THE COST OF YACHTING - March 2023 Cruising Cost in the Sea of Cortez - EP 177

[@IreneAdventures]

And THANK YOU!

[@IreneAdventures]

Thank you for the video. We appreciate your candor with expenses! Wishing you no surprise expenses and flat tortillas.

[@Asta-wl8jz]

I was guessing you were in the high tech industry. My cousin lives up where are y'all are from and works for the large tech employer. Actually your monthly costs aren't as high as I would have thought. May God protect you in your travels. :o)

[@FredB916]

Thanks for sharing your true cost of cruising, enjoying the show.

[@IreneAdventures]

Ahoy Sea Venture! Could you share with us whether or not you are participating in any radio “nets” via VHF or SSB, please? Would like to know all you wish to share!

[@CruisingSeaVenture]

We listened to the 8am net on CH 22 in La Paz when we were there. Thanks for watching, Jim

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

That is insane for insurance. I had no idea. I know you guys shopped it so that must be what it is

[@CruisingSeaVenture]

I worked in the insurance industry for 25 years before retiring . . . . . There are only a couple of companies that will provide insurance for ocean going power boats. Our insurance now is with a London based company. We expect it to either double or triple when we want to go south of Mexico, or not be available, which is what we had friends run into. At some point we will have to decide if we want to go without hull insurance for Sea Venture and just take on the risk ourselves. Liability insurance is not a problem, and is only about $1,000 per year. Thanks for watching, Jim

[@jasongrinnell1986]

Oh that explains a lot. No body really goes into depth on insurance. Maybe it’s cause everyone has different insurance. We are now thinking we want to buy a sailing Catamaran but are scared of the month to month running cost.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

@@CruisingSeaVenture Thanks Jim, I watch SV Basin as well. They have never mentioned their insurance cost that I'm aware of.

[@IreneAdventures]

Another question - can you share with us about your mobile phone network usage there, if any?

[@CruisingSeaVenture]

Mobile phone service is very limited in the Sea of Cortez - basically only when you are in town. Thanks, Jim

[@valhalla3595]

Couldn't you have a small generator for just your refrigeration and LED lights?

[@CruisingSeaVenture]

You could, but I don't think it would make sense. The primary job of the generator is to charge the lithium batteries and run high power demand 120V and 240V items when the generator is running. We have a 16KW, or 16,000 watts at 120V generator. When running the generator our typical loads are: 2400 watts - 2 battery chargers 2400 watts - 240V hot water heater 2800 watts - 1,000 gallon per day water maker plus, if we have them on: 2800 watts - 1 - 240 V Air Conditioner 2600 watts - 2 - 120 V Air Conditioners and lastly, at times: 3,600 watt - 240 V Scuba Dive Compressor for filling dive tanks We can't run everything at once, but close. If we added a 2nd small generator it could do just the battery chargers and the hot water heater, but that doesn't seem cost effective. Marine generators are not the same price point as generators at Home Depot. Our 16KW Northern Lights Generator was about $40,000 once fully installed. A 9KW Northern Lights Generator would be about $25,000 total cost installed. We really don't feel the need for a back up generator, since we have the 100 amp at 12V Balmar Alternators on the main engines. They do not produce that much - 2400 watts, but plenty to charge the batteries. At an average of just under 3 hours of generator time per day we are doing really well on the generator run time. Most boats like Sea Venture are at about 5 - 6 hours per day. This is because we also have 600 Watts of solar that helps out a lot during the day. Once you get to boats at about 75' or bigger, boats tend not to have house batteries at all, but rather have 2 generators and simply run a generator 24/7 to maintain of the ships systems, but even a small generator burns quite a bit of fuel when running 24/7. I hope that makes sense, Jim

[@valhalla3595]

@@CruisingSeaVenture 3 Air conditioners, watermaker, compressor. Your electrical demands are way beyond. I live in a world of on demand propane hot water and boat heaters; solar chargers and small European diesel generator that you could pick up and install yourself. It's enough to keep the batteries charged, refrigeration and lights only. Their are different comfort levels for cruisers. Maybe a tiny hatch air conditioner for sleeping cabin only on hot nights. NW boats don't normally have air conditioners. Sea Venture must have come from a warm part of the world. Enjoy & Be Safe!

[@svvoyager]

Wait till you go to fuel up here in Mexico, the cost going to be $5.00 to $5.50 per gallon.

[@CruisingSeaVenture]

Yes, we know. It's about $6.50 per gallon in Puerto Escondido, where we expect to take on about 1,800 gallons that next time we fill up - or about $11,700 total for the fuel stop. The current fuel is mostly from Port Angeles in 2021 @ $2.50 per gallon and Ensenada, where we only put in 800 gallons at $4.50 per gallon. Thanks for watching, Jim

[@jasongrinnell1986]

@@CruisingSeaVenture Ouch