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Old 13-06-2011, 16:30   #1606
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by goprisko View Post

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
I don't see how posting pics of a bunch of typical cruising boats proves anything George?
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Old 13-06-2011, 16:41   #1607
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by Davey1000 View Post
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.
Its true. I got a kaito 1103 (same radio as the Degen) for about $60 on ebay. If you search around on the Amateur Radio websites, you'll find most people agree these two radios are the best bang for the buck available.
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Old 13-06-2011, 16:57   #1608
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pirate Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by goprisko View Post
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!!

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
Gee whiz Indy, I do not disagree but it's kinda tacky to say so.
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Old 13-06-2011, 17:07   #1609
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pirate Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Indy, on another note, months ago you mentioned a buddy who had gone RTW the hard way, and with no engine. He was a physicist or some such. I'd like to hear his tales. Can you get him on here? Thanks if so!
T
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Old 13-06-2011, 17:54   #1610
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by goprisko View Post
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

This is of coarse, a bunch of BS... Hundreds of Searunners and Wharrams, As well as other early self built multihulls, have cruised the world on incredibly low budgets, for DECADES, with ALL of the advantages for "seasteading" that I have mentioned in previous posts. I got "Multihulls Magazine" from volume #1, (around 1971), and used to read of their very simple/cheep adventures. It can be done on the cheep, OR as expensive as you like. On my first multihull, 35 years back, the 23' Wharram was my ONLY home, and I never had more than $75 to my name at any given time. My ONLY way ashore was to swim, with really long free diving fins. (Even if a mile or so out!)

On my next multihull, a 28' trimaran, I lived almost as inexpensively, running completely out of money, and getting a short time construction job onshore, for a few more $. I never had an "income" at all, OR a budget. The idea has always been to live within my means, whatever that was that week!

On my third Multihull, I had just gotten married, and now had a 34'er, so expenses went up, but still only a fraction of what ALL of the other couples we met were spending.

Sometimes "more" expensive gear initially, like the watermaker, (which we scavenged off of my previous boat, 21 years ago), cost us NOTHING on this boat, as it was paid for. It has worked perfectly for 15 "more" years now, and is still on it's original membrane. It has saved us a HUGE amount of money in the water we DIDN'T have to buy in the Bahamas, and in the extra 8' LOA of boat, we would've needed for larger tankage.

We started out the first 2 years, using a cooler and buying ice, but it was really adding up cost wise. In that time it cost MORE than the small, efficient, 2 cu/ft refrigerator that we now have. Our refrigerator has worked perfectly for 13 years now, drawing only 25 Ah per day, which is provided 100% from our solar panels.

Of the things that have broken on our boat in 15 years, other than dockside battery chargers, almost ALL of the things that have broken have been "mechanical" hardware sort of things, not my simple electronic systems. They have been "remarkably" reliable and long term INexpensive. This is because they were small, simple, and installed to stand the test of time. Besides making us more comfortable, THEY HAVE BEEN PARTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW CHEAPLY WE CAN CRUISE.

Our having built a trimaran, (designed for "Seasteading"), made it energy self sufficient, and relatively comfortable, has NOT made for a "more" expensive lifestyle, it has made it less expensive! I have yet to meet another couple in their 50s, who lived aboard for 12 years, as cheaply as we did while cruising. I'm sure they are out there, but they are few enough of them, that I never met any.

Indy, you keep pontificating on this Walden's Pond thing, with BASIC monohulls being the only way to cruise on a budget. You must not have met many of the many thousands of multihull cruisers out there, living the Seasteading lifestyle!

You do not have the market cornered on how to cruise the cheapest, only on how to do it YOUR way. There are a lot of other ways, including mine, of paying the up front price, building inexpensive, reliable comfort into the boat BEFORE you set out, then enjoying a better AND equally cheap cruising adventure with all of the advantages that I spent years building into the boat.

It's "to each his own" I always say, I'm sure your way also works, but for you to say that "it's your way or not at all, nothing else works", is showing how little you really know of other ways of doing things. Besides, your constantly trying to get expenses down to a specific number, rings of an "obsession". You can also "save up longer", and spend more when cruising, thereby having more fun in many cases! I have NEVER cruised with an income. It was either work as I go, or on savings... We all have a different budget, and that probably fluctuates. As long as we live within our means, there is nothing noble in your repeated bragging about how little you cruised on this year, unless you also lament all of the inland trips, and dinner guest that you missed out on, because rather than just living within your means, you set out to make YOUR adventure one in your head, full of numbers, graphs, pedantic explanations, and maximum expenditures.

Lighten up man! There are very useful tips out there for frugal cruising in general. This is a good thread for these tips to be shared. Weather or not it ends up under $500/month, or it ends up on your type of boat, is TOTALLY irrelevant.

Enjoy "your way"... I'll enjoy mine,

Mark
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Old 13-06-2011, 18:21   #1611
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Johnson View Post
. . . You must not have met many of the many thousands of multihull cruisers out there, living the Seasteading lifestyle! . . .
Mark
After ten years in the Caribbean, I have met and seen maybe 3 trimarans cruising and hundreds of small mono's with budget cruisers onboard. It is total BS that there are "many thousands" of multihulls like the Wharram, etc., out there. No way, no how. The vast and almost total population of budget cruisers are on monohulls.
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Old 13-06-2011, 18:33   #1612
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

two of the cheapest out there are multis...
Atom Voyages | One With The Oceans - Sailing Across the Pacific by Dugout Canoe
Atom Voyages | Articles by James Baldwin: Adventures Under Sail - Hans Klaar - Rapa Nui - Wharram 51 Catamaran Sailboat

how much do you think this cost to build and cruise ontong java crab claw voyage canoe - Wharram Builders and Friends

anyone interest in cruising on a budget should read all of james baldwins sailor interviews on atomvoyages.com
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Old 13-06-2011, 19:31   #1613
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by osirissail View Post
After ten years in the Caribbean, I have met and seen maybe 3 trimarans cruising and hundreds of small mono's with budget cruisers onboard. It is total BS that there are "many thousands" of multihulls like the Wharram, etc., out there. No way, no how. The vast and almost total population of budget cruisers are on monohulls.

I agree that about 90+ % of cruisers are on monohulls, never said differently. Don't quite know what you mean. I was never referring to slick, expensive, modern, production multihulls at all.

Understand, I never had the internet until about 4 years ago. I have either been in the planning stages, building stages, or cruising stages, for 40 years. During the building stages, I read 20+ magazines per month, for 21 years of building! This was on top of reading hundreds of cruising books. I read many thousands of articles about the adventures of these folks on multihulls, mostly home built, as that was just the way you got a trimaran back then. Production multihulls is a relatively new phenomenon...

These folks... still cruising really well, mostly self sufficiently, and inexpensively, are still out there. I see them all the time, and communicate regularly with a number of them. There are fleets of them in the Sea of Cortez, Bahamas, and the Western Caribbean. Not as many on the Eastern (= expensive) side, but we saw at least 50. There are at least 30 in Coral Bay St John alone!

I certainly agree that 90+ % of "budget cruisers" are on monohulls, because 90+ % of "the boats are out there", ARE monohulls.

However, OF the under 40' monohulls out there, I'd guess that less than 5% of them are these "extreme budget cruisers".

Of the thousands of simple, OLD, self built, multihulls still out there, that are in cruising shape, and WERE DESIGNED FOR SEASTEADING... I'd say that WELL over 50%, perhaps even over 90% of them, are the "extreme budget cruisers" we're talking about. These are GREAT boats for an inexpensive lifestyle! They sail better so use FAR less fuel, are better to fish and dive from, wash your dive gear or laundry from, have room to rebuild your OB motor on deck, walk around the decks... so you don't get stir crazy and go ashore to spend more money, They carry extra vehicles like kayaks, have MANY times the exterior storage space in the amas, and give you a more level/spacious platform to live on. I have lived & cruised on both... These are better for "Seasteading".

They are highly specialized cruising vehicles, designed for "as close as possible"... a self sufficient life on the sea, at the lowest possible expense, and closest connection to nature and the sea.

The multihulls I'm referring to, are now only about 5% of "the multihulls out there". (I DON't mean huge, several hundred thousand dollar "shiny cats"), I mean < 35' $40,000 "mostly" plywood, "mostly" trimarans, that have been around for 20 or 30 years, and stood the test of time.

THESE highly specialized boats I refer to, DO number in the thousands, But they are only a fraction of 1%, of the cruising boats on the sea, which would be in the hundreds of thousands. They do their job VERY well! I have, however, yet to meet a rich guy on one, anywhere... Too much like "camping".

BTW... I love ALL boats. I was only responding to Indy's insisting that ONLY his type of boat works for this. I have no doubt that these small, simple, monohulls work just fine for the cruisers on them, and that it is possible for them to live on the cheap as well. I'm happy for ALL of you!

We can do it as well or better, and as inexpensively as we choose too.

Mark
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Old 13-06-2011, 19:41   #1614
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Johnson View Post
This is of coarse, a bunch of BS... Hundreds of Searunners and Wharrams, As well as other early self built multihulls, have cruised the world on incredibly low budgets, for DECADES, with ALL of the advantages for "seasteading" that I have mentioned in previous posts. I got "Multihulls Magazine" from volume #1, (around 1971), and used to read of their very simple/cheep adventures. It can be done on the cheep, OR as expensive as you like. On my first multihull, 35 years back, the 23' Wharram was my ONLY home, and I never had more than $75 to my name at any given time. My ONLY way ashore was to swim, with really long free diving fins. (Even if a mile or so out!)

On my next multihull, a 28' trimaran, I lived almost as inexpensively, running completely out of money, and getting a short time construction job onshore, for a few more $. I never had an "income" at all, OR a budget. The idea has always been to live within my means, whatever that was that week!

On my third Multihull, I had just gotten married, and now had a 34'er, so expenses went up, but still only a fraction of what ALL of the other couples we met were spending.

Sometimes "more" expensive gear initially, like the watermaker, (which we scavenged off of my previous boat, 21 years ago), cost us NOTHING on this boat, as it was paid for. It has worked perfectly for 15 "more" years now, and is still on it's original membrane. It has saved us a HUGE amount of money in the water we DIDN'T have to buy in the Bahamas, and in the extra 8' LOA of boat, we would've needed for larger tankage.

We started out the first 2 years, using a cooler and buying ice, but it was really adding up cost wise. In that time it cost MORE than the small, efficient, 2 cu/ft refrigerator that we now have. Our refrigerator has worked perfectly for 13 years now, drawing only 25 Ah per day, which is provided 100% from our solar panels.

Of the things that have broken on our boat in 15 years, other than dockside battery chargers, almost ALL of the things that have broken have been "mechanical" hardware sort of things, not my simple electronic systems. They have been "remarkably" reliable and long term INexpensive. This is because they were small, simple, and installed to stand the test of time. Besides making us more comfortable, THEY HAVE BEEN PARTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW CHEAPLY WE CAN CRUISE.

Our having built a trimaran, (designed for "Seasteading"), made it energy self sufficient, and relatively comfortable, has NOT made for a "more" expensive lifestyle, it has made it less expensive! I have yet to meet another couple in their 50s, who lived aboard for 12 years, as cheaply as we did while cruising. I'm sure they are out there, but they are few enough of them, that I never met any.

Indy, you keep pontificating on this Walden's Pond thing, with BASIC monohulls being the only way to cruise on a budget. You must not have met many of the many thousands of multihull cruisers out there, living the Seasteading lifestyle!

You do not have the market cornered on how to cruise the cheapest, only on how to do it YOUR way. There are a lot of other ways, including mine, of paying the up front price, building inexpensive, reliable comfort into the boat BEFORE you set out, then enjoying a better AND equally cheap cruising adventure with all of the advantages that I spent years building into the boat.

It's "to each his own" I always say, I'm sure your way also works, but for you to say that "it's your way or not at all, nothing else works", is showing how little you really know of other ways of doing things. Besides, your constantly trying to get expenses down to a specific number, rings of an "obsession". You can also "save up longer", and spend more when cruising, thereby having more fun in many cases! I have NEVER cruised with an income. It was either work as I go, or on savings... We all have a different budget, and that probably fluctuates. As long as we live within our means, there is nothing noble in your repeated bragging about how little you cruised on this year, unless you also lament all of the inland trips, and dinner guest that you missed out on, because rather than just living within your means, you set out to make YOUR adventure one in your head, full of numbers, graphs, pedantic explanations, and maximum expenditures.

Lighten up man! There are very useful tips out there for frugal cruising in general. This is a good thread for these tips to be shared. Weather or not it ends up under $500/month, or it ends up on your type of boat, is TOTALLY irrelevant.

Enjoy "your way"... I'll enjoy mine,

Mark
Thanks Mark for another well expressed alternative point of view. I have a feeling though that you are preaching to the choir mostly. And I seriously doubt Indy has practiced much if any of what he preaches. It's his church and he doesn't want any nonbelievers.
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Old 14-06-2011, 03:57   #1615
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

One can use knowledge instead of money - doesn't always work the other way around, no matter the size of cheques involved.

A nice list - albeit I have made a couple of amendments

Quote:
Originally Posted by goprisko View Post
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 burner (or 2)
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
Saved a few dollars

Can't say I (or most?) would enjoy / cope with such a minimal vessel - but that not the same as can't be done.

In practice I would be swapping out the Sextant for GPS on both cost and conveniance grounds. Downside is that will need to take the first steps on electricity storage and generation.

After that my "nice to have list" would be headed by an autopilot (and for that would need a Battery and some Solar / Wind). Next would be a toss up between an o/b and a spray hood (dodger).....which then leads onto some sort of Bimini / cockpit enclosure - easiest way to double the living size of a boat. A coolbox would also be nice. Seeing as I now appear to have money to burn might even get a lifejacket at that point VHF / communications equipment? Well, maybe a handheld VHF if I can find something cheap enough on Ebay etc - but no one I really want to speak to enough to spend big money.

My next priority would be to upgrade water tankage (and plumb some into a sink - albeit only hand or foot pump). The bonus with multiple tanks is that gives one redundancy and they don't always need to be filled. A Marine bog would also be very nice - with or without holding tank.

IMO the cheapest LUXURY to have onboard (that will also save loads of expense) is someone in the Galley who can cook - in practice that likely be "you". Me is still working on that one

At that point I would be looking for a Woman So I might fit some curtains

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post707487
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Old 14-06-2011, 05:38   #1616
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

A woman onboard is indeed the best accouterment that one could have! When I met mine, (after 20 years of looking), I hit the jackpot! She could not only earn good money to keep us afloat, (financially), during the years of building a house, then boatbuilding, but worked hard on the project on her days off too. She developed the remarkable ability to fiberglass "overhead", inside even small compartments, sometimes just large enough for her hands, by using a small shop light and mirror to see what she was doing!

She did her share in the countless hours of prep and painting as well. Later, we invested in a Sailright sewing machine, and saved thousands because of the canvass bits N pieces she could sew rather than buy. Her curtains are very nice...

Once cruising, it was more expensive to be "two", but... By being incredibly frugal, she was able to dicker and get better deals than I would. Having been all over the world before we met, she had more experience with other customs, and other countries ways of doing things. By always shopping for local groceries and eating on board, rather than "eating out" on shore, we were able to keep costs down, and found that having other couples over for dinner was delightful!

Her having been raised on a farm in Ky, and later worked in Africa when she was in the Peace Corps, meant that hard work, and enduring life's hardship without whining, was her normal way of being.

When it came to sharing our 2.5 gallon "garden sprayer" shower... (which we used in the cockpit footwell), it was ME not her, that used slightly more than my half. She bathed for years in Sierra Leon, using only a bucket of water and a cup! I could go on and on.

I read these tongue in cheek threads about how much women cost... well other than the additional food, mine is responsible for how inexpensively we cruise. It's a skill from a lifetime of living humbly and simply.

My first two boats were built and cruised 99% by me, but without having met my wife, I could never have done it a third time, or ever "gotten it right".

Good luck guys!

Mark

BTW... This seems obvious but, For you single guys, the best way to "catch a good one", is live in an anchorage in a really interesting place, (Key West worked for me), stay put, make a lot of friends, go to a lot of boat parties, and get lucky...
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Old 14-06-2011, 23:14   #1617
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey View Post
One can use knowledge instead of money - doesn't always work the other way around, no matter the size of cheques involved.

A nice list - albeit I have made a couple of amendments



Saved a few dollars

Can't say I (or most?) would enjoy / cope with such a minimal vessel - but that not the same as can't be done.

In practice I would be swapping out the Sextant for GPS on both cost and conveniance grounds. Downside is that will need to take the first steps on electricity storage and generation.

After that my "nice to have list" would be headed by an autopilot (and for that would need a Battery and some Solar / Wind). Next would be a toss up between an o/b and a spray hood (dodger).....which then leads onto some sort of Bimini / cockpit enclosure - easiest way to double the living size of a boat. A coolbox would also be nice. Seeing as I now appear to have money to burn might even get a lifejacket at that point VHF / communications equipment? Well, maybe a handheld VHF if I can find something cheap enough on Ebay etc - but no one I really want to speak to enough to spend big money.

My next priority would be to upgrade water tankage (and plumb some into a sink - albeit only hand or foot pump). The bonus with multiple tanks is that gives one redundancy and they don't always need to be filled. A Marine bog would also be very nice - with or without holding tank.

IMO the cheapest LUXURY to have onboard (that will also save loads of expense) is someone in the Galley who can cook - in practice that likely be "you". Me is still working on that one

At that point I would be looking for a Woman So I might fit some curtains

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post707487
How can you take off the vhf then put it back since your sooo rich now the other stuff like a auto pilot and a toilet and heaven forbid a lifejacket why you cant swim back to the boat .
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Old 15-06-2011, 10:40   #1618
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

Quote:
Originally Posted by sctpc View Post
How can you take off the vhf then put it back since your sooo rich now the other stuff like a auto pilot and a toilet and heaven forbid a lifejacket why you cant swim back to the boat .
--some advise here is risky re. 500$ per month sailing,,beware scamming govt for disability etc. as cards[fine print} say cannot be gone for over 30 days,,not that i am a cop or snitch but i did work years ago with a guy who got caught after 15yrs and ended up with a 150$ month pension check at 66yrs of age after govt. clawbacks for the benefits he was not entitled to in previous years being deducted from his current cheques,,sometimes these short-term gain scams can come back to bite you large later when your to old to work and eating at the soup kitchken and sleeping in a 180$ mo rooming house where your neighbours dont want to hear your old travell stories,,basically an OUT plan or back-up savings account is advised if your going to scam the govt to finance your sailing /travelling etc unless you plan on never coming back to "face the music",,an old high school friend is a prosecutor and told me most people are snitched on by their own friends/relatives or just "sink their own submarine" by bragging to anyone how their scamming the govt. out of money,,surprising but true,,cheers and remember"loose lips sink plans" you scammers,,lets have more advise how -to-cruize with 500 and NOT how to get arrested for fraud,,some peolple are easily mislead to committing stupid crime and i dont think its nice to mislead them as usa gives yrs,{yes years} in prison for social security fraud..beware the lies/BS
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Old 15-06-2011, 14:38   #1619
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Re: Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

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Originally Posted by pullord View Post
--some advise here is risky re. 500$ per month sailing,,beware scamming govt for disability etc. as cards[fine print} say cannot be gone for over 30 days,,not that i am a cop or snitch but i did work years ago with a guy who got caught after 15yrs and ended up with a 150$ month pension check at 66yrs of age after govt. clawbacks for the benefits he was not entitled to in previous years being deducted from his current cheques,,sometimes these short-term gain scams can come back to bite you large later when your to old to work and eating at the soup kitchken and sleeping in a 180$ mo rooming house where your neighbours dont want to hear your old travell stories,,basically an OUT plan or back-up savings account is advised if your going to scam the govt to finance your sailing /travelling etc unless you plan on never coming back to "face the music",,an old high school friend is a prosecutor and told me most people are snitched on by their own friends/relatives or just "sink their own submarine" by bragging to anyone how their scamming the govt. out of money,,surprising but true,,cheers and remember"loose lips sink plans" you scammers,,lets have more advise how -to-cruize with 500 and NOT how to get arrested for fraud,,some peolple are easily mislead to committing stupid crime and i dont think its nice to mislead them as usa gives yrs,{yes years} in prison for social security fraud..beware the lies/BS
Not sure I understand your post. Who was talking about scamming the government? Did I miss something?
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Old 15-06-2011, 16:56   #1620
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Corrosion of Stainless Reprised...

Much earlier, I posted an "Am I Ready?" checklist. I'm posting it again, here.

Seems I crossed tracks with "Breezes" while north bound from Luperon to Eleuthera. She was south bound to Luperon with fouled halyards and
a roller jib hopelessly fouled. The latter happened when the mate mistakenly freed the halyard while the sail was furled.

I met John later at his home in Vieques, where I heard the following tale.

Seems Breezes was a new boat to him, one that replaced an earlier one. Undaunted, John set off from Ft. Lauderdale across the Gulf Stream for the Abacos. He caught a squall on the Little Bahama Bank and fractured 3 chainplates on the port side.... ie: they sheared right off just below the surface of the deck (right where the salt water collected beneath the failed caulking). Fortunately the stick stayed in the boat, and a machine shop on Great Abaco made him new ones. The chain plates cost $100, customs entry cost $300. Bolts cost $100 more.

Our fearless sailor pressed on through the Exuma chain, without VHF or SSB or even broadcast radio. Knowing not the weather, and not knowing how to read a barometer (there was none aboard anyway), much less the pattern of clouds in the sky, He set off out the cut at the south end of Great Exuma into a "washing machine" consisting of 10 meter waves with vertical walls, in the night no less.

This lot did it's share of damage. So he turned into rum cay for repairs.

Seems our intrepid sailor loves excitement.

He lost his previous boat while trying to enter Sarasota through the south entrance in a westerly gale. That one is really hairy. You get to
line up on the one remaining marker then you have to parallel the beach in the low spot between two bars until you enter the lagoon. He
wound up on a bar in 2 ft of water. Seems he had his mother in law aboard and she was ailing. At least that was his justification for not going north to the Manatee River entrance. He called SeaTow who arrived in the midst of all this, misjudged the approach and took the boat's bow off. Not daunted. they rigged a stout line to a forward part of John's boat and the tow boat whipped around in a circle at high speed in an attempt to jerk the boat bow first to seaward. That maneuver tore off the rudder, leaving a hole the size of a coke can in the bottom. Undaunted, SeaTow towed the hapless craft off the bar and out to deep water, where it sank.

This happened because John tried to save money by not buying the ChartKit for the west coast of Florida $140, and his chartplotter with the free charts failed. Also, he failed to ask anyone for local info on that entrance. Seems it was closed... for nearly a year... since the last hurricane washed lots of sand into it.

The moral of all this is cruising is an experiential sport. You need to go sailing, early and often... beginning in small boats where the lessons are cheaper...

INDY
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