The nitty gritty, Making money while you're cruising The South Pacific

[JohnHolland]

A few ideas from SP cruising in the 80's:
- bring a sailrite sewing machine...many cruisers need sail and canvas repairs for a reasonable price
- write for a cruising or association magazine or local paper
- learn marine diesel repair and get tools for the difficult jobs...you'll need to know the basics anyway
Bring a guitar and busk?
- contact resorts in isolated places if you have good mechanical/electrical skills, or to teach SCUBA, often in demand with limited local supply
- NZ AUS work visas for teaching and skilled trades

Good luck

[rkarakai21]

This is an excellent discussion! Thank you all for your valuable input. I really needed to hear from some real world experience. Our initial plan is to buy a small rental property before leaving that will be generating a bit of passive income, or atleast paying itself off as we go.

Yes I am very interested in spending a longer period of time in Japan, good to hear they are more receptive to foreign craft cruising there.

[MicHughV]

I ran across a couple that were apparently artists.....they must have brought art supplies with them.
The pieces they did were relatively small and usually depicted sea life or the area where they were anchored.
They hung these from their boat's lifelines. They sometimes attracted a crowd. I don't remember how much their stuff sold for, but it looked like a good business to me.

I don't know your artistic capabilities, but here's an avenue that you can explore.

[tennis4789]

I've met alot of disgruntled landlords over time. Would stink to be cruising & having to pay for someone to live for free while destroying your property. Your laws might be more landlord friendly than ours.

I do rent out rooms & have had awesome tenants but I'm onsite.

Most people that i know that have money were very frugal over time. & didn't own boats lol

[billgewater]

Australia is always seeking fruit pickers and other seasonal agricultural workers. Probably similar in NZ. Usually these jobs are taken by back packers, some islanders etc. but what with Covid issues there is currently a real shortage. Teachers, particularly of mathematics, science and technology are also in general short supply. Try contacting the separate state bodies for opportunities and certification requirements. Plumbers, diesel mechanics and electricians are always sought out around marinas. Work around marinas is generally a cash economy. If you have the appropriate qualifications, really outstanding money can be made in the remote mining industry.

Medically, NZ and Aus. have very good free public health systems but the private system which you may be obliged to use is more expensive. Nothing as bad as the US system. Some homework needed here.
The comments re the pacific islands are real. Work can be hard to find and you may be unwelcome if you take their jobs. New Guinea is different as there are lots of "foreigners" working there.
An American couple we knew well, funded their cruising by her writing articles for the boating/travel world and he was her photographer. Worked for them. There are also some sample web sites showing the adventures etc. for cruising couples and clearly there is money involved here.

Best of luck.

[JasonBRose]

I spent 8 years cruising the Pacific leaving when I was 31 and settling in Hawaii when I was 39. 6 of those years I would leave my boat in Mexico/Fiji or NZ in May and fly home to Seattle where I'd work 4 months on tug boats hauling freight up to the Bering Sea. I generally cleared about 30k in 4 months and would return to the boat with a couple bags full of new gear, do a haul out and then spend the next 7 months cruising until it was time to find a place to leave the boat for the Summer and do it all over again. The last few years, I had a friend who was building a custom yacht for a guy and I ended up do a couple stints in Ohio doing all the systems installation work for him.

I found seasonal work to be ideal for cruising. My family and lots of friends were in Seattle and I'd see them twice a year on my way to and from work. Cruising part time keeps everything fresh and renews your zeal for cruising. Otherwise, you can actually get jaded from time to time. Best of all, working seasonally allows you to cruise full time when you're out sailing. So many people trying to eek out a living while cruising were stuck in the main ports and couldn't enjoy the secluded anchorages that actually inspire us to go cruising in the first place.

I met people making/selling jewelry, doing body work, and canvas work that all supplemented their cruising kitty, but didn't keep it full. I met a few people who did deliveries and their main source of income and were able to pull it off.

I echo the sentiment that working any job that would compete with any local business is a bad idea. Definitely met people who would do farm work in NZ or work under the table in bars, but for the most part I didn't see people finding local jobs in most of the islands. People who immigrated there often worked for far less than they'd make where they came from.

I was single handing on a Downeaster 32. I budgeted $5000 a year in haul outs and boat upgrades and $1000 a month for living/operating expenses. I rarely stayed in marinas except for where they were dirt cheap. I rarely ate out, drank cheap beer in moderation and didn't do anything touristy. I played music in bars in Mexico, Tonga and NZ and drank for free and made some tip money and did pretty well busking in Mexico.

They were 8 great years, and I have no regrets. In the end, I was just tired of being transient full time and needed to settle down.

Good luck out there.

[rkarakai21]

Originally Posted by JasonBRose

I spent 8 years cruising the Pacific leaving when I was 31 and settling in Hawaii when I was 39. 6 of those years I would leave my boat in Mexico/Fiji or NZ in May and fly home to Seattle where I'd work 4 months on tug boats hauling freight up to the Bering Sea. I generally cleared about 30k in 4 months and would return to the boat with a couple bags full of new gear, do a haul out and then spend the next 7 months cruising until it was time to find a place to leave the boat for the Summer and do it all over again. The last few years, I had a friend who was building a custom yacht for a guy and I ended up do a couple stints in Ohio doing all the systems installation work for him.

I found seasonal work to be ideal for cruising. My family and lots of friends were in Seattle and I'd see them twice a year on my way to and from work. Cruising part time keeps everything fresh and renews your zeal for cruising. Otherwise, you can actually get jaded from time to time. Best of all, working seasonally allows you to cruise full time when you're out sailing. So many people trying to eek out a living while cruising were stuck in the main ports and couldn't enjoy the secluded anchorages that actually inspire us to go cruising in the first place.

I met people making/selling jewelry, doing body work, and canvas work that all supplemented their cruising kitty, but didn't keep it full. I met a few people who did deliveries and their main source of income and were able to pull it off.

I echo the sentiment that working any job that would compete with any local business is a bad idea. Definitely met people who would do farm work in NZ or work under the table in bars, but for the most part I didn't see people finding local jobs in most of the islands. People who immigrated there often worked for far less than they'd make where they came from.

I was single handing on a Downeaster 32. I budgeted $5000 a year in haul outs and boat upgrades and $1000 a month for living/operating expenses. I rarely stayed in marinas except for where they were dirt cheap. I rarely ate out, drank cheap beer in moderation and didn't do anything touristy. I played music in bars in Mexico, Tonga and NZ and drank for free and made some tip money and did pretty well busking in Mexico.

They were 8 great years, and I have no regrets. In the end, I was just tired of being transient full time and needed to settle down.

Good luck out there.

I bet you have some great stories to tell.

This angle is definitely something for me to consider as I already have enough maritime qualifications to work on any commercial vessel as deckhand or mate up to a certain tonnage. The only part of that plan that is different for me is I did my solo transient years working aboard sail training ships for all of my 20's and now I am approaching the cruising goal as a team player with my partner and keeping that together is important, so I have edged away from working stints away from home, which of course hamstrings me from the most lucrative forms of maritime employment.. You win some, you lose some. It sounds like you found a real winning combination for your situation though! One has to be out there for us too.

[Tetepare]

What marketable skills do you have that the locals don’t? That’s where you make money.

Some people see opportunities everywhere and can monetize it. If you’re one, no problem, you’ll run across stuff.

Many though struggle through trying to figure out some get rich quick scheme. There is no such thing unless one has some talents to leverage. That said, I’ve met a number of people who went to the Pacific with Peace Corp and found a niche and stayed. You might get lucky.

BTW I find that most people who are self sufficient start by doing a search and find that there are a few lengthy threads on this topic.

[MicHughV]

Some folks need a lot of $$$ in their cruising kitty to go cruising....others can get by on a dime, so qualifications and possible jobs are much dependent on your anticipated spending habits.

[mvweebles]

Every boatyard I've been in have only a few levels of labor charges. General Labor is scraping paint, sanding, even fiberglass work often falls into this category. From there is skilled labor - electrician, mechanic, welder, HVAC, plumbing. These are frequently sub-contracted (vs direct employee) even by the yard. If your skills are in this group, you have a shot. If your skills are in the General Labor category, you will be competing with local labor. Setting aside the work permit issues, many business owners have had lousy experiences hiring westerners who simply don't last long at the low wages they will pay.

OP - you would do well to spend the next year or so figuring out a marketable skill to cruisers. HVAC/Refrigeration would be my first choice. Electrician would be more marketable, but infinitely more difficult to learn in a short period of time.

Peter

[tennis4789]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

OP - you would do well to spend the next year or so figuring out a marketable skill to cruisers. HVAC/Refrigeration would be my first choice. Electrician would be more marketable, but infinitely more difficult to learn in a short period of time.

Peter

Why Hvac/refrigeration?

[Tetepare]

Most Pacific countries don’t take kindly to westerners freelancing, and it doesn’t take long to figure out.

Western style hotels and services may bring on a temp for management. But you need management skills. Or high tech, but then you have to be high tech. Teachers should be able to find employment. Everyone else is pretty much a freeloader. With your experience you may pick up a job with a charter company in Tonga or Fiji.

You can live cheap if you feed yourself and get lucky with nothing breaking.

[rkarakai21]

Originally Posted by mvweebles

Every boatyard I've been in have only a few levels of labor charges. General Labor is scraping paint, sanding, even fiberglass work often falls into this category. From there is skilled labor - electrician, mechanic, welder, HVAC, plumbing. These are frequently sub-contracted (vs direct employee) even by the yard. If your skills are in this group, you have a shot. If your skills are in the General Labor category, you will be competing with local labor. Setting aside the work permit issues, many business owners have had lousy experiences hiring westerners who simply don't last long at the low wages they will pay.

OP - you would do well to spend the next year or so figuring out a marketable skill to cruisers. HVAC/Refrigeration would be my first choice. Electrician would be more marketable, but infinitely more difficult to learn in a short period of time.

Peter

Well the closest I am to skilled labour would be in my traditional rigging experience. I have done a fair bit of it from every kind of marlinespike seamanship needed to rig a ship of the 18th century to splicing up a gang of full length served, galvanised wire rig for a friends gaffer. I have dipped my toes into the modern fiber rigging side, only to the level of splicing and making small soft shackles, but the rig on our boat is going to be all modern, probably Dynex Dux, served full length etc.. That will give me a good chance to deep dive into the technical details of that type of line.

What I have looked for and not yet found is someone from the modern rigging world that I can learn from to get up to speed with stainless and rod rigging, different modern terminals etc.. It seems like to get into a rigging shop here you need to go through a 4 year "marine service tech program" Where really you are being taught to be a jack of all marine trades and not necessarily a specialist in rigging. I might still look into this route. It would be a shame tossing aside my rigging experience to go in a completely different direction, I'm sure there are cruisers out there that need proper rig inspections, Standing rig replacements, static and dynamic tunes, new soft shackles and synthetic rigs.. and while materials have changed, I don't see impassable obstacles in rejigging my thinking towards more modern rigs.

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by rkarakai21

Well the closest I am to skilled labour would be in my traditional rigging experience....... It would be a shame tossing aside my rigging experience to go in a completely different direction, I'm sure there are cruisers out there that need proper rig inspections, Standing rig replacements, static and dynamic tunes, new soft shackles and synthetic rigs.. and while materials have changed, I don't see impassable obstacles in rejigging my thinking towards more modern rigs.

I would think most SP cruisers in need of rigging would plan replacement/repair in NZ where they could get proper materials.

Rather than find a market for your skills, might want to consider changing your skills to meet probably market demand.

You may want to update your question to ask how many cruisers sought a rigging professional in an out of the way place.

Regardless, I wish you all the best. With enough desire, you'll figure something out. I doubt it's rigging, but something. Just go.

Peter

[ol1970]

My wife can sing and play the acoustical guitar and has no problem doing a 2-3 hour set of all the songs that people love hearing in the tropical beach bar environments. For fun, she plans on seeing if she can set up and play in a few spots we stop along the way and if we get drinks and dinner out of it that is a bonus! It doesn't hurt her chances of being successful that she's a 6' tall drop dead gorgeous blonde Scandinavian.