How Much Will This Trip Cost?

When we were in the first stages of fact finding, one of the most difficult questions to answer was "How much does this cost?" How much will it cost us to take this trip?

We found only 2 websites that had interesting information about costs. 1 of them provided a decent month by month breakdown, in broad categories (e.g. food/marina/maintenance/etc.), of their spend over an 18 month sailing period. Unfortunately, the details behind the spend were not there. Everything was summarized. Further, the costs that went into preparing their boat wasn't presented.

Val and I agreed that we would chronicle every single penny spent that in some way went towards this trip. This compiled information would not only help us spend more wisely, but we could make this critical information available to others.

Since the purchase of the boat in June, the pages have been filling up. Every dollar spent, what was bought, and the date of purchase has been captured. We now have 3 full pages of spend, for a total of 72 line items. Here is a smattering of entries:

• 26JUN09 $8.92 Automatic Kill Switch for Honda Engine (spare)
• 26JUN09 $0.77 Rubber Stopper for Head Sink
• 07JUL09 $11.00 GA DNR Registration 2010 and Transfer
• 10JUL09 $13.59 Marine-Tex Fiberglass Repair 20Oz
• 10JUL09 $14.54 Helmsman Wax
• 14JUL09 $115.12 Materials to make Curtains and Pillows
• 07AUG09 $75.00 Dremel 10.8V Cordless Tool (fm HomeDepot)
• 12AUG09 $2.12 3 x #10 SS bolts w/ locking nuts
• 13AUG09 $65.00 Rudder Cage Weld Repair Eyelet Ring
• 04SEP09 $587.43 9' Dingy from West Marine
• 28OCT09 $697.50 Deposit for 2010 Coastal Cruising Course
• 01NOV09 $19.99 14" Dry Box-Flambeau-Yellow
• 15NOV09 $42.97 Plexiglass-Acrylic-For Electrical System Cover
• 18NOV09 $915.59 Nature's Head Composting Toilet+Extra Bottle

With 72 entries, and one being the boat itself, the numbers look damn scary. This is a lot of money. I'm tempted to tally it, but that could be like sticking your finger in a light socket. Maybe this is why people don't chronicle the information! Be that as it may, we will continue to collect the data and someday make it available to those who are interested. Now, could we have saved some money somewhere in the list .....