We left Dominican Republic April 7 and made landfall in Annapolis June 21 after slightly over 2.000Nm of cruising. That means 2 1/2 month of cruising during which we have made to many major repairs.

Before leaving Samana in Dominican Republic we needed to replace the low pressure pump to have the water maker up working. In Turks&Caidos our main chart plotter went black and although replacing it with a refurbished unit sent from Florida we then also needed to import a new SeaTalk cable to have the system up working.

Already in Dominican Republic we started to have leaks from the piping material in the aft cabin and eventually we needed to replace it all.

Next leak from the domestic water system was from the h.w tank and a new unit was installed in West Palm Beach. In Beaufort NC the gearleg of the Sleipner bow thruster broke requiring a haul out and expensive repairs.

Last time the domestic water system leaked was from a corroded accumulator tank that was replaced. 

Not only is this a lot of money but loads of work starting with finding/ordering and collecting spare parts. This can sometimes be more time consuming than repair work itself.

Finally USA is extremely expensive for cruisers. Prices for spares are similar to Europe but marinas,haul out and labour is much more expensive. I have adressed the topic to fellow American cruisers who agree.  On my question “how can ordinary people working for salaries afford boatlife” the answer has sometimes been “they don’t”.

If so, cruising life is having a dark future.