Posted on August 2, 2016
Cost to Cruise: July
Boilerplate disclaimer: this is not what it will cost you to cruise.
People’s constant advice, discussing cruising finances, always seems to be: It’ll cost what you have. We did not find this helpful in our planning, however true it may be. What we’re trying to show is the cost to us, more or less, for one month to go cruising. We’re going for monthly expenses, because they’re easier for us to track; so you won’t see the boat insurance amortized, you’ll just see that expense when we pay it. It won’t be what you’ll spend, but it was the kind of information that helped us out when we were trying to wrap our heads around that magical number for our cruising kitty.
So, for July: well, it wasn’t quite where we hoped we’d be, budget-wise, but it was pretty close. There was a lot of motoring, especially since we left Lake Huron. Wind follows the St. Clair and Detroit Rivers, either pushing you along or slowing you down, and it was in our face the whole time; things did not improve for us on Erie. What kind of weather system is this, where it blows form the East for a week and a half?! Clearly we are still too attached to marinas, and we did a fair amount of grocery shopping in small-town stores where prices were a bit high. Still–not too shabby.
We’re modeling our expense chart after the good folks at Terrapin. A Canadian dollar was converted to a US dollar at 77 cents.
Marinas: $573.73 Grocery: $684.14 Restaurants: $270.85 Supplies: $25.72 Booze: $0 Ice Cream: $31.85 Laundry: $16.86 Transportation: $20 Communications: $0 (but continued cursing at the Wave antenna) Entertainment: $44 Pumping out: $55 Boat parts: $311.33 (including digital charts of the North Channel) Fuel: $33.98--stove; $207.61--diesel GRAND TOTAL: $2275.07
Yeah, we still have the Netflix subscription. We’re optimistic about WiFi during our trip through the Erie Canal–three more episodes of The Flash to go! Also not too sure where to file certain expenses–entertainment versus homeschool, supplies versus groceries–so things are maybe a bit fungible, but you get the general idea.
August is going to be a straight-up disaster, financially–which is fine, we’re braced for it. We’ve got unavoidable expenses associated with the Canal–dropping and raising the mast, permits, and diesel for motoring across the entire state; we plan to spend time in NYC, which by definition costs money; and we may or may not be confronting some painful engine repairs in Buffalo. There seems to be a fair amount of oil leaking from…everywhere. Is it the rear main seal, which is known to fail on this engine? Did something catastrophic happen when we overheated in Pentwater? Or is this just how much oil has always been leaking, and we’re only just noticing because of all the motoring? The suspense is killing us.
Love your writing – very entertaining, feels like I’m sailing with you, and your posts are fun to read. Keep them cards and letters coming!