Sailing on a budget

Image courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography,
at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I have read a lot a sailing blogs over the last few years. Many are written by long-term cruisers or live-aboards. They are often asked about their budget and how they can afford to do what they do. The most common answer is, "it depends." It depends what you want to do while sailing, where you want to go and what compromises you are willing to make.

Here are some ideas for the frugal sailor just starting out, learning to sail or gaining experience on the water:

Club together. Boat ownership is expensive; whilst owning a boat is the quickest way to learn -- you might call it a a forcing function -- there are less expensive ways to make a start:

- Take a course. In the UK Royal Yachting Association (rya.org.uk) recognised schools and instructors offer practical and shore-based theory courses. For the practical course you can book a berth on a charter yacht (or one owned by the training provider) sharing the costs of the boat with the other students. The Competent Crew and Day Skipper courses are a good place to start. Combine the training with a vacation and find good weather, food and views.

- Sail with friends. Boat owners (skippers we call them in the UK) need crew.  They rarely expect any financial contribution from their crew beyond covering their own travel, food and drink and perhaps a contribution towards costs such are visitor mooring fees, water and diesel. What if you don't know any boat owning skippers? Charter with one, share a boat on a charter holiday or register with one of the many crew-to-boat matching sites, such as sailingnetworks.com, crewseekers.net, findacrew.net or crewfinders.com. Most charge but if you shop around you will find free ones.

- Join a club. You can join a sailing club or association. Social and sailing events (races and rallies) are a great place to make friends and remember skippers are always looking for crew. Many prefer novices they can teach their way rather than experts. The RYA lists over 1200 clubs in its directory. There is something for everyone.

Bitghton Bell (http://brightonbelle.org/)

- Shared ownership. Buy a boat and put it on charter, to cover the running costs; buy it in a syndicate, sharing the purchase and operational costs; or share with a more informal arrangement.  The faction you own can vary immensely depending on your pocket, type of boat and type of organisation (commercial vs. club). For example you can own a small fraction of a luxury like an Oyster through a club, such a Brighton Bell

Image courtesy of Victor Habbick, at
FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Start Small. Boats are expensive to build and maintain. This is for two three reasons: First, the marine environment is harsh -- wind, waves, tides, sea water and ultraviolet light take the toll on boats -- the construction materials and methods are expensive. Stainless steels, composite materials and special equipment (such as marine electronics) are selected to weather this environment.  Second, relatively small numbers of people sail; the economies of scale seen in most durable consumer products are hard to realise in boat-building and for marine equipment. Last, but not least the real estate needed for moorings, marinas and boat yards is often the most expensive in the region. This is especially true in the south of England.  The Solent is probably one of the most expensive places in the World to sail. Small yachts (or even dinghies) are much cheaper than their larger sisters and can be as much fun.

Buy second hand. Boats used to keep their value well (depreciating at about the rate of inflation), but this is increasingly not the case. Real bargains can be found for popular models, especially if you are willing to buy abroad. For residents of the European Union (EU) buying within the EU is relatively straight forward. Second hand chandlery can afford the frugal sailor some real savings too. Boat jumbles are held regularly in all the major sailing centres in the UK.  See boat-jumbles.co.uk.  Even the equipment you need when just starting out as crew can be expensive -- foul weather gear is a must. Think about what you really need. Do you really need a top-of-the-line set ocean foulies from this year's collection. Why not make do with a coastal weight set and wear an extra fleece?

Do the work yourself. If you own a boat, doing the routine maintenance work yourself must a huge difference to your costs. Every hour you spend working on your boat yourself represents a saving. Put in the labour yourself saving your hard-earned money for the specialist tasks that you cannot do yourself. Not only do you save money, but you learn the skills and learn about your boat -- invaluable experience for when you set off on that round the world adventure. You really don't want to replace your impeller for the first time in the bay of Biscay during a storm. The how-to videos on line are an excellent resource. Avoid buying too many books; sailors like to share their expertise and experience. You'll aways find a sailing neighbour willing to help you out.

Prioritise. Think carefully about what you need and avoid impulse buys. You can save hundred of pounds by doing your homework, buying on line or buying second hand. Read blogs, sailing magazines and how-to sites. There is great advice out there. Gadgets are fun, but try sailing without them. Find out what you need by sailing for a weekend, week or fortnight and you will be surprised what you can do without. Also look out for apps for your iPhone that can do the same job. We were considering buying an AIS system, but recently found the mAIS application for iPhone, provided by http://www.marinetraffic.com. As virtually all of our sailing is done with cellphone coverage, we'll try this out putting off the need to spend a BOAT unit.

Cut out the luxuries. Eating and drinking out is one of the fastest (and easiest) ways of draining your bank account. Buy a bottle of wine or crate of beer and enjoy it on your boat. Invite friends and neighbours to join you there for dinner. Cooking on board can be fun -- very much part of the experience -- and the views are often second to none. Do you really need a coffee in that cafe?

Forage. The sea and the land can provide a supplement to your diet. We regularly pick blackberries from hedge rows, apples from trees on public land and throw out a mackerel line when sailing. We have had many more apple and blackberry pies and crumbles than fish.