Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

[tradewinds780]

Originally Posted by goprisko

I came up with a list of candidate boats...

Southern Cross 31
Cape Dory 30
Tartan 30
Baba 30
Pearson Vanguard
Pearson 30
Bristol Channel 28 Pilot Cutter

I'm thinking our hypothetical sailor must count his pennies, and the max budget ready to go is $30,000. With less even better

INDY

I came across an ad for a Cape Dory 28 at a fantastic price, $10,000 and it seems pretty ready for cruising.

Parker's Boat Yard (Cataumet, MA)

The widow just reduced the price from $15,000.

PK

[tradewinds780]

Originally Posted by bene505

I'm about on page 18, catching up on this thread. Can you say more about ice versus a solar panel and a peltier-cooled fridge?

I just picked up a peltier fridge for $15. (I think they are at Target in the US for about $99.) It seems to cool down to 41.5 degrees. By covering the front/top/sides (not the back) with a blanket, it may cool lower and certainly would use much fewer amps. The only moving parts are 2 very small fans on the outside and 1 small fan on the inside. By adding a solar panel and a battery I could cruise for years without spending any money on ice. Add replacement fans and I've got a spares kit for it.

This setup would be cheaper in the long run than buying ice. What are the thoughts on this approach?

Regards,
Brad

The Peltier is better than nothing but in a warm climate they eat up a lot of electricity and don't get things all that cold. I am also picked up a cheap used unit. It kept the beer cool when I didn't have ice but it used a lot of amps.

I am sure a much better insulated box would have helped a lot but I am now inclined to spend a little more money and get an Engel unit. That way I could make ice for the ice box and keep ice cream too.

PK

[tradewinds780]

Originally Posted by goprisko

Go back to page 29 and begin studying the postings from there....

Please note that micro-budget cruising must be done in boats between 28-34 ft LOA.
These are mid-sized boats.

We posted lines and descriptions of about 6 boats costing $ 15-25 K. Three years cruising funds will amount to $ 18K. Refitting Expense $ 10K, Total outlay $43-53 K

INDY

INDY

I can't thank you enough for this thread. It has taken me days to get thru it but the information is priceless.

I bought a 27' Cape Dory for $5,000 that had been donated to a museum. I have spent at least another $5,000 replacing the rigging (standing and running), updating the wiring, batteries, lights (with LED's), solar panels, bimini, installing an anchor roller and a new radio and antenna.

I also fixed all the discrepancies in the survey. It motors and sails much better than I expected a full keel boat could. It rides like a much bigger boat and I feel it will take me wherever I decide to go.

I thought it was much better to buy an inexpensive boat and see how I like cruising first instead of sinking my life's savings into a boat and then finding out I hated cruising and it was stupid idea.

You can always buy a bigger more expensive boat later once you know what you can't live without. I'm fighting the temptation to buy an Engel and a dodger until I spend at least a couple of months out there.

My boat is extremely seaworthy but it has no refrigeration, no pressure water, and no complicated instruments or electronics. I have a handheld Garmin for navigation and a sunshower for cockpit showers.

I have been sailing and working on it, as time allows, for 2 years and loving every minute. I have been able to do almost all the work myself but occasionally have hired people the first time around and watched them so that the next time, I can do it myself.

I have all the receipts but haven't organized them so that I can't give you exact figures but have spent the money when it was available.

Doing the boat work while you still have an income is definitely the way to go.

I couldn't understand why some people spent so much time flaming you for your approach to low budget cruising until I mentioned it to another sailor friend and he said they felt threatened.

It made perfect sense. If you are out there stuck in a harbor for weeks, waiting for parts for your floating condo, spending thousands of dollars a month to maintain it all, you have to naysay anybody who proposes you can do it cheaper and do it sooner.

It doesn't take a genious to throw money at a problem but even money doesn't solve all the problems. Sometimes it just takes ingenuity and a smile!

PK

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Currently to sail Indonesia you will need

Green Book - This is like a boat registration, valid for 12 months approximately US$100
Sailing Permit - In addition to Green Book - Single entry $20, Six months $80, 12 months ~$140

Each entrant will also have to pay $25 per entry for a 30 day visa. Recently the $10 / 7 day visa has been discontinued. Kind of annoying if you live in Singapore with a multi entry Sailing permit and want to hop over to Indonesia a couple of times a month.

A single entrant cruising Indonesia for 30 days with 2 crew will be $170

Alternatively, a single entrant cruising Indonesia for a year with 2 aboard will cost:
Green Book $ 100
Sailing Permit $ 140
Visa 1yr, multiple Entry $ 200

TOTAL $ 440

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by tradewinds780

INDY

I can't thank you enough for this thread. It has taken me days to get thru it but the information is priceless.

I bought a 27' Cape Dory for $5,000 that had been donated to a museum. I have spent at least another $5,000 replacing the rigging (standing and running), updating the wiring, batteries, lights (with LED's), solar panels, bimini, installing an anchor roller and a new radio and antenna.

I also fixed all the discrepancies in the survey. It motors and sails much better than I expected a full keel boat could. It rides like a much bigger boat and I feel it will take me wherever I decide to go.

I thought it was much better to buy an inexpensive boat and see how I like cruising first instead of sinking my life's savings into a boat and then finding out I hated cruising and it was stupid idea.

You can always buy a bigger more expensive boat later once you know what you can't live without. I'm fighting the temptation to buy an Engel and a dodger until I spend at least a couple of months out there.

My boat is extremely seaworthy but it has no refrigeration, no pressure water, and no complicated instruments or electronics. I have a handheld Garmin for navigation and a sunshower for cockpit showers.

I have been sailing and working on it, as time allows, for 2 years and loving every minute. I have been able to do almost all the work myself but occasionally have hired people the first time around and watched them so that the next time, I can do it myself.

I have all the receipts but haven't organized them so that I can't give you exact figures but have spent the money when it was available.

Doing the boat work while you still have an income is definitely the way to go.

I couldn't understand why some people spent so much time flaming you for your approach to low budget cruising until I mentioned it to another sailor friend and he said they felt threatened.

It made perfect sense. If you are out there stuck in a harbor for weeks, waiting for parts for your floating condo, spending thousands of dollars a month to maintain it all, you have to naysay anybody who proposes you can do it cheaper and do it sooner.

It doesn't take a genious to throw money at a problem but even money doesn't solve all the problems. Sometimes it just takes ingenuity and a smile!

PK

I am very happy things are working out for you.

Please note, dear reader, that R&Ring the CD 27 has taken this gentleman 2 years. This boat is on the small side of what I have been recommending, but certainly very suitable for coastwise cruising. at 7500 # displacement, she is in the same range as my old Tartan 27(8000#), and I have fond memories of many cruises in that one.

Just remember that EVERYTHING EATS !!

I believe that given you have an electrical system, the ENGEL fridge (45qt) may be just the ticket. You certainly can make ice with one, we do occasionally with our larger 60 qt box. The only drawback to the smaller box is there is no "two Zone" for it.

Fair Winds!!

INDY

[Mariness]

It doesn't take a genious to throw money at a problem but even money doesn't solve all the problems. Sometimes it just takes ingenuity and a smile!

PK

I think someone once said, "If you can solve it with a checkbook, it's not a real problem."

[GordMay]

If you, or anyone can solve it; I can rent your ingenuity & smile (buy your solution) with a big enough checkbook.

[goprisko]

I think Gord could do much better for the reader interested in cruising on a micro-budget.

Living in Thunder Bay, as he does, he is right in the middle of prime cruising ground... from the Slate Islands to Pigeon River, anchorages abound. Most are unpopulated.. many have saunas put there by the local cruising clubs..
An excellent way to meet people and get the inside scoop on all of this is to join the Great Lakes Cruising Club... Perhaps Gord is the TB Port Captain...

Regardless, GLCC Port Captains are there to help members... membership includes the log books.. which are great guides to the anchorages and harbours of each of the five great lakes, the Trent-Severn Waterway, and the Illinois Waterway...

If youi live on the Great Lakes, or nearby, and are interested in the beauty this region has to offer... look up GLCC and go to a meeting.

The attached photos were taken on a Great Lakes Cruise...

INDY

[goprisko]

The micro budget cruiser, has time in abundance, and money in short supply...

He may not have a bank account, much less a current account(checking).

He must follow the advice my French friends gave me many years ago...

"Spend what you have, If you have money spend that, if you only have time, spend that instead"

Those who blithely speak of using money to solve problems, are still in the North American "work til you're dead" rut. If you prefer that life, then why are you here? If you want to go off exploring the world in your own ship, while you still have vitality, and youth, the first thing you must learn to do is economize on monetary expenditure, through cleverly applied personal effort.

For example, my Honda 2 Hp outboard is 10 years old. Unlike my old mity-mite, it has a water cooled exhaust, recoil starting, etc. The water seal at the bottom of the oil pan went, and water from the exhaust coolant circuit is now contaminating the lube oil.

I chose to buy the repair manual for the motor, and $100 in parts to R&R the unit from the oil pan to the prop myself. Had I lots of money, I'd buy a new motor for $850 I don't have the money, but I do have the time and skills to repair the motor I have.

Which is better? Depends.... on whether ....

You prefer swimming in the Virgin Islands.... or working in Chicago in winter...

Your choice..

INDY

[goprisko]

To my mind, Lin and Larry Pardey have the most to share with micro-budget cruisers...

First of all....
They were micro-budget cruisers

Secondly..

They took up writing and shared many great ideas via their books...

I suggest the following for your library...

Cruising in Seraffyn
Seraffyn's Mediterranean Adventure
The Capable Cruiser
Care and Feeding of the Offshore Crew

INDY

[Ahnlaashock]

You guys have me practicing meals!!!
A cup of rice, a cup and a half of beans, one packet commercial chili seasoning, a few Jalapeno's, and you have a very nice beans and rice. Served with chopped onions. Works really well. Can be cooked in a solar cooker, cooking the beans and rice separately. I might have had a buck invested. Skip the chili seasoning, and use a mild salsa. Skip both and use Bush's chili beans instead. Spice to taste.
Half a bag of egg noodles, a can of soup, and four breaded chicken patties. Brown/crisp the breading on the patties. Cook noodles, add soup, put four patties on top, grate Parmesan over them, and warm through again. Less than 2 bucks. Can be cooked in a solar unit if a heat tray is used and you have decent sun.
Thawing out a package of decent sized steaks from a five for 20$ meat selection today. Gonna make a good meal out of each steak, as practice.
We raised boys, and this cooking small thing is not something the wife or I am good at. Both dishes provide four servings. The beans and rice may not be conducive to domestic harmony when sleeping in small enclosed spaces!

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by goprisko

... Regardless, GLCC Port Captains are there to help members... membership includes the log books.. which are great guides to the anchorages and harbours of each of the five great lakes, the Trent-Severn Waterway, and the Illinois Waterway...

If youi live on the Great Lakes, or nearby, and are interested in the beauty this region has to offer... look up GLCC ...

Absolutely! The Great Lakes Cruising Club "Port Pilot" is the resource for the Lakes.
The Port Captains ARE there to help (I was Port Captain for the entire Canadian Shore of Superior, in the late 80's & early 90's.)

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by goprisko

Which is better? Depends.... on whether ....

You prefer swimming in the Virgin Islands.... or working in Chicago in winter...

Your choice..

INDY

Mmmmmm... let me think about it... thinking... thinking..... this is a hard one...

[ConradG]

Originally Posted by Ahnlaashock

You guys have me practicing meals!!!
A cup of rice, a cup and a half of beans, one packet commercial chili seasoning, a few Jalapeno's, and you have a very nice beans and rice. Served with chopped onions. Works really well. Can be cooked in a solar cooker, cooking the beans and rice separately. I might have had a buck invested. Skip the chili seasoning, and use a mild salsa. Skip both and use Bush's chili beans instead. Spice to taste.
Half a bag of egg noodles, a can of soup, and four breaded chicken patties. Brown/crisp the breading on the patties. Cook noodles, add soup, put four patties on top, grate Parmesan over them, and warm through again. Less than 2 bucks. Can be cooked in a solar unit if a heat tray is used and you have decent sun.
Thawing out a package of decent sized steaks from a five for 20$ meat selection today. Gonna make a good meal out of each steak, as practice.
We raised boys, and this cooking small thing is not something the wife or I am good at. Both dishes provide four servings. The beans and rice may not be conducive to domestic harmony when sleeping in small enclosed spaces!

Great! Now you can practice canning leftovers or just plain "ready to eat" meals! Great way to avoid refridgeration and make truely healthy meals without all the added stuff that comes in storebought cans, even the so called "healthy" ones...Also a great way to save food that is on it's way out before it's too late, a great way to have fresh meat, chicken, fish. All can be done really easily and relatively quickly. Thought needs to be given to container size as once opened it won't last (unless you can the leftovers again).

But that small fridge/freezer is tempting...I'm leaning towards the sterling fridge made by Global Cooling but sold by Coleman...but I really wish this guy would get his game off the ground.
Adam Grosser and his sustainable fridge | Video on TED.com

[goprisko]

Most cooked food will keep without refrigeration overnight in the pot in which it was cooked. Simply put the lid on the hot meal and let it cool while covered. Be sure to heat it to boiling the next day and keep it at boiling temp for at least 5 minutes.

Milk can be kept several days without refrigeration and for weeks refrigerated when made into yoghurt.

Canning food for use during the cruise, or while cruising is easy to do.

Needed is a guide book (cookbook) covering the foods you want to process.

Needed is a pressure cooker. Canners are nothing more than a very large
pressure cooker.

You can process foods on your galley stove... which is what we do..

For the biggest return, we prioritize things we can and our favorites are...

Butter... need only scald the jars..
Meat... Poultry... Fish... must be processed at 15 # pressure
Vegetables.... low on our list, because non refrigerated ones keep sufficiently long for most voyages

Fruits.... best made into preserves/jam

Entrees.... we don't can these... we make them as we need them from basic ingredients..

If you don't have refrigeration may I suggest you consider....

Home canned meats, poultry, fish
Smoked meats,
Canned vegetables, especially stewed tomatoes
Beef base and chicken base
Pickled cucumbers, beets, onions.
Legumes... lentils, beans, garbanzos...
Starches.... rice.. bulghur.. barley... oats...wheat

Regarding Pasta... make your own...

Make your own crackers..

Buy plenty of onions, garlic

Potatoes are something we love, but in the tropics are hard to find in condition which keeps well, surprizingly they are found everywhere..

INDY