We share our first month's cost of Looping! It's pretty straightforward but we don't know if it is typical or not. Tell us what you think. • Cost of one month on t... #boatlife #americasgreatloop #gothataway #trawlerlife
You mentioned expensive stabilizing binoculars. We have the normal 7 X 50 marine binoculars, and we found the SIG SAUER Zulu6 stabilizing binoculars to be reasonably priced. We have the 16 X 42, but they also have other magnifications available. It can be tricky to set them for your eyes... wife doesn't like them, but I really like them and many people I have shown them to really like them.
Thank you for an interesting and enjoyable video. I have my boat on European rivers and canals in Belgium now. I find paying for laundry very expensive and unavoidable. I have a very small twin tub washer but end up using public washing and dryers. Which are cheaper than marinas. I have a bike with a trailer, Netherlands and Belgium is flat, and can get by with over 2 weeks between washes but I found it an unexpected expense. We don't tip marina staff but then for the main they have to be sought out,mooring in Netherlands mainly free. We never anchor, there is a lot of commercial traffic night and day.I have never seen a holding tank being emptied. In dense moorings I put grey and black water Into holding tanks and pump out on rivers. To my shame this is what everyone does.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Yes, it is a shame that it is dumped back in to the water. I don't even like that we empty our "grey" water overboard. You used to be able to dump black water in the Great Lakes but they put an end to that in the 1980s. It's nice that mooring is almost always free there. It is a huge cost for boaters in North America in comparison. The average is $2.00 per foot, but in very busy and popular places like Florida, it can be $7 per foot.
Well goes that dream . You spent more on food than I can afford for my total month 😢 hopefully I can pull off the triangle loop around NY. I live close to the Erie/barge canal . Peace kids
As mentioned, we stocked up in Parry Sound. I had a boat full of dry and canned goods. In the next week we will share our costs for month #2...spoiler: groceries were down to under $500 in August, as we used up a lot of our stores. (We also ate out more, since we were meeting other Loopers and socializing). We also do buy some specialty products, like oat and soy milk as we do not eat very much dairy, and that can be more expensive. We eat a lot of fresh vegetables as well. We don't skimp on healthy food! If you can eat for a certain amount normally, it won't be much different on the Loop...maybe just a bit higher since sometimes you will have to pick up items at small stores in small towns. Lots of factors that can make our grocery bill much different than yours might be. Don't give up because of how much we spend on food. That's a controllable cost.
I understand. I was hopeful of maybe meeting you when you are in the area so to speak. I do live in NC and hope to do the loop someday@@gothatawaychrisandsandra
It's early and I thought the text said "sock press" instead of "dock fees" and then I was concerned that you were spending so much to press your socks ...
We talked to a lot of boaters wherever we have stopped at and we did a fair bit of reading. The all-chain rode is heavier, leading to at least two advantages. More of the length of the chain stays on the lake bottom (as compared to line). This means that the force pulling on the anchor is closer to parallel to the lake bottom, allowing the anchor a better chance to dig in and do its job. We also use a bridal for this reason. Chain is heavy and in light wind tends to act as an anchor all on its own. We figure the cost is worth the peace of mind (for us).
Yes, as explained we provisioned twice in July...once at the very beginning and then in the 3rd week, where we stocked up on dry goods. So far in August we may have spent $300 on groceries and we still have a ton of dry goods...like tomato sauce, rice, beans, our various alternative milks, etc. I suspect September will be on the lower side as well and that we will provision well at the very end of September.
