Caribbean Sailing Finances?

[Sailmonkey]

go to yachtworld.com, I see no reason why this isn't possible. The only thing that may limit your budget is clearing in and out, and finding an otherwise perfect boat that may need some work on the rig on sails.

[Hurricane Harry]

Salty go for it, whats the worst that can happen? Take the chance while ur young. I did the same when I was your age. Sailed from Scandinavia-Brazil. It set the tone for how I have lived my life uptil now.
I think you need more beermonies./Harry

[witzgall]

Here is the big risk you are taking. When you buy a used boat, especially one in the lower price ranges, there are lots of unknowns. You want to find a boat with the simplest systems, engine, etc. The more that can go wrong, the more $$$ it will cost to fix. It will help greatly if one or more of you are very mechanically inclined. Nobody a diesel mechanic? Then get a boat with an outboard. Then, if something goes wrong (trust me, it will) then help will be cheaper, and more available.

The risk is that unforseen costs related to the boat will bust your budget into the "Man, we don't have any more money" category.

Check out Adam Baldwin's Site Atom Voyages | Voyaging Around the World on the Sailboat Atom with James and Mei

Chris

[barnakiel]

Outboard not a must have - we row.

b.

[Sailmonkey]

what was meant was for the mothership, not the dinghy.......unless you really meant rowing the 30' boat........

[bstreep]

Buy the boat already there. Check out the USVI, BVI or Puerto Rico.

That saves you one tough trip down. Once you are there, it doesn't quite matter as MUCH, what the condition / seaworthyness of the boat is. A Catalina 30 could work.

[avril25]

Has anyone mentioned the T word. Don't forget to add Tax, Title, and Registration to the budget....

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by saltyspringer

Hello!

Diesel: $200 / 3 * 6 months = $400 pp
Moorage: $150 / 3 * 6 months = $300 pp


Charts/Books etc: $1000 / 3 = $330 pp

Hi

WE have nutters on this forum about once per day with weirdo plans. Usually they too have to make a supplementary post, your saying you are all only 20 so therefore you live on the cheap.

<<Wrong!>>

A 20 year olds beer expenses are far in excess of what you have listed.
In fact the only things listed that are correct are Fuel.
Moorings you can do without and anchor, but perhaps keep that figure in as port costs and clearing in fees.

Charts: Someone say $1k is too little, well its way too much! Most boats will have a chart plotter on them and the Caribbean chip is about $200. Don't worry about paper charts, they are old fashioned things Granpappy used. There is one or 2 books you can buy for $50 ea or find second hand - the islands haven’t moved so an old copy is fine. You can get most of the info for free by using Google. Lots of folks put the anchorages on their blogs and the charter companies often have a crusing guide on the net

Getting the boat back home and selling it will be a major difficulty as most brokers will want you at a marina to sell it, and it will take a loooong time so that will cost a reasonable proportion of the boat.


So yes, its possible, but nutter won't be successful at doing it, so you really need to sit down and work out if your mates are up to it or not. It is a pretty demanding undertaking where the worst case senario is your own death.

But it could be the trip of a lifetime


Mark

[Ex-Calif]

With all due respect I think there is a paradigm of the "average" cruiser that might need to be blown up.

We have 3 X 20 year old guys with a sense of adventure. At 20 you can make mistakes, endure hardship and suffer greatly while thinking you are having fun...

The link to the boat above at $19k was a good one. Overanalyzing and over preparing is a big risk that could dash the dream: Here are some swing thoughts:

Buying and Selling the Boat - Go with the mentality that 50% of the boat cost is sunk and won't be recovered. Buying is easy - selling is hard. Buy a boat for $18k with the expectation you will unload it for $9k. That should make getting rid of it easier. Talk to the broker. Maybe he would like that deal and handle it all for you. If he sold the boat for $12k let him keep the difference. Be creative.

The dink - Healthy young men have lot's of options. We have swum to shore. We have used kayaks. There are options that don't require $20k worth of dinghy.

Provisioning - Peanut butter and jelly. Instant noodles, mac and cheese. I've lived on worse diets. Beer? hey if the money runs out you go home earlier. Let's say you only made 3-months. It would be a cool 3-months.

Maintenance - If none of you have mechanical skills i think this is the biggest risk. Things break, things deteriorate. If you rely on someone else fixing them you can burn up your budget in a few weeks. I don't agree with the outboard. An inboard diesel is a very reliable item. If you have mechanical skills you should be able to figure out is the engine is running well. We motored our boat for 2 hours at high speed as part of the sea trial. Do not be convinced to just use the donk to get out for a sail during your baot evaluation.

The right team? - If you don't have a mechanical guy maybe you invite a 4th who does have mech skills. Who sails, who cooks etc, etc.

Bottom line is don't overanalyze it. Get out there.

[barnakiel]

Beer an issue?

Impossible to stop for just 6 months?

Perhaps visit the detox before visiting the West Indies ;-)))

Ex-Calif on maintenance - very good point. Our solution keep things real simple.

b.

[osirissail]

- - I would disagree with the naysayers. As 3 - 20y.o. you do not need a large boat - 28footers are the most popular size in your age/tolerance range. You can find fully rigged ready to go boats in that range from other young folks who are returning from their adventure.
- - Your re-fitting is reasonable if you do the work. Don't forget you have to get the boat registered and all the radio/etc. licenses in Canada and need to allow time for that. Sometimes you can find a Canadian boat that has returned and is up for sale. That would save time and money.
- - Your food and booze budget is a bit low, double that. The biggest variable is going to be the boat as others have mentioned. You do not need all kinds of fancy electronics and other equipment that old cruising couples would want to have. Several handheld GPS's good charts. Probably each of you will have a lapbook computer so you can put a free Nav Program on it and beg/borrow charts.
- - I have seen young folks your age do the trip on about what you are planning - after the boat issue is settled.
- - But the 6 months may get you to Grenada or Trinidad but not beyond or back unless you are planning to sail everyday and not stop for more than one day anyplace except when forced to by weather. It would be better to make this a multi-year adventure with - 6 mos sailing and 6mos back home replenishing the cruising kitty.
- - There are "certain" stops along the way that will definitely slow down if not stop young men from moving on. You can expect to "fall in love with some local lasses" in at least a half dozen or more of the islands. That can do serious damage to your schedule - not to mention your budget.
- - Try to find some young Canadians who are returning back north and get some leads on their boats.

[osirissail]

Here are some examples of obstacles you can encounter along the way that might serious problems with your schedule. And these are only in Grenada, other islands have very similar "obstacles" to progress for 3 young men.
See: Pictures by osirissail - Photobucket and click on the Albums for Grenada Carnival 2009 for more photos. The other albums will give you some idea of the activities available in the Caribbean.

[MarkJ]

I am not allowed to look at the girls in those photos But I did look at the sundry guys in the pics.

Lamers!!!!!!!

Any blue blooded 20 year old bloke who can drink beer and tap-dance ought to be able to put a show on to temp those chics!

[gettinthere]

why not look into a long term bare boat charter in the islands? It's already 'there'. You won't have to sell it when you are done. Gotta be some good deals in this economy

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by gettinthere

why not look into a long term bare boat charter in the islands? It's already 'there'. You won't have to sell it when you are done. Gotta be some good deals in this economy

Totally out of the question. If you want to know why check their rates and their limits of navigation.