How Much Does it Cost to Cruise on a Sailboat?

It is the dream of many people to get out of the daily grind and escape to the sea on a permanent sailing adventure. But how much does it cost to cruise on a sailboat full-time and live this dream?

One of the scariest parts of this massive decision is typically the question of whether you can afford to do it or not. Well, after 6 years of planning and saving our money, in January of 2023 we did exactly that. We sailed out of Mobile, Alabama on our sailboat, a 1998 Hunter 450 Passage. 

In this article I will provide information on our planning process before departure, and provide actual figures answering the question, How Much Does it Cost to Cruise on a Sailboat? from our personal experience.

Planning for Full-Time Cruising

In 2017, after learning to sail on our 26-foot Seafarer sailboat, my husband Scott and I decided that we would one day like to quit our jobs and cruise on a sailboat full-time. At the time, we would take our sailboat out on Mobile Bay for daysails and overnight trips to nearby marinas and anchorages. 

We enjoyed these small adventures so much that we knew we would enjoy a permanent lifestyle change to become full-time liveaboard cruisers. But how do we go about it and what will it cost? 

This is when we started developing our plan, logistically and financially, to sail away in 6 years time. This timeframe allowed us to save some money, buy our full-time liveaboard boat, sell our house and cars and quit our jobs. It also allowed us to be around for our youngest son to graduate high school and get settled in college.

One key part of our planning for full-time sailing was to diligently track and fine tune our monthly spending, and create sailing budget categories for what we thought we would be spending money on.

We also took a deep look at our savings and investments (we assume a conservatively moderate rate of return on them) to see how long we think our cruising kitty will last us. Our goal is for our money to last until I reach 100 years old, as we figure we probably won’t care too much once we’re over 100! 

As everything aligned to our liking over the next six years from 2017 through 2022, we executed our plan right on schedule in January of 2023 when we sailed out of Mobile for the last time.

How Much Does It Cost to Cruise on a Sailboat?

With the planning part behind us, and having been cruising full-time now for one and half years, we have real data to answer the question How Much Does it Cost to Cruise on a Sailboat?

Three Categories

Upon review of our data, we have broken down our spending into three categories: In Transit, Cruising and Marina and Boat Projects Downtime. We have learned that our spending varies depending on which activity we are doing.  

In Transit is when we are actively on the move from one location to the next. We do make stops along the way, primarily waiting for good weather windows and stocking up on food and fuel.

Cruising is when we slow down and stop to explore what these beautiful islands have to offer.

Marina and Boat Project Downtime is just that – we have been taking breaks from being on the move by going to marinas during the hurricane seasons for some downtime and work on the never ending list of boat projects. 

Below is a table that provides an overview of our activities for the last 18 months of cruising: (in sequential order):

Cost of Cruising on a Sailboat per Category

The graph below provides a summary of our actual total monthly spending for our first 18 months of cruising on a sailboat. I have also provided more detail of our actual spending going into all of our sailing budget categories for our first year of sailing costs. 

While at first glance, this graph looks like erratic spending from month to month, it actually shows that our spending fluctuates when we are cruising, in transit, or taking downtime at marinas and working on boat projects during hurricane season. 

You can see the fluctuations of our spending in the graph below: In Transit (yellow), Cruising (green), or in a Marina for boat projects and downtime (purple).

The graph shows that we have two ‘Budget’ lines. The lower line represents our original budget goal of $4,750 per month ($57,000 per year) when we left in January 2023. The upper line represents our adjusted budget goal of $5,590 per month ($67,080 per year), which we developed after looking at our actual spending over the first year of cruising. 

We stayed under budget while cruising and exploring the islands, we stayed within our budget while in transit, and we went over budget while in the marina for downtime and boat projects.

In Transit

In transit is when we are actively on the move from one location to the next. We spent an average of $5,435 per month in transit down the west coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, going up and down the east coast of the United States, and cruising the Thorny Path heading east from the Bahamas, through the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, to St. Martin. This is within our upper budget goal of $5,590.

Our highest spending during this time was on groceries and restaurants, marinas and mooring balls.

Our upper budget goal for groceries and restaurants is $1,445 per month for the two of us. Our average monthly spending on groceries and dining out while in transit was $1,476 per month, an average of $31 over budget each month.

I believe we spent a bit more on food while in transit because we were stocking up on food before heading to the Bahamas in both 2023 and 2024. Grocery shopping in the Bahamas is very expensive! 

Our upper budget for marinas and mooring balls is $800 per month. Our average monthly spending on marinas and mooring balls while in transit was $1,036 per month, an average of $236 over budget each month.

We stayed in a few marinas, for a few days or a week at a time, while in transit to visit with family over the holidays, or to secure the boat during bad weather events heading our way. As you probably know, staying in a marina for a few days, or even a week, costs more money on average per night than if you stay for longer periods of time (i.e. monthly rates). 

We were able to stay within our budget while in transit, as we spent less in other categories, such as travel (i.e. car rentals, hotels or Airbnbs, etc., plane tickets, etc.) and boat expenses.

We have fortunately always been under budget in our medical category, as we have done a great job staying healthy and out of doctor’s offices.

Cruising

Cruising is when we slow down to enjoy the islands we are in and explore everything they have to offer. We spent an average of $3,848 per month cruising the Bahamas in both 2023 and 2024, as well as cruising down the Caribbean chain from St. Martin to Grenada. This is less than both our lower budget goal of $4,750 and our upper budget goal of $5,590.

We did a great job staying within our budget in all categories while cruising. While some months were higher, other months were much lower, equalling them out. For example, in the Bahamas in April 2023, we spent $1,709 on marinas and mooring balls. This is due to wanting an easy place for our friends to get onto the boat when they came to visit, and more largely due to being stuck at the marina once they got there due to a severe weather event with 30+ knot winds that lasted the entire week. 

For comparison to our in transit spending, here are our actual average monthly spending totals for both groceries and restaurants, marinas and mooring balls:

Marina and Boat Projects Downtime for Hurricane Season

Marina downtime is when we take breaks during the hurricane seasons from constantly being on the move. We like to stay at marinas during these downtimes for the conveniences of easier dog walks, running our air conditioner and unlimited potable water. We also take this time to work on boat projects and travel to visit with our families. 

In 2023, we stayed three months at Safe Harbor Zahnisers marina in Solomons, Maryland. In 2024, we are staying four months at the Grenada Yacht Club marina in Grenada.

We spent an average of $7,120 per month during our marina and boat projects downtime. This is over our upper budget of $5,590 per month.

Our two highest budget busters in our spending categories during this time are Boat Expenses and Travel.

Our upper budget for boat expenses is $600 per month. We spent an average of $1,018 per month on boat expenses during these months working on boat projects. This put us over budget by $418 per month during these timeframes.

Our major boat projects that put us over budget include adding a third 198 Ah house battery, replacing our sanitation hoses and changing one head to a composting head, and purchasing $1,700 worth of bottom paint for our upcoming haul out.

Our upper budget for travel is $400 per month. We spent an average of $733 per month on travel during our downtime months. This put us over budget by $333 per month during these timeframes.

In 2023, my husband and I each rented cars and visited our families: Scott was down south in Alabama, taking a trip with his son to Texas, and I drove to Michigan from Maryland to see my family.

In 2024, we had to fly back to the United States from Grenada, which added to our expenses. Scott flew to Miami, then drove to Alabama and rented a vacation condo to visit with his sons and dad. Then I flew to Michigan to visit with my family. 

Overall, we would like to make improvements on our spending during our ‘downtime’ periods and we are looking for ways to do just that. However, what we do is our personal preference and what we enjoy doing. 

We know similar ‘downtime’ can be accomplished with much less expense by finding locations to anchor instead of taking marinas, limiting the boat projects to only absolutely necessary repairs and limiting travel. We see many other cruisers in Grenada spend the entire summer on an anchor in one of the bays and limit their travel and boat work to the point they can enjoy the summer in a tropical (but sometimes very hot) location at very little cost.

The Cost to Cruise on a Sailboat Can Vary

I hope you find this article helpful, outlining how much it costs to cruise on a sailboat. Of course, each person’s budget and spending will vary dramatically. 

Many people we come across while enjoying our cruising lifestyles have budgets much higher than ours and many other people have budgets much lower than ours. It is always possible to spend more (which is really easy to do) or less (which can be tougher at times) when living this lifestyle. 

I am providing this information to give you one example of what it costs for a couple (and our dog) to cruise full-time on our sailboat. One thing we have definitely learned is that it is very worthwhile to untie the lines from normal life on land and enjoy the freedom of cruising on a sailboat. If you’d like to read more about our cruising adventures in the United States, Bahamas, and Caribbean, visit Money for Mangos.