Cost Tally For the oddgodfrey Circumnavigation
(2 People, 5 year Plan, 1981 Vintage 40 Foot Cutter Rigged Sloop)
Curious about what it might cost to sail around the world? This page gives you the dirty details of our circumnavigation in progress. It is unique to us based on our specific list of factors: our timeframe of five years, our plan to work when we return home, the type, size and maintenance status of S/V Sonrisa, Andrew’s tendency to do all the repair work himself, our eating (and drinking!) habits, land tourism, sailing location, sailing speed and insurance decisions. Your Sailing Trip could cost more or less depending on your own individual factors. This page will give you you one data point (Oddgodfrey Expenses) to consider. Years ago, we used a similar cost tally from www.bumfuzzle.com to make our own predictions. Now, we are paying Pat and Allie’s generosity forward and sharing our information with you. If you want to read more on the process we used to make our predictions, click here instead: How We Predicted What Our Sailing Circumnavigation Would Cost.
capital investment In Our 1981 Valiant 40
Total Capital Investment to Purchase, Maintain and Prepare Sonrisa 2012-2015: $227,875.76
This might seem like a lot, but when you consider Sonrisa is our home, it isn't more than the cost of buying a house on land. In fact, if you are looking for ocean front property, it is probably a whole lot less! Boats are as numerous and unique as the stars in the sky. Design quality, size, age, condition are all major factors in how much the boat will cost and the purchase cost can range anywhere from $0 - millions. You can find boats dirt cheap, but you will put in significantly more money repairing problems. You have to find a balance you can live with between sailing qualities, living space, original condition and your tolerance for completing refit repairs and maintenance.
For us, Sonrisa struck our perfect balance.
Purchase Cost November 2012: $124,154
Purchase Price: $112,000
Survey, Engine Survey, Rig Survey: $960
Lender's Fees: $694
Marina Deposit: $1500
California Sales Tax: $9,000
Carrying Cost from November 2012 - December 2015: $37,049.97
Slip Fee at Shelter Island Marina, San Diego x 3 years at $749/month
Insurance: $309/quarter
Monthly Bottom Clean: $45/month
Electricity: $10/month
California Property Taxes: $1190/year
Pre-Departure Maintenance November 2012 - December 2015: $12,617.01
These costs included the upkeep and repair of any system already in place on Sonrisa.
Initial Capital Improvement/Refit Costs Carried Out Between November 2012 - December 2015: $54,054.78
These costs are for those items we either added to Sonrisa or removed and replaced. This figure includes the replacement of all standing rigging, repainting the mast, installation of a DC driven refrigeration compressor, new solar panels, new stanchions and lifelines, replacement of all chain plates, replaced toilet, repaired deck substrate in small locations and rebedding deck equipment causing leaks, updated worn running rigging including storm jib halyard/topping lift, new main halyard, new main sheet blocks, update electrical system, purchase new deck of AGM house and starter batteries, parts to rebuild autopilot and water pumps, spare parts for engine and autopilot, final haul out and inspection of through hulls and rudder, labor and parts for replacing through hull backing plates. We did the majority of work ourselves with the exception of the standing rigging and installation of the DC driven refrigeration compressor. Therefore, this cost is significantly lower than it would be if we hired someone to handle all refit installations.
Mid Circumnavigation Capital Improvement/Refit Costs and Deferred Maintenance: Budgeted: $36,500
Carried Out Between Fall of 2018 - Dec. 2019, with the majority of the yard work happening April 1, 2019-August 30, 2019.
Actual Spend: $35,674 (materials and labor, except Andrew’s labor which was “free” and not represented in these amounts.)
This includes the following repairs: Anchor chain re-galvanized: $500, New Sails: $6,783, (1) used alternator (spare), (1) new alternator: $793, Refreshed Spinnaker Halyard and Rollerfurling Lines: $318; Removal of keel, full replacement with silicon bronze bolts $6,693 (includes all yard expenses associated with the project see technical write up here; Lithium Battery System design and installation (self build with CALB prismatic cells) $2,490; Engine mounts $123; Canvas covers $3,000; Stripping old paint and painting new Coppercoat $2800; teak cabin sole re-varnish: $1500; Repaint blue stripes on hull: $1600; Reinstall Name Lettering: $250; Rudder, skeg, minor blister repair, and refill of look ahead depth sounder through hull: $817; Install new plastic in portlight holes: $200 repair winch bases and install sound insulation: $600; new liferaft $1,815; watermaker rebuild: $1,500 (This includes two non-working new* membranes, a pack of high pressure seals that were not the right size, and the purchase of a third, working membrane, and a high pressure seal that IS the right size. i.e. we spent $1500 on what is usually a $400 job.); rollerfurler $95; Alternator Regulator $525; Grin Repairs: $150; New Bilge Pump: $250 Spare parts for Indian Ocean crossing: $796 New to us used spare chartplotter: $500
Estimate of Andrew’s hours: 1,000, with approximately 750 additional man hours from other yard specialists.
Circumnavigation travel costs
Costs of 5 Year Circumnavigation
Estimated at $48,000 per year, Monthly Avg. $4,000 per month, plus a $35,000 Refit at Some Point
Year 1 (2016): $47,908.00 (Left February 28, so only 10 full months of travel)
Year 2 (2017): $61,018.00
Year 3 (2018): $53,705.00
Year 4 (2019): $58,834.00
Year 5 (2020): $50,321.00
Actual Total Spent on a 5 Year Cruising in a Circumnavigation Format* excluding the mid-sail refit: $236,112.00 (all together $271,786.00)
Actual Monthly Average: excluding the mid-sail refit: $3,935/month (cash flowing the refit $4,529/month)
Notes #1: I separate out the mid-sail refit because we set that money aside and planned to complete that refit in advance. The $4,000/month average was intended to be the “cost of maintaining our lives” figure. Because we planned ahead for the refit, it was its own separate category. That being said, it was a part of the costs we experienced during the course of the five years, and IF we had intended to cash flow it, we would have had to increase our expectation for our monthly average. I’ve included that calculation to make it easier too see what happens if you try to cashflow your ongoing ship repair costs.
Notes#2: We get both a passing grade and a failing grade planning for our “5 Year Sailing Circumnavigation”. What we did right: we were spot on with our anticipated monthly average spend. Over the course of five years worth of cruising in a “circumnavigation format” meaning, we were continuously working on moving Westward around the world, we spent an average of $3,935 per month. This, however, did not see us all the way around the world. We moved slower than anticipated at every point. We spent more time in the South Pacific than planned. We took our time through Indonesia, we lost an Indian Ocean crossing season when we did the keel bolt refit, and then….Covid. So, while our original $250,000 sailing nest egg saw us through the five years it was designed to cover, it did not see us “home”.
Lucky for us, we have a second bite at the circumnavigation-apple and we are now funding the miles forward from Seychelles with my new career as Inveterate Sea Lawyer.
Going forward, we will need to “cash flow” Sonrisa’s maintenance and refit budget in our monthly expenses. And, there’s no accounting for this inflation in Diesel cost. I anticipate using more internet to support my job, and I expect we will want to travel home to visit family a bit more frequently than we have in the past. With these points in consideration, we are expecting an average monthly burn rate of $5,500. (For context, the Average American Household spends $5,300 per month.) While Sonrisa’s maintenance and refit schedule will be included in that $5,500, earmarked as our “Housing Allowance” because she is indeed our home, we will continue to anticipate her maintenance rate to be 10% of her value in “good” condition (Approximately $130,000) per year. Accordingly, $1,083 out of $5,500 monthly budget will be for Sonrisa. This calculation presumes Andrew will continue to do the majority of the work. If we need to start hiring people, that budget will need to increase to 30% of the cost of her value in good condition.
The Oddgodfrey’s Detailed Sailing Circumnavigation Expenses
The information below includes 100% of our life-expenses during the timeframes given. Some sailors will give you their costs of circumnavigating but exclude various things they consider to be “outliers” to what is typical or "separate” from sailing i.e. trips home, a major boat repair they weren’t anticipating, land-based tours they take separate from sailing, separate hobbies, etc. We have left all this in because it is the “full picture” of what we needed to fund these five years in which we were sailing around the world. You might not have the same “outliers” that we do, but I think it is important to see that unexpected things happen - both good and bad - and that any good circumnavigation budget should take that inevitability into account.
If you want to read more on the process we used to make our predictions, click here instead: How We Predicted What Our Sailing Circumnavigation Would Cost.
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February 28, 2016 - August 31, 2016 Actual Expenses $30,985 (Monthly Average) $5,164 per month
Baja Penninsula, Mexico, Galapagos Islands Ecuador, Marquesas Islands, Manihi and Fakarava of the Tuamotus Island Group, and Society Islands of French Polynesia.
Healthcare: $50
Clothing: $243
Yard Fees/Slips/Moorings: $617
Diesel/Gas: $906
Blog/Communication Costs: $1,378
Gifts/Donations: $1,419
Sonrisa Maintenance: $1,965
Check In Fees: $2,306
Groceries: $2,797
Dining Out: $3,596
Entertainment: $4,656 (Lord, Scuba Diving!)
Insurances: $5,618
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September 1, 2016 - December 31, 2016 Actual Expenses: $22,622 (Monthly Avg. $5,656.00)
Rarotonga, Niue, Tonga, and United States
Healthcare: $149 (Spent entirely on cold medicine during our stay in wintery, US)
Clothing: $776
Yard Fees/Slips/Moorings: $2,035 (Haul out, monthly fees for yard in Tonga 485/mo)
Diesel/Gas: $384
Blog/Communication Costs: $824
Gifts/Donations: $1,520
Sonrisa Maintenance: $1,481
Check In Fees: $693
Groceries: $2,019 (Includes a large stock up run in Rarotonga, and the unintentional purchase of a $24.00 head of celery.)
Dining Out: $2,690 (Rarotonga is the foodie capital of the Pacific Islands, Visiting friends in US)
Entertainment: $6,056 (Scuba diving, Advanced Scuba Certifications, Flights to the US)
Insurances: $3,754 (Life, Disability, Health, Boat)
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January 1, 2017 - June 30, 2017 Actual Expenses $36,001 (Monthly Average) $6,000.16
New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu
Healthcare: $998 (Includes $360 Antimalarial supply through South Africa, $300 prescription glasses and sunglasses)
Clothing: $1,336
Yard Fees/Slips/Moorings: $3,243 (This figure includes Sonrisa’s yard fee in Tonga and all campsites in New Zealand)
Diesel/Gas: $1,983(Sonrisa and Kitty insist that I tell you $1,638 of $1,983 is fuel for Sister Mary Francis The Van.)
Blog/Communication Costs: $2,100 (Includes Internet, SatPhone, Ting and $538 spent on Nikon Coolpix camera.)
Gifts/Donations: $594*
Sonrisa Maintenance: $2,079
Check In Fees: $1,120
Groceries: $4,132 (We had to restock Sonrisa after her land stay in Tonga. Hey! Groceries are still outspending dining out!)
Dining Out: $3,491
Entertainment: $9,196 (Scuba diving, tours like New Zealand Black Water Rafting, Vanuatu Land Diving, mountain bikes in New Zealand)
Insurances: $5,729 (Health, Life, Disability, Boat)
*(The gift/donation amount does not include all the food, clothes, parts, or equipment that we have on Sonrisa that we gave away or traded for coconuts. These items would be wrapped into other categories (like groceries, maintenance) because we purchased them intending to use them. Come to Vanuatu ready to trade! Bring extra sugar, tea in teabags (teabags are a luxury here), matches, writing paper, rope, fishing line or lures. Be aware that any plastic or wrapping that you give them will end up on the beach. Remove everything from packaging and take care of the garbage yourself when you get into town.)
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July 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017 Actual Expenses $25,018 (Monthly Average) $4,169
Papua New Guinea, Kei Indonesia, Timor Leste, Flores Indonesia
Healthcare: $568
Clothing: $417 (Includes wardrobe revamp for Islamic countries with very conservative dress)
Yard Fees/Slips/Moorings: $882 (Mooring balls in Vanuatu and Marina Slip in Papua New Guinea)
Diesel/Gas: $1,075 (Sonrisa and Kitty are embarrassed because they never expected to use this much fuel!)
Blog/Communication Costs: $3,958 (Internet, SatPhone, Ting, $1,100 sat phone antennae, $1100 Canon800 D)
Gifts/Donations: $960
Sonrisa Maintenance: $1,240 (engine mounts, small generator Tom Kat help the batteries out.)
Check In Fees: $1,076
Groceries: $2,856
Dining Out: $2,410
Entertainment: $4,267 (Scuba diving)
Insurances: $5,309 (Health, Life, Disability, Boat)
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January 1, 2018 - June 30, 2018 Actual Expenses $32,452 (Monthly Average) $5,409
Labuan Bajo Indonesia, Sumbawa Basar Indonesia, Gili Air Indonesia, Gili Gede Indonesia, Lombok Indonesia, Jakarta Indonesia (Air/Land) Bali Indonesia (Ferry/Land), Kuala Lumpur Malaysia (Air/Land), Beijing China (1 Day Land), Las Vegas USA (Air/Land), Utah USA (Air/Land), Washington USA (Air/Land), Darwin Australia (Air/Land), Lombok Indonesia, Kangean Indonesia, Bawean Indonesia
Health Care: $107 ($699 total, but health insurance reimbursed $592, leaving us with only $107 out of pocket)
Clothing/Hair: $1203 (Swimsuits needed refreshing while in the US.)
Sonrisa Mooring Fees: $705
Diesel/Gas: $184
Blog/Communication Costs: $937
Gifts/Donations: $413
Sonrisa Maintenance: $349
Check In Fees: $1,992
Groceries: $1,959
Dining Out: $4,249
Entertainment: $13,973 (Flights to all land destinations and hotels are included in this figure.)
Insurances: $6,381
A Note about all this Air/Land Travel. Should we include these figures in our "Circumnavigation Budget"? I don't know. They are not strictly associated with sailing around the world on a sailboat if one is able to keep a purely sailing time-frame of life. I personally think these higher budget months resulting from trips home and land travel are representative of what will likely happen on any circumnavigation. Duty will almost always call from home and adverse weather seasons will require you to hole up and wait. We have found it is difficult to sail around the world on a sailboat for five years straight without making some provision for travel back home via airplane to visit family and handle administrative affairs we were unable to close up before our departure (sell our land house). Also, adverse weather seasons are a problem for every circumnavigating sailor. You need to watch your timing to stay in good weather seasons, or you will have to wait somewhere safe until cyclone season passes. Those of us with itchy feet are highly likely to start land traveling with the boat as home base. Take these numbers for what they are worth, and realize they are higher because of time spent in the U.S., Australia, flying, staying in hotels or paying for campsites.
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July 1, 2018 - December 31, 2018 Actual Expenses: $21,253 (Monthly Average) $3,542
Kalimantan, Indonesia, Belitung, Indonesia, Tanjung Pinang, Indonesia, West Coast Malaysia, Land Trip to Singapore, Phuket, Thailand
Health Care: $110
Clothing/Hair: $317
Sonrisa Mooring Fees: $972
Diesel/Gas: $699 (Very little wind from Borneo Northward through Thailand between the SW/NE Monsoon Seasons)
Blog/Communication Costs: $950
Gifts/Donations: $1,309
Sonrisa Maintenance: $3,027
Check In Fees: $513
Groceries: $2,151
Dining Out: $2,151
Entertainment: $3,082
Insurances: $6,018
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January 1, 2019 - June 30, 2019 Actual Expenses: $43,757 (Monthly Average) $7,292
Phuket, Thailand, Phang Gna Bay, Thailand, Road Tour of Northern Thailand, Ayuttaya, and Bangkok, Phuket Thailand (again), Langkawi, Malayisa, Major refit work for Sonrisa, flight/land tour to Bali, Indonesia
Health Care: $3,426 (After reimbursement from Insurance. Gallbladder surgery, Annual Exams, MRI for Back)
Clothing/Hair: $560
Mooring/Housing Fees: $3,101 (This includes marinas and mooring balls, haul out costs on land, and our land apartment because we wouldn’t be living on land save for the gnarly refit we have to do.
Diesel/Gas: $311
Blog/Communication Costs: $1800 (This includes a new computer.)
Gifts/Donations: $451
Sonrisa Maintenance: $5,363 (This includes projects that are maintenance related, not larger capital refit.)
Check In Fees: $260
Groceries: $1,049
Dining Out: $3,099
Entertainment: $5,329 (This includes flights, hotels, tours, etc. in Northern Thailand, Ayuttaya, Bangkok, and Bali)
Insurances: $6,954
Sonrisa Capital Improvement/Refit Items: $12,655
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July 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019 Actual Expenses: $30,236 (Monthly Average) $5,039
Langkawi, Malaysia, Phuket, Thailand, Langkawi, Malaysia, South Korea (layover tour), Visit to the U.S. for the holidays.
Health Care: $491
Clothing/Hair: $514
Mooring/Housing Fees: $2159 (This includes marinas and mooring balls, haul out costs on land, and our land apartment through end of August because we wouldn’t be living on land save for the gnarly refit.
Diesel/Gas: $815 (this includes gasoline for land travel in vehicles while in the US for November and December)
Blog/Communication Costs: $1067
Gifts/Donations: $817
Sonrisa Maintenance: $5,062 (This includes projects that are maintenance related, not larger capital refit.)
Check In/Administrative Fees: $200
Groceries: $1,917
Dining Out: $2,138
Entertainment: $3,737
Insurances: $6,445
Sonrisa Capital Improvement/Refit Items: $4,282
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January 1, 2020 - June 30, 2020 Actual Expenses: $24,450 (Monthly Average) $4,075
Langkawi, Malaysia; Phuket, Thailand; Trincomalee, Sri Lanka; Uligan, Maldives During Covid Lockdown
Health Care: $203
Clothing/Hair: $313
Mooring/Housing Fees: $500
Diesel/Gas: $387
Blog/Communication Costs: $1,488
Gifts/Donations: $1,223
Sonrisa Maintenance: $1,074
Check In/Administrative Fees: $3,000 (this includes: $100 total for airline flight tickets to exit Malaysia. We bought these so we didn’t have to go through the rigamarole of proving our exit strategy to immigration as we flew in from the U.S. Usually, we would cancel these flights, but we forgot, so this is a bit of a $100 Stupid Tax. It also includes $450 pre-approval payments to sail through British Indian Ocean Territory, $370 Check In and Visas in Sri Lanka, and $1,000 check in fees for the Maldives, and bar licensing fees to carry my legal license. (Again, another one of those non-sailing expenses that may or may not apply to you.)
Groceries: $4,188
Dining Out: $994
Entertainment: $1468
Insurances: $7,787
Sonrisa Capital Improvement/Refit Items: $1,815 (purchase of a new life raft)
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July 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020 Actual Expenses: $25,573 Monthly Average $4262
Last Portion of Maldives, British Indian Ocean Territory, and Seychelles
Health Care: $1937 (Leslie’s Wandering Disc Fiasco Disaster of 2020)
Clothing/Hair: $659
Mooring/Housing Fees: $0
Diesel/Gas: $720
Blog/Communication Costs: $1991
Gifts/Donations: $1720
Sonrisa Maintenance: $2640
Check In/Administrative Fees: $2253
Groceries: $4705
Dining Out: $909
Entertainment: $1686
Insurances: $6653
Sonrisa Capital Improvement/Refit Items: $0
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January 1, 2021 - July 31, 2021 The Lost Year
Seychelles, Trip Home to the US for Leslie
Disaster struck our record keeping! We lost the spreadsheets Andrew was using to track these months. We have combed through every storage source we have and they just disappeared. I keep hoping we will claw back time to recreate them, because I would be so fascinated to know exactly what happened to our finances during the “Covid-Era.” But we just haven’t had time, yet. I will nag and harangue Andrew and at some point I hope we will get these numbers for you.
But, sometimes the best thing to do is to just pick up where you left off and carry forward.
August 1, 2021 - December 2021 Actual Expenses: $33,566 (Monthly Average) $6,713
Tanzania, Mozambique Channel, The Coast of South Africa From Richard’s Bay Up to Cape Town
Health Care: $146
Clothing/Hair: $1571
Mooring/Housing Fees: $708
Diesel/Gas: $162
Blog/Communication Costs: $2560 (Two New 1TB Hard drives ($370), Sat Phone Unlimited Plan ($167), internet)
Gifts/Donations: $1683
Sonrisa Maintenance: $666
Check In/Administrative Fees: $701
Groceries: $3805
Dining Out: $2693
Entertainment: $12,820 (Safari in Tanzania $8,138)
Insurances: $566
Sonrisa Capital Improvement/Refit Items: $387
January 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022 Actual Expenses: $46,896 (Monthly Average) $7,815
Cape Town South Africa (4 Months/with Sonrisa Mini Refit), Namibia, St. Helena
Health Care: $2040 (Eye Exam, New Glasses, Various Health Scans/Checkups)
Clothing/Hair: $1,555 (New hiking boots, Andrew wardrobe update (too many “Engine Room Shorts”) my annual haircut.
Mooring/Housing Fees: $5605 (Cape Town Marina $1,000/mo, St. Helena Hotel Room 2nights/work related, Ferry Fee)
Diesel/Gas: $1611
Blog/Communication Costs: $2538 (Add predict wind subscription
Gifts/Donations: $1196
Sonrisa Maintenance: $2905
Check In/Administrative Fees: $778 ($190 Cape Town Visa Renewal)
Groceries: $6200 (Provisioning for South Atlantic)
Dining Out: $3610
Entertainment: $7934
Insurances: $8692 (Annual Sonrisa Insurance Renewal $2601
Sonrisa Capital Improvement/Refit Items: $2217 (Bow Pulpit, New AIS Antennae, New Running Rigging, Refit Main Sheet Traveler Blocks)
