The first year afloat has a way of spending money in clumps, not trickles. You can be as frugal as a ship’s cat for weeks, then a haul-out, a courier box, and two unplanned marina nights land on the same tide.
Most of it comes down to a few choices you make early: what shape the boat’s in when you cast off, how often you pay for docks instead of anchoring, and how hard you push the schedule. The ocean doesn’t charge by the day; it charges when something breaks far from the chandlery.
If you’re in the Exploration phase, this is where you get honest about cash flow, not just totals. The goal is to know what you’re really signing up for before the first customs dockline goes ashore.