As many readers are interested in what it costs to live aboard I like to re-visit and update this important aspect of the cruising life periodically.
Firstly I’ll re-state a few pertinent facts (see Blogs 16 April 2011, 10 June 2011 and 22 January 2012 for more details), then I’ll comment on our costs during 2012.
How much different is the cost of living on a boat in the Med, compared to living at home and keeping a similar boat on the marina?
As a general statement actual living costs such as food, beverages, “household” supplies and personal spending are about the same for us cruising as when home in New Zealand. Maintenance is dearer due to the higher cost of parts and greater distances traveled. What also bumps up costs is travel to and from your boat (very few cruisers don’t visit “home” once each year), additional fuel for the longer distances cruised, and sightseeing ashore – particularly rental cars and accommodation (occasional travel inland away from the boat is well worth the experience in the many interesting, new areas). Casual marina prices are also high, e.g. for our 14 metre Nordhavn 46 typically about NZ$130 (US$108) per night plus power and water. You pay considerably less (or sometimes even nothing) in town harbours, particularly in Greek waters, but the best option is to anchor wherever possible, which is always free.
Some costs are fixed and are for the whole year, such as insurance, winter marina, travel, most regulatory costs and some maintenance, while most other costs including living costs and fuel are variable depending on the time spent aboard and the distance traveled.
Maintenance and fuel will vary greatly depending on the size, type (displacement or planing) and the age of the boat as well as the distance cruised.
During 2012 we spent 200 days aboard, and cruised 1,736 miles for 336 engine hours.
Excluding living costs maintenance was the largest cost at NZ$26,200 (US$21,700). Although this sounds quite a lot, it’s about what we expected at 5.4% of Envoy’s estimated value, and has been consistent on average over four years cruising.
Major portions of the maintenance cost were new house and bow thruster batteries at NZ$5,700 (US$4,700), maintenance of Lugger exhaust system NZ$4,500 (US$3,700), repairs to water maker NZ$3,700 (US$3,100), cosmetic maintenance and antifouling NZ$3,000 (US$2,500), repairs to Yanmar wing engine NZ$1,700 (US$1,400), repairs to windlass NZ$1,400 (US$1,200).
Second largest was fuel at NZ$9,700 (US$8,100) including 3,440 litres (908 gal) of diesel, petrol for the RHIBs, engine oil and lpg for cooking.
Third was marina and regulatory costs at NZ$7,500 (US$6,200), while fourth was boat and travel insurance at NZ$6,100 (US$5,000).
Communication costs including internet and phone is significant at about NZ$4,000 (US$3,300), and although this could be reduced by using only WiFi, we prefer to stay connected all the time so use pre-pay USBs for internet access.
Diane and I look at this not as “cost” but as our “investment in fun”.
Firstly I’ll re-state a few pertinent facts (see Blogs 16 April 2011, 10 June 2011 and 22 January 2012 for more details), then I’ll comment on our costs during 2012.
How much different is the cost of living on a boat in the Med, compared to living at home and keeping a similar boat on the marina?
As a general statement actual living costs such as food, beverages, “household” supplies and personal spending are about the same for us cruising as when home in New Zealand. Maintenance is dearer due to the higher cost of parts and greater distances traveled. What also bumps up costs is travel to and from your boat (very few cruisers don’t visit “home” once each year), additional fuel for the longer distances cruised, and sightseeing ashore – particularly rental cars and accommodation (occasional travel inland away from the boat is well worth the experience in the many interesting, new areas). Casual marina prices are also high, e.g. for our 14 metre Nordhavn 46 typically about NZ$130 (US$108) per night plus power and water. You pay considerably less (or sometimes even nothing) in town harbours, particularly in Greek waters, but the best option is to anchor wherever possible, which is always free.
Some costs are fixed and are for the whole year, such as insurance, winter marina, travel, most regulatory costs and some maintenance, while most other costs including living costs and fuel are variable depending on the time spent aboard and the distance traveled.
Maintenance and fuel will vary greatly depending on the size, type (displacement or planing) and the age of the boat as well as the distance cruised.
During 2012 we spent 200 days aboard, and cruised 1,736 miles for 336 engine hours.
Excluding living costs maintenance was the largest cost at NZ$26,200 (US$21,700). Although this sounds quite a lot, it’s about what we expected at 5.4% of Envoy’s estimated value, and has been consistent on average over four years cruising.
Major portions of the maintenance cost were new house and bow thruster batteries at NZ$5,700 (US$4,700), maintenance of Lugger exhaust system NZ$4,500 (US$3,700), repairs to water maker NZ$3,700 (US$3,100), cosmetic maintenance and antifouling NZ$3,000 (US$2,500), repairs to Yanmar wing engine NZ$1,700 (US$1,400), repairs to windlass NZ$1,400 (US$1,200).
Second largest was fuel at NZ$9,700 (US$8,100) including 3,440 litres (908 gal) of diesel, petrol for the RHIBs, engine oil and lpg for cooking.
Third was marina and regulatory costs at NZ$7,500 (US$6,200), while fourth was boat and travel insurance at NZ$6,100 (US$5,000).
Communication costs including internet and phone is significant at about NZ$4,000 (US$3,300), and although this could be reduced by using only WiFi, we prefer to stay connected all the time so use pre-pay USBs for internet access.
Diane and I look at this not as “cost” but as our “investment in fun”.
1 comment:
I know I am still a ways behind you on your journey but I have a question regarding health care. I believe that you probably just absorb incidental costs like the cost of having a window blow in on you, but do you have any provisions made for more serious issues that could cost many thousands of dollars. Not knowing what type of coverage New Zealand has but knowing how we Canadians deal with travel out of country. Our national plan covers us for certain things and also allows us to use it for international costs as long as we are not out of country for more than 5 months per annum. We carry Emergency Travel Insurance to deal with costs over and above what that plan will cover. Thanks for any enlightenment that you may shed.
JB
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