Distant Shores Q&A Cost of Cruising June 13/20

A monthly live Q&A with Paul and Sheryl Shard, longtime cruising sailors, sailing authors and the producers of the Distant Shores sailing adventure TV series. This month's topic is the "Cost of Cruising". 00:00 - Welcomes and hellos. 01:11 - Are you in an area that has opened up for boating? 02:22 - Update on Distant Shores III and our plans to return to Panama. 02:47 - Introduction on today's topic, "Cost of Cruising". 03:36 - Blogs we've written on "Cost of Cruising". 03:34 - Factors that affect the costs of cruising - size and age of boat, skills, cruising style, etc. 04:21 - Costs to consider if you own an older or previously-owned boat. 05:13 - Costs related to size and complexity of a boat - repairs, dockage, increases on multihull, etc. 07:17 - Find owners of boats similar in size to your boat, e.g. @SailingUma 35' boat 07:50 - Biggest wildcard that affects the cost of cruising is maintenance. DIY saves money. 09:15 - If hire someone to do maintenance or repair, watch and learn so you can DIY next time. 09:35 - If need repairs done when cruising be sure to ask other cruisers for recommendations. 10:30 - Check that the boat yard you haul out at will let you do your own work. What restrictions? 11:08 - Discussion on bottom paint including the long lasting Coppercoat bottom paint that we use. 14:30 - Our strategy for budgeting for cruising. 17:40 - Importance of checking manuals for maintenance schedules, learn spares you'll need. 18:00 - Ken asks what a maintenance budget for a used 36 foot sailboat would be. 21:03 - Create a "slush fund" for emergencies. e.g. $15,000 US. 22:00 - New season of Distant Shores episodes coming to AWE TV and soon to Vimeo on Demand. 23:35 - Greg mentions factors that affect maintenance such as teak decks vs fibreglass decks. 24:40 - Staying in marinas increases your budget a lot. 25:25 - Setting a budget gives you something to start from, you adjust as you go. 27:15 - Plan to spend more in your early days of cruising as you build confidence. 28:18 - Discussion on having a satellite phone, internet access and communications while cruising. 32:30 - Starlink system, @SpaceX, living on a sailboat compared to International Space Station :-) 33:31 - Zeke asks how much "you-get-what-you-pay-for" applies to boat buying. 35:00 - Zeke asks how much does the hull material of a boat influence the cost of cruising. 36:52 - Having a survey done: what affects cost - location, experience, specialty, recommendations. 38:52 - Health coverage while cruising. 41:06 - Kirsten asks about fuel costs and power usage. 43:40 - Discussion on @Integrel Solutions generator replacement system 46:08 - Alex has just bought a Southerly 42 and asks about how to beach it. 47:20 - Robert asks if a 6.5 foot draft would be a problem cruising the Bahamas. 49:50 - Allen asks about Yacht Insurance. Are their restrictions due to weather, geopolitical regions? 55:56 - Can you cruise without insurance? Importance of Third Party Insurance. 57:20 - Watermaker - is it worth buying one? 59:05 - Are you too old to go cruising? How YouTube is skewing the perception of age of cruisers. 1:01:40 - Andrew asks if some places charge you to anchor? 1:02:20 - Check out https://www.noonsite.com/ for costs and information on cruising any country. 1:04:50 - How Sheryl sprained her ankle in the Bahamas. 1:05:40 - Check out our recent video, "Rough Water! Sailing Offshore Bahamas to Panama". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCr58O7OzZE&t=108s 1:06:23 - END