Some frugal sailboaters manage this round trip for about $8k Cdn. or even less.  We had a great time on about $13k on one trip and $14k on another. We know people who have spent $160k by staying in marinas every night and eating every meal in a restaurant and others who have done it for $4k. The choice really is yours. Of course there are costs over which you have little or no control such as fuel and a new exhaust manifold and you must have a reserve cushion for those. If you want to treat yourself to a marina once in a while then expect to pay $2 - 5.00 per foot or a lot less if you get off that magenta line and head up the uncharted creeks. If you insist in handing over your hard earned money to stay in a marina, check in at 1100hrs and out at the same time next day. It makes little sense to pull in after dark, hand over $200.00, sleep, wake up and leave.

We found that by stocking up the boat before leaving we not only had our favourite brands but were also able to shop for better bargains and buying in bulk helped. We eat well, go out for dinner once a week or so, go to movies, rent a car once in a while, visit a lot of small town museums (most of which are free) and Laura has one glass of wine a day while I have my rum and coke after the hook is set every day. Many cruisers consume large quantities of alcohol which must weigh heavily on the budget.

On our last trip we needed a marina for a month as our kids and grand kids were coming for a visit and stumbled into the wonderful Ocean Reef Yacht Club/ Bahamas for a month at $350.00US which included water, cable TV, swimming pool, hot tub, tennis courts and a free meal with rum punch every Monday.

A nine month round trip from $8,000.00 to $160,000.00 the choice really is yours

I very rarely have any money. Laura checks my wallet once in a while and makes sure I have few bucks for coffee. I have a hard time focusing on things that don't interest me and I have never found money very interesting. If it were up to me, I would stick a bunch of cash in my pocket and be on my way. Laura however has a financial background and gets a little disturbed by my left pocket - right pocket accounting method so I'll let her tell you how she handled this stuff on our trips. Laura can tell you about credit cards, debit cards, US bank accounts, drafts, travellers cheques and what ever else she does with that stuff. I'll ask Laura to add her thoughts on this at some point.