Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

[zeehag]

sail with others a while then figger out yer needs--is easier than trying to sell the wrong boat in htis market.. gooodluck.

[rowingdude]

I mean no disrespect, but if you really want to sail on $500/mo, a 35'+ boat isn't going to be viable. The cost of hull and deck paint alone would cripple your budget, let alone the slightest issue with rigging or the hull! Then there's docking fees at marinas and importation fees.. and more fees by the foot.

[wolfenzee]

Originally Posted by rowingdude

I mean no disrespect, but if you really want to sail on $500/mo, a 35'+ boat isn't going to be viable. The cost of hull and deck paint alone would cripple your budget, let alone the slightest issue with rigging or the hull! Then there's docking fees at marinas and importation fees.. and more fees by the foot.

It depends on whether you "have work done for you" or do work yourself (labor costs on boats account for way more than materiels). Do you pay someone to mow your lawn, do you consider painting your house and replacing the roof (all done by "professionals") part of your "household budget"? Do you consider traveling from marina to marina and eating out at resturants cruising?

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by racing8989

anybody kindly can give an advice regarding this sailboat, and if the price is right, or what would be appropiated to offer? If you can add how many upgrades needed to properly sail the caribeam, I will strongly appreciate it. THANKS A LOT

As a learning to sail boat either boat you listed would be fine. But as far as taking them to the Caribbean they are a bit too light - not heavy/sturdy IMHO. The smaller the boat the heavier you want it to be. That is so it can get pitched around and you don't feel like you are riding a wine bottle cork in a washing machine.
- - But if you are patient and willing to wait - sometimes a significant amount of time - for a gentle weather window, just about any size/weight boat will work.

[capttman]

Just remember where there is a will there is a way, just try it if you fail get a job get 750 a month and try again, life is to short b, believe me.. Don't listen to negatives.Those living on 5K a month may have had 10 while on land and they think they are broke. Those who had 2K on land think there better off sailing on 1K... It is part what you are used to....You have to have a bit of nomadic personality to do this so do it and see what do you have to lose, fun?

[Daddydion]

I am just curious on how you keep your money(bank cash etc) while cruising, and also do you have all your money saved, or how do you earn money while cruising. I see posts of people who have cruised and lived for 20 years, how do you support yourself when all your money is outgoing and no incoming, or are you just wealthy enough to just have large stores of cash. I ask this because my wife and I are tossing about the idea of cruising but don't want to end up destitute when our sailing lives are no longer maintainable.

[rowingdude]

Daddydion,

You're going to get a lot of mixed opinions here, but the way I see is thus:

You can keep your money in the US and fill up your cash reserves with ATMs around the world.

You can learn a worldwide trade and sell your skills for cash

You can obtain a large swath of money, put it into some fixed investment scheme and have a large interest paycheck every few months

You can work online or in various countries (this goes back to the worldwide trade thing). Then wire or electronically deposit the funds to your US bank.

OR you can take whatever savings you have and stretch them out for as long as you can, hoping nothing breaks.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Daddydion

I am just curious on how you keep your money(bank cash etc) while cruising, and also do you have all your money saved, or how do you earn money while cruising. I see posts of people who have cruised and lived for 20 years, how do you support yourself when all your money is outgoing and no incoming, or are you just wealthy enough to just have large stores of cash. I ask this because my wife and I are tossing about the idea of cruising but don't want to end up destitute when our sailing lives are no longer maintainable.

Keep going back in the thread listings.

There are many, many threads on how to pay for the addiction.

[zeehag]

some are disabled and drawing money,,,, some are retired and drawing money ,,, some work 6 months..... many ways to keep the fat cat smiling......i feed mine dorado and he purrs.... only cruising kitty i got is feline.....and a monthly income sent into my bank for me by ssdi...LOL
oh yes...and i am a rn and i can trade my knowledge off for fish and stuffies.....

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Daddydion

I am just curious on how you keep your money(bank cash etc) while cruising, and also do you have all your money saved, or how do you earn money while cruising. I see posts of people who have cruised and lived for 20 years, how do you support yourself when all your money is outgoing and no incoming, or are you just wealthy enough to just have large stores of cash. I ask this because my wife and I are tossing about the idea of cruising but don't want to end up destitute when our sailing lives are no longer maintainable.

This - as stated by other posters - is being discussed in many other CF threads past and presently - see: Cruisers & Sailing Forums > Scuttlebutt > Off Topic Forum Where and How Do You Get The Money
- - But the average answer is that long term cruisers have saved and invested their earnings and live off the interest earned from those investments - or - they have received some kind of "settlement" for injuries or whatever and have invested those proceeds and likewise live off the interest.
- - So there is most always "incoming" money. The other main group of cruising sailors have occupations and skills that allow them to work in their home country for 6 months and then cruise on their boats for 6 months. Medical professions, craftsman professions such as home painting, plumbing, electrical and mechanical to mention a few do not involve working as an employee for somebody so are great for seasonal work. One cruiser I met was a house painter from Chicago who had a large following of people who liked his work and kept referring him to their friends so he was fully booked during the summer season and could afford to cruise the Caribbean in the winter months.
- - Long term cruisers are generally self-confident. self-motivated people who actively run their own lives rather than letting society and others tell them what to do and when to do it. As such they find plenty of opportunities to earn money for cruising and then invest it or bank it for seasonal cruising.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by osirissail

- - Long term cruisers are generally self-confident. self-motivated people who actively run their own lives rather than letting society and others tell them what to do and when to do it.
.

Yep.
......

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by rowingdude

Daddydion,

You're going to get a lot of mixed opinions here, but the way I see is thus:

You can keep your money in the US and fill up your cash reserves with ATMs around the world.

You can learn a worldwide trade and sell your skills for cash

You can obtain a large swath of money, put it into some fixed investment scheme and have a large interest paycheck every few months

You can work online or in various countries (this goes back to the worldwide trade thing). Then wire or electronically deposit the funds to your US bank.

OR you can take whatever savings you have and stretch them out for as long as you can, hoping nothing breaks.

The reason for keeping the boat simple. between 28-34 ft LOA and a monohull is to keep annual boat expenses less than $ 1000, including EVERYTHING!!

Below are a few boats met in St. Thomas recently.

The one with reverse sheer is French and Gabriel and his two lady friends are circumnavigating.

The one with light blue sail covers is a Tartan 34, with Genny and her friend aboard, just completing a 4 yr voyage to the west indies. Boat is named Altair.

The black Ketch, "Traveler" has a racouteur skipper, with a checkered past, and many years of cruising.

The black Colombia 30 has been John's home these past 15 years. Now in remission from colon cancer, he hangs about Culebra, where we found him.

The white Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter (28ft) is Naia, owned by a friend in St. Thomas, who swallowed the anchor too long. Recently married, his spouse is trying to break him of working and convert to cruising.

The others are or have been cruising for years. These are examples of boats actually going places on modest budgets.

Note that John sails his Dhyer Dhow, Naia has a hard dink Traveler ditto.

You can assert anything, and many do so here... but the reality is evinced by boats like these, WHO ARE ACTUALLY CRUISING !!

Ignore the lessons thus represented at your peril.

INDY

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by zeehag

in this market, that is no longer the norm or the case. i got my formosa for 10k with radar, SIMRAD HDL2000, GPS, FISHFINDER for depth..was older GPS, GARMIN.. did i say radar????? rofl.. many folks are dire bigots against finding anything other than a yacht brokerage sailoboat.. THAT is a laugh, anymore---- find a good deal from someone unable to pay for any advertising, you will find the deal you seek somewhere.. i know---- and i laugh at those having to pay retail, BECAUSE, AS THOSE FOLKS SAY, YOU ALLEGEDLY GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.... rofl....NOT anymore--you get what you find and what you need or want...just open eyes and seek. it is there.
good luck.
btw--i found a westsail 32 for $7500usd(asking price) in ft myers a coupla years ago-- the gooddeals are out there-- find em by looking hard.

The above story is more common than you think.....

The below plan is more common and foolish than you think...

"
Originally Posted by racing8989
some peope say to me that a less than 15000 us sailboat is no able to cruise seriously around the caribeam. Can you explain to me is that is true. Which are the minimum instrument or upgrades needed? I am new and I want to buy a sailboat and do not know from where to start. Buying in Rio Dulce Guatemala can be good??? I have no US visa at the moment to go there for buying Thanks
"

Racing 8989 should first join his local yacht/boat club and go sailing.

It is obvious he has no sailing experience whatever. He should go back and read pp 28-36, where boat selection and equippage is discussed.

He should go back about 6 pages and read my postings regarding equippage.

There he will discover that micro-budget cruising requires seamanship and you have to go to sea to acquire that. Ie: you can't learn it from a book, or sitting online at a computer.

So let's recap:

You need the following:

A mono-hull 28-34 ft LOA in sound condition
A hard dink with oars and sailing rig
A sink or wash tub
A hand pump connected to stainless water tanks or jerry jugs
A bucket head or water closet
Sails in good condition
Anchoring Gear
A tiller connected to a rudder in good condition
A sweep to row the ship into and out of harbors in calms
A hand lead
A monkey fist
Kerosene / LED navigation and cabin lamps
A Grundig/Sony all band receiver
A VHF
A weems plotter, hand bearing compass, binoculars, dividers, pencils, pens, eraser
A quartz clock
A barometer
A sextant and tables and almanac if going off shore
A GPS if you want one ( the simplest/cheapest one you can find)
Charts of the area to be cruised
A cooker
A table at which to sit
A comfortable bunk
Storage for clothes, utensils, food etc.
Snorkeling gear
A magnetic compass
Required safety equipment including: bell, horn, life jackets, life ring, flares, fire extinguishers etc.


You do not need electronics of any description

You do not need a man overboard pole... useless if singlehanding...

You do not need an outboard for the dink or an engine for the ship.

INDY

[Davey1000]

Armchair sailor here! (well not quite) but as I'm reasonably good at "flying" a computer I get roped-in to find boats and be a quartermaster. I found a Robert Ives 4-21 for an old colleague. At 21 feet LOA you can just about blag marinas that its a 6 metre boat not that she goes into marinas very often. Inside there is more room than in a Contessa 26 so I'm told. Anyhow the boat has crossed the oggin from England OK single handed and she is now in the Carribean. No watermaker unfortunately and not very good refrigeration but the electric coolbox will keep a few beers cool. Trouble is that it can only drop the temperature by about 20 degrees centigrade - not enough in hot places! Allegedly the Waeco Tropicool is the only Peltier diode coolbox that will do it but they aren't cheap! As to expenses quite a lot of money was lost because of Portuguese jellyfish clogging the cooling water">engine cooling water intake. The strainer wasn't up to the job and there was no overheat alarm. The parts alone cost quite a bit but at least labour didn't have to be paid for. Latest wished for item is a 50 watt Jingyuan wind generator.

Home wind generator,Wind Turbines For Home

The extra wattage will be enough to turn around a power deficit situation as the solar panels don't work at night yet the coolbox needs power 24/7 ! The Jingyuan only weighs two kilograms and the blade diameter is only 0.8 of a metre so it can be fitted onto a small boat without too much difficulty. The skipper is a mechanical genius and in Trinidad he made some money by repairing outboard motors. Allegedly the gasoline out there is very dirty and clogs up carburettors. He must have done quite a few because the boat yard offered him a job! (bet they were glad when he sailed away)
Another boat that I found was a Caprice MK5 (similar to "Shrimpy" but GRP and round bilge not chines) The Caprice IS under 6 metres which is important because marinas charge by length. The twin keels plus skeg mean that she can take the ground easily. Very handy and this can save you a lot of money. I recovered and launched this boat with an ordinary two wheel drive car which saved two lots of £150 The car was a Rover 800 (similar to Honda Legend or Accura) with the VM 2.5 litre turbo diesel engine. Somehow I don't seem to have much luck with 4x4s as they are forever overheating and blowing head gaskets. The 800 has a much better cooling system than the Land Rover Discovery and the Range Rover and it has had to rescue them and their trailers in the past. Viscous coupled fans and oil coolers in radiators ought to be banned along with temperature sensors that melt, come adrift from the head and measure the temperature an inch away from the head. Been there done that!!! Anyhow when it comes to saving money, with boats small is beautiful. As to banking allegedly the one to go for is Barclays as they have better coverage than other banks. Wi Fi internet can be obtained up to a kilometre off shore using an omni directional aerial (antenna) but with a grid type dish about 3.5 Km is possible. The dish is of course directional which might be a problem unless one is anchored at both ends.
Anyhow the Caprice is the cheapest form of accommodation in Cardiff costing £220 per metre per year. (camping "wild" in a tent has no security therefore doesn't count) As the "going rate" for a bedsit is £75 per week this is quite a saving. The bloke is at work most of the time so really its just a place to sleep at the moment and unlike being in a campervan one can have a glass of wine without getting a visit from the police! The marina has electrically operated gates operated by a fob and CCTV so it is fairly secure. Allegedly there was a thief with a boat stealing fishing equipment last year but he got three months inside!

Worldwide boat insurance is a BIG problem for most people. Unless you are a life member of the RNLI lifeboat institution you may have great difficulty in getting cover. Watch out for No Claims Bonus on auto insurance. If ones policy lapses the NCB vanishes after two years! This happened to a friend whose British 65% NCB was accepted in Australia. On his return he was told that "Queensland Insurance are not a multi-national so we don't recognise their NCB" - sounds like insurance fraud to me!

Good luck!

[Davey1000]

Originally Posted by goprisko

The above story is more common than you think.....

The below plan is more common and foolish than you think...

"
Originally Posted by racing8989
some peope say to me that a less than 15000 us sailboat is no able to cruise seriously around the caribeam. Can you explain to me is that is true. Which are the minimum instrument or upgrades needed? I am new and I want to buy a sailboat and do not know from where to start. Buying in Rio Dulce Guatemala can be good??? I have no US visa at the moment to go there for buying Thanks
"

Racing 8989 should first join his local yacht/boat club and go sailing.

It is obvious he has no sailing experience whatever. He should go back and read pp 28-36, where boat selection and equippage is discussed.

He should go back about 6 pages and read my postings regarding equippage.

There he will discover that micro-budget cruising requires seamanship and you have to go to sea to acquire that. Ie: you can't learn it from a book, or sitting online at a computer.

So let's recap:

You need the following:

A mono-hull 28-34 ft LOA in sound condition
A hard dink with oars and sailing rig
A sink or wash tub
A hand pump connected to stainless water tanks or jerry jugs
A bucket head or water closet
Sails in good condition
Anchoring Gear
A tiller connected to a rudder in good condition
A sweep to row the ship into and out of harbors in calms
A hand lead
A monkey fist
Kerosene / LED navigation and cabin lamps
A Grundig/Sony all band receiver
A VHF
A weems plotter, hand bearing compass, binoculars, dividers, pencils, pens, eraser
A quartz clock
A barometer
A sextant and tables and almanac if going off shore
A GPS if you want one ( the simplest/cheapest one you can find)
Charts of the area to be cruised
A cooker
A table at which to sit
A comfortable bunk
Storage for clothes, utensils, food etc.
Snorkeling gear
A magnetic compass
Required safety equipment including: bell, horn, life jackets, life ring, flares, fire extinguishers etc.


You do not need electronics of any description

You do not need a man overboard pole... useless if singlehanding...

You do not need an outboard for the dink or an engine for the ship.

INDY

Re Grundig or Sony, they are TOO EXPENSIVE. Take a look at the Degen DE1103. OK you will curse whilst you get use to the multi-function jog-wheel but the radio is a seriously useful piece of kit that can also demodulate SSB transmissions.