Work, Work, Work

That seems to be all we do but we are boat owners. The boat was neglected for about a week while I did some work for another cruiser on their travel trailer. But as soon as that was done it was right back to it. The electrical system will be an ongoing project for a long time. The battery bank is getting expanded so that has been a priority. The batteries were just sitting on a shelf when we bought the boat so a bit more secure system is needed. Building a box to hold them has been on my list for a while. It is now finished and I took the opportunity to clean up and paint a bit more of the bilge area and the adjoining engine area. Eventually the entire engine room will get a fresh coat of paint. The first photo here is the area in front of the engine and where the bilge pumps are as it looked when we took possession of the boat. the second picture is the progress made so far. Not finished, but much better. The additional photos are the process of re-installing the start battery box and a new starting battery. We went from a small 24 to a heavy duty truck starting battery. The engine should like this much better.




The Follow-Me-TV unit we have used for the satellite dish is a holdover from our sailboat. This system, now called Track-IT-TV, has performed very well for us on the sailboat so we brought it over to the trawler. As always, the mounting location needs to be open no matter what direction the dish is pointed. We needed to get it up and over the bimini top for a good view of the sky. After some thought I settled on mounting it on a 4 inch PVC pipe attached to the flybridge rail with hose clamps. If this works out then a more permanent attachment will be done. The coax had to be run from the dish to the entertainment center. This was accomplished by running the coax through the bulkhead over the aft window in the main cabin where the TV is mounted. A thru-deck cable cover was used to finish it off on the outside and make it watertight. The coax is then run up through the inside of the 4 inch PVC and out the top to the LNB on the dish. The Track-It seems pretty secure and puts the dish just above the bimini top. The only issue might be the mast at some points while anchored but we will have to see how that goes. On the sailboat we had 2 masts and it was only very rarely that it interfered with reception. If this works as we hope, additional supports will be added from the hand rails to the PVC pipe just under the Track-It. A lot of extra coax is bundled loosely inside the PVC pipe to allow for the dish to turn without stressing the coax. The power wire and adjustment cable still needs to be run to the inside of the boat later in the week.

I have found that the amp gauges at the lower helm and upper station are not working. I really have found no benefit to an amp gauge on the engine so since the previous owner put a voltage gauge at the lower station, I will replace the gauge at the upper station with a volt meter also. Another item added to the list. During all of this we actually got the boat out of the slip for a short period on Saturday. A front was coming through so as soon as we got under way the winds came up and the rain started so we made it a short run. As soon as we returned to the slip, secured the boat and plugged the power back in, the wind dropped and the rain stopped. Very typical.

And of course the work on the teak continues. The lower hand rails are done and look great as does the side door. The cap rail is now under construction as is some of the trim from the flybridge. My next 3 big projects will be to complete the shower in the forward head, install an oil changer system and also a fuel polishing pump. The electrical for the windlass still needs to be finished but we are waiting for the rest of the parts to finish that. We are hoping to make a big dent in these projects in the next few weeks. We will keep you posted.

Anchoring Regulations

Cities, towns, counties and communities all along the Eastern Seaboard are getting on the anti- anchoring bandwagon. The reasoning for these restriction fall into several categories. First is pollution, citing sewage discharge, contaminates from bilge water, leaking fuel tanks and spills, careless disposal of trash ashore and the associated problems of abandoned vessels. Next comes damage to the seabeds and surrounding shorelines. These generally are from anchors and rode scouring the bottom, damaging seagrass and vessels breaking loose from their anchors and damaging other boats, docks, etc. A biggy is the nuisance factor and here is where pressure from landowners play a large part. Generators running on deck at night, loud music and parties, intoxication, trespassers trying to gain access to shore facilities and crime to name a few. There is also the navigational hazard from boats with no anchor lights, anchored or dragging into channels and blocking access to docks and facilities. I doubt that even the staunchest opponents to anchoring restrictions can argue these points.



Florida has become the most restrictive and regulated state in the US for anchoring of vessels in their waters.  Many towns and municipalities are attempting to pass regulations to restrict or prohibit anchoring and we the boating public will have little to say. The amazing thing here is that Florida already has a state wide anchoring regulation signed by then Governor, Jeb Bush on July 1, 2006. These regulations essentially say that other than in a mooring field, municipalities have no authority to regulate where a typical cruising vessel anchors, unless they can prove the vessel is not used for anything other than a residence or place of business. Here the wording get tricky. If you are a live-aboard you can be regulated. Here is how the terms are defined under the Florida law,

(a) Any vessel used solely as a residence; OR
(b) Any vessel represented as a place of business, a professional or other commercial
enterprise, or a legal residence.
A commercial fishing boat is expressly excluded from the term "live-aboard vessel”.

If you consider your self a "full time cruiser" you can not be regulated under the law. However, many municipalities have chosen to ignore the state regulations. In two well known cases, one in Marco Island, which went to court and the city lost, and the other in Stuart, Florida, where it did not make it to court but the city issued a public apology, a small monetary consideration and withdrawal of their regulations, the cities were clearly in violation of State laws. Yet the regulations put forth by the City of Sarasota clearly show that the law is being ignored. If allowed to continue unchecked, this will certainly spread to other states and soon we will have no place to practice free navigation. Much of the pressure to pass these regulations comes from wealthy landowners with deep pockets and political connections.

But the problems of derelict boats and unruly live-aboards need not be dealt with using heavy handed regulations. Navigating our waterways falls under the control of the United States Government, i.e. the US Coast Guard, Corps of Engineers, National Parks, NOAA, etc. Next comes the State and then finally the local entities. There already exist a myriad of federal and state regulations for boats that cover, safety, seaworthiness, sewage and waste disposal and more. If these existing regulations are applied to those problem boats, they would soon go away and there would be no need for additional regulations. But that would remove the financial incentives from the equation.

The city of Key Biscayne had such issues in Hurricane Harbor. The city discussed at length the need to regulate these boats out of that harbor. Many homeowners also were boat owners and quickly realized they would also regulate themselves out. Cooler heads prevailed and the city took the "use the current regulations" approach. Soon all of the anchored boats were inspected for safety and sewage disposal compliance and were cited to either fix the problems or face fines. They all packed up, left and never came back. It may be a simplistic approach but it has and does work. The state of Florida is giving us all the impression that if you don't have a mega-yacht and tie up to a marina that you are not wanted. But that is not in all places in that state. There are still many unregulated areas that boaters are welcome. But they are becoming fewer and farther between. The state is in fact studying new regulations to again be implemented state wide to attempt to standardize regulations. But that was what I understood that last regulations were intended to do.

Be it Florida or Rhode Island the boating landscape is changing. If you would prefer to not have it regulate you out of your favorite pass time I would urge you to get involved as best you can and help keep the process fair and open. We should all be weary of too much government and urge our waterfront communities to try existing regulations before enacting more. As boaters we should all be part of the process, lest the process overrun us all.

A Welcome To The New Year

2009 has arrived and we look forward to what will be a new year and new beginning for us in our boating adventures. With the change over from sail to trawler we are anxious to get the boat ready and get started on a new cruising agenda. 2008 was an interesting year for us and the presidential race that lasted a lifetime was based on change so it was only fitting we made as many changes as possible. We left Houston, Texas and cruised on our sailboat and home for 17 years along the Gulf coast and East coast to Beaufort, South Carolina. A not too small move but one we are glad we made. The trip was not without some excitement that we could have really done without. For anyone interested in that trip you can find all the details and a whole lot more at our other site, http://sea-trek.blogspot.com/ with info on several of our cruises. Almost as soon as we arrived in South Carolina a buyer for our sailboat presented himself. Almost immediately after we sold Sea Trek, we found our current boat also right here in South Carolina. During the selling and buying process we did a one week boat delivery that took over a month. These in and of themselves were some really big changes for us. Our plan was to head out for the Bahamas by early December on the new boat, but once again life had different plans for us. We don't get too upset about these kinds of things because they always prove to be the best for us in the long run.



We continue to complete projects on the boat. Everything we do is designed to make the boat safer, more comfortable for us and more suitable for the type of cruising we plan to do with her in the future. Just when that will begin we are not quite certain yet. We went through the same process with the last boat until we had her to the point that she was to us, the perfect cruiser. In the last week or so we have continued to refinish the exterior teak which will be a slow and ongoing process. The boats electrical systems are also going to be an ongoing process of upgrading and correcting things that are not quite right. We have just completed installing a ProMariner Galvanic Isolator. This unit is capable of handling two 30 amp services and is one of the only units I could find that is actually tested and approved by Underwriters Laboratories. A cable TV and phone inlet has been installed and cable run through the boat so phones and the cable TV service on the dock can be used. We are currently staying with cell phones instead of a land line.

The engine is getting a paint job with any rust areas treated with Ospho prior to painting. We have also installed a high water alarm for advance warning if we spring a large leak. A new battery box for the house banks is under construction and once completed a second bank will be added. The engine room is also getting a fresh coat of paint as things progress. The projects on the list that we already have the components for are, an oil changer for the engine, a fuel polishing system and completion of the anchor windlass installation. The shower floor still needs to be rebuilt and the shower drains and sump installed. We wish that was it but there are several more on top of that. we will continue to post here as things progress. Wish us luck

Still Hard At It

The work on the boat goes on at a steady pace. The old saying that life is what happens to you when you are making plans is all too true. Our original plan when the boat was purchased was to be on our way to the Bahamas by now. Things obviously did not work out that way but maybe that is not such a bad thing. In as great condition as the boat was when we bought her, she is in need of a LOT of work before she is able to comfortably do any long distance cruising. It appears that we will be here in Beaufort until at the very least next year. That might seem like a long time but with the work we need to do and the need to raise enough money to pay for all of the improvements and keep the cruising kitty intact, the time will fly. When we left on our previous boat to cruise from Houston to come here, it might have been the first time the boat was completely equipped and tested and we were not still working on projects as we headed out. It was a nice change from the past and we would very much like for this boat to be in that condition when we next leave the dock for a while.



The refinishing of the teak is moving along albeit slowly. The previous owner, in an effort to protect the wood used a deck stain on all of the exterior teak. It has been harder to remove the stain than it would have been to just sand the wood if left alone. But we, or should I say, the teak master is making nice progress. We are adding some interior lights at the entry to the forward and aft cabins so we don't have to feel our way around in the dark to turn on the cabin lights. We are using LEDs so that we can use them at anchor since they draw very little in the way of amps. Caulking on the exterior is far from finished but the areas we believe leaked in the past have been done and we wait for the next rains to verify that. As we re-caulk we are also replacing all of the original fasteners which are all showing their age. Regarding leaks, the problem in the forward cabin caused the teak parquet to separate from the sub floor. The sub floor itself is still intact so removal of the parquet, sealing the sub floor with West System, then re-gluing the parquet with epoxy should take care of the problem for some time to come. We also took advantage of the repair to refinish the parquet in the forward cabin. Eventually we will get to all of the flooring. We choose Ultimate Sole to do the refinishing ( http://www.ultimatesole.com/index.asp?ID=2) because of our past experience with the product and the fact that even with a high gloss finish it is not as slippery as most other high gloss finishes.

Our water tanks consist of two 75 gallon stainless steel tanks in the stern of the boat. They are connected together by a crossover pipe at the bottom so both tanks maintain the same level. Filling the tanks meant moving the hose back and forth between the two tanks until they were both full. It is not that difficult but I am always looking for a better way to do things. The solution turned out to be very simple. I went to the local hardware store and purchased a drinking grade 25 foot RV water hose and three female connectors and one male connector. Total cost was $27.24 and about 20 minutes of my time. For our purposes the rig consists of a short piece of hose about 3 feet long with a male connector on one end and a female connector on the other. This is attached to a Y valve that has a cut off in each leg. This is commonly used to connect two garden hoses to a single hose bib. I then cut two more lengths of the hose about 4 feet long and attached a female connector on one end of each. These two hoses are attached to the Y valve and the ends with no connectors can be placed into each of my water tank deck fills. Once the hose is turned on, both tanks are filled at the same time and with the same water flow. With the cut offs in the Y valve one hose can be turned off if one tank fills faster that the other or both can be cut off when the tanks are full. For folks with deck fills on opposite sides of the cabin trunk, you can still use this system, just attach longer pieces of hose off the Y valve to run down the deck from the bow on each side or adjust to where ever your deck fills are.

Cleaning up wiring and just cleaning up the boat fills a lot of time in between these little project. We just found out we have cable TV on the dock but the boat never had a inlet for phone or cable TV so that means an inlet will get installed and the cable will need to be run from the inlet to the entertainment center. So that just got added to the list. And oh what a list it is, so stay tuned.

Simple and Inexpensive WiFi

Part 1.

More and more cruisers, be they just weekenders or long distance travelers, are wrestling with the issues of staying connected and yes, I mean to the internet. My first boat had nothing more than a VHF radio and I was able to sail from the US mainland to Bermuda. Later on as the boats got larger and communications improved, a marine SSB radio was added. Then a famous person, I can’t remember who, invented the internet. With that, the ease of email crept into our lives and grew like a weed along the banks of some of the rivers we have traveled. We were hooked and began the search for the latest and greatest technology. Our first device was a hand held unit that was called Pocketmail and needed to be held up to a phone after calling a special number and it would send and receive your emails. It was a pretty neat device and very popular in the cruising circles. Next we added a Pactor modem to our SSB radio and after acquiring a Ham license, used the Winlink system to send and receive email and get that all important weather information. We still have and use extensively the Winlink system. But the more we were exposed to the internet itself, the more important it became and the more functional we found it to gather information on weather, emails and the areas we were traveling- something the Winlink could not do for us.



With the availability of WiFi hotspots to connect to, the possibilities grew considerably. Again, we would have to evaluate our needs and how to meet those needs with the changing technology. For the cruiser today there are now some great choices depending on the areas you plan to cruise, the space aboard and power requirements for additional equipment and that all important dent in the monthly cruising budget. Starting at the high end is a satellite system that can be used on a large part of the planet, even the watery parts. A satellite dish mounted inside a dome and engineered to track and hold the satellites position will give full access to the internet and all it contains.

If coastal cruising is in your plans, or even some of the more developed islands, than another option is a wireless phone card modem attached to your computer that will connect and receive anywhere you can get a cell phone signal from your provider. For simple email via text format only a satellite phone will provide this almost anywhere in the world although some folks are finding the coverage is spotty on some oceans. Finally, many cruisers are finding that with a computer that has WiFi capabilities and a device to reach out and grab those free WiFi signals found in more and more locations the costs are relatively low and the installation is fairly easy. Most importantly, after that purchase of equipment, access is free. There are pay services sprouting all along the coast that will provide access via this same system in larger ports. After considerable research we decided on the WiFi method with the free access. Free is always good for most cruisers. Once the decision was made on the what, we now needed to decide on the how.



It is no surprise the internet provided us with the answers. Research, research, research, using mostly cruising website that we have found in the past are frequented by actual cruisers willing to share their knowledge and experience. Two such sites are the SSCA Discussion Board and the great site at Cruisersforum.com. A common name came up over and over again with lots of positive input. Some cruisers also had their own way of putting the system together to improve performance and protect the equipment. We decided on a WiFi unit Made by Senao. The Engenius UEB362 EXT long range USB adapter (now updated to the EUB9603H) was recommended over and over again. Another key piece of the equipment is the antenna. Like any over the air receiver, the antenna can mean the difference between success and failure. We try and match our equipment as much as possible and decided in the Engenius 8db outdoor omni-directional antenna. A small pigtail adapter is needed to attach the much larger antenna to the unit. Your choices will be either omni-directional or directional. The omni-directional will look like the antenna you are used to seeing and the directional antenna will look sort of like a small dish that needs to be aimed directly at the WiFi access point. This works great at the docks but swinging on the anchor as most of us do would present too much of a challenge. The omni-directional does not care whether the boat is swinging so naturally that was our choice.



Having the antenna be weatherproof and outdoor suited is a big plus. Keep in mind these units are not designed to be used in the manner we have planned. The unit itself is not waterproof and the attached antenna is very small. But it is removable and many of these units on the market do not have a removable antenna. That ability limits or extends the range of the unit. We would need to either find a way to weatherproof the unit or move it in and out as needed to keep it dry. Both will work but we prefer to keep it outside while underway since we can often connect as we pass a hotspot without stopping. The final short coming of the unit as is was the short cord that attaches the unit via USB to the computer. It is only about three or four feet long and won’t get it outside unless the computer is outside and we did not want to do that for obvious reasons. But this too is easy to overcome.



Once we had the adapter and antenna in hand, the search for the additional bits and pieces began. We found that a 6X6 plastic electrical box with no holes in it would make a very good weatherproof box to mount the adapter. We purchase a weatherproof gland to pass the cable through and some coax sealer. We found we would need an “active” USB extension cable to get the unit high enough to have some range with it. Having an active cable is important because the unit gets its power from the computer via the USB cable. Be sure it is NOT a passive cable or it will not work. We have received reports that we should not exceed 20 feet for the extension cable but others might find longer will work. Finally, a bit of silicon caulk to seal everything rounds out the material.



The electrical box has plenty of room to mount everything inside and a smaller box will probably work but this was what we used. First you will need to drill a hole in the top to accept the antenna. It slides into the hole and a locking nut on the inside holds it just fine. The hole around the outside and inside should be sealed with a bead of silicone caulk. Next a hole should be drilled into the bottom to accept the weatherproof cable gland and also sealed. Remove the antenna that comes on the unit and use some double stick tape to hold the unit on the back of the box. The first thing we noticed with this unit was its size. It is not much larger than a business card. Before mounting it, attach the pigtail to the antenna and the unit itself. Pass the USB cable from the unit through the hole in the bottom and attach the weatherproofing portion of the cable gland and add some silicone sealer to help keep moisture out. Once all of this is finished, add silicone sealer around the perimeter of the box and attach the cover. The box we purchased had tabs on the corners with holes in them so we could attach different methods of hanging it. We plugged the 20 foot active USB extension cable to the one that is attached to the adapter. Here is where the coax seal comes in and makes the plugs completely waterproof where they are joined together. The seal is sticky and stays that way so be sure and cover it with electrical tape to keep it from sticking to everything (and everyone) it comes in contact with. You will be almost finished but there is one final step before you start connecting.



Before you plug in the unit, you will need to set it up on your computer. There are two methods to do this. The adapter comes with a CD with the required drivers and a program to help make your connections. If your computer is not WiFi capable you will need to install this program. If it is WiFi capable you have a choice. In our research many complained about problems using the program that came with the adapter. Your Windows operating system has a service called Windows Zero Configuration which will manage all of your WiFi connections. Many users, including ourselves, let Windows handle the WiFi with few issues, but the drivers for the adapter need to be installed. Simple - go to the disk, find a folder called drivers, open it and click on set up. It will install the drivers and ask you to plug in the unit. Once installed you will need to restart the computer, and that is should be about it. It should not take a whole lot longer than it did to read this article. Once everything is done and the unit is hung as high as you can get it with the cable attached to your computer, you will be connecting any time an open access point is within range. We have been truly amazed at the range of this set-up and how well it performs.

And now for our total expenditures:

Engenius EUB-362-EXT $45.50  (now updated to the EUB9603H)
Engenius EAG-2408 Outdoor antenna $24.99
CA100 –NM-RSMAM-12 RPSMA Male to N Male 12” cable $9.00
RJ45-FT Feed-thru adapter $1.10
104 Coax seal $2.29
Plastic Junction box with lid $12.16
20’ Male to Female USB active extension cable $12.99
Silicone caulk $5.95

Total cost: $113.98

We did find a couple of sites on the internet that sell these same units already made up for a bit more money, but we like to build these things and install them ourselves. We get not only the feeling of accomplishment, but the knowledge that the parts are of the quality we expect. This has been a great addition to our equipment list and if your needs will be filled with this kind of set up, you will surfing before you know it.

Click here for part 2. 
Click here for part 3.

And The Beat Goes On

We have just had a couple of days of some pretty steady rains and found out we have not yet resolved all of our water leaks. The good news is that the serious ones have not resurfaced and it appears that right now we have only one to deal with. This one is in the forward cabin coming from the area of the cap rail. We are assuming this is coming from the stanchion bases since that is one area we have not sealed yet, so that is priority since rain is forecast again in a few days. After removing fasteners from the bases we are pretty certain this is our problem. The old screws are loose, rusted and broken and most are the originals. As is our usual deck repair, once the fasteners are removed we fill the holes with a thickened mix of West System epoxy. This seals the wood around the holes and perhaps some of the spaces where the water can pass through. Prior to filling anything the areas are taped well to make a cleaner, neater job when it is finished. A small hardwood dowel is inserted in the holes to give the new fasteners something to grab to. A healthy dose of caulk is injected into the hole and the fasteners are also coated with caulk. I am using stainless steel lag bolts in place of the old slotted screws. This allows me to tighten them more than with a screw driver. One of the little tricks is to not tighten too much and allow the caulk to dry. Then come back and tighten the fasteners later and the dried caulk will actually form a gasket. The tape is also removed after the caulk is dry and the caulk is trimmed to make a finished look. The radical change in fasteners also makes it very apparent which ones still need to be replaced.

One of the more fun projects is completed and that is the installation of the new stereo system and six disc CD changer. We have used Clarion products in the past with good results and performance so stayed with what we know. The hard part was getting the panel cut to flush mount the CD changer since they are not designed for this. The Clarion also allows us to run audio cables to it and connect those from the output of the TV. With four new stereo speakers mounted forward and aft in the main cabin we now have surround sound from the TV and DVD player without the large entertainment systems taking up valuable space. We found marine stereo speakers by Dual at Boaters World at a great price and they sound fantastic. Now the TV, DVD player, CD changer and of course the stereo itself are all together. With the DirectTV satellite system we also have satellite radio which now can be sent through the stereo.

The teak master is also starting on all of the outside teak, and there is lots of it. The former owners put a deck stain on all of the teak and while this did protect it we need to remove it all for the refinishing process. We also had lots of exterior teak on our previous boat and have been down the varnishing and other finishes path for a lot of years. We have recently settled on Sikkens Cetol and don't regret it one bit. It is much, much easier to apply and maintain than varnish, looks great using the Natural Teak and lasts much longer than varnish in the tropics. Adding maintenance coats is a snap. But we are just in the beginning stages.

Battery charging has been on my mind of late and charging the starting battery without overcharging has been a consideration. I have decided to use the Xantrex Echo Charger for the starting battery, rather than try and connect it to the house charger. This is a simple connection from the house bank to the starting battery and it senses when the starting battery needs a charge and borrows it from the house bank charger or alternator. Otherwise the house charger and alternator are connected to and charge the house bank. It solves my charging problems and does a very efficient job.

The windlass is also in the starting phase. It is mounted on the bow platform but I still need to do the wiring and install switches, etc. The water leaks have caused a few things to be put on hold until they are resolved but the windlass will be a pretty straight forward install. We will also need to upgrade our anchor rode and chain but all things will get done eventually.

Cruising on a Working Class Budget

Our Mariner 40 ketch, Sea Trek, had been our home for 17 years until the purchase of our current new to us trawler Beach House. In that time we have lived aboard and cruised her whenever the kitty reached the magic number we had set for our next voyage.

Since leaving our previous home base in the Florida Keys for a recent trip we have put a bit more than 3,000 miles under her keel. We visited four countries and transited the coastline of five states — two with the largest coasts in the United States and two with the shortest. We have put 750 hours on our engine and that means eight oil and filter changes and five changes of our three fuel filters. This does not take into account our most trip from Houston Texas to Beaufort, South Carolina.

Our unscientific estimate of anchoring is that we have dropped and raised the anchor more than 190 times (and with a manual windlass). We were very fortunate in only having three pieces of equipment break down and we believe this is a result of good preparation and a good maintenance schedule along the way.

We only spent 127 days at a dock out of 20 months. We anchored behind a reef with nothing but ocean on the other side for thousands of miles. We visited remote Mayan villages and dispensed medicine to a people that once ruled the land in a grand civilization. We visited thousand-year-old ruins of that civilization. It has been a grand adventure.

We also spent a few hard-earned dollars. Walk any dock or visit any cruisers’ hang-out or surf the Internet and stop in at any boater’s discussion board and the “How much does it cost?” question always pops up.

Our expenditures presented here are for one year only and do not include preparation, gear, provisioning purchased prior to leaving or money needed to get by once you return to reality, but before the paychecks start coming in again. It includes actual money spent from the time we left the dock until the end of the 12th month. Our cruise began April 1, 2005 and the figures are through March 31, 2006.

We enjoy eating out occasionally, and love to travel and explore the countries we visit. Boat maintenance and repairs are a fact of life and how much you need to budget for repairs is going to be mostly guesswork based on the condition of the boat and the age of your equipment.

Assuming that you have fully outfitted your boat with all the gear — watermaker, life raft, wind generator, solar panels, dinghy and outboard — that you feel you must have to enjoy cruising and to be comfortable and safe, you will then have to provision the boat with foodstuffs and other non-food items. Again, I am not counting this in our expenses, but mention it because there are some items we generally stock up on prior to leaving U.S. waters because they are often difficult or cumbersome to get in remote places. We buy toilet paper and paper towels in large quantities and store them in our largest hanging locker. (The clothes that resided there are packed away for the duration, off the boat and in storage in a friend’s garage.)

We also buy as much soda and beer as we can stow on the boat because it is much cheaper in the United States and it is easier than bringing it by dinghy back to the boat. A year’s supply of vitamins, herbal remedies, prescription meds, over-the-counter remedies, etc., are also placed on board. The over-the-counter medications are generally cheaper in the United States and you might have favorite throat lozenges and if, by chance, you can find them in Belize, they will cost two to three times the amount.

Regarding paying the bills: If you have a boat payment to make each month, have those payments automatically deducted from your account. We only use our debit card from that same account when traveling so we don’t have to worry about monthly credit card bills.

We decided to keep our car instead of selling it this time around so we had the insurance automatically deducted from said account every six months. The car was left with friends, who drove it instead of just letting it sit and rot. Any other bills that may be floating around get sent to us periodically through our mail forwarding service. They are great and will even open the mail and tell us how much the bill is if we can’t access it online, or if we don’t want to pay exorbitant postage to have it sent to us outside of the United States.

We also have made the decision not to carry health insurance while cruising outside the United States. If we need healthcare, we have found it to be affordable everywhere we traveled (except the States) and there are competent physicians in most places. Knock on wood — we have not had any serious health problems in all of our years aboard. This is a personal decision that someone with specific health issues may not be able to make. We don’t own a home or any property anywhere that has to be maintained and the kids are grown so when we are ready to go, all of the strings and umbilical cords have been severed.

Breaking it down

Now, after spending $1,000 or so putting canned foods, paper products, snacks, cookies, juices, shelf milk, rice and so forth into every possible nook and cranny aboard Sea Trek, we are ready to go. The budget consists of about nine months spent in the Western Caribbean and three months in the United States.

The category for boat fuel consists of both diesel for the boat and gas for the dinghy. Boat repair consists of what we paid others, and parts and materials for repairs and replacements that we did ourselves. We have found this figure to be pretty steady throughout recent years. Remember, the wear and tear you put on your boat while under way is much more than it would be just sitting at the dock, so these repairs are inevitable even for a relatively new boat.

The amount we spent on dining out was a big shock to us, but we have included all trips to the local ice cream shop and stops for sodas and beer as well as lunches and dinners in restaurants. If it didn’t get consumed on the boat, it was considered dining out.

Dockage was a fairly large figure for us, but it seemed we spent more time in marinas for various reasons than we usually do. In some places, anchorages just aren’t available due to shoaling or the anchorages have been replaced by mooring fields. In other areas, like Belize City, services can only be accessed by going into a marina. Entertainment included Internet cafes, CDs, museums, concerts, visiting ruins, satellite TV and the like. Travel is taxis, buses, rental cars, etc. Housing was our boat payment. Miscellaneous was haircuts, insect repellent and strange things that didn’t fall into other categories or cash that was spent that we could not account for. Maintenance included any item that was purchased to maintain the boat in her present condition. Most of the other categories are self explanatory and should not require any further explanation.

So here is how it breaks down for the year:

Auto insurance (recreational use only) – $378.20

Gas for borrowed cars and rentals – $130.21

Bank charges – $270

Boat fuel (diesel and gas) – $1,440.06

Boat insurance (covering Caribbean) – $2,631.92

Charity – $13

Clothing – $63.02

Dining – $1,792.05

Dockage – $1,833.07

Entertainment – $654.46

Gifts – $229.02

Groceries/provisions – $3,828.54

Housing (boat payments) – $4,479.36

Laundry – $165.10

Maintenance – $888.97

Medical/doctors – $242.50

Medicine – $233.09

Miscellaneous – $730.39

Port fees – $608.83

Postage – $17.28

Subscriptions – $52.86

Taxes and registration – $45.60

Utilities/electric – $161.99

Phone – $304.40

Hotels – $395.07

Travel – $369.66

Our total expenditures for the year were $25,805.10. If your boat is paid off, you’re down to about $21,500 and the amount can be even less if you only anchor out, don’t eat out, etc. Again, we feel this amount is fairly accurate as other friends of ours whose boat is paid off figure they spend about $20,000 for a year off in the wild blue yonder. Surprisingly enough, as I look at our budget for previous years, the costs have not changed dramatically except in the areas of insurance and fuel.

Behind the numbers

To give you an idea of what boat repairs we encountered, the depth sounder transducer needed to be replaced and it had to be a special length so it cost more than your standard transducer. We hauled the boat and had the bottom painted, which should probably be in the maintenance category, but we had the depth sounder installed at that time so we considered it a repair. We also had our outboard completely rebuilt when it was becoming sluggish. We decided that our anchor rode was a little tired and should be replaced. Also, we had to buy a new microwave oven in Guatemala when the old one gave up the ghost. If it was on the boat and had to be repaired or replaced, it was counted in the boat repair category.

The last thing you have to take into consideration over and beyond the above-mentioned expenditures is the amount you will need when you return to keep you going until you are gainfully employed once again. We generally like to set aside about $3,000 for this.

Let your needs and considerations be the determining factors to help you compute your costs, but by all means go and have fun.We expect the numbers to change somewhat with the new boat. Fuel costs most certainly will increase and since our cruising grounds will be more towards inland lakes and rivers of the US we must assume other costs will also change. But the numbers still give you a general idea of our costs for long distance cruising. Individual wants and needs and boat size as well as comfort levels will also dictate expenditures.