Here are the trip costs. One of our goals of this trip was to get others to go on adventures of their own whatever they may be. Often the costs of a trip aren’t as expensive as one might think.
This is just to illustrate the costs of this particular adventure and to get people thinking about how real and possible an adventure(not necessarily aviation related) of their own might be. We think we got a pretty good deal for the magnitude of the adventure.
Plane expenses*:
6 months of interest on loan $1,600
6 months of insurance $558.50
Life raft $500 rental
Life Jackets $300
Handling fee** $1,200
Traveling Expenses-
Satellite Phone Rental $185($170 rental+$15 in phone calls)
Fuel*** $3,580.55
16 days food/drink/lodging/etc**** $1,679.09 per person
Total Cost of the trip $12,961.32
Total Cost per person $4,320.44
*20 year loan. 6 month time frame because we are planning other adventures between the three of us with Charlie Banana in the future. Obviously there is risk of ownership to consider in this cost as well. Planes can hold their value quite well if bought right but you can also lose money. Don’t go buy an airplane if you don’t know what you’re doing. Patrick got a good deal on the plane because he knows the market well, thus alleviating some of the risk.
** For help with handling government paperwork, entry/exit forms, flyover permits, etc.
***Fuel costs ranged anywhere from $3.50(Mexico) gallon to $7.00(Bahamas), Charlie Banana burns about 11-12 gallons per hour.
***Includes customs fees, taxes, taxi’s, etc. Also, we traveled inexpensively whenever possible; hostels, cheap hotels, and inexpensive meals.
