December by the numbers.

We knew going into December that it was going to be an expensive month.  We decided to buy a whisker pole so we could actually sail downwind efficiently, and we bought a flotation collar for the Walker Bay dinghy which had proven to be entirely too tippy without it.  Those two items represent almost 40% of this month’s costs.  We also stocked up on groceries and supplies for our Bahamas trip, and paid for our chart plotter to cover the Caribbean.  All of those items add up but they needed to be purchased.

They say if you want to cruise less expensively you need to get out of the United States.  Our three months in the Bahamas last year were definitely our least expensive months, lending credence to that theory.  When we leave for the Bahamas we won’t be returning to the states on the boat for at least a year, maybe as many as two or three years, so it will be interesting to see what our expenses end up looking like in 2020.

Either way, 2019 proved to be less expensive on a monthly basis than 2018 (although we were only cruising for four months that year), so we are trending in the right direction as we continue to settle in to this lifestyle.

With that said, here we go:

Days under way: 6

Nautical miles covered: 124.46

Number of States: 1 (Florida)

Nights at anchor: 8

Nights on a mooring: 23

Expenses:

Groceries/Non-food Groceries/Alcohol: $839.16

Diesel/Gasoline: $18.00

Propane/denatured alcohol: $46.31

Medical: $272.34

Cell data, iCloud storage, and Garmin inReach subscription: $222.72 (this included the first month of Myislandwifi in preparation for the Bahamas, with the $50 deposit and shipping)

Laundry: $14.00

Restaurants/Entertainment: $131.57

Uber: $8.10

New York Times subscription: $40.66 (this gets billed every four weeks, so twice this month)

Marinas: $278.20 (2 weeks and 2 days at Vero)

Clothing: $98.03

Boat stuff: $2,844.55 (whisker pole and chocks, flotation collar for dinghy, chart plotter chip for Caribbean/Central/South America, two 12 volt fans, two tubes of 5200, step down connectors, heat shrink tubing, carburetor cleaner and fuel stabilizer, primary fuel filters, oil diapers, 12 volt pump/fuel hose/clamps/wiring, cleaners, hull professionally cleaned, magnetic base for dinghy light)

Subscriptions: $53.42

Random: $294.45 (AA and AAA batteries, box of rags, disposable gloves, snorkel lenses, 2 tarps, ukulele book, haircuts, etc.)

Total: $5,161.51

2019 monthly average: $3,457.97

2018 monthly average (September – December): $4,465.95.

Monthly average since starting to cruise: $3,709.97