In this blog post, we share our monthly expenses as we travel around America’s Great Loop – a 6,000 nautical mile journey around part of the US and Canada by boat. This month was a perfect example of the power of anchoring and why anchoring is our best tool to saving money on the Great Loop. We completed our final month on the loop and crossed our wake in Stuart, Florida. Florida has some of the most expensive marinas but is also a full-time cruiser’s haven for anchorages. With the higher cost of marinas in this region, we’ve transitioned to spending most of our nights on anchor which has resulted in our third least expensive month on the loop.
February is our last monthly Great Loop Expense Report. Our next Great Loop Expense Report will be Expenses for One Year on the Great Loop. In the past year, we’ve received a lot of positive feedback about our Great Loop Expense Reports as they’ve helped other prospective loopers plan their budget for a trip of a lifetime. We hope you find these reports valuable so you can untie the lines and begin your own journey. Life is short.
TRAVEL SUMMARY – FEBRUARY 2023
Before I dive into our February expenses, it’s important to understand where we traveled, how far we cruised, and some specifics in our particular loop experience. We began our travels in St. Pete Beach, Florida, and traveled 423 nautical miles to Islamorada, Florida. During this time we crossed our wake and completed our Great Loop. Here’s our Nebo travel summary:
Nights at a marina dock: 0
Nights on a marina mooring ball: 2
Nights on a free dock: 0
Nights on a paid dock: 1
Nights on a free lock wall: 0
Nights on a paid lock wall: 0
Nights at anchor: 25
We spent most nights on anchor this month which significantly helps us stay on budget. There are a few “given expenses” on the Great Loop including fuel, boat maintenance, and boat insurance, but there are a few expenses that are much easier to control. Spending time at marinas is a reoccurring high expense for loopers, but by anchoring out significantly helps control this expense category. Anchoring is by far our easiest way to save money on the loop!
“Never allow waiting to become a habit. Live your dreams and take risks. Life is happening now.”
-Paulo Coelho
Read next: 15 Tips for Boating on a Budget!
GREAT LOOP MONTHLY EXPENSES – FEBRUARY 2023
We spent a total of $2,684.17 on our Great Loop expenses for February 2023. This list does not include our healthcare, phone bills, personal subscriptions, and business expenses as those all vary from one person to another. All expenses are in USD.
Our largest expense in February was fuel for $1,263.70. We fueled up twice; once in Sarasota and a second time in Key Biscayne. Our fill-up in Key Biscayne was pretty high for prices we had been seeing, but we wanted to make sure we had full tanks before entering into the Atlantic Ocean.
Our second greatest expense this month was groceries for a total of $876.67. Most of the meals we eat are cooked on our boat, making this a reoccurring high category for us.
Our third greatest expense was restaurants for a total of $216.11. We enjoyed a celebratory dinner out when we crossed our wake in Stuart, Florida as well as a few meals here and there.
Lastly, boat insurance renews every January, so we pay for January and February in January which made it double the average monthly cost and means we didn’t pay for insurance in February. Our “Other” category was also higher than normal as we paid for a few annual expenses including our Florida State Parks Family Pass and our Navionics subscription. A few of the remaining categories were pretty close to what we had hoped for. We continue to be flexible which has been key to “staying on budget.” We spent less than $100 in our Marina category because we stayed at a marina/mooring ball/paid dock for a total of 3 nights in February. This month was a perfect example of the power of anchoring and why anchoring is our best tool for saving money on the Great Loop. We created a course, How to Anchor and Love It which includes 2 hours of video content over 15 modules, a 16-page workbook, and our Great Loop Anchorages and Free Docks spreadsheet to help you anchor with confidence.
OUR GREAT LOOP BUDGET RESOURCES
If you’re interested in our Great Loop Budget Calculator, check it out here!
We hope this post provided you with some insightful information on how much it costs to do the loop on a budget. Share this post with a friend if you think someone else might find this information useful. If there is something you would like us to include in our final Great Loop Total Expenses, let us know in the comments below!
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