depending on our spending and savings.
I hope sharing our cost of sailing information is helpful to everyone planning for and living this lifestyle of sailing and cruising. Overall, we are happy to have made the decision to live the life we are living and we have found a way to do so within the means we have.
Live your dream,
