Blue Horizonvideo
This is how expensive our sailboat really was. All the costs. Did we gamble and lose?
December 7, 2025 · 29 min · 109K views · Madrid, Spain
What this video covers
Thilo and Leonie detail every major upgrade cost on their new expedition sailboat, purchased for a planned world circumnavigation departing from Europe. A watermaker producing 60 liters per hour cost €4,500; they run it only offshore to avoid marina brackwater fouling the membrane.▶ 3:46 A 3.6-meter dinghy with a 20 hp four-stroke fuel-injected outboard cost €7,000 combined; the outboard also serves as emergency propulsion backup if the main engine fails.▶ 9:58 Replacing all twelve standing rigging shrouds — mostly 10 mm wire, some 8 mm — on the expedition-built hull cost €9,000, driven by 14-year-old wire and insurance requirements for offshore passages.▶ 12:24 A separate mast-step problem, caused by carrying too much sail, is being managed temporarily with wedges and tightened shrouds until a cheaper repair yard can be found in Brazil.▶ 14:07 Life raft service and lifejacket repack — new CO2 cartridges, salt tablets, and AIS beacons — are also covered.▶ 17:53 Marina costs in the Mediterranean ran €20–€100 per night; Barbate, Spain was the cheapest at €20.▶ 15:07 The crew previously sailed five years on a basic boat with an expired 2012 life raft; the new investment reflects lessons learned about what long-term liveaboard passage-making actually requires.▶ 18:24
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