Sailing Is for Rich People

[chris_gee]

Who gives a toss? You were poor. You earned good money for a while. Your daddy did the same. Report back at ten year intervals. Nah never mind.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

You had trees???
You were lucky... we used to lie out on the tarmac, to cool down!!

You had tarmac??

We ate ours.

For Xmas.

(but best Xmas we ever had. I can still taste it )

[David_Old_Jersey]

To rephrase the question

"Do you need $150k to go cruising for 2 years?"

answer: probably helpful

My guess is that folks do it on far less - the biggest savings I can see is:-

a) already having a boat (or buying a boat that fits the overall budget - being able to buy is not the same as afford, boats and other stuff).
b) not being in debt
c) having experiance of boats and cruising (as said earlier in this thread and often elsewhere) - after the first year or so you will know exactly how you could have saved a lot of money - boats / cruising much the same as anything else, money can't buy the knowledge that comes with experiance it just smoothes the way.

But starting from scratch? with $150k?

a) $50k for 2 years living / boat expenses (plan B is back in 18 months, plan C 1 year)
b) $20k on refit for cruising
c) $20k in reserve (boat & re-entry)
d) $50k for a boat (that won't take more than $20k to fit out for cruising)

$10k left? in OP's case could pay off the CC

$150k is a lot - but 2 years on holiday ain't ever gonna be cheap

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

You had tarmac??

We ate ours.

For Xmas.

(but best Xmas we ever had. I can still taste it )

You got to eat tarmac??... we used to lick it longingly, but we had to settle for stones from the dried up river bed.

(never did work out why Rabbi Khomeini was so funny about Xmas)

[Tia Bu]

Originally Posted by kb79

yup.

i think the most relevant point to pick out of all the noise here is the fact that given our means, we probably overspent on the boat. dunno how much i would change that - having mrs. b "on board" is priceless. then again, she didn't exactly come out demanding pressurized water. who knows.

good advice for next time, i guess

My $2000 boat had pressurized water.

Have fun anyway!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Tia Bu

My $2000 boat had pressurized water.

Have fun anyway!

Seacock failed?

[SaltyMonkey]

Davies number at my first glance looks about right. Here are some shoestring adjustments, but who knows?:

30k boat (something probably could probably be had for 20-30k but small)
30k outfitting (yeah well, nothing is usually right on any boat you get)
36-54k (three years cruising @ 1-1.5k per month for one person think that high though)
24k reentry (2k per month one year)

138k - call it 140k for 3 years

For the young and hip, or maybe coastal/carib like sailing:

10-20k boat (yeah there are some)
20k outfitting
36k (three years cruising @ 1k per month for 1-2 persons)
12k reentry (1k per month one year)

88k - call it 90-100k for 3 years

Wadday think?

Me looking for a bit of a more expensive boat and higher cruising kitty for yummi snacks.

* * *
Note: OP and I discussed a few things via PM.

CC - seems minimum payment per month holds steady state. The bad IMO is that there is no room in an emergency where using a CC might be only recovery option - hence keep it clear.

School loan - is small and manageable. Could probably get a few extra bucks by refinancing if it can be, but it's not worth going away.

Boat loan - I mis-read the original post and thought he only had 10% loan and wondered why his payments were high. He actually had financed 90% of the boat. Well, given that bit of disparaging news I don't think there is much damage control or palliative care that we can suggest that can be done in only one year. CC's sure, but this sort of deflates CC converses because its so large.

So, anyway, given none of this is every going to be completely vanishing, I think March of 2011 is a cool target - after the winter rain. It'll allow for some adjustments and acclimation to living onboard and shaking down systems, get a few more dollars, see how work plays out. Could be sooner if work burns him, and he has that severance and unemployment $.

[S&S]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Seacock failed?

LOL good one.

[Tia Bu]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Seacock failed?

Well, not yet, but I knock wood as I type. Actually, attached are a couple of photos from a just-completed cruise to Exumas and back. This is after $2K or so of upfit beyond $2k purchase price. And a LOT of hard work.

So, the envelope of budget cruising can be pushed beyond the ranges laid out in some of the posts above.

Also, if it weren't for the Great Recession, I doubt I would have been shopping for something so cheap, and I doubt the previous owner would have been willing to part with it at that price.

I kind of suspect this and other stories of inexpensive cruising boats on this thread sort of mean almost anything is possible. But none of us is advocating being unsafe, I think. Notice my "shakedown cruise" was over 1000 miles within VHF range of help.

For what it's worth...

[SaltyMonkey]

Sweet tia! Post some more photos. Very nice!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Tia Bu

So, the envelope of budget cruising can be pushed beyond the ranges laid out in some of the posts above.

Nice boat And my crack was just because set up was too tempting (for me). No automatic relation between condition and price (that works both ways of course!).

Always a deal out there, just a matter of finding it.

FWIW I missed by a week my old Corribee (sold by me inside a week of coming on the market for £3k - around £500 less than I paid for her, but I kept the Avon Dink. and the autopilot and I overpaid for her simply because I used to walk past her from age of around 7 ) coming back on the market a few years later for.........free (needed a lot of TLC though - but still fundamentally sound). Went soon after for £1k, got some TLC and then resold immediately - not sure how much for, but new owner looked at me a bit funny when I told him of her recent sale history.............but nonetheless he's made her into a minter using mostly hard work.

[kb79]

you know why i love you guys? ALL you guys (even you, salty! )....?

it's because while there's been some spirited debate about the wisdom with which i've gone about making this happen, but NO ONE has suggested that the trip's not worth taking. and, well... that makes me happy, and it makes you guys awesome.

can you imagine the berating i'd be getting if i was opening up to the general public rather than the cruising community? money would obviously be on the list of reasons i'm a moron, but i'm guessing that dropping out of the rat race at all would be judged as the main reason i'm stupid.

quite to the contrary, to the extent that people here think i'm foolish, it's more because i'll have ties that'll force me to come back. no one seems to think i shouldn't leave - it's just a question of now or later.

anyhow, if there was a heart emoticon, i'd throw it all your way.

if i see any of you out there, i can't wait to let my bank buy you a beer! i like to think of it as my own personal economic stimulus package

[zeehag]

nice boat pix--i like the scenery ...... if only richie rich was spozed to be cruising, how did josh slocum and the other pioneers of cruising actually get the ability to leave port for sail cruising....lol.....just as has happened in sports car racing, the richie has to kill the spirit of the adventure by NEEDING so many non simple things--air conditioner--so important to cruising--cant see the world without it.....genset--so you can stay in touch with your imaginary friends online all the time,,,sat fone--so the lappy will function ...lol..have to have interwebs, lol..... must , must , must have the ultimate in mattresses so the equipment under the berth is not available for either repair or inspection....has to have pressurized water so the system can fail and have every drop of precious water escape from tankage in mid passage...LOL...must have engine so the boat can continue on when folks can not sail.....oh yes--dodger and bimini-these are items i find useful and could be necessary in sunny climes for safety and sun protection and comfort---yes i will have one, too..LOL...so many things folks donot need to use and yet cannot leave the dock without...LOL..yes, my formosa has all the luxury electronix..LOL including radar, another excuse not to leave the dock for some......no. i donot have an epirb. wont buy one...if i go out and make a mistake, is on me , not on the taxpayers to fix. i am not a believer in big govt-isnt good for you--i donot support the insurance lobby, either--too corrupt--
i cruise on my ssdi income and that alone, -i worked very hard all my grown life to get broken and have to live off what i put into a system that is doomed..LOL...good thing i still have my brains, so when this is all said and done i still have a way to make it go..LOL...my realistic cruising budget includes 600 / month for food( within usa--is less when one leaves here.LOL..), and what i need for anythiong else comes out of my bank account--i found we , as 2 people on a sloop in the gulf for a near year, used less than 1000 dollars per month IN THE USA for gulf coast cruising. once out of usa, that price drops a lot, as many places have reasonable local foods available. i found in usvi that if one uses the same products the natives do, food for 2 for one month is a total of 300 dollars per month. the pricey items are kept for the richie rich usa white bread tourista, and with quite the mark up--loaf of bread--st thomas--natives paid 1.85 usd. the tourista bread with the usa labels is 4.50. lol. wtf..i dont buy into the bs--i go native--is better quality as is like home made and very tasty!!!

so, in the REAL WORLD, when cruising, the price paid is totally individual. you get the items you can buy in usa--mucho dolares....if you stay native and have a real taste of the area, is waaay less to spend.

cruising budget is all your individual choice--we stayed in marinas occasionally to do laundry and reprovision--didnt have need for being near the marina crowd--i dont DO that anyway---my cruising isnt the kind wherein one must visit the old dockmates everywhere i go--i dont like my neighbors--lol and i didnt like my neighbors in marinas--most are drunks with dead or dying dreams and health issues. heck--i may be broken, but i am not done--not sick and not sickly--
no aircondiotioner!! omg i cant go cruising-LOL---at anchor, btw, the bow is usually into the wind--no need for a/c to ruin the sperience..LOL...

did i say i spent 10k on my boat for purchase?? there is someone just 2 mi south of me bought one of these for 5k--is a special model with the round ports instead of the big rectangular windows---lol---special edition like boat---lol just a bit chewed up....they are so excited--goood deals are pout there--just be in right place at right time and keep it simple so you dont have to die before going out to sea.....

almost sorry is sooo long--

[kb79]

YES, zeehag! that's on the money (no pun intended).

[SaltyMonkey]

I think at this point it's more based on the Themalouis theory of sailing. I'll give an example of this relevant theory:

You're coming up to an intersection at a very high rate of speed. You have the green. There are 18 wheeler trucks at the light waiting on the red - revving their engines impatiently. Your side of the light suddenly goes to yellow. You give your brake a bit but you realize it isn't gonna do too much good at this point so...

You plow down the gas pedal...

BLACKOUT

We can only see what happens in the next scene...