EXPENSES & KITTY

Food and fees costs are usually shared equally among both / all those on board. This is via a "kitty" system. However when there are only two of us and if the other person cannot afford to cost share, then I am prepared to subsidise.

A member of crew, rather than me, usually carries the thankless responsibility of being the "keeper of the kitty".

WHAT CREW PAY FOR

Except if I were to agree some other arrangement in advance, crew pay for: own fares on joining / leaving, own toiletries, cosmetics, clothing, careless breakages / losses, shore excursions & entertainment ashore, own supply of drinks & between meal grazing items, visas, re-imbursement of things used from ship's medical stores / first aid kit.

Crew (& owner) contribute to "kitty" for share of cruising running expenses.

In the case of a designated "delivery trip" owner pays for some or all of crew fares on joining and/or leaving and owner pays for all food on board.

WHAT OWNER PAYS FOR

Owner meets expense of: boat upkeep, repairs, replacements (except for any careless breakages by crew), capital expenses, anti-fouling & lift-outs, depreciation, boat insurance, radio license fees, charts & pilot books, courtesy flags, diesel fuel and engine consumables.

WHAT IS COVERED BY THE KITTY

Kitty covers "food & fees" expenses which are more "running / operating / recurrent" cruising & on-board living & entertaining expenses; for example: food, cooking gas, drinks used in entertaining, outboard fuel, watermaker consumables, entry / clearance fees, harbour/canal dues, marina / alongside charges (other than when needed solely for repairs), mooring / anchoring fees, bought water, entertaining other boats, kitchen rolls, toilet paper & cleaner, washing / cleaning liquids, etc.

Note that the kitty does not cover in-between-meals grazing items, nor does it cover drinks (neither alcoholic nor non-alcoholic) apart from drinks for entertaining.

ESTIMATES OF KITTY COSTS

I'm telling people they should budget up to £15 a day (US$30 / Euro 25) as my best guess at the most that their average share of kitty costs would be. What it will actually cost depends on how many of us there are, how much we buy, how much we eat, where we are, marina costs and the cost of what we actually buy.

Please note that in Europe and the Mediterranean marina fees are much higher than in most other parts of the world and that will affect how much should be budgeted and is an encouragement to anchoring.

When we liquidated the kitty on a crew member leaving at Panama in 1998 we found that for the 53 days from Fort Lauderdale to Panama our average kitty cost per person per day had been under £7 (under US$10). By the time we liquidated the kitty at Tahiti after another 80 days from crew change in Panama, the per person per day average had gone down to £5 (US$8), reflecting bulk buying in (good value) Panama and our being most of the time at sea and therefore unable to spend on fresh provisions and not having significant marina or mooring expenses. Kitty costs will vary by area. French Polynesia is expensive whereas New Zealand and Australia are "normal". Europe and the Mediterranean are expensive, particularly if we incur marina fees.

When a person joins for only a short period of time which does not involve actual major provisions purchasing at that location, their kitty share has to be based on an estimate. That estimate would not be more than £15 (US$30 / Euro 25) per day provided that there are no heavy expenses for berthing in marinas.

KITTY CALCULATION

Accurate Calculation - Accurate calculation would involve too much clerical effort and, in any case, would not be 100% accurate.

Estimated Calculation - Kitchen consumables, outboard fuel & oil, etc are bought in advance for ship's stores and either the actual cost (if known) or an estimate is used when a kitty item is taken from ship's stores and used.

Luck of the Draw - Items like cooking gas are charged to the kitty at last actual cost (or estimated, if forgotten). The luck of the draw element lies in that a new tank of cooking gas is charged to the kitty when it is brought into use.

Food and household consumables have a luck of the draw element as what is already aboard when a kitty period is started goes ‘free’ into the kitty and what is left on liquidation of a kitty stays in the kitty. The alternative of keeping a running accounting tally all the time is too burdensome.

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