This is an excellent video - and I would recommend that everyone reads your blog post too. I had been living aboard in a harbour style marina in the Bristol Channel for 2 years. I did this quite frugally and managed to save up to do quite a lot of work on the boat. New engine, self-steering windvane etc. I then needed to relocate round the UK to more or less the Thames Estuary. Because I plan on becoming a permanent voyager in the next year or so, I used the journey as a bit of a shake-down voyage. One bit of advice I had been given on full-time cruising is to remember that your are NOT on holiday - we all spend a lot more when we are on holiday. However, I deliberately decided that I WAS on holiday just this once. I spent two slow months cruiising, staying mostly in marinas, eating out a lot, going on excursions, and motoring when the wind wasn't strong enough to keep me to my passage plan. The result was that I spent about £1,270 all in for the two months. Less than £650 a month! Obviously that is the cost for solo sailing (Marina fees would be the same for a couple, but food would double). I think that the two years of budgeting and writing everything down has been a great discipline. And when I do untie the lines - I WON'T be on holiday and I know that I can cut down considerably on my shake-down cruise costs. Cheers.
Thanks so much for your lovely comment. Yes, it's so true - understanding that living aboard isn't a holiday is essential. We eat out once or twice a month and have only paid for one marina since we left Falmouth in May 2017. We had to pay for some mooring balls where we had no other option, but those were rather cheap. Best of luck with your transition from liveaboard to cruiser - you'll love it! Elena and Ryan
Hi, and thank you for the video, I have been living in my camper-van in Waterford Ireland for over a year and am about to take sail/cruising lessons and will buy a 32ft sail/cruiser in the next year (hoping to trade my camper-van in for a sail boat) Im changing my life at a fittish 47 years of age. Camper-van life costs me about 140 euro for a 7 night stay and im left with about 70 euro a week for diesel and food. if I have herd you correctly that means I can anchor my future sail boat anywhere that's not a marina FOR FREE? then dingy to shore for supplies? then sail round Europe wherever I like is that correct? :) subbed and belled. thank you.
3:18 that statement could apply to so much. So many people believe that their idea of luxury is the only one but fail to see the amount of freedom and amazing opportunities that exist if you only learn how to live without that specific "luxury"
Here is a tip. Network with friends, family, and other sailors on your journeys so that you not only have a local guide to the regions you will visit, but have a home to network from while you are there. Showers in a house and maybe a nice bed beat the heck out of hotels and Marina's. Often, when you offer them something for their trouble, they won't even take it. Ordinary people make the best tour guides anyway. They know their town, history, and love to show you about. Cheers. Great video.
Thanks Charles. We've met some lovely people along the way. We even had something delivered to a lady's place so we wouldn't have to pay for a night in a marina. We agree - the locals are great and we've met lots of amazing cruisers too. We find that the more generous we are, the more we get back :)
Brilliant! No BS, as simple and honest as it needs to be. There are so many 'cost of living' videos out there (both on land and sea) but this is the first one which actually addresses the topic directly, succinctly and with a large dose of common sense. I'm doing the same as you both, but on a motorbike round the world (10 year plan). Now, #thankstocorona, I have watched all your videos from the purchase of Skua onwards. I wanted to finish doing the RTW on the bike then sail, but now I realise that I could take a month, 6 months, a year out and crew or hire a yacht and do it now. Watching your adventures has really awoken the beast. Thanks. Fair winds (and lots of ice cream) to you.
Yay! Thank you. A note: season 1 videos are much lower quality - we had no idea what we were doing, never held a camera or been in front of a camera before. If you don’t enjoy them, please give us another chance by watching a newer video 😊
Great advise. I ran out of money the first time not because of an extravagant lifestyle but because I couldn't find a job. That's how the US Navy got me. It was 2008 and I discovered jobs were hard to come by once my savings ran out, in the US at least. Keep living the dream!
Glad to see normal people out cruising. All I've seen on RUclips have been the bikini clad model types with rich people. I've never been on a sailboat but think if I did I figure I go to a marina once a month. Make it easier to get the food, water, gas & trash all taken care of in 1 day instead of multiple dinghy trips.
you just nailed it. When you have the knowledge and confidence, anchoring rather than marina hopping will be your default. Fancy a natter and a power shower, book a marina stop and budget for it.
Doug Baker I have always been interested in multihulls so naturally when I saw an ad for a Heavenly Twins I went to have a look. My boat is not as clean and neat as yours but is perfect for me to sail around Florida and later the Bahamas. Thanks for your videos and fair winds. Cheers
Awesome thanks. I'm living on a widebeam canal barge doing continuous cruising and thinking of transitioning to a sail boat. Once you get the travelling bug it's hard to stop!
Thankyou for a great video its a refreshing change to hear and watch people with a down to earth common sense approach to the liveaboard/cruising life. I lived aboard my boat and cruised france and northern spain years ago. And hoping to return to it this May. its nice to see normal people and its not all gone too the all tits and teeth bikini clad numpties you see on a lot of these videos. I wish you both all the best , fair winds and cold beer.
Thanks so much Anthony! We hope you can get back to cruising in May or even sooner. If you fancy a little nostalgia, we have filmed our adventures cruising from Falmouth to the Algarve. You’ll find the episodes on our channel. Fair winds!
If one wanted to use marinas a lot ... find a marina that allows liveaboard in an aera of your liking then sail to places to and from there ... a lot cheaper and still a lot of fun. I live on my sailboat, year round on Lake Erie for about $400 per mo, including all expenses.
This is a great video. Really down and dirty and honest. Not all gilts and glam. Thank you. Love watching you two. Fair winds and following seas my friends.
Awesome video, guys. Good advice. My "sailboat" is an off-grid camp that I spend weekends at in the summer and fall and I hope to retire there someday. Your budget advice is right on and the same as what I am looking at except in my case I also have fixed cost taxes and insurance to factor in plus a few smaller annual expenses like registrations of equipment that I have there. My expenses are about $4k/year fixed cost then my dog and I can like like kings on $100/week if we are smart. Not much different than your budget except for the fixed costs. Well done. Keep up the great work.
Geremy Chubbuck...Can I ask about what it takes to keep your dog aboard ? Im selling up in NZ and looking to purchase a live aboard in the Med for myself & best mate (pooch). Ive read that all his vaccinations must be up to date & documented , but are there any other things I need to do or know ? Thanks.
Excellent video! Thanks for the great info! I have a few thoughts and questions. My wife and I want to cruise and will be far too eager to do lots of sightseeing, at least in the beginning. We will still have a budget no doubt. What kinds of costs do you encounter for various sightseeing trips? I'll probably still be flying out regularly to work for a few years, and expect that will cause us to need monthly slip to begin with, so my wife can relax in a village with social life, coffee shops, etc. I think a blend of freedom and income will be our goal, so when were on the boat it does feel like permanent vacation. What costs would you expect a monthly rental to run for a single slip cat? What is the cost to dry store a boat during foul weather season? (Maybe that's a better question for a Carribean crew.) What is diesel economy like on your boat? If you had to motor for a day, what's the gallons/cost to do so? How much does it cost to anti-foul? These are just some of my top questions. I know answers vary. Thanks again! Great video! ~ Josh
+Sailing Serenity thanks a lot Josh. Unfortunately, we can’t really reply to most of those questions because of a few reasons: slip prices vary wildly (from €200 a night to €11 a night) based on the marina location, as well as boat size. We don’t spend any money to go sighseeing apart from public tansport costs (€8 Euros was the most expensive train ride we’ve done this year). We don’t pay for attractions or renting cars. The same goes for all prices - we order everything from the UK to Europe, as it’s much cheaper than buying in Europe, so we spend much less. For example, a 2.5L of antifouling in Portugal is €200 Euros, while in the UK, where we ordered it from, it was £40. You see? It all depends on your location. We have a petrol outboard as our main engine and we consume 1.5L of petrol per hour, so around €3 per hour, but we never motor for a whole day, we use the sails all the time. The price and consumption will be different for a diesel engine. For winter storage we’re spending €120 x month (the cheapest we found) as they counted us a an 8m monohull. We don’t expect anywhere in the world to be as cheap as that. Our suggestion is to research the areas where you’ll cruise before you set off - that’s the only way to find out the cost of things in that specific place. For example at the moment we’re emailing lots of boatyards in the Mediterranean for next year, in case we need to haul out. We’d also suggest you read the blog post we linked in the video description - lots of info and resources on there. Thanks for watching!
I've been looking into van life for a while, but I live in and love florida.... I also love working at bars So, I'm thinking that taking a lot of van life philosophy and off-grid tips will allow me to have the best of all worlds, so to speak. It'll definitely require some planning and a bit of luck, but I think it'll end up being quite lovely if I can find the right setup
@@TC-yx1qt I can't imagine it is. I used to be a merchant sailor and am already vaguely familiar with some of the hardships that come with living in a floating house It's more prone to weather, more inherently expensive and there's more details overall to worry about that you wouldn't have to think twice about in a land based vehicle living situation There is that primal beauty to living on a boat though. As long as you keep expectations in check, I bet it can be quite rewarding
Will need to check out you blog, I keep my boat on a swinging mooring and I am in a cheap club way up the river clyde were you have to come out on a slip at high tide. Don't know how people can afford a boat with the marina costs.
I'm in the process of moving onto a boat. It's been a life long dream but the push has come from a pending eviction. So I'm being forced to make the leap and live my dreams. I've got 2 questions if you have the time. 1) how powerful of a solar setup are your panels/battery. I am a ghostwriter, so much the same lifestyle/demands. 2) how far does cell reception typically reach? I've been thinking the same method of internet you use, but found it very hard to get any information on how far out you can still get cell reception.
Hi, sorry to hear about the eviction, but congrats on getting ready to set sail! 1) about 560watts of solar and 2 x 225 amp hour 6 volt batteries. Bear in mind we don’t have pressurised water, watermaker, etc. 2) I’d say around 5/10nm from shore, so unless you’re in a remote anchorage, you’ll always have coverage when at anchor. I hope this helps :) Elena
We made a big investment and got semiflexible ones (Renytek) and are happy with them. The main reason is it saved us from making frames on our awkward curved roofs. However rigid ones are cheaper and more efficient.
Informative material although the focus is only on outgoings. What I'd like to hear about is the income element of your budget - exactly how do you earn 600 plus euros monthly?
We've got a video on how to make money lined up too ;) Stay tuned. But regarding how we make money, we've said it all along - we work freelance from our laptops, we do online marketing and web design for a few clients each month. Ryan also takes on some practical boat work (like sanding and painting) where he can, as he doesn't have fixed clients like I do. -Elena
when sailing randomly Europe, how to know in a never seen before harbour were you can moor? and do you have to pay for mooring couple of days? are there free areas for travelers? someone told me that small and medium sail boats do not pay in many cowntries for just mooring in dedicated areas of the harbor, is it true? thanks.
Hello, thank you for sharing this information, it’s very helpful. I noticed you didn’t mention putting money aside for engine repairs or buying new sails, or general maintenance , etc... How much approximately do you think one should put aside for this, on top of the regular budget? I know it can be very high, thank you
It really depends on what boat you have and her condition, which is why we didn’t put a number on it. With Kittiwake, - a 26ft catamaran from 1979 - we had to do an extensive refit over 2 winters and spent around £7-9K total to upgrade almost everything on board. However, there was pretty much nothing else to do on her after that. If you had to refit a modern medium to big boat where you have to buy branded Bavaria/Beneteau/... original parts, you could easily spend tens of thousands of £/$. For example, even the hatches have special parts, so you have to buy their own, more expensive brand. People say as a rule of thumb to set aside 1/10 of the boat value per year after the initial refit. We disagree - it really depends on what’s old on board and where you’re hauling out (haul out prices vary wildly). You could spend next to nothing one year and then have the autopilot (£5K) and the AIS (£1K) break plus the engine having problems the next. You need to be flexible or you’ll go nuts 😆 things break, and you never know when or where. How much do we put aside for maintenance? Every penny we earn and don’t spend that month 😊 At some point, we’ll need it.
I have been looking , but don't need a condo cat , I am retired so no need for big speed . I want to try a cargo parachute for light wind downwind , high above the bow. Its between a pocket cat & pilot house cc for livaboard.
I think your costs are a bit low, but then they are probably in Euros? For instance, if you wanted to use marinas a lot, my guess is you would spend close to 1-2K per month on just that alone, depending on where you are of course. Also you must factor in short and long term maintenance costs into your budget or your will rapidly lose the value in your boat. I expect to live pretty frugal in retirement onboard, but still expect to spend close to 2K USD per month, and that doesn't include insurance, either health or boat. Beth Leonard in her excellent cruising book breaks down this really well in looking at 3 types of sailors and typical budgets. Yes you can cruise on 500 per month, but not many would want to. There is just no much to work with given the variables that your will face. Fuel at one country might be 2x what it costs in another. You might have to fly home unexpectedly. All should be considered in planning a budget. In the end, the "it costs what you have " is pretty spot on.
Hi Bob, thanks for your comment. As mentioned at the start of the video, 500 Euros is the very minimum we can live on, but as we usually earn more x month through our freelance work, we tend to spend around 700. Our costs are so low because we don’t need marinas (we’re completely independent from shore) or health insurance (in Europe). We do pay for full boat insurance and maintenance though, which we can easily allow for in the 700Euros for our tiny boat, as we just spend a little less on food/going out for a couple of months. Our biggest expense on maintenance was 200Euros so far, which meant we ate out less and spent less on food shopping for 2 months. The joys of having a small boat :) We then save up for upgrades, such as getting an AIS, repainting the boat, etc. We have 2 ‘contingency’ bank accounts for emergencies and save money into both each month. We also have the option to work more if we need to - we did that in October and November to pay for a haul out. We’d always rather not use the contingency money. Cruising on such a small budget while working and living on a small boat with no luxuries isn’t for everyone, in fact we think people should find their own budget with which they’re comfortable with, keeping in mind the countries they plan to visit and costs they can’t avoid. That was the point of our video - there is no right or wrong budget, only the one that works for you.
Its pretty cool that you can do it on that, and I am not doubting that your do at all.Sorry if I came across that way. Just that many could not do what your doing for that. Haven't watched many of your videos so will have to watch more to see what your up to. I am just saying I don't think I would be comfortable on that small a budget. Which is why I am waiting till retirement to do full time cruising. But to each his own. It is cool to see that some can do it on that though. Fair winds. Bob
Cheers Bob! We're not patient enough to wait for 40 years, until retirement hehe! So we're doing it the only way we can - cheap :) Thanks for watching and commenting. Fair winds and very best of luck with your own adventure. You'll very much deserve the comforts and freedom you'll have. Elena & Ryan
So you guys are staying on the boat most of the time, right? I'd love travel the world like this but I honestly think that I'd need to stay at marinas in different countries just to really travel the country. Anchoring is great but you won't see much of the country you're visiting, right?
True, if that’s what you want to do, you’ll most likely need a big budget so you can pay for marinas, car rentals, tourist attractions, etc. We don’t have that kind of money, so we can either do it this way, or stay at home, so we do it this way 😊
We are much less concerned about break ins at anchor than in a marina. The few times we stay in marinas we are paranoid someone will break in. The last one we stayed in had broken gates from the lastest break in. Our friends were gassed in a marina and got a lot of stuff stolen from the boat while they ‘blissfully’ slept (gas-induced sleep). We feel much safer at anchor. However, we’re in Europe. It all depends on your location.
Great video, very inspiring about how to live frugally on a boat. Maybe you need to check about health care costs - they are not just 'free' across all Europe for UK citizens. British expats in Spain, I think, have to join the local state healthcare program to recover up-front payments at hospitals etc. , and I'm not sure even then if the fees are 100% recoverable . As continuous cruisers you might also run into 'residence' issues with the NHS and local health systems , maybe not yet, but some time in the future? Brexit is going to muddy the waters even more .... anyway stay healthy ! Presumably also there are some 'hidden' or deferred costs , like NI contributions in the UK?
Basically what you are saying is you better have some great computer skills, (I sure don't) writing code, web design etc etc. Those of us that are older did not grow up with computers and pretty much surf vlogs news and chat groups. Web design, writing code etc. marketing a book online seems impossible net even knowing where to start. Probably would have to go back to school just to get basic skills. What do you think?
Writing can be very profitable online guy. No reason why you shouldn't clear at least 2 grand a month doing that if you can actually write. Freelancer for over a decade.
I take it you have not met dingy sailors yet? There is a new extreme group of camper paddle boarders. I met a couple trying the American Loopers on Paddle Boards. I was between Bobby's Fish Camp and Demopolis, AL.
Hey Fredrick, nope, we haven't seen any on the Atlantic coast of Europe. But we do know some people camp on dinghies (or anchor off and sleep on shore) in the UK on their holidays and we think it's a great solution for cheap sailing holidays :) That's what we'd do if we were stuck on land.
Forgot about the Hobie Sail Camping Crowd ruclips.net/video/Fz9QZtqGrls/видео.html Here is a you tube of 2 gals going from NYC to Key West on SUP Boards. ruclips.net/video/N_1gQ6TBT1Y/видео.html
Hey Guys! Congratulations on your Video! I have a question related to Self Efficiency. Do you have a Desalination system on your boat? Does it work well? is it worth it to install it on your boat? How much power does it take to operate? :D Thanks! Cheers João
Hi Bonnie, it's a very big subject for a RUclips comment. You can watch this video we made about it: ruclips.net/video/VzobLPI8a2A/видео.html&t= We hope this helps :)
What would you recommend I do with a sailboat if I am going to start solo, if I work 30 days away, what would you do with the sailboat. I worry about how safe my boat will be, both from nature and thievery
Ah there’s lots of boatyards in Florida to leave your boat, just make sure that it’s equipped to deal with hurricanes if it’s hurricane season, and insure your boat appropriately :)
We only own a sailboat, so we would buy a sailboat. However, it’s not such a wise choice - sailboats lose value and require maintenance 😉 We went for what we wanted to do, not what was logical.
Most cruisers don’t own one or leave it in their home garage. We don’t own a car or house. If you live in a marina rather than cruising, you have to ask about parking space/permit.
Great info. Hey, for those who are interested in buying a boat, i looked at the sailboat makers on wikipedia, what's the "toyota" of sailboats? (Easy maintenance/fix, good engine, durable at open sea cold climate etc)
Only the Portuguese built fortresses (like the one in the background), I bid farewell to an old Portuguese saying: "Good winds, calm sea and safe waters".
No, it's our TOTAL spend per month, as we mentioned. For a detailed breakdown of our monthly spending, watch this video: ruclips.net/video/V2xwbSzVwZw/видео.html
I’m saving up now for a sailboat and plan on retiring on a sailboat. I’m 32 now and make around 110k usd a year. I plan on retiring at 50 and my expenses right now are around $1400 usd a month. I have to work till I’m 50 to get my full retirement of $4500 a month. Only 18 more years and I’ll be living the life in the Mediterranean.
Sailing Kittiwake thanks, I keep my expenses really low and I travel for work so that keeps my budget down. I want to take sailing classes. So I have plenty of time to learn. Best of luck to you as well 😁
If you want to get an idea of costs in the Med, we share our whole season costs in this video: ruclips.net/video/V2xwbSzVwZw/видео.html Although with your budget and pension, we wouldn’t worry too much!
Do you really think that anyone asking you this question is wondering how much you spend on food or on toilet paper or diesel oil? At least you could tell how much a genoa/main sail costs and how many hours of sailing you can expect from a sail , and we could do the math... and you could tell how much you spend on fiberglass maintenance or on a yearly average.. how often do you replace your batteries... what do you pay for insurance... How often do you change water maker filters if you don't get water from marinas. It goes on and on That is how you calculate the ACTUAL cost of sailing. The problem is... all my sailing friends or people i meet .. they never answer these questions. The most honest answer I could get from a captain who sailed to italy for and croatia (2month trip) was : "If I did explain how much this travel cost, you would loose your interest in sailing". In those two months, her engine was broken, main sail was damaged, and had to stay at marinas at that repair time.
We can gladly tell you the prices of those items for Kittiwake, but they’d be different for every other boat in the world, other than the very peculiar Heavenly Twins (26ft catamaran). Mainsail + genoa cost £900 total. Sails last about 10 years of medium use, 6 of heavy use (ocean crossings). Again, it depends on which sails you buy though. No fiberglass maintenance costs for us yet. Batteries, if well looked after, should last 4 years (each brand will tell you exactly how many charges they can take, google it), ours were the cheapest we could find at £700 for 2. Insurance is £350 x year - again, cheapest we could find. No water maker. Our water filters for the tap are £25 x 2 a year. We get water at the fuel dock - mostly free or €5 for a fill up in the Mediterranean. This will tell you absolutely nothing because all these costs are only relevant for a basic, low tech Heavenly Twins sailboat, purchasing everything in the UK from the cheapest online outlets. We didn’t say our boat maintenance prices in purpose, because we doubt many other boaters can spend so little on such items. Each boat, and country, and even region, and the brands you choose change prices by huge amounts. For example, the same water filter we buy in the UK for £25 costs £60 in Spain, £80 in Italy and £90 in Greece. Apply this to every item on your list, and the maintenance costs can become 5 times our own, for the same boat, in the same part of the world. As you say, the engine could break down or even blow up, so it’s impossible to predict maintenance costs for any boat.
Sailing Kittiwake i really appreciate this answer , as you said these may be specific information for your boat or UK but now i learned many clues for beginners like me to ask the right questions about components. The age of sails, number of batteries required for staying at anchor, where to get water, insurence requirement etc. (And engine hours i may add) If your youtube followers are mostly beginners, these are valuable information. If they are boat owners, then you of course can skip these . Thanks again ;)
i am wondering if people from the financial industry are still able to create enough income trading forex or stocks or similar instruments. All that is required is an internet connaction and to learn theskill or improve it to adapt to different conditions.Timezones change or limited internet connection.I believe it should be possible to have a good enough connection these days.Anyone has experience ?
+Pete fromtheIsland haha! We fell for it. It’s hard to understand the tone of comments 😉 We’d love to see Canada one day - such an amazing, wild country!
+Pete fromtheIsland wow! We dream of seeing Vancouver Island. It’s not the bikini area, but we heard the wildlife and nature there are amazing. We’ve watched quite a few documentaries about your area. We’d love to hike and camp around there too.
"Luckily for us we're both European, living on our boat in Europe means we don't need to worry about visas or health insurance" - Sent from the post BREXIT gang
@@SailingKittiwake I know haha, love watching your videos :D going through them all Trying to see if it's practical for me, was trying to find out how much your first boat cost (kittiwake) as it looks like a good starting point
Sailing isn’t actually free. It costs many thousands to buy the mast, stays, winches, lines, sails etc and more importantly all the maintenance that all that stuff costs each year. Normally there are haul out fees, bottom paint and any other repairs. Most sailors motor at least 40% of the time they travel and that means fuel and maintenance. There are also many misc fees like mooring balls (many places have no places suitable to anchor) cruising fees, licenses and fuel for a generator or running the motor to top up the batteries when your solar isn’t enough. If you do anything on land you pay and if you entertain you also pay. The marginal cost of sailing in the short run might be free but not over a year or longer. Delos and others say you need to spend 2-3% of the value of the boat each year on maintenance. Older boats probably 10%. If you live aboard at the level of camping in a tent, go no where and do nothing then maybe $500 might let you squeeze by but most live aboards aren’t interested at that level. Living space counted in 10’s of square feet, very little flat useable deck space with bed and everything else in your basement (small damp, dark space with small high windows). How many people want to live in the basement?
Hi David. Most sailboats we've seen come with a mast, winches etc... In terms of maintenance, 2-3% is probably a bit low for us, but 10% is probably a bit high for us. But on a £10k boat, £80-100 per month is probably achievable for most. Most of the money we've spent on the boat so far has been upgrades rather than maintenance. The reason that we didn't put a figure on this in the video is that it is completely dependent on the boat. If you buy a 1930s wooden schooner and keep it perfectly varnished, then your costs will be completely different to a 1970s Albin Vega that you don't mind keeping scruffy. Therefore any sort of percentage or fixed cost for estimating this is totally useless. Most of your other points in the first paragraph are dealt with in our video. In terms of the camping / basement comparison, I'm not really sure where that comes from or what you mean by it. I've never lived in a basement, but I've done a lot of camping and no tent I've seen has its own bathroom, kitchen, bedroom with permanent double bed etc. We have been on one boat with small high windows, which was a 42 foot luxury monohull worth over £200k. Our little boat has big panoramic windows so it's definitely not anything to do with budget!
Sorry you feel this way, Oliver. What we say is the truth though - your costs depend on YOU: the boat you choose, the lifestyle you are happy with and the area you cruise. All these elements can change your budget by vast amounts. For example, cruising a 40ft catamaran in the Med using marinas once a week will cost way more than cruising a 38ft mono in Panama or Mexico anchoring out. You can see a detailed breakdown of how much we spend in one season on our tiny boat in the Med here: ruclips.net/video/V2xwbSzVwZw/видео.html. Please bear in mind we’re extra frugal and we had just finished a boat refit, so in terms of boat parts/works, we only spent about €300 in the whole season. That’s yet another element - what shape is your boat in, what sort of antifouling you choose, how many lines need replacing that year, is the fridge about to break? Etc etc etc. There really is no straight answer.
This is an excellent video - and I would recommend that everyone reads your blog post too. I had been living aboard in a harbour style marina in the Bristol Channel for 2 years. I did this quite frugally and managed to save up to do quite a lot of work on the boat. New engine, self-steering windvane etc. I then needed to relocate round the UK to more or less the Thames Estuary. Because I plan on becoming a permanent voyager in the next year or so, I used the journey as a bit of a shake-down voyage. One bit of advice I had been given on full-time cruising is to remember that your are NOT on holiday - we all spend a lot more when we are on holiday. However, I deliberately decided that I WAS on holiday just this once. I spent two slow months cruiising, staying mostly in marinas, eating out a lot, going on excursions, and motoring when the wind wasn't strong enough to keep me to my passage plan. The result was that I spent about £1,270 all in for the two months. Less than £650 a month! Obviously that is the cost for solo sailing (Marina fees would be the same for a couple, but food would double). I think that the two years of budgeting and writing everything down has been a great discipline. And when I do untie the lines - I WON'T be on holiday and I know that I can cut down considerably on my shake-down cruise costs. Cheers.
Thanks so much for your lovely comment. Yes, it's so true - understanding that living aboard isn't a holiday is essential. We eat out once or twice a month and have only paid for one marina since we left Falmouth in May 2017. We had to pay for some mooring balls where we had no other option, but those were rather cheap. Best of luck with your transition from liveaboard to cruiser - you'll love it!
Elena and Ryan
What a great comment 👌🏼
Hi, and thank you for the video, I have been living in my camper-van in Waterford Ireland for over a year and am about to take sail/cruising lessons and will buy a 32ft sail/cruiser in the next year (hoping to trade my camper-van in for a sail boat) Im changing my life at a fittish 47 years of age. Camper-van life costs me about 140 euro for a 7 night stay and im left with about 70 euro a week for diesel and food. if I have herd you correctly that means I can anchor my future sail boat anywhere that's not a marina FOR FREE? then dingy to shore for supplies? then sail round Europe wherever I like is that correct? :) subbed and belled. thank you.
Wonderful comment. Best wishes. Don’t forget reserves for repairs.
Sailing Kittiwake keeping it real and rapidly becoming one of my favourite sailing channels!
Aw thanks Rich!
3:18 that statement could apply to so much. So many people believe that their idea of luxury is the only one but fail to see the amount of freedom and amazing opportunities that exist if you only learn how to live without that specific "luxury"
Here is a tip. Network with friends, family, and other sailors on your journeys so that you not only have a local guide to the regions you will visit, but have a home to network from while you are there. Showers in a house and maybe a nice bed beat the heck out of hotels and Marina's. Often, when you offer them something for their trouble, they won't even take it. Ordinary people make the best tour guides anyway. They know their town, history, and love to show you about. Cheers. Great video.
Thanks Charles. We've met some lovely people along the way. We even had something delivered to a lady's place so we wouldn't have to pay for a night in a marina. We agree - the locals are great and we've met lots of amazing cruisers too. We find that the more generous we are, the more we get back :)
Brilliant! No BS, as simple and honest as it needs to be. There are so many 'cost of living' videos out there (both on land and sea) but this is the first one which actually addresses the topic directly, succinctly and with a large dose of common sense. I'm doing the same as you both, but on a motorbike round the world (10 year plan). Now, #thankstocorona, I have watched all your videos from the purchase of Skua onwards. I wanted to finish doing the RTW on the bike then sail, but now I realise that I could take a month, 6 months, a year out and crew or hire a yacht and do it now. Watching your adventures has really awoken the beast. Thanks. Fair winds (and lots of ice cream) to you.
less emotions, more information, I appreciate that.
I love how ice cream is it's own budgeting category because honestly, same.
😁 gotta keep cool
2nd video i have seen so far but already subbed...keep up the great videos Kitti
Yay! Thank you.
A note: season 1 videos are much lower quality - we had no idea what we were doing, never held a camera or been in front of a camera before. If you don’t enjoy them, please give us another chance by watching a newer video 😊
Thank you for a candid review of the dream of the cruising life! You are one of the most down to earth Sailing couples!!
+NICCAT aw thanks so much Nic!
Great advise. I ran out of money the first time not because of an extravagant lifestyle but because I couldn't find a job. That's how the US Navy got me. It was 2008 and I discovered jobs were hard to come by once my savings ran out, in the US at least. Keep living the dream!
Glad to see normal people out cruising. All I've seen on RUclips have been the bikini clad model types with rich people. I've never been on a sailboat but think if I did I figure I go to a marina once a month. Make it easier to get the food, water, gas & trash all taken care of in 1 day instead of multiple dinghy trips.
you just nailed it. When you have the knowledge and confidence, anchoring rather than marina hopping will be your default. Fancy a natter and a power shower, book a marina stop and budget for it.
Cheers Alex! We prefer anchoring - when we have some extra cash we like to spend it on a nice meal out, rather than on a marina stay ;)
Doug Baker I have always been interested in multihulls so naturally when I saw an ad for a Heavenly Twins I went to have a look. My boat is not as clean and neat as yours but is perfect for me to sail around Florida and later the Bahamas. Thanks for your videos and fair winds. Cheers
Thanks a lot. Have the best of times on your HT Kyla! 😊
Awesome thanks. I'm living on a widebeam canal barge doing continuous cruising and thinking of transitioning to a sail boat. Once you get the travelling bug it's hard to stop!
Very informative, honest and interesting which is what I love about your vlog x
Thanks so much Chris! You're too kind x
Well done you two, great video. Love that little cat of yours, it's just perfect for what you're doing. Looking forward to the next one!
+AfricanFlightStar thanks so much! 😊
You have a great way of getting info across. Loved the video
Thanks so much guys! ❤️
You two absolutely have to stop in Porto Portugal! It is an amazing little city. Love this channel! Keep it up!
+a_n_swanner we’ve stopped in Aveiro and took the train to Portugal - what a stunning city! Loved it. We’re now in Portimão.
+a_n_swanner and thanks so much for the compliments!
Hi Guys love your content and keeping it real. Keep the videos coming look forward to hearing about your adventures.
Thanks so much Asteroid! 😊
Thankyou for a great video its a refreshing change to hear and watch people with a down to earth common sense approach to the liveaboard/cruising life. I lived aboard my boat and cruised france and northern spain years ago. And hoping to return to it this May. its nice to see normal people and its not all gone too the all tits and teeth bikini clad numpties you see on a lot of these videos. I wish you both all the best , fair winds and cold beer.
Thanks so much Anthony! We hope you can get back to cruising in May or even sooner.
If you fancy a little nostalgia, we have filmed our adventures cruising from Falmouth to the Algarve. You’ll find the episodes on our channel. Fair winds!
If one wanted to use marinas a lot ... find a marina that allows liveaboard in an aera of your liking then sail to places to and from there ... a lot cheaper and still a lot of fun. I live on my sailboat, year round on Lake Erie for about $400 per mo, including all expenses.
Very true! If you live in a place with a cheap marina and cost of life, for sure 😊 We have the travel bug unfortunately 😊
Where? I had no idea that was possible on Lake Erie.
I stay in Huron, Ohio, on the Huron River and the $400 cost is inclusive of some non marine expenses(food & cell phone)
This is a great video. Really down and dirty and honest. Not all gilts and glam. Thank you. Love watching you two. Fair winds and following seas my friends.
Thanks so much Alex! Hope to meet you out there one day.
Great video. Precise and to the point. Thanks guys!
+The Butte Life cheers! 😊
Another excellent and highly watchable account. Ha ... just realised ... and a pun too. Thanks guys ... 👍⛵️👌
+Roy Clare haha! Thanks so much Roy! 😊
Awesome video, guys. Good advice. My "sailboat" is an off-grid camp that I spend weekends at in the summer and fall and I hope to retire there someday. Your budget advice is right on and the same as what I am looking at except in my case I also have fixed cost taxes and insurance to factor in plus a few smaller annual expenses like registrations of equipment that I have there. My expenses are about $4k/year fixed cost then my dog and I can like like kings on $100/week if we are smart. Not much different than your budget except for the fixed costs. Well done. Keep up the great work.
+Geremy Chubbuck cheers! Sounds amazing Geremy 😊 Best of luck with your plan. Fair winds!
Geremy Chubbuck...Can I ask about what it takes to keep your dog aboard ? Im selling up in NZ and looking to purchase a live aboard in the Med for myself & best mate (pooch). Ive read that all his vaccinations must be up to date & documented , but are there any other things I need to do or know ? Thanks.
Very honest and informative. 👍
Glad you think so! :)
@@SailingKittiwake definitely, feeling the buzz from here. Stay safe 🤟
Excellent video! Thanks for the great info! I have a few thoughts and questions. My wife and I want to cruise and will be far too eager to do lots of sightseeing, at least in the beginning. We will still have a budget no doubt. What kinds of costs do you encounter for various sightseeing trips? I'll probably still be flying out regularly to work for a few years, and expect that will cause us to need monthly slip to begin with, so my wife can relax in a village with social life, coffee shops, etc. I think a blend of freedom and income will be our goal, so when were on the boat it does feel like permanent vacation. What costs would you expect a monthly rental to run for a single slip cat? What is the cost to dry store a boat during foul weather season? (Maybe that's a better question for a Carribean crew.) What is diesel economy like on your boat? If you had to motor for a day, what's the gallons/cost to do so? How much does it cost to anti-foul? These are just some of my top questions. I know answers vary. Thanks again! Great video! ~ Josh
+Sailing Serenity thanks a lot Josh. Unfortunately, we can’t really reply to most of those questions because of a few reasons: slip prices vary wildly (from €200 a night to €11 a night) based on the marina location, as well as boat size. We don’t spend any money to go sighseeing apart from public tansport costs (€8 Euros was the most expensive train ride we’ve done this year). We don’t pay for attractions or renting cars. The same goes for all prices - we order everything from the UK to Europe, as it’s much cheaper than buying in Europe, so we spend much less. For example, a 2.5L of antifouling in Portugal is €200 Euros, while in the UK, where we ordered it from, it was £40. You see? It all depends on your location. We have a petrol outboard as our main engine and we consume 1.5L of petrol per hour, so around €3 per hour, but we never motor for a whole day, we use the sails all the time. The price and consumption will be different for a diesel engine. For winter storage we’re spending €120 x month (the cheapest we found) as they counted us a an 8m monohull. We don’t expect anywhere in the world to be as cheap as that.
Our suggestion is to research the areas where you’ll cruise before you set off - that’s the only way to find out the cost of things in that specific place. For example at the moment we’re emailing lots of boatyards in the Mediterranean for next year, in case we need to haul out.
We’d also suggest you read the blog post we linked in the video description - lots of info and resources on there. Thanks for watching!
I've been looking into van life for a while, but I live in and love florida.... I also love working at bars
So, I'm thinking that taking a lot of van life philosophy and off-grid tips will allow me to have the best of all worlds, so to speak.
It'll definitely require some planning and a bit of luck, but I think it'll end up being quite lovely if I can find the right setup
I've done both.. if you plan to live at anchor it's 5x harder than vanlife. Everything is harder. Not saying it's worse.. just different.
@@TC-yx1qt I can't imagine it is. I used to be a merchant sailor and am already vaguely familiar with some of the hardships that come with living in a floating house
It's more prone to weather, more inherently expensive and there's more details overall to worry about that you wouldn't have to think twice about in a land based vehicle living situation
There is that primal beauty to living on a boat though. As long as you keep expectations in check, I bet it can be quite rewarding
Will need to check out you blog, I keep my boat on a swinging mooring and I am in a cheap club way up the river clyde were you have to come out on a slip at high tide. Don't know how people can afford a boat with the marina costs.
I'm in the process of moving onto a boat. It's been a life long dream but the push has come from a pending eviction. So I'm being forced to make the leap and live my dreams. I've got 2 questions if you have the time.
1) how powerful of a solar setup are your panels/battery. I am a ghostwriter, so much the same lifestyle/demands.
2) how far does cell reception typically reach? I've been thinking the same method of internet you use, but found it very hard to get any information on how far out you can still get cell reception.
Hi, sorry to hear about the eviction, but congrats on getting ready to set sail!
1) about 560watts of solar and 2 x 225 amp hour 6 volt batteries. Bear in mind we don’t have pressurised water, watermaker, etc.
2) I’d say around 5/10nm from shore, so unless you’re in a remote anchorage, you’ll always have coverage when at anchor.
I hope this helps :) Elena
Thanks that really helps a lot. Oh, were the solar panels any good in the UK? I'm in Ireland which is much the same in terms of gloom.
We made a big investment and got semiflexible ones (Renytek) and are happy with them. The main reason is it saved us from making frames on our awkward curved roofs. However rigid ones are cheaper and more efficient.
Informative material although the focus is only on outgoings. What I'd like to hear about is the income element of your budget - exactly how do you earn 600 plus euros monthly?
We've got a video on how to make money lined up too ;) Stay tuned.
But regarding how we make money, we've said it all along - we work freelance from our laptops, we do online marketing and web design for a few clients each month. Ryan also takes on some practical boat work (like sanding and painting) where he can, as he doesn't have fixed clients like I do. -Elena
Thanks for the info
Great info!
Will done, good one
when sailing randomly Europe, how to know in a never seen before harbour were you can moor? and do you have to pay for mooring couple of days? are there free areas for travelers? someone told me that small and medium sail boats do not pay in many cowntries for just mooring in dedicated areas of the harbor, is it true? thanks.
Hello, thank you for sharing this information, it’s very helpful. I noticed you didn’t mention putting money aside for engine repairs or buying new sails, or general maintenance , etc... How much approximately do you think one should put aside for this, on top of the regular budget? I know it can be very high, thank you
It really depends on what boat you have and her condition, which is why we didn’t put a number on it.
With Kittiwake, - a 26ft catamaran from 1979 - we had to do an extensive refit over 2 winters and spent around £7-9K total to upgrade almost everything on board. However, there was pretty much nothing else to do on her after that.
If you had to refit a modern medium to big boat where you have to buy branded Bavaria/Beneteau/... original parts, you could easily spend tens of thousands of £/$. For example, even the hatches have special parts, so you have to buy their own, more expensive brand.
People say as a rule of thumb to set aside 1/10 of the boat value per year after the initial refit. We disagree - it really depends on what’s old on board and where you’re hauling out (haul out prices vary wildly). You could spend next to nothing one year and then have the autopilot (£5K) and the AIS (£1K) break plus the engine having problems the next. You need to be flexible or you’ll go nuts 😆 things break, and you never know when or where.
How much do we put aside for maintenance? Every penny we earn and don’t spend that month 😊 At some point, we’ll need it.
Sailing Kittiwake thank you, appreciate it.
That view at 6:33 is what it's all about!!!
Very cool video.
Cheers!
Do you know if the British overseas territories are covered by the National Health service.?
Can't say I've ever looked into it, but it seems like there'd probably be a reciprocal agreement, just like there is in the rest of the EU.
Sorry i didn't follow this channel before now and i didn't see the other video..
But what do you mean with "we earn money while we sail"?
Awesome video, many thanks. Does anyone know what qualifications you need to sail around Europe on a yacht?
Generally, an ICC will do.
@@SailingKittiwake cool thank you!!
If you had it to do again would you buy Kittiwake again ?
I have been looking , but don't need a condo cat , I am retired so no need for big speed . I want to try a cargo parachute for light wind downwind , high above the bow. Its between a pocket cat & pilot house cc for livaboard.
Hi Ryan, Elena, What mobile phone & data package are you using?
I think your costs are a bit low, but then they are probably in Euros? For instance, if you wanted to use marinas a lot, my guess is you would spend close to 1-2K per month on just that alone, depending on where you are of course. Also you must factor in short and long term maintenance costs into your budget or your will rapidly lose the value in your boat. I expect to live pretty frugal in retirement onboard, but still expect to spend close to 2K USD per month, and that doesn't include insurance, either health or boat. Beth Leonard in her excellent cruising book breaks down this really well in looking at 3 types of sailors and typical budgets. Yes you can cruise on 500 per month, but not many would want to. There is just no much to work with given the variables that your will face. Fuel at one country might be 2x what it costs in another. You might have to fly home unexpectedly. All should be considered in planning a budget. In the end, the "it costs what you have " is pretty spot on.
Hi Bob, thanks for your comment. As mentioned at the start of the video, 500 Euros is the very minimum we can live on, but as we usually earn more x month through our freelance work, we tend to spend around 700. Our costs are so low because we don’t need marinas (we’re completely independent from shore) or health insurance (in Europe). We do pay for full boat insurance and maintenance though, which we can easily allow for in the 700Euros for our tiny boat, as we just spend a little less on food/going out for a couple of months. Our biggest expense on maintenance was 200Euros so far, which meant we ate out less and spent less on food shopping for 2 months. The joys of having a small boat :) We then save up for upgrades, such as getting an AIS, repainting the boat, etc. We have 2 ‘contingency’ bank accounts for emergencies and save money into both each month. We also have the option to work more if we need to - we did that in October and November to pay for a haul out. We’d always rather not use the contingency money.
Cruising on such a small budget while working and living on a small boat with no luxuries isn’t for everyone, in fact we think people should find their own budget with which they’re comfortable with, keeping in mind the countries they plan to visit and costs they can’t avoid. That was the point of our video - there is no right or wrong budget, only the one that works for you.
Its pretty cool that you can do it on that, and I am not doubting that your do at all.Sorry if I came across that way. Just that many could not do what your doing for that.
Haven't watched many of your videos so will have to watch more to see what your up to. I am just saying I don't think I would be comfortable on that small a budget. Which is why I am waiting till retirement to do full time cruising. But to each his own. It is cool to see that some can do it on that though. Fair winds.
Bob
Cheers Bob! We're not patient enough to wait for 40 years, until retirement hehe! So we're doing it the only way we can - cheap :) Thanks for watching and commenting. Fair winds and very best of luck with your own adventure. You'll very much deserve the comforts and freedom you'll have. Elena & Ryan
So you guys are staying on the boat most of the time, right? I'd love travel the world like this but I honestly think that I'd need to stay at marinas in different countries just to really travel the country. Anchoring is great but you won't see much of the country you're visiting, right?
True, if that’s what you want to do, you’ll most likely need a big budget so you can pay for marinas, car rentals, tourist attractions, etc.
We don’t have that kind of money, so we can either do it this way, or stay at home, so we do it this way 😊
Good advice.
What about security out of marinas?
We are much less concerned about break ins at anchor than in a marina. The few times we stay in marinas we are paranoid someone will break in. The last one we stayed in had broken gates from the lastest break in.
Our friends were gassed in a marina and got a lot of stuff stolen from the boat while they ‘blissfully’ slept (gas-induced sleep). We feel much safer at anchor. However, we’re in Europe. It all depends on your location.
Thanks for the reality check.
+Ken Dorsey cheers Ken!
Great video, very inspiring about how to live frugally on a boat.
Maybe you need to check about health care costs - they are not just 'free' across all Europe for UK citizens. British expats in Spain, I think, have to join the local state healthcare program to recover up-front payments at hospitals etc. , and I'm not sure even then if the fees are 100% recoverable . As continuous cruisers you might also run into 'residence' issues with the NHS and local health systems , maybe not yet, but some time in the future? Brexit is going to muddy the waters even more .... anyway stay healthy !
Presumably also there are some 'hidden' or deferred costs , like NI contributions in the UK?
Cheers Timon. We’ll investigate that Spain thing. In terms of NI, we pay tax on what we earn, so it’s not an extra cost.
Basically what you are saying is you better have some great computer skills, (I sure don't) writing code, web design etc etc. Those of us that are older did not grow up with computers and pretty much surf vlogs news and chat groups. Web design, writing code etc. marketing a book online seems impossible net even knowing where to start. Probably would have to go back to school just to get basic skills. What do you think?
Hey Johnny, if you look for our video on how to make money from a sailboat, you’ll see there’s plenty of ways to make money, whatever skills you have.
Writing can be very profitable online guy. No reason why you shouldn't clear at least 2 grand a month doing that if you can actually write. Freelancer for over a decade.
How do you secure your dingy when you go ahore. Are you afraid of someone stealing it?
Yep, most of the time, we lock it if we can.
I take it you have not met dingy sailors yet? There is a new extreme group of camper paddle boarders. I met a couple trying the American Loopers on Paddle Boards. I was between Bobby's Fish Camp and Demopolis, AL.
Hey Fredrick, nope, we haven't seen any on the Atlantic coast of Europe. But we do know some people camp on dinghies (or anchor off and sleep on shore) in the UK on their holidays and we think it's a great solution for cheap sailing holidays :) That's what we'd do if we were stuck on land.
That's awesome! Love it!
Forgot about the Hobie Sail Camping Crowd ruclips.net/video/Fz9QZtqGrls/видео.html
Here is a you tube of 2 gals going from NYC to Key West on SUP Boards. ruclips.net/video/N_1gQ6TBT1Y/видео.html
+Fredrick Rourk cheers we’ll check them out.
Hey Guys! Congratulations on your Video! I have a question related to Self Efficiency. Do you have a Desalination system on your boat? Does it work well? is it worth it to install it on your boat? How much power does it take to operate? :D Thanks! Cheers João
Hi Joao, we don’t have one, no. It’s too expensive and heavy for us/our boat.
i see... :) So in your opinion is it worth it or not? How do you refill fresh water without having to stay in Marinas? :) cheers
We have jerry cans we take to shore (marinas, public fountains and taps) or we go into a fuel dock, buy 10L of fuel and get free water.
That is quite clever! thank you so much for great your tips. :)
No worries. When you’re on a budget you have to get clever 😉
500eur a month? how that possible?
How do you then get to shore to explore for the night?
Just like during day - on the dinghy. Take a light.
How do you know where to best drop anchor?
Hi Bonnie, it's a very big subject for a RUclips comment. You can watch this video we made about it: ruclips.net/video/VzobLPI8a2A/видео.html&t=
We hope this helps :)
Thank you very much!
What would you recommend I do with a sailboat if I am going to start solo, if I work 30 days away, what would you do with the sailboat. I worry about how safe my boat will be, both from nature and thievery
Where in the world are we talking?
@@SailingKittiwake for now florida, up and down the east coast
Ah there’s lots of boatyards in Florida to leave your boat, just make sure that it’s equipped to deal with hurricanes if it’s hurricane season, and insure your boat appropriately :)
@@SailingKittiwake if you had to buy a house or a sailboat, which one would you do, since you have experience
We only own a sailboat, so we would buy a sailboat. However, it’s not such a wise choice - sailboats lose value and require maintenance 😉 We went for what we wanted to do, not what was logical.
How big is your boat? It looks a bit cramped form the outside.
It’s a 26ft catamaran. It’s more spacious than it looks. If you want to see a boat tour, Episode 1 will show you it all 😊
Please answer me as soon as you can, I'm really interested
Where do you put your car?
Most cruisers don’t own one or leave it in their home garage. We don’t own a car or house.
If you live in a marina rather than cruising, you have to ask about parking space/permit.
Great info. Hey, for those who are interested in buying a boat, i looked at the sailboat makers on wikipedia, what's the "toyota" of sailboats? (Easy maintenance/fix, good engine, durable at open sea cold climate etc)
Filmed in Portugal?
Yep, we filmed it in Lagos.
Only the Portuguese built fortresses (like the one in the background), I bid farewell to an old Portuguese saying: "Good winds, calm sea and safe waters".
Try to be clear.
Is that spend per person?
No, it's our TOTAL spend per month, as we mentioned. For a detailed breakdown of our monthly spending, watch this video: ruclips.net/video/V2xwbSzVwZw/видео.html
I’m saving up now for a sailboat and plan on retiring on a sailboat. I’m 32 now and make around 110k usd a year. I plan on retiring at 50 and my expenses right now are around $1400 usd a month. I have to work till I’m 50 to get my full retirement of $4500 a month. Only 18 more years and I’ll be living the life in the Mediterranean.
Wow! Best of luck with it 😊
Ryan turned 32 this year. We live on a slightly different budget than you though 😁
Sailing Kittiwake thanks, I keep my expenses really low and I travel for work so that keeps my budget down. I want to take sailing classes. So I have plenty of time to learn. Best of luck to you as well 😁
If you want to get an idea of costs in the Med, we share our whole season costs in this video: ruclips.net/video/V2xwbSzVwZw/видео.html
Although with your budget and pension, we wouldn’t worry too much!
Do you really think that anyone asking you this question is wondering how much you spend on food or on toilet paper or diesel oil? At least you could tell how much a genoa/main sail costs and how many hours of sailing you can expect from a sail , and we could do the math... and you could tell how much you spend on fiberglass maintenance or on a yearly average.. how often do you replace your batteries... what do you pay for insurance...
How often do you change water maker filters if you don't get water from marinas. It goes on and on
That is how you calculate the ACTUAL cost of sailing.
The problem is... all my sailing friends or people i meet .. they never answer these questions. The most honest answer I could get from a captain who sailed to italy for and croatia (2month trip) was : "If I did explain how much this travel cost, you would loose your interest in sailing". In those two months, her engine was broken, main sail was damaged, and had to stay at marinas at that repair time.
We can gladly tell you the prices of those items for Kittiwake, but they’d be different for every other boat in the world, other than the very peculiar Heavenly Twins (26ft catamaran).
Mainsail + genoa cost £900 total. Sails last about 10 years of medium use, 6 of heavy use (ocean crossings). Again, it depends on which sails you buy though. No fiberglass maintenance costs for us yet. Batteries, if well looked after, should last 4 years (each brand will tell you exactly how many charges they can take, google it), ours were the cheapest we could find at £700 for 2. Insurance is £350 x year - again, cheapest we could find. No water maker. Our water filters for the tap are £25 x 2 a year. We get water at the fuel dock - mostly free or €5 for a fill up in the Mediterranean.
This will tell you absolutely nothing because all these costs are only relevant for a basic, low tech Heavenly Twins sailboat, purchasing everything in the UK from the cheapest online outlets. We didn’t say our boat maintenance prices in purpose, because we doubt many other boaters can spend so little on such items. Each boat, and country, and even region, and the brands you choose change prices by huge amounts. For example, the same water filter we buy in the UK for £25 costs £60 in Spain, £80 in Italy and £90 in Greece. Apply this to every item on your list, and the maintenance costs can become 5 times our own, for the same boat, in the same part of the world.
As you say, the engine could break down or even blow up, so it’s impossible to predict maintenance costs for any boat.
Sailing Kittiwake i really appreciate this answer , as you said these may be specific information for your boat or UK but now i learned many clues for beginners like me to ask the right questions about components. The age of sails, number of batteries required for staying at anchor, where to get water, insurence requirement etc. (And engine hours i may add) If your youtube followers are mostly beginners, these are valuable information. If they are boat owners, then you of course can skip these . Thanks again ;)
What do you do for healthcare
It’s free in Europe.
i am wondering if people from the financial industry are still able to create enough income trading forex or stocks or similar instruments.
All that is required is an internet connaction and to learn theskill or improve it to adapt to different conditions.Timezones change or limited internet connection.I believe it should be possible to have a good enough connection these days.Anyone has experience ?
You forgot the chocolate budget! ;-)
Double whatever I said :)
How do you earn you’re money?
Freelance online work - copywriting, web design, etc.
And tax?
Each country is different. You’ll need to look up requirements for your home country and those you travel through.
why don"t you need health insurance in Europe?
+tim parker because healthcare is free for EU citizens all around Europe - in your own country and all EU countries too.
+Pete fromtheIsland we get sick indeed, but state healthcare is free. No one has health insurance in Europe (unless they prefer to go private).
+Pete fromtheIsland haha! We fell for it. It’s hard to understand the tone of comments 😉 We’d love to see Canada one day - such an amazing, wild country!
+Pete fromtheIsland wow! We dream of seeing Vancouver Island. It’s not the bikini area, but we heard the wildlife and nature there are amazing. We’ve watched quite a few documentaries about your area. We’d love to hike and camp around there too.
You will be ok until we brexit.
I'm facing the same worry.
They will stop it for sure....but hey ho
"Luckily for us we're both European, living on our boat in Europe means we don't need to worry about visas or health insurance" - Sent from the post BREXIT gang
This was 2.5 years ago 😆
@@SailingKittiwake I know haha, love watching your videos :D going through them all
Trying to see if it's practical for me, was trying to find out how much your first boat cost (kittiwake) as it looks like a good starting point
Sailing isn’t actually free. It costs many thousands to buy the mast, stays, winches, lines, sails etc and more importantly all the maintenance that all that stuff costs each year. Normally there are haul out fees, bottom paint and any other repairs. Most sailors motor at least 40% of the time they travel and that means fuel and maintenance. There are also many misc fees like mooring balls (many places have no places suitable to anchor) cruising fees, licenses and fuel for a generator or running the motor to top up the batteries when your solar isn’t enough. If you do anything on land you pay and if you entertain you also pay. The marginal cost of sailing in the short run might be free but not over a year or longer. Delos and others say you need to spend 2-3% of the value of the boat each year on maintenance. Older boats probably 10%.
If you live aboard at the level of camping in a tent, go no where and do nothing then maybe $500 might let you squeeze by but most live aboards aren’t interested at that level. Living space counted in 10’s of square feet, very little flat useable deck space with bed and everything else in your basement (small damp, dark space with small high windows). How many people want to live in the basement?
Hi David. Most sailboats we've seen come with a mast, winches etc... In terms of maintenance, 2-3% is probably a bit low for us, but 10% is probably a bit high for us. But on a £10k boat, £80-100 per month is probably achievable for most. Most of the money we've spent on the boat so far has been upgrades rather than maintenance. The reason that we didn't put a figure on this in the video is that it is completely dependent on the boat. If you buy a 1930s wooden schooner and keep it perfectly varnished, then your costs will be completely different to a 1970s Albin Vega that you don't mind keeping scruffy. Therefore any sort of percentage or fixed cost for estimating this is totally useless. Most of your other points in the first paragraph are dealt with in our video.
In terms of the camping / basement comparison, I'm not really sure where that comes from or what you mean by it. I've never lived in a basement, but I've done a lot of camping and no tent I've seen has its own bathroom, kitchen, bedroom with permanent double bed etc. We have been on one boat with small high windows, which was a 42 foot luxury monohull worth over £200k. Our little boat has big panoramic windows so it's definitely not anything to do with budget!
This really wasn't an informative video, it was very bland and frugal in information
Sorry you feel this way, Oliver. What we say is the truth though - your costs depend on YOU: the boat you choose, the lifestyle you are happy with and the area you cruise. All these elements can change your budget by vast amounts.
For example, cruising a 40ft catamaran in the Med using marinas once a week will cost way more than cruising a 38ft mono in Panama or Mexico anchoring out.
You can see a detailed breakdown of how much we spend in one season on our tiny boat in the Med here: ruclips.net/video/V2xwbSzVwZw/видео.html.
Please bear in mind we’re extra frugal and we had just finished a boat refit, so in terms of boat parts/works, we only spent about €300 in the whole season. That’s yet another element - what shape is your boat in, what sort of antifouling you choose, how many lines need replacing that year, is the fridge about to break? Etc etc etc. There really is no straight answer.