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

[farm sail]

Originally Posted by Barefootnavigat

Whats wrong with being a shoestring sailor? We sailed the inside passage this year on a $100 a week, two people and our dog. We lived very well within our budget and had no complaints. Attitude is the differecne between ordeal and adventure. We could have gone on forever but a sick doggie prompted a return to the states.


I should note that when I set off again the budget will be $125 a week. We met all sorts of frugal sailors all having a wonderful ecperince on small budgets.

1 of the key words in his post " attitude "

Spot on Stormy


If you're going to this with the attitude that it can't be done and try and take your landlubber lifestyle onto a boat and just be a liveaboard with full time job and a commute and cars insurance and storage and all that stuff of course you will never make it. If you really want to make it as a frugal cruiser you need to cut your ties to the expensive location's take vantage of all the benefits the mobility of a sailboat can give you and go where the living cheap and easy Not downtown san francisco.

[mausgras]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I've read that the Andaman Sea/Gulf of Thailand is an inviting place for cruisers. It is (apparently) an inexpensive place to live, but it is open and inviting to sailors. Is this your experience boat_alexandra? Please do tell us more.

The answer is yes and no.

To get a long term 1 year visa for over 55s you have to prove you have the finances to support yourself which is something like $30000 in the bank and/or at least $1500 per month income. Nor are you allowed to work locally without a permit. That is not a particularly high hurdle but would eliminate many very low budget cruisers.

Thailand govt have announced a new multi entry 6 month visa to start in Nov. But it unclear if they will allow these back to back.

You also have to Thailand register the boat after 6 months and pay 7 percent VAT.

That said, the region is very cruiser and liveaboard friendly with little regulation as to where and how long you can anchor. The exception being around the quite extensive system of marine national parks.

The downside is the incredible number tourists and tour boats which crowd the more popular places. However there are also plenty of fabulous island and bays where you can anchor in glorious isolation.

There is little in the way of sub 30 ft liveaboards since most have sailed a long way from their home ports in Europe, America or Aust. and for various reasons decide to linger longer or stop all together. Consequently there are some really good value boats for sale in the 40+ foot range. Good value but not necessarily budget cost.

Marina berth you are looking around $800 pm for a 40 footer but anchoring outside for free is usually accepted and they let you use facilities for a small fee per month.

If you meet minimum govt requirements for a visa then life aboard can be very good for $500 -$1000. pm.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by farm sail

If you're going to this with the attitude that it can't be done and try and take your landlubber lifestyle onto a boat and just be a liveaboard with full time job and a commute and cars insurance and storage and all that stuff of course you will never make it. If you really want to make it as a frugal cruiser you need to cut your ties to the expensive location's take vantage of all the benefits the mobility of a sailboat can give you and go where the living cheap and easy Not downtown san francisco.

Yes ... this is what I was saying back a few posts. Location matters, and choices matter. Modern consumerist economies are the antithesis of frugality. This makes it very hard to live inexpensively while still attached to most Western (consumer-capitalist) countries. Some people seem to manage it (SailorChic, Barefootnavigat), but for most of us mere mortals it is very hard to achieve. This is why a truly frugal lifestyle demands that we make sometimes hard choices about where, and how we live.

There are tradeoffs with every choice. So far (and I'm just beginning on this path) the benefits gained for me in freedom and simplicity outweigh the negatives of diminished luxuries and increased uncertainty. But everyone is different. And ain't that wonderful .

Originally Posted by mausgras

The answer is yes and no.

To get a long term 1 year visa for over 55s you have to prove you have the finances to support yourself which is something like $30000 in the bank and/or at least $1500 per month income. Nor are you allowed to work locally without a permit. That is not a particularly high hurdle but would eliminate many very low budget cruisers.

Thailand govt have announced a new multi entry 6 month visa to start in Nov. But it unclear if they will allow these back to back.

You also have to Thailand register the boat after 6 months and pay 7 percent VAT.

That said, the region is very cruiser and liveaboard friendly with little regulation as to where and how long you can anchor. The exception being around the quite extensive system of marine national parks.

The downside is the incredible number tourists and tour boats which crowd the more popular places. However there are also plenty of fabulous island and bays where you can anchor in glorious isolation.

...

If you meet minimum govt requirements for a visa then life aboard can be very good for $500 -$1000. pm.

Thanks mausgras, this is very helpful information. Much appreciate it.

[zboss]

I think there is a lot of insight on this thread! Too much for one thread! I'd suggest breaking the thread into several different threads to make it easier to digest and manage. I suggest closing this thread and moving to several threads that focus on specific agendas in the "$500 a month" concept such as:

- $500 a month cruising: Vessel Budget and Cheap Outfitting.
- $500 a month cruising: Food Budget and savings opportunities.
- $500 a month cruising: moorings, marinas, and anchorages Budget planning.
- $500 a month cruising: Energy production and management

and so on.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by zboss

I think there is a lot of insight on this thread! Too much for one thread! I'd suggest breaking the thread into several different threads to make it easier to digest and manage. I suggest closing this thread and moving to several threads that focus on specific agendas in the "$500 a month" concept such as:

- $500 a month cruising: Vessel Budget and Cheap Outfitting.
- $500 a month cruising: Food Budget and savings opportunities.
- $500 a month cruising: moorings, marinas, and anchorages Budget planning.
- $500 a month cruising: Energy production and management

and so on.

What? Spoil the fun? Reading it all is half the fun. Remember. ...life is about the journey

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

What? Spoil the fun? Reading it all is half the fun. Remember. ...life is about the journey

Yes. Lol.

Anyone can start any thread with any thread title.....but good luck with keeping folks on topic!

Sent from my NEXUS 5 whilst sitting in my armchair tied to the dock.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by zboss

I think there is a lot of insight on this thread! Too much for one thread! I'd suggest breaking the thread into several different threads to make it easier to digest and manage. I suggest closing this thread and moving to several threads that focus on specific agendas in the "$500 a month" concept such as:

- $500 a month cruising: Vessel Budget and Cheap Outfitting.
- $500 a month cruising: Food Budget and savings opportunities.
- $500 a month cruising: moorings, marinas, and anchorages Budget planning.
- $500 a month cruising: Energy production and management

and so on.

The big problem with splitting threads is that in my experience it kills the whole concept

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by zboss

I think there is a lot of insight on this thread! Too much for one thread! I'd suggest breaking the thread into several different threads to make it easier to digest and manage. I suggest closing this thread and moving to several threads that focus on specific agendas in the "$500 a month" concept such as:

- $500 a month cruising: Vessel Budget and Cheap Outfitting.
- $500 a month cruising: Food Budget and savings opportunities.
- $500 a month cruising: moorings, marinas, and anchorages Budget planning.
- $500 a month cruising: Energy production and management

and so on.

At the $500 level, staying in most marina's is out of the question. Though I have found a few that I could stay in for $200 ish a month, including electric. But they are few and far between.

Energy production is 300 watts of solar, a PWM controller and costco golfcart batteries. I started with one panel and added two more, one at a time as money came up.

Generally to live at the $500-$600 level requires that you already own a boat (no payments). Tons of boats out there for $3000-$6000 in the 30' to 36' range. Here's one 1977 Islander 36 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

At the $500-$600 level, you will not have a water maker, high output alternator, new sails, ice maker, or a power boat of any kind. A older 30-34 foot sailboat would be just about perfect. A smaller boat would be cheaper but living full time long term on a boat under 30' would be challenging. You need good tankage for water, fuel and holding. Hard to get in a sub 30 foot boat. But to big a boat will cost too much in, well everything.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by newhaul

The big problem with splitting threads is that in my experience it kills the whole concept

And also the minor detail of being a thankless time consuming PITA to actually do....especially given that folk never wrote their posts with a split in mind.

IMO, the value from a thread such as this is being able to pick out common themes accross multiple years from a varied pot of contributors. Not so much for easy answers (or any!) but working out the questions to ask of self.



Sent from my NEXUS 5 whilst sitting in my armchair tied to the dock.

[onestepcsy37]

I vote for keeping one thread. Guaranteed the four threads will not stick to topic and will cross back and forth to the other threads, making it very difficult to follow.

[Hydra]

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

I vote for keeping one thread.

Me too.

Alain

[farm sail]

Agreed, keep it as is, one thread.

Unless we can get our own sub-forum for budget cruising. That would make it a bit easier to keep track of different threads. If we just split it up, threads will get lost

[Ballenxj]

Originally Posted by farm sail

Agreed, keep it as is, one thread.

One stop shopping. Hey, it has worked fine so far.

Not only that, but if it ain't broke, please don't try to fix it.

[Sea Dreaming]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Sent from my NEXUS 5 whilst sitting in my armchair tied to the dock.

What happened to your boat?

[nic26]

Originally Posted by Hard Rock Candy

I think I would rather that you save the dog scat for disposal at sea. Or at least not dump it in my marina space. There is no scat that smells worse than dog scat. I grew up in the country. and Iv'e smelled all the common farm animals. Mac

You obviously had no cats.