The stress-free boat kitty, transparent and clear
One person pays for dinner ashore, another for the diesel, three for the big shop. On the last evening the crew sits over a pile of receipts and nobody remembers who covered what. A kitty that adds up as you go and splits automatically already knows the answer.
Instead of cash in an envelope: the digital boat kitty
Every expense sits inside the trip, visible to the whole crew. The settlement builds itself along the way instead of afterwards.
- Everyone enters their own Whoever enters it, paid it.
- Tap to include people The skipper is left out by default.
- Adds up live Not just on the last evening.
- Foreign currency Converted at the day's rate as you enter it.
- Mark as paid Once a payment has gone out, undo it any time.
- Everyone sees the same thing No second list, no questions.
What goes into the boat kitty
Six pots cover just about everything on a normal trip. Every expense goes in within seconds and the whole crew can see it. That way nobody loses track.
Groceries
Marina
Fuel
Restaurant
Every expense is made up of What for, Amount and Category.
You can also choose who shares the cost.
Transport
Other
Three boat kitty mistakes that are easy to avoid
Money can turn into an awkward subject on board. These three classic mistakes are easy to avoid with the boat kitty in Skipper Connect.
One sheet of paper, one pen, one person keeping track
One person keeps the book and everybody else trusts them. The paper gets wet, turns unreadable, or lives in the cockpit locker. Whatever it says at the end, nobody can check it.
“I'll cover this one”
The sentence comes up twice a day and never gets written down. On Friday one person remembers all three, the others remember none. Argument guaranteed.
Everyone pays for everything
Two weren't there for dinner, one skipped the bar night, one only joined on the third day. Good luck working that out without a calculator and a long list.
Add your first expense now.
And share it with the whole crew, openly and simply.
Who owes whom what: how to settle a boat kitty
The most common mistake when settling up is paying every single item back one by one. With five people and thirty expenses that turns into an evening full of transfers, most of which cancel each other out. Done properly, it takes two steps.
For each person, what they paid out is weighed against their share. What's left is a single number per person. Either they get something back or they owe something. Everything in between has already cancelled out.
From the net positions the app builds the shortest chain that brings every account to zero. The biggest debtor pays the biggest creditor until one side is level, then the next. Thirty individual items end up as two or three payments.
| Anna paid out | €412 |
| Ben paid out | €128 |
| Clara paid out | €0 |
| Dan paid out | €180 |
| Result | 2 payments |
| Clara to Anna | €180 |
| Ben to Anna | €52 |
Dan paid out exactly his share and is square without moving a single cent.
Cash or digital?
The classic boat kitty is an envelope: everyone puts in €100 at the start, one person looks after it, and whatever is left gets shared out at the end. That works as long as everything is paid in cash. The moment somebody fuels up by card or the marina only takes payment through an app, the envelope is only half the story. The digital version turns the principle around: nobody pays in up front, everyone pays as it suits them, and the settlement comes at the end.
When the skipper pays in
On a charter trip with a paying crew, the skipper usually doesn't pay in. Board and lodging are part of the fee. On a private trip among friends they usually pay like everyone else, or a share of it. Both work in Skipper Connect. What matters is that it's said out loud before you leave the dock. Existing entries can still be adjusted afterwards.
What about paying abroad?
In other countries some of the spending happens in a foreign currency. The amount is converted into the base currency at the day's rate as it's entered, and locked in. A later swing in the exchange rate no longer moves the settlement.
Common questions about the boat kitty
What is a boat kitty?
The shared pot a crew keeps for everything that comes up during the trip: food, harbour fees, diesel, eating ashore. It doesn't cover the charter fee, travel, or the final clean, where those are already part of the contract — those are usually shared beforehand.
How much should you budget per person per week for the boat kitty?
As a rule of thumb, people plan for €150 to €300 per person per week when most meals are cooked on board. With frequent meals ashore, expensive marinas in high season, or long stretches under engine, it comes to considerably more. The figure swings so much by cruising area and season that it's only a very rough guide.
What's the best way to run a boat kitty?
What matters isn't the tool but the timing: every expense goes in the moment it happens. Not in the evening and not at the end of the week. Everything after that is arithmetic, and arithmetic can be automated.
Does the skipper pay into the boat kitty?
On charter trips with a paying crew, usually not; on private trips, sometimes. In Skipper Connect the skipper starts out excluded from every expense and is only added in if the crew wants it that way.
Is there an app for the boat kitty?
General expense apps can split amounts, but they know nothing about the trip, the crew, or the skipper's special role. Skipper Connect runs the boat kitty inside the trip, alongside the crew list, packing list and logbook, without anyone having to set up another account.
What happens with expenses in a foreign currency?
The amount is entered in the currency it was paid in and converted into the boat kitty's currency at the day's rate. The rate is held with the expense and doesn't change later.
What does the boat kitty cost?
Nothing. The boat kitty is one of the modules available in Skipper Connect without unlocking anything, for the skipper and for the whole crew. Which modules can be unlocked beyond that is on the pricing page.
On board with you
Pack, organise, shop, cook, navigate, settle up. Twelve features, one account. No more spreadsheets.
The trip gets shared. So does the bill.
Skipper Connect keeps the crew, packing list, shopping and boat kitty in one place, for the whole trip and for everyone on board.
Try it now