Make Money While Cruising - List

[SteveT]

Ah well I'll have to try and at least get the basics. Speaking as someone who hurled a Window's Lap top into a couple of thousand metres of water in a fit of rage I think I have a long way to go. Sigh......

[osirissail]

I think what Active Captain is alluding to is that in - some - cases technology has allowed - some - cruisers to start cruising sooner than they would otherwise. Instead of waiting until they have enough money to support cruising, they can go and take some of their "work" with them. Which I think, is kinda what this thread is about.

It was pretty much pointed out many, many posts ago that to make-money-while-cruising - and not get involved in possibly illegal activities in some country or other - internet based business is the best way to go. Of course you need the savvy and skill to understand and do all the stuff which sounds like "greek" to me.

All other ways to earn money run into problems of local laws or taking potential work from locals all of which can get you into problems and possibly harm's way.

[SteveT]

I can see that and the best of luck to those who can make a living whilst cruising however they do it. For myself I work for 4 months, get 4 months paid leave and can thus sail for 2-3 months depending on family demands then repeat. Works for me at least.

[s/v Breakaway]

SteveT - what kind of work are you in, please?

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by s/v Breakaway

SteveT - what kind of work are you in, please?

member of the us congress

[SteveT]

No need to be rude and nasty! I am certainly not a politician of any stripe and never have been. IMO anyone volunteering to be a pol should be staked out on an anthill with a stake through his heart just in case he comes back from the dead.

FWIW I am Master of a large oil tanker which pays the bills and leaves a bit left over for fun.

[avb3]

Originally Posted by SteveT

...
FWIW I am Master of a large oil tanker which pays the bills and leaves a bit left over for fun.

Welcome, and avoid close encounters with rocky Italian islands. Stories are circulating that apparently they have unmarked rocks there

[WorldWind]

My wife trains Doctor's and medical staff on medical software remotely .
She's very Awsome at it and knows her stuff.
All we need is Skype/Internet and we're good.
Oh and did I mention she makes more dinero's than I ever have surveying the Arizona deserts and Alaskan Highways?

[Pacificcatalyst]

Originally Posted by Schooner Irony

I'd like to do the occasional charter, and/or sunset cruise on my boat, but don't have a CG Captains License. Any way around this, or is it a necessary evil?

There are a couple of problems with this: First, unless you're somewhere on the dark side of the moon (where you are unlikely to have much business) there are rules and regulations that need to be complied with.

Second, if you're in a populated place (where they are customers) you will be stepping on the toes of the locals that have gone to the trouble and expense of being compliant with the laws.

I spend thousands of dollars every year keeping our permits current, applying for access to newly opened areas, and making sure that our safety equipment is up to snuff.

I spend weeks every 5 years renewing my licenses, and more weeks in between renewals taking classes so I can gather more certifications and thus advance my level of license.

It ticks my off to have someone show up in MY yard, with a banner over their boom advertising Sunset Sails or the like with no license, no permits, no inspections, etc, etc.

I appreciate that this violates the spirit of living freely on the shoulders of mother ocean......but, there are practical considerations to be made.

[Capt Phil]

rebel heart +1! LMAO... When I was doing deliveries full time on the west coast, I would call ahead to brokers and e-mail clients at my delivery destination and about 50% of the time would pick up another delivery to somewhere. If I did, I would refund my client the airfare home he fronted me. Word gets around when you treat folks honestly... Capt Phil

[Pacificcatalyst]

ADD prevents me from reading through this entire thread, so this may have been addressed already. Sorry if that's the case.

Has anyone worked at a charter base as a check-ride skipper? Seems like, if you have the appropriate license, there should be some poorly paying work doing 2 hour orientations, and then occasionally being the skipper for the family who, following the check ride and the melt-down of the dad/captain, decide that dad is NOT going to be in charge of the boat for their week.

How about getting certified as a factory authorized tech for Yanmar, or Isuzu or Perkins? Can you afford to spend a few grand for a 6-week course that would provide steady income in cruising ports around the world? How about learning about hydraulic reverse gears and having a stash of typically needed wear parts?

I know folks who know electronics repair, have a lot of parts (they're small and light) and repair radios and radars to refill their kitty. Or, learn to rebuild alternators and starters. Not too many different parts needed, and a small bench top lathe, a bead blaster and some specialised testing equipment, and you would be popular where ever you were.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Pacificcatalyst

. . . Has anyone worked at a charter base as a check-ride skipper? . . .

How about getting certified as a factory authorized tech for Yanmar, or Isuzu or Perkins? . . .

I know folks who know electronics repair, have a lot of parts (they're small and light) and repair radios and radars to refill their kitty. Or, learn to rebuild alternators and starters. . .

Each of these ideas raise the exact same ire and objections you expressed in your reply to "occasional charter, and/or sunset cruise on my boat."

That is, you are stepping on the toes of locals who are doing this for a living. In the Caribbean, at least, bareboat charter "check-out skippers" and ride along skippers are licensed or not licensed as the local regulations require. But they are all locals whose families rely on them to earn money for food and living. Same thing with the other two ideas - in just about every island there are locals with the skills and training - and if not, they send the units to another island where they can be repaired and get a percentage of the billed cost.

The situation is even "dicey" when you do the repair or work for "free" - no compensation. There is normally somebody on shore who needed that job to earn money to feed their family.

[Pacificcatalyst]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Each of these ideas raise the exact same ire and objections you expressed in your reply to "occasional charter, and/or sunset cruise on my boat."

That is, you are stepping on the toes of locals who are doing this for a living. In the Caribbean, at least, bareboat charter "check-out skippers" and ride along skippers are licensed or not licensed as the local regulations require. But they are all locals whose families rely on them to earn money for food and living. Same thing with the other two ideas - in just about every island there are locals with the skills and training - and if not, they send the units to another island where they can be repaired and get a percentage of the billed cost.

The situation is even "dicey" when you do the repair or work for "free" - no compensation. There is normally somebody on shore who needed that job to earn money to feed their family.

Good points! No ire was felt or intended, sorry if that's how I came across.

My examples were drawn from personal experience. There was a guy who spent the summer going from port to port in Alaska, repairing broken electronics on fish boats. There was no local he was infringing on. Not sure if that's still the case.

I spent a educational 10-days in Puerto Vallarta a while back with a reduction gear that had stopped turning the shaft. There was a gringo working as a mechanic for the local Unimog tour outfit who thought he could "figure it out". He couldn't.

There was a Austrailian guy off a cruising boat who let it be known he was a mechanic. He looked at it, pulled it apart, and discovered that the gear was a right rotation, and the prop was left. Someone had solved this problem by swapping the control cables. This meant that for goodness knows how long, the gear had been running in reverse to move the boat forward. The gear was designed to take much more load in forward than reverse, so the clutch plates had failed.

We scrounged the town for bearings and oil seals, found them, and he put the whole thing back together. Sorry about the long story, but the point is that in both cases, no one was being scabbed, and a needed service was provided.

I've never sailed in the Caribbean, so cannot speak to your points. I'm sure they're valid, but that isn't necessarily true around the world.

[wolfenzee]

I wrapped a car around a tree and screwed up my brain enough to leave me unable to work. I worked enough and paid into the system enough so I have a modest Social Security income ($1000/mo) can barely squeak by on land but is a nice cruising income. I hope to supplement this by carrying my wood shop along with me.

[msponer]

Originally Posted by Pacificcatalyst

I've never sailed in the Caribbean, so cannot speak to your points. I'm sure they're valid, but that isn't necessarily true around the world.

Yes, rather than being a threat to local jobs, in the rural parts of the Pacific I think a diesel mechanic is likely to be treated like a visiting doctor and asked to look at the local's generators.

I hung out with a sailor in Rarotonga who had spent the hurricane season in Palua working on the generators there. He wasn't a mechanic, just had the normal sailors love for diesel.