If You Were to Cruise on $500 / Person / Month...

[Wotname]

I reckon you could double or treble that $20,000 estimate in materials before getting her into the water. The 20K might just cover hull and deck materials but I am pretty sure the rest of the gear will need sorting and there goes another 20 to 40K.

[BillAU]

Sorry mates, the $20,000 in materials, I quoted should have been: The owner was quotted $10,000 materials and $10,000 in labour cost, that's where the $20,000 came from. By the way, the owner said he could only find "one" man, in his neck of the woods, Cains, North Queensland, he would trust to do the work, so you would have to do the work on your Jack Jones

Cheers mates,

Bill

[annk]

$500?
Yes you can, many of us do!

Proviso's...
Start with a vessel in excellent condition.
Invest heavily in spares.
Don't expect to insure, eat out(much) or frequent bars.

Places to do this?
Western Caribbean, Guatemala, Bay Islands(Honduras)

Rio Dulce has many places to anchor and cheap marina's if you need to boost the batteries for a day or so.
Cheap food in the markets. Biggest cost $120+ for 3 month cruising permit.
Large live aboard community
Safe in the hurricane season

Bay Islands
Cheap cruising $5 entry.
Lots of anchorages
More expensive for food and services


You can do it on $500 but need to be VERY self-sufficient. Capable of repairing your engine, sails and all other aspects of the boat. Self-sufficient in terms of personal time too.

Nothing sadder than a broke single hander sponging drinks in the bar night after night!

[s/v Beth]

I would never buy another boat that "needs alot of work" Mine needed a little work- 50k and one year of hard work later I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And i hope its not a train....

[Trebek1]

Yeah, I got to agree with Newt on the subject of boats that needs lots of "TLC" usually you wind up spending far more in materials than the boat will be worth. I don't mind a bit of cosmetic work, but major structural stuff????

Thanks anyway Bill.

[Trebek1]

For drinking, one can make decent cheap wine out of juice by the gallon. Eating? I am happy on beans/rice and the occasional fish or street taco. And starting out with a good strong boat would be a must. The Southeast Asia idea sounds like a good one as well, I guess it depends on what culture one is most comfortable with. The teaching opportunities are many, for English speakers who take a tefl course.

[bastonjock]

If i was of the dishonest type,i could live in Scotland at a proffit.

1/sign on for Benefits,that would give me around $500.00 a month for doing nothing
2/ Live off the land as much as possible,Crossbows,air rifles and of course a fishing rod or two.
3/If I needed more cash,i would fill up the forward cabin with good malt that costs about $25.00 a bottle sail over to Norway and sell it at $50.00 a bottle,the trick is to look like a wealthy sailor and not a sea tramp.
4/ Go Scuba diving for scallops,this should earn you around $150.00 a day

as Pete7 said,you can go down the french canals and into the med for a warmer winter.

I too have one more to graduate and then im going to go,even if my wife does not want to come.

I can earn money anywhere in the world that has Buildings,i am a very good electrician,maybee ill study up on boat electrics and do them as well

[conachair]

No one has mentioned Brazil. No hurricanes, great people, get rolling drunk for pennies. Plenty cruisers living under the radar so 6 month visa not really an issue as long as you do some homework on where to go. Only downside is getting bored with everyone in the bars shaking their heads on how expensive and crowded the caribbean is. Not easy to get to from Carib, though. I had 70 free miles a day just from current coming up recently. Trinidad does seem expensive now but french guyana was close to heart failure.

[barnakiel]

Brazil will be inexpensive only till the first time you get robbed. Then, depending on what was stolen from you, it will remain a cheap country, or suddenly become outrageously expensive.

I did not like Brazil - we found it dangerous, dirty and the attitude of their authorities plainly distasteful. But if all one wants is "get rolling drunk" then it may be as fine a destination as any.

b.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

A family of 4 can live in a decent neighborhood. Have a maid, and wash lady. Live a comfortable life in the Philippines. Can you imagine how cheap it is to live on your boat? 7,107 islands that's mostly unpopulated. Can you imagine just how close your next anchorage is? Can you imagine how long it would take to see it all? Probably several lifetimes.

Originally Posted by mikereed100

If I had a budget of $500/mo and the boat you describe I would head straight for Mexico and the Sea of Cortez. Anchor out, don't beat the boat up and eat like the locals and you might be hard-put to spend all that loot.

Mike

Originally Posted by hughhendry

Asia is your answer, life on 500$ is quite easy, but getting there may cost you more. Most landlubbers in Asia live on 500$ easily, so you should also. You may live in a marina full time, do some English teaching for a few $'s but your life would be good, sailing tremendous, and quality of life high Thailand and Thai Gulf area are great to sail, and very very cheap.

Originally Posted by conachair

No one has mentioned Brazil. No hurricanes, great people, get rolling drunk for pennies. Plenty cruisers living under the radar so 6 month visa not really an issue as long as you do some homework on where to go. Only downside is getting bored with everyone in the bars shaking their heads on how expensive and crowded the caribbean is. Not easy to get to from Carib, though. I had 70 free miles a day just from current coming up recently. Trinidad does seem expensive now but french guyana was close to heart failure.

Originally Posted by Trebek1

For drinking, one can make decent cheap wine out of juice by the gallon. Eating? I am happy on beans/rice and the occasional fish or street taco. And starting out with a good strong boat would be a must. The Southeast Asia idea sounds like a good one as well, I guess it depends on what culture one is most comfortable with. The teaching opportunities are many, for English speakers who take a tefl course.

I naturally have a leaning towards Southeast Asia. But Mexico and Brazil are also intriguing ideas.

For me the keys seem to be -

- Somewhere warm - Clothes, heating and the "discomforts" go away
- Somewhere where the average cost of living is already naturally low
- Somewhere away from organized tourism and resorts
- Somewhere in an agrarian economy and not a tourism/commerce economy
- The boat is simple and paid for

it is also largely about blowing up popular paradigms about the "perfect" boat and yes it is about making compromises on certain things.

- No insurance
- No "fancy" electronics
- No need for the latest and greatest hardware
- Imperfect sails that when eventually needed get replaced with used ones
- Very simple engine system - perhaps even an outboard for those very few times you need to shift the boat under power - Be prepared to drift a lot and not motor when the wind drops below 5 kts
- Replace generator power with solar and not much of it. Be an electricity miser
- Be prepared to accept risk - No EPIRB, spot or SSB. Have a raft and be prepared to spend 66 days adrift or perhaps the short remainder of your life - It's a real option and a real choice

Be prepared to start with a "decent" boat and eventually sell it as a fragged out boat.

Change your focus from "going to XXX and doing YYY tourist things on shore" to going to XXX and beachcombing, investigating the wildlife and walking in the nearby jungle. Generally as a global culture we really do expect too much "entertainment." We want tv, internet, books, bars/restaurants and socialilzing.

Nothing wrong with that but it wasn't that long ago we didn't even have internet and tv. And frankly if you do need down time, trading in your current used books for someone else's used books can be free. I think about the months and years of reading I'd like to do and 5 years on a hook away from the madding crowd sounds like a nice escape from our media intensive society.

As far as provisioning? Beans, lentils, rice. Occasional canned/dried meats. A fish caught once in a while. Fresh veggies when available from the local villagers - in the Philippines and other parts of Asia there are several types of wild grasses that you can pick for absolutely free. In terms of what we eat we probably consume 2X the calories we really need. I know I do. My 6"0" dad left the army after WWII at something like 145lbs. That was a normal weight back then. 12-1400 calories a day should be fine.

$500 a month is doable as long as one expects the boat to deteriorate and compromises are made.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Brazil will be inexpensive only till the first time you get robbed. Then, depending on what was stolen from you, it will remain a cheap country, or suddenly become outrageously expensive.

I did not like Brazil - we found it dangerous, dirty and the attitude of their authorities plainly distasteful. But if all one wants is "get rolling drunk" then it may be as fine a destination as any.

Admittedly the cities are dodgy, and towards the end of my stay there it was getting to me a bit. Making sure to be back near the boat before dark and always being a little bit on guard in built up areas. It was like living in london again. Authorities were great checking in and out. Entry stamp was done sitting by a swimming pool watching the sunset with a policia federal and a laptop connected to the internet. But like everything there`s no ultimate reality, some people like some places, other people like others. The hard bit is not to make your mind up before you get there.

[Trebek1]

I like Brazil as well, didn't really seem as dangerous as the US to me, and the people are wonderful. The problem seems to be getting down there, since the pre^ailing winds and currents are totally going against the way you want to go.

The dude from Lincolnshire has some interesting ideas. But scalloping for $150 per day? Sounds like you got your cash cow right there!

Ex-Calif, makes many good points, most importantly to put some of that $500 away for pay for boat wear and tear.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Trebek1

I like Brazil as well, didn't really seem as dangerous as the US to me, and the people are wonderful. The problem seems to be getting down there, since the pre^ailing winds and currents are totally going against the way you want to go.

I bet it is because you speak fluent Portuguese. the little Portuguese that we do speak, we did not like the things we heard (nor the looks we received).

Contrary to what you say, getting there is NO problem. You take off from RSA and you are in Brazil in 3-4 weeks of downwind sailing. Easy. ;-))

b.

[Brent Swain]

Originally Posted by James S

Are you suggesting that those locals would be maintaining a sail boat that is suitable for SAFE cruising......
Also they have local support in the way of extended family that provide other resources to supplement the $2 a day.....food from the garden, a chicken once and a while...shelter.....
I don’t really think its an apples for apples comparison.

Lets see $2 a day times 30 makes $60 a month. Subtract that from $500 and you have $440 a month for boat maintenance. Time you got rid of that old rotten woody and bought something more modern , and stopped hiring others to do all the work, or hauling out to paint the decks, or simply stopped drinking so much.

[Benares]

Hi all:

My personal suggestion is .. ask it to Humberto "el holandes errante". He is a nice Dutch sailor... now at Spain but seeking to go back to french polinesia. He has been a budget traveler, spanish,ducth an english spoken.. and a nice person. I guess his budget was even less !!
(sorry website in spanish but pictures and more are self-explaining)

EL HOLANDÉS ERRANTE

elholandeserrante1@yahoo.es

(remember... I am not english ... sorry for my short english !!)