The cost of cruising

 JUST AS people on land spend varying amounts of money on everyday living, so do sailors who go long-term cruising. You can spend as much as you care to on a yacht and its maintenance, according to the style and luxury you seek, but what is of more interest here, perhaps, is how little you can get away with if you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

It probably should come as no surprise that if you are frugal on land, you’re likely to be frugal on a boat, too. Two of the world’s most experienced cruisers, Lin and Larry Pardey, figure the cost of cruising this way:

Take all your everyday onshore expenses. Subtract all your costs for cars or trucks. Subtract two-thirds of your expenses for your rent, your mortgage, your mooring costs, and your clothing. Add 33 1/3 percent to the cost of your food.

The result, say the Pardeys, is pretty close to what you’ll spend when you go long-term cruising.

On the other hand, a simpler formula was invented by the famous French round-the-worlder, Bernard Moitessier. When asked after a lecture in San Francisco how much it costs to go cruising, he said: “Everything you’ve got.”

Today’s Thought

If you can count your money, you don’t have a billion dollars.
— J. Paul Getty

Tailpiece

The trouble is, by the time we get old enough not to care what anybody says about us, nobody’s saying anything about us.

(Drop by every Monday, Wednesday, Friday for a new Mainly about Boats column.)