This is the third and final parts of our article published in Pacific Passagemaker magazine.
CONSIDERING THE PRACTICAL ISSUES OF THE LIVE-ABOARD LIFE
Once Diane and I decided to buy a passagemaker and live the on-board cruising life there were numerous issues we considered mostly falling into these categories:
How long you are going to be away each year
The vast majority of cruisers (power and sail) don’t literally spend the whole year away on their boat. Most have families and assets in their home country, and generally leave their boat during the few mid-winter months of their cruising region to return home. An exception to this would be some European cruisers for whom the weather is much kinder in a location like the Med than in their own country. Diane and I spent most of one winter aboard Envoy in Turkey, and haven’t chosen to repeat the experience as there seems little point in sitting out a winter on our boat in a marina when we can be enjoying a New Zealand summer with our family and friends.
How many years you will cruise for
The short answer is as long as you are enjoying the experience, and health, funds and other circumstances permit. We have so far lived aboard most of five years and plan to continue for another three or four. We rarely meet cruisers who’ve lived aboard for more than ten years, although they certainly are around.
Dependent family
Most of the cruising community are in the age group mid 50s to mid 70s, and no longer have school-age children. It’s rare to meet cruisers living aboard with children. Elderly parents generally accept that you are living your lives to the full, appreciate your regular phone calls and enjoy seeing you during return visits home.
Family and Friends
Of course you miss your family and close friends, but some will visit you and share in your cruising experience. Otherwise being able to see your family and friends for at least one period during the year keeps these relationships intact. Loneliness has not been an issue for us and we have made new friendships with other cruisers during our travels.
Work
Most cruisers we meet are semi or completely retired. Many do some form of consulting work or manage their investments remotely, or are able to find some casual work if they choose to. A fewer number of younger cruisers take time out from the work force to go cruising, planning to return to work later.
Your home
Some cruisers elect to sell their house to provide funds for cruising while many others rent them out to provide a regular income. Another option is to simply leave it vacant.
Compatibility and confidence
Many people will say that you won’t get on well together as a couple spending all that time together in the close confines of a boat. Only you will know if this is correct or not, and we probably all know people where this lifestyle would be doomed to failure. Allied to this issue is one partner having a lack of confidence in the other partner’s ability to manage the live aboard process. If you are passionate you are half way there, and the confidence will come with sharing experiences together.
Health
A reasonable but not perfect standard of general health and fitness is required for the live-aboard life – another argument for starting the cruising life sooner than later … life’s time clock is ticking. Nonetheless we have met several cruising couples who’ve needed to return home regularly for various forms of medical treatment. Travel medical insurance is highly desirable as medical treatment can be extremely expensive overseas.
Pets
Overseas regulations concerning the transportation and quarantine of pets are much less strict than in New Zealand, and some cruisers take their pets along. Similarly there are fewer pet restrictions on beaches and in restaurants and cafes. Diane and I have always had a dog or cat at home and loved them dearly, but decided not to keep a pet aboard a boat. Under these circumstances you may need to find somebody to take over or care for your pet so it doesn’t stand in the way of your cruising adventure.
Comfort aboard
When yachtsmen come aboard Envoy they are amazed at the living space available compared to sailing vessels of the same length, and often say she’s like a small ship, or a floating apartment. At 14 metres Envoy is at the lower end of the passagemaker size range, but still has features such as headroom throughout, a queen-size walk-around double bed, full size refrigerator and freezer, four ring gas stove with a near full-size oven, microwave, washing machine and dryer, water maker, two ensuite heads and showers, reverse cycle air conditioning, excellent sound and DVD systems and a generator to provide power whenever needed. Furthermore she has both hydraulic and paravane stabilisers to dramatically reduce roll both under way and while anchored. Comfort is not an issue as we don’t get wet, cold or wind-blown, and Envoy’s motion is rarely lively enough to spill a cup of coffee.
Capital costs
The size, age and condition of your passagemaker determines its initial capital cost with the price range probably starting around NZ$400,000 (240,000 Euros). You could certainly buy a well-equipped Nordhavn 46, in good condition built during the 1990s for about NZ$530,000 (318,000 Euros). Bigger isn’t always better, and remember that the larger vessel you buy the greater will be the cost of insurance, casual and winter marina berthage and repairs and maintenance.
Living costs
Actual living costs such as food, beverages, household supplies and personal spending are about the same cruising as when at home. Maintenance is dearer due to the higher cost of parts and greater distances traveled, and what also bumps up costs is annual travel to and from our boat, additional fuel for the longer distances cruised, and sightseeing ashore – particularly rental cars and accommodation (occasional travel inland away from the boat is well worth the experience in the many interesting new areas). Casual marina prices are also high in the Med, e.g. for our 14 metre Nordhavn 46 typically about NZ$130 (78 Euros) per night plus power and water, sometimes higher. You pay considerably less (or sometimes even nothing) in town harbours, particularly in Greek waters, but the best option is to anchor wherever possible, which is mostly free. Winter berthage rates are considerably less than casual and we’re paying NZ$21 (12.40 Euros) per night including all services and 23% VAT. Some costs are fixed and are for the whole year, such as insurance, winter marina, travel, most regulatory costs and some maintenance, while most other costs including living costs and fuel are variable depending on the time spent aboard and the distance traveled. During 2012 we spent 200 days aboard, and cruised 1,736 miles for 336 engine hours. Excluding living costs maintenance was the largest cost at NZ$26,200 (15,700 Euros). This was about what we expected at 5.4% of Envoy’s estimated value, and on average has been consistent over four years cruising. Second largest was fuel at NZ$9,700 (5,800 Euros) including 3,440 litres of diesel, petrol for the RHIBs, engine oil and cooking gas. Third was marina and regulatory costs at NZ$7,500 (4,500 Euros), while fourth was boat and travel insurance at NZ$6,100 (3,660 Euros). Communication costs including internet and phone is also significant and although this could be reduced by using only Wi-Fi, we prefer to stay connected all the time using pre-pay USBs for internet access. Diane and I look at this not as “cost” but as our “investment in fun”.
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