A very good point, some democrats should take note, and an important read…
It’s no secret that cruising can be expensive. Nearly everyone will tell you that but I’m not one of those guys. While there are numerous reasons that cruising can be dauntingly expensive, with a bit of care and forethought abject poverty can be avoided. So, here are a handful of approaches that will make cruising more budget-friendly.
Avoid gentrification
The current state of gentrification of cruising areas is both costly and depressing. Most of us did not embark on the cruising gig to pay silly money to do so. That being the case, you can save beaucoup bucks by sailing to less gentrified areas. In other words, avoid places that are hip that everyone goes to. My old rule of thumb was to avoid any place that has a cruising guide, but these days I avoid anyplace that has cruising guides, bareboats, and moorings. Of course, sailing to hip destinations seems to be the trend but then you’re not adventuring you’re just following a trend. On the other hand, finding hipness in unexected places is being ahead of the trend which is as hip as it gets. Plus, you’ll be saving money in the process.
Do your homework
I’ve found that foreknowledge of possible cruising destinations is a great way to tame one’s cruising budget. The problem with most cruising information is that it contains little discussion about what things actually cost. Cruising guides will often promote an islands availability of resources with zero content about prices. Nor will they tell you that one island’s prices are twice the cost of another island a day or two sail away. Thanks to the internet it’s fairly easy to compare prices to almost all cruising destinations. You don’t want to be told after an expensive haulout or major provisioning that you could have paid a lot less somewhere else.
Do your own work
Sure that’s obvious as hell but there is nothing that your boat needs that you cannot do yourself. Here, a rigger or a diesel mechanic will cost you at least $125 an hour or more. The current cost of a simple splice is now $19 most places which is akin to highway robbery. My advice is to invest in some books or a workshop to develop your own skills and embrace your DIY inner being.
Don’t buy stuff you don’t need or can’t afford
I’m actually embarrassed to have to include this but in a world where consumerism is the moving force and recreational buying is the norm it really has to be said. Spending more for stuff than you need to just does not make any kind of sense where budgets are concerned. I just read that the facebook/meta guy has a $900,000.00 wrist watch and, considering I’m sitting here wearing a $29.00 watch that works finestkind, the only emotion it brings up is embarrassment for him. Bless his heart.
Go for a longish sail
A great way to save a lot of money is to withdraw from the consumerist rat race and sail a couple of thousand miles. One of my favorite parts of a transatlantic or transpacific voyage is for the duration of the sail, you’re not spending squat. No over-priced beach bars, no shopping in chandlers for stuff you don’t need and best yet, no peer pressure to consume more than you need. Now, I’m sure someone will point out using Starlink you’ll be able to continue to buy crap and access the net to feed your Netflix addiction. Sure you could but the whole point is that you DON’T NEED TO and I’ll leave it at that.
One last quick thought
This Friday you really should embrace your consumerist muscle and join in the 2/28/2025 Economic BlackOut and forego buying anything for 24 hours. Sure, I know for a lot of folks the very idea of not buying something for a whole day will have you jonesing like a meth addict but, I’m sure you can do it. Just think of it like a qualifying 1000-mile voyage for the Mini-Transat to get in the right mood.
Do all the boycotts (just think of them as cruising rallies of sorts) and you’ll be able to handle some serious creative frugality where cruising is concerned.
You can do it.