‘We feel truly alive’ - Observer article about the newest crop of liveaboards.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Well in the Bahamas at $0.50/gal it would take 4000 gal to break even. In Boot Key/ Marathon Fl water is $0.05/gal on the honor system, so that needs 40,000 gal.

Watermakers are never "frugal". The only way to call them that is to make excuses because you don't want to haul water to the boat.

I have one now once I decided the convivence was worth it, but it isn't "frugal"

Work out cost in our case of running 2.2miles (Myora to One Mile) with 200 litres a time to fill 2500 litre tanks 6 times a year. (Equates to 35 litres/day - fresh water flush toilet, showers, washing machine etc)

12.5 trips, so 25+ miles fully loaded but empty run back to tap
30hp running flat out but doing 10 knots instead of 20 let's say 20 litres of fuel at $2/litre
$40 just in fuel to fill the tank and most of the day to do it.

6 times a year is $240 just in fuel
Year 4 watermaker has paid for itself
Expensive Outboard has done much less work and saved 480 litres of fuel

Like I said, for us a watermaker is frugal.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by thomm225

That's ridiculous.

It's quite hard to be uneducated about proper nutrition these days.

You know you can research that sort of thing on your phone right.......??

Most all parents allow their kids to have fun food at times.

Funny thing is many so-called educated parents and their children are overweight but eat all the "right" foods.

Go figure.

Lack of exercise maybe .......

Btw, the chili dogs I had for dinner last night were very good! Most excellent! Plus "a couple" beers......

They were earn though by an old man doing 8 pull ups, 25 push ups, followed by a run/jog of 3.85 miles in 90 degree temps.

Calories burned according to my Polar HRM: 808

For those interested the Polar app has a HRM Graph, GPS track on your run, max and avg HR. plus other stuff

Followed by 16 oz Endurox mix.......then an hour later canned tuna and crackers for lunch plus two bottles of water

Then Twizzlers after work.

Then a fruit cup large

As soon as you added twizzlers you lost me I really dislike them

Going to have to put you on ignore now

8-)

[GILow]

Originally Posted by boatman61

..

As for museums, can live without them ..

One of the definite upsides to the end of my marriage was the end of museum visits.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

...Yes and uneducated parents.

And almost none in Greece, MacDonald I mean

[goboatingnow]

I’m not getting in the “ frugal “ argument . It’s a completely personal thing.

My point was €£$5 a day is nonsense

Around me there are lots of liveabords and cruises , few young people and fewer kids. Schooling for kids makes having kids on board very difficult as few people feel they are capable of home schooling

Most people are early retirees, 55 +

[Fore and Aft]

Mike all those trips to the cockpit to empty your compost toilet urine bottle has certainly given you clarity of thought. Thats the best definition of being frugal I have heard. We look for value in most things we do and buy and weigh up lots of factors. When you are a family of four every cent counts. The internet has made it a lot easier to stretch the dollar further and shop smarter.
Boatman and Gilow you two sticks in the mud, not even a maritime museum?
Thom225 its lack of exercise that has made me an egg on legs. Way too much time driving or report writing. Our kids eat fun food all the time, but a burger made of Turkish bread with a homemade meat patty with cheese and other toppings beats anything the fast-food chains knock out.

Cheers

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

And almost none in Greece, MacDonald I mean

Okay nice.

But there are a few McDonald's there for those of you that like that sort of thing.

I'm just happy I have internet at this anchorage.....

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Mike all those trips to the cockpit to empty your compost toilet urine bottle has certainly given you clarity of thought. Thats the best definition of being frugal I have heard. We look for value in most things we do and buy and weigh up lots of factors. When you are a family of four every cent counts. The internet has made it a lot easier to stretch the dollar further and shop smarter.
Boatman and Gilow you two sticks in the mud, not even a maritime museum?
Thom225 its lack of exercise that has made me an egg on legs. Way too much time driving or report writing. Our kids eat fun food all the time, but a burger made of Turkish bread with a homemade meat patty with cheese and other toppings beats anything the fast-food chains knock out.

Cheers

Sorry to hear that but you might like this book by Stephen Counts "Saucer."

Uncle Egg is like a super smart engineer and could care less about his appearance or diet.

Fun read!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/529838.Saucer

[smj]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Okay nice.



But there are a few McDonald's there for those of you that like that sort of thing.



I'm just happy I have internet at this anchorage.....

Remember the old days before the internet? Other things made us happy.

[JoetheCobbler]

I'm going to avoid mentioning to people how inexpensively I live aboard and cruise, or what I consume and how I live.
It seems to upset some people.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by JoetheCobbler

I'm going to avoid mentioning to people how inexpensively I live aboard and cruise, or what I consume and how I live.
It seems to upset some people.

As long as it doesn’t include twizzlers :-)

[ParL]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

From the first pic

Not having been to Mallorca, but here in Sweden -- well known as one of the cheapest countries in the world (not) -- I could eat on a "student budget" for about that a day (rice/pasta/potatoes, beans, some onions, a little bit of veg: no take out pizza, crisps, alcohol, etc). Even buy a liter of meths for the Origo stove a week (lots of thermos cooking saves fuel). Would it be my preferred diet? No. Would I choose it is it gave me the freedom to do what I wanted in life? Only after about 30 picoseconds of consideration, you can't jump willy-nilly into big life changes like that.

I could buy a Havsfidra (all 20' of it...) for USD1-2000 -- or twice that for a Folkboat or a Vega if I wanted a big boat :-) -- and use a solar shower, etc. Yes, the latest-and-greatest Victron kit, replaced every few years, is out on that kind of budget, but why would I need it?

Add some simple fishing kit (a small gill net where/if legal) since at my age the concern over e.g. Baltic fish in probably a minor concern: the PCB and dioxins would not have time to have a significant effect on my health before I died anyway (this assumes there is any fish in the Baltic, we are competing with the Med for the "most ruined marine ecosystem award").

[ParL]

Of course, a replacement sail, outboard, standing/running rigging, a furler, winch, etc would break that budget, but as the cost for feeding myself? Perfectly doable.

[wingssail]

Frugal?

By the standard of other cruisers I'd say we're in the middle. Lots live cheaper than we do, and many coming around now-days, have much more to spend than we have.

BUT, compared to friends and relatives back home in the United States we are VERY frugal.

And the best part is, we have a great life and don't have to scrimp, and it is still frugal. Yeah!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by smj

Remember the old days before the internet? Other things made us happy.

Things are much better now with the internet etc.

Just being able to play chess anytime with players all around the world makes it quite nice.

Chess.com