Shoestring Sailors (Cruising on $500 per month - part II)

[Blue Crab]

It hurts to read that post, SC. You've obviously spent too much time cruising Oakland's not-so-fair shores.

I am not all that yottie but dang girl. Ya made a duck out of a swan.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

.

Being a poor sailor, last year, I purchased a can of exterior acrylic and painted most of the exterior wood. In pink of course... One $12 quart of paint from the big box hardware store is good for the cap rails. .

really?

post a picture

what do the gulls think of it?

[bornyesterday]

"all for about $50 in paint. That's how this shoestring sailor saves money. Not to mention all the time I save not having to varnish, etc. Plus paint lasts for years and years. Big win..."

Been debating with myself whether to paint the overhead (which is raw ply) for maybe £35 - or to cover it with white vinyl for around £400-£450.
Was thinking vinyl would probably be more attractive to any potential buyer but...
I expect this to be my last boat so why should I care?
Painting will take a tenth of the time...
Vinyl in a steel chine boat might increase condensation... and there's that "lipstick on a pig" argument...

Thanks for helping me decide, Sailorchic! Pink? Er... very tempting of course but might just stick with boring old white

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

It hurts to read that post, SC. You've obviously spent too much time cruising Oakland's not-so-fair shores.

I am not all that yottie but dang girl. Ya made a duck out of a swan.

Gee BC, You know I avoid Oakland like the plague. Besides it actually looks pretty good.


Don, a photo of the Rose in Summer Delta attire, complete with canvas deck shade.

[sailorchic34]

I admit, my boat is not a yacht, but its me home, and it take me to many places.

Being a shoestring sailor, I'll point out that I rebuilt my boarding ladder using free scrape 2x4 pine boards for the steps, The old plastic steps had failed over time due to UV.

In the previous photo, one step had slid down the rails. I since fixed that using larger screws to hold the steps in place. Total cost of repair about $1.50 for the bigger SS screws.

To the right of the boarding ladder is a pink bag. That bag contains my emergency boarding ladder, that I made with 50' of rope plus a bag sewed from scrap sunbrella, that I had on board. Total cost about $12.

The Bimini, just visible under my $20 canvas drop cloth sun shades, I made for less then $200, including the pink sunbrella.

The aft solar panel mounts are made from eight 24"x3"x1/4" laminated oak strips, painted pink of course. Total cost to make about $50, including mounting hardware. I can articulate the panel up and down over 120 degrees to maximize the solar gain. I used hose clamps mounted to the aft pushpit as supports to hold the solar panel brace in different angles too. Cost $0 as I had plenty O spares.

On the aft stay your see some black markings just above the boom. That is where my $15 led anchor light is mounted. Water proof, low power and VERY bright. It doubles as a night time cockpit light too at anchor.

Just some of the things I do to reduce the cost of sailing. No I don't think I need to worry about joining St. Frances yacht club anytime soon. But it is possible to live and sail on a low budget.

Don, you'll note the complete lack of seagulls in the photo too. No its not a yacht, but then I'm not at all a yachty.

[SV THIRD DAY]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

I admit, my boat is not a yacht, but its me home, and it take me to many places.

She looks great to me!

Here is a blog page with a nice list of folks that post their budget numbers:

The Cost of Cruising ~ SV Estrellita 5.10b

[Tantalus]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

Gee BC, You know I avoid Oakland like the plague. Besides it actually looks pretty good.

Don, a photo of the Rose in Summer Delta attire, complete with canvas deck shade.

I like it!!!!!!

[Vino the Dog]

Pretty cool that there is a boat style for every personality. Will soon be pulling my masts to repair - and get rid of the ugly white paint (personal opinion for my boat only), sand them down to bare wood then 11 coats of Cetol to restore the beauty of original wooden spars.

I am not a "check book sailor", so have to do the whole job on my pathetic $500 per month fixed income. Get criticized all the time by people who have a lot more money and a lot less skill, who tell me that I should "sell that boat then you can't afford and move into an apartment." Only bigger criticism I get is requiring crew to be willing to pick up after a dog if it needs to be done on their watch while everyone else is asleep.

Do I care?

Follow your heart. Easy to find people to ridicule. Those to listen to are the ones who understand you path and support your effort no matter how obscure it may be.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

Pretty cool that there is a boat style for every personality. Will soon be pulling my masts to repair - and get rid of the ugly white paint (personal opinion for my boat only), sand them down to bare wood then 11 coats of Cetol to restore the beauty of original wooden spars.

I am not a "check book sailor", so have to do the whole job on my pathetic $500 per month fixed income. Get criticized all the time by people who have a lot more money and a lot less skill, who tell me that I should "sell that boat then you can't afford and move into an apartment." Only bigger criticism I get is requiring crew to be willing to pick up after a dog if it needs to be done on their watch while everyone else is asleep.

Do I care?

Follow your heart. Easy to find people to ridicule. Those to listen to are the ones who understand you path and support your effort no matter how obscure it may be.

I try not to let the differences in wealth distribution affect my equilibrium. In general we all have a finite amount of the foldin' and we CHOOSE what we want for it and we save to spend it where we place our priorities. Sometimes we cant afford something and we have to find other ways to achieve our required goal.

Everything is a compromise in life. We have find our level of contentment for the choices we make. We find ways of adapting and getting to where we need to be.

You obviously are a very successful person as you are DOING what you set out to do. That my friend, is amazing and I applaud that.

As or the dog........ he doesnt care either

[weavis]

Originally Posted by sailorchic34

I admit, my boat is not a yacht, but its me home, and it take me to many places.

Being a shoestring sailor, I'll point out that I rebuilt my boarding ladder using free scrape 2x4 pine boards for the steps, The old plastic steps had failed over time due to UV.

In the previous photo, one step had slid down the rails. I since fixed that using larger screws to hold the steps in place. Total cost of repair about $1.50 for the bigger SS screws.

To the right of the boarding ladder is a pink bag. That bag contains my emergency boarding ladder, that I made with 50' of rope plus a bag sewed from scrap sunbrella, that I had on board. Total cost about $12.

The Bimini, just visible under my $20 canvas drop cloth sun shades, I made for less then $200, including the pink sunbrella.

The aft solar panel mounts are made from eight 24"x3"x1/4" laminated oak strips, painted pink of course. Total cost to make about $50, including mounting hardware. I can articulate the panel up and down over 120 degrees to maximize the solar gain. I used hose clamps mounted to the aft pushpit as supports to hold the solar panel brace in different angles too. Cost $0 as I had plenty O spares.

On the aft stay your see some black markings just above the boom. That is where my $15 led anchor light is mounted. Water proof, low power and VERY bright. It doubles as a night time cockpit light too at anchor.

Just some of the things I do to reduce the cost of sailing. No I don't think I need to worry about joining St. Frances yacht club anytime soon. But it is possible to live and sail on a low budget.

Don, you'll note the complete lack of seagulls in the photo too. No its not a yacht, but then I'm not at all a yachty.

You dont like pink by any chance do you?
Leading by example... now that makes you a Yottie.


LED anchor/cockpit light..... Now I will be looking in to that! Brilliant!!

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by weavis

You dont like pink by any chance do you?

It's interesting about the pink/blue dichotomy. My youngest daughter, almost from day one, preferred blue when there was a choice. Carolina blue like this: . And she proved to be a "prickly" child, to use her mother's term. Hence, Blue Crab wasn't much of a stretch for me to come up with a fairly unique, easy-on-the-radio kinda name. And like daughter Jenni herself, Callinectes sapidus is a beautiful swimmer.

Anyway, as a fan of competent women, SailorChic is highly rated in my book. I could not bring myself to paint over teak but I get it. Maintenance is key, and I sense SC doesn't allow her vessel to get too shabby. If not Bristol, maybe nearby locales like Portishead or Horfield. To each her own as we say.

On the punishment we endured above on the LED light being a brilliant idea: Yesterday I sailed into WM, the lower cost marine chandlery. Even WalMart haters will love this: These little yet really powerful flashlights were $1.00 USD each. I may go back and buy all the rest. A natural item for the shoestring sailor, and a small gift item all would appreciate.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

On the punishment we endured above on the LED light being a brilliant idea:

ha! at least someone saw the light!

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by weavis

ha! at least someone saw the light!

Aha! Had to put mah shades on.

[Tantalus]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

It's interesting about the pink/blue dichotomy. My youngest daughter, almost from day one, preferred blue when there was a choice. Carolina blue like this: . And she proved to be a "prickly" child, to use her mother's term. Hence, Blue Crab wasn't much of a stretch for me to come up with a fairly unique, easy-on-the-radio kinda name. And like daughter Jenni herself, Callinectes sapidus is a beautiful swimmer.

Anyway, as a fan of competent women, SailorChic is highly rated in my book. I could not bring myself to paint over teak but I get it. Maintenance is key, and I sense SC doesn't allow her vessel to get too shabby. If not Bristol, maybe nearby locales like Portishead or Horfield. To each her own as we say.

On the punishment we endured above on the LED light being a brilliant idea: Yesterday I sailed into WM, the lower cost marine chandlery. Even WalMart haters will love this: These little yet really powerful flashlights were $1.00 USD each. I may go back and buy all the rest. A natural item for the shoestring sailor, and a small gift item all would appreciate.

I have a couple of those...they are awesome!!!!!

[toddedger]

I just love it when boats come along side and tell me how nice my teak looks. My little Morgan is having her 40th birthday this summer. One day I saw this plastic wood on a bench in front of Home Depot. I tracked it down and replaced all the teak with plastic teak 15 years ago. It now looks exactly the same as when I put it on. It was more work than a coat of paint, but now I have much more time to apply wax on the fiberglass.