Picking up local work while cruising

[Ausluke]

After anyone’s opinion on finding work doing my trade or my mrs.
I have a European work rights, my mrs does not. ( we are Australian)

I specialize in welding and metal fabrication. Weld any kind of exotic steel, stainless, titanium, copper nickel, to X-ray standards.

And my mrs a very experienced hairdresser/makeup artist ( owned a buisness)

Now I believe we have enough funds for a few years, but who really knows. So for my own knowledge I’m just asking what people think of these skill sets around the cruising locations. ( personally I would rather do anything else before diving straight back into my trade, it’s probably what pushed me into a lifestyle change) but if we need a dollar, then I’ll have to put my big boy pants on.

And for anyone that does not like the idea of stealing local work, I respect that. The objective is to make a dollar and continue,not hang around and make a living...

Thank you in advance.

[denverd0n]

Anywhere you find boats you will probably find a need for welders.

The issue is not what people on this forum think about "stealing" local work, the issue is what the locals think. Unless you keep your work extremely discreet, they are probably going to want to be sure that you have all of the insurance, permits, licenses, etc. that they are required to have, in order to run a business. In some countries this may be a non-issue, in others it might be a huge problem.

Good luck.

[boatman61]

The missus will likely get more work than you operating from the boat.. most head for marina's for the winter months in the Med so settling for a few months in Almerimar for example would likely produce a steady income from the cruising wives and expats there.. just make up some cards to hand out on arrival and maybe post in the 'Brit' bars.
You however are another matter.. expat owners of workshops may take you on but it can be tricky.. I got a Spanish Marinhiero's Blue Book when I worked for a season for an expat with a beach concession.. had to go through a lawyer, produce cerification etc.. then be interviewed and approved by god (the harbourmaster) before I could start.. so I am legal to work in Spanish yards.. anyone says anything I just wave my 'Book' at them and we go for a beer..
Others get kicked outa the yard.

[Thumbs Up]

If you market your skills to other cruisers you should be fine. If you can bring a small welding shop along you would be golden. How about a polishing service but hire a local helper for the elbow grease

[Homeward13]

Originally Posted by Thumbs Up

If you market your skills to other cruisers you should be fine. If you can bring a small welding shop along you would be golden. How about a polishing service but hire a local helper for the elbow grease

What about power? Would you use shore power for your welding or wire the boat and get some big battery banks for 220v welding???

What are the implications in each option? Are there any other options that I missed?

...Asking for a friend

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Thumbs Up

If you market your skills to other cruisers you should be fine. If you can bring a small welding shop along you would be golden. How about a polishing service but hire a local helper for the elbow grease

If your doing your welding on floating boats you may get away with it but on the hard.. more likely to get kicked out best case.. worst case arrested by the Guardia.
Things are not as laid back as they were 20+yrs ago and many yards do not allow owners to work on their boats while on the hard these days, let alone unlicensed workers to steal from their rice bowl.

[Lepke]

I've never had a problem working on a boat,mine or belonging to someone else on the US West Coast or Canada. But in the case of my own boat, it's something I discuss before hand. And I supply my own materials.
I carry a wire welder and was certified in most methods, but don't do welding as a business. If I run into someone that needs welding I just cover costs if anything. Besides anything major in welding projects would need a yard anyway.

[boatman61]

Should clarify.. I am talking about the Med here and NOT the USA etc..

[travellerw]

Ok.. Seems pretty clear you were working in a big industry (probably oil and gas) if you hold all those tickets.

If you do find some welding work, understand that you are competing with local shops. What you expect to be paid, and what you will be paid out here are 2 different things. No cruiser is going to give 2 sh!ts that you can weld to x-ray standard. Nor are they willing to pay you to back purge a weld to achieve perfection.

To give you an idea.. I was able to get 6 welds done on various brackets for our wind generator mount... for $25USD (all 6 welds for that price).. This was in St. Martin, not some 3rd world place. Frankly after the cost of the TIG shielding gas and 316 filler rod, I'm guessing he made $15. Ya, let that sink in!

Frankly.. You are MUCH better off delaying one year and working that year in the industry you are currently employed. You will make multiple orders of magnitude more than trying to eak out welding jobs while competing in local cruising markets.

[Reefmagnet]

Originally Posted by Homeward13

What about power? Would you use shore power for your welding or wire the boat and get some big battery banks for 220v welding???

What are the implications in each option? Are there any other options that I missed?

...Asking for a friend

In the context of repair and small fabrication...

Batteries are a waste of time. 7kVA alternator and inverter stick/TIG. Stick is very versatile and TIG will giveyou quality results on (mainly) ferrous materials. AC TIG could be a bit hairy on a boat (HF leakage), so I'd say stick with DC only unless, of course, Al is your specialty. MIG's nice, but non essential for many reasons in this scenario. Test welder/genset combo first as some gensets can't supply the oomph to get the ball rolling when you strike the arc (hint: start by looking at start and run capacities and power factors in the specs for both welding machine and genset).

[Ausluke]

Since the start of this post the realization of taking a month or two away from the boat is much more viable. As others have stated, the locals do things very cheaply and the effort of getting involved wouldnt be worth it. A plane flight to the money industry is reality.
I have come across cruisers and given my opinion on different stainless jobs buts thats as far as i can see it going..
one would have to pull up ,and set off a legitimate fab shop to make a reasonable profit.