Cruise Farther, Spend Less is an online, self-paced course that walks you through the decisions that drive the cost of cruising and shows you how to spend less on each one. It's taught by John Herlig, a cruiser who sailed the Bahamas, Haiti, and Jamaica on roughly $500 a month, and it's built for anyone who wants the cruising life but isn't sure they can afford it. Across 41 topics in 11 modules, it covers the choices that actually move your budget: the boat you buy, the systems aboard, insurance, what you spend underway, provisioning, maintenance, communications, earning income, and where you choose to go.

The honest truth of budget cruising is that it isn't a single dollar figure, it's a series of choices. Two boats anchored side by side can cost wildly different amounts depending on which boat you bought, how you maintain it, how often you stay in marinas, and how fast you travel. This course is the organized map of those choices, laid out in the order you'll face them, so you can build a realistic plan instead of guessing.

Who This Course Is For

• You want to live aboard or cruise full-time but don't have a large savings cushion to start.
• You're trying to figure out how much cruising will really cost and how to make it work.
• You're boat shopping and need to understand which tradeoffs hit your budget hardest.
• You're already cruising and surprised by how fast your money is going.

What You'll Be Able to Do After

• Connect your choices to your costs, so decisions about your boat, gear, and travel style are deliberate rather than expensive surprises.
• Prioritize spending where it matters most and trim elsewhere without feeling like you're constantly going without.
• Bring down everyday costs with practical strategies for food, fuel, moorage, and maintenance.
• Weigh realistic ways to earn while living aboard, matched to the way you actually cruise.
• Avoid the financial surprises that derail plans, by knowing where the money goes and how to manage it.

What the Course Covers

The material is organized into 11 modules covering 41 topics. A representative sampling of what's inside:

Choosing a Budget-Friendly Boat

• Weighing age, size, and condition against price, and how each shapes your long-term costs.
• Monohull versus multihull, and the cost differences that follow, including wider slips and haul-out.

Systems and Their Cost Tradeoffs

• How the engine, refrigeration, charging, watermakers, water systems, heads and holding tanks, and heat and air conditioning each add to complexity and upkeep.
• Where added systems earn their keep and where simpler keeps you cruising longer.
• Safety considerations that belong in the budget.

Boat Insurance

• Insurance basics, including liability-only coverage and the realities of self-insuring.
• What to weigh when choosing a carrier.

Costs While Underway

• Trimming fuel, marina, mooring, and restaurant spending through smart habits.
• Using free docks and anchoring to keep nightly costs down.

Provisioning and Meals

• Provisioning and cooking affordably without sacrificing variety.
• Conserving propane, while keeping extra heat out of the boat in summer.

Parts and Maintenance

• Which spares to carry on board.
• Obtaining parts while underway and finding help away from home.

Getting Around, Staying Connected, and Earning

• Getting around ashore once you leave the boat.
• Setting up communications for your needs and location: internet access, cell phones, offshore communications, and wifi amplifiers.
• Realistic ways to earn while cruising, including remote work, crewing, work trade, travel writing, and YouTube.

Visitors and Destination Planning

• Hosting guests without blowing the budget by setting expectations before they book.
• Choosing destinations with cost of living, available services, entry fees, and the passage itself all in view.

One Organized Place Instead of a Hundred Browser Tabs

There's no shortage of free advice about cruising cheaply: forum threads, cost-log blogs, and "how I do it" videos. The trouble is that it's scattered, uneven, and often comes from someone whose boat and budget look nothing like yours. This course pulls the whole picture together in one place, in a sensible order, covering every cost center rather than a few popular ones, from someone who has lived it on a tight budget. It's the difference between assembling a plan from fragments and following one you can trust from start to finish.

Format and Access

• Written, with helpful photos and charts. Every topic is text you can read, skim, search, and return to mid-task. There are no videos to sit through.
• Fully self-paced. No schedules or deadlines; start right away and move at your own speed.
• Works on phone, tablet, and computer through your browser.
• Lifetime access, including future updates at no additional cost.
• Made to share with your crew: your partner or crew can work through the material alongside you.

Your Instructor: John Herlig

John Herlig is a delivery captain and experienced cruiser who has sailed the US East Coast, the Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, and the wider Caribbean. He cruised the Bahamas, Haiti, and Jamaica on roughly $500 a month, stopping to work when he needed to, fixing what broke, and learning how to stretch every dollar without missing the adventure. The strategies in this course come from that firsthand experience, not from theory.

Details

• Format: Online, self-paced course (browser-based)
• Medium: Written lessons with photos and charts; no video
• Length: 41 topics across 11 modules
• Access: Phone, tablet, or computer
• Availability: Lifetime access, including all future updates
• Best for: Aspiring, prospective, and current cruisers planning or living aboard on a limited budget (sail or power)
• Instructor: John Herlig, delivery captain and longtime cruiser (US East Coast, Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Caribbean)
• Last updated: June 29, 2025