April 25, 2002
How to Afford to Go Cruising

1-Assuming your job covers expenses with not a lot left over, how do you get enough together to buy a boat and go cruising? We have our ideas on the subject, and we're sure you have yours!

2-Once you are out there cruising, how do you maintain the cash flow to keep going? We all work now and then, have investments, etc. If you'd rather not answer this one directly, how about examples of how others are doing it?

Getting Started

Twenty-five years ago we bought a second-hand sailing dinghy. And after one season of sailing it, we began to save for our first yacht, a bilge keeler. The second yacht followed after a couple of years, and the third, a few years later. We kept her for nearly ten years and only sold her when we were ready to buy THETA VOLANTIS and begin cruising. You don't have to jump straight in with a round-the-world boat; building up slowly not only means investing what you can when you can, but you also build up your skills along the way.

While everyone's financial position is different, every cruiser we meet has made some financial compromises. And that is perhaps not a bad thing. Cruising is not all idyllic passages and picture-perfect calm anchorages. It has its fair share of frustrations and anxieties, irritations and challenges, and unless you are really committed and passionate about it, the negatives can outweigh the positives. Perhaps recognizing that you will have to make some financial sacrifices tests our mettle before we are too far down the road.

So, assuming you are passionate and determined, the money may have to come from selling a home, though retaining your home can be a good source of regular rental income while you are cruising. Other cruisers we know have simply squirreled away ever spare dollar they can until they had enough to pick up a bargain requiring significant work to get it in to shape. They have then spent their free time repairing and preparing the boat up to an adequate standard to go cruising.

There are also various schemes offered by charter companies which mean that you can buy a boat now while you are still working and can afford to pay off a loan and the boat is then chartered for you, thus earning some income to offset against the loan, and after a period of time the boat is yours to begin cruising on.

Our boat fund came from selling our respective businesses, though had we not been able to do that we would have cruised anyway, using our ten-year-old 40-footer. Of course, life would not be as comfortable as it is on THETA VOLANTIS, but we'd still have done it and would have all the wonderful memories that we have of the exciting and interesting places we have visited.

We are fortunate in having sufficient funds to cruise without needing to work. But, without doubt had we worked another ten years we would be financially better off than we are today...but we would also be ten years older. We have never had a moment's doubt or regret about our decision to sell up and sail away, turning what once were dreams into real memories.

Earning as You Go

The first thing to bear in mind is that almost anywhere you go, you will be working illegally. Apart from any moral squeamishness arising from that, you will also have to accept that the rates of pay will reflect your dubious status. For example the going rate in New Zealand for boat work is NZ$12 per hour (US$5).

However if you have a few desirable skills, you can usually do rather better. Think about getting a qualification in scuba diving, marine electronics, TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language), or computing, etc.

Although you may originate from a country that does not require you to have any sailing qualifications, it might be worth getting one in order that you can work abroad or take on delivery tasks. Increasingly, insurance requirements mean that experience alone is not enough. Even if you get a short-term job in a marina, you will probably need to have a license to drive the marina's dinghy.

Alternatively, many people help to fund their cruising by taking crew who contribute to the boat's expenses. For example, some people would love to do an ocean passage, but can only spare a few weeks, or do not have their own boat and are willing to pay for their passage just to gain the experience.

Depending upon the type of boat you have, you may be able to offer crewed charters...but bear in mind this is a very competitive market and boats are generally of a very high standard. Also, some countries are highly protectionist (most French islands) and will not allow you to charter in their territory. What is more viable is working as charter crew during peak periods. Many of the charter companies take on staff during busy periods.

Most cruisers come from countries where the currency buys you a lot in the rest of the world. However, some parts of the world are considerably more expensive than others, and many cruisers chose their itineraries with care. When we cruised across the Pacific in 1999, those boats that were on a tight budget spent no more than a couple of days in stratospherically expensive Tahiti, whereas they could live comfortably in the Cook Islands.

What It All Costs

We surveyed a dozen yachts in 2000 to ascertain what the range of cruising budgets was. The full results were printed in Yachting World magazine.

Perhaps more important then the absolute amounts of money spent is the attitudes of the crews: