Working in the Carribean

[devilfishlane]

Hello

I'm 39 yrs old US citizen and plan to live on the hook in the Carribean (Catalina 34) wherever I can find work. Could I find work easily -----

1) Washing yachts

2) Marina work

3) Taking people out for day sails

4) Seasonal restaurant/bar/shop work

5) teaching English

I hope to add around $1000 to to the kity a month

Any info would be great!

Kevin

[Zanshin]

Without a work visa for the various countries you would be limited to working in US territories such as the USVI or Puerto Rico - all of which have a surfeit of people with similar plans to yours.
Most Caribbean nations have sufficient people of their own to take care of options 1-4 and although I doubt that the local equivalent of "L'emigra" would catch you working I am 100% certain that, given a bit of time, someone losing work to you would certainly report you, and then any money you might have made would go towards paying court fees and fines. Sorry to have to be negative, you might have luck and find something but it isn't quite as simple or easy as it seems at first. Then again, the Caribbean has a huge area and many nations.

[devilfishlane]

Thanks for the reply. I would have no problem working in USVI or Puerto Rico (my Spanish is good). Just trying to suppliment my income with another 1k a month. Has anybody worked (jobs I listed above) in PR or USVI?

Thanks again

[sluissa]

If you go farther south, I've heard South America has opportunities for English teachers.

[Pblais]

Could I find work easily

You need to stay cash only to avoid the problems without a proper Visa. Also note there are time limits of how long you can stay in many countries. You then have to leave long enough before you come back. A good review of local immigration rules would be well advised. Competing with local people might increase your odds of showing up on the radar screen of the locals or the officials. One often can lead to the other.

Unskilled labor is plentiful in all these locations. You might not want the job.

[Chuck Baier]

Kevin, You will find that besides yourself there will be 50 other cruisers and a few dozen locals all trying for the same job. If you want some extra income, well maybe, but a slight maybe, so if you don't have the money to live on without those job prospect, you need to stay where you are. Being broke and hungry with no way to get home in the Caribbean is not paradise.

[Canibul]

IF you can figure out a way to make money on the Internet, you can do that wherever you go. And there are a lot of ways to do it.

But other posters are right, it's going to be tough to just show up and start working some kind of menial labor type job. We got Haitians here in the TCI who will work hard all day long for $ 4 an hour. They are illegal, too, without work permits. The difference is that they have been doing that all their working lives, and have a support network in place. And that's your competition.

[stevensc]

If you are very computer and electronics savy you might be able to make some cash straightening out boaters problems with their equipment. but there are a lot of people doing this for free so I wouldn't expect much $$$
Steve

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Canibul

We got Haitians here in the TCI who will work hard all day long for $ 4 an hour. They are illegal, too, .

Yes, but they might be harder to find.

I would certainly like help occasionally and would be willing to pay more ($4.20ph) for someone who knows boats and is going to do a good job.

I'm needing to polish the oxidized thing from pointy end to fat bit and if I had some dollars to spare I would gladly pay. Someone here who is doing daywork while waiting for a super yacht job offered at $15 per hour -$120/day and I know he would do a good job.

Also I would prefer to help out another cruiser.

If my budget works out right (cross fingers!!!!!!!!!!) I would like to be able to give Nicolle a break sometimes by having the boat cleaned top to tail. I think she would appreciate that on occasion.

Mark