Every month since January 2023, we've published a behind-the-scenes report detailing the challenges, projects, chores, and expenses we encountered while living aboard our Lagoon 42 sailing catamaran full time.
With our new vessel monitoring system, it's easier than ever to track and share the realities of life on the water. From our water, fuel, and energy consumption to what broke, what it cost to fix, and our monthly spending, these reports provide an honest look at what it actually costs to cruise full time.
We only moved once in July, sailing from Nadi to Savusavu by rounding the northern tip of Viti Levu before heading east. That single passage accounted for all the diesel we burned this month. Aside from the hours spent running the engines during that passage, we powered the boat with sunshine all month.
This wasn't a typical month for us. Ray made the passage solo while Holly flew back to the United States for emergency medical treatment, so our usual routines, consumption, and expenses looked a bit different than they normally do.
Power Usage
Everyone assumes a boat's power use looks like a house: quiet all night, spiking at meal times. Ours doesn't. Averaged across the month our draw sits near 261 watts and barely moves, while solar swings from nothing to well over a kilowatt and back.
Across the whole of July that came to 212 kWh of solar collected and 194 kWh used, with the generator running 26 minutes.
Below you'll find a complete breakdown of the month, including daily solar production and energy consumption, cumulative energy totals, our lowest battery state of charge each day, water and fuel tank levels, and a detailed expense ledger. We share what we spent in July, organized into four categories, including what we actually paid for operating and maintaining the boat. Crew members get this report every month.
First time here? Our July 2026 report is free: the complete month, every chart and every expense line item. Want more? Join the Crew here.