Extra Provisions for Bartering

[HVYJimmy]

some things can be plentiful here ,and at the same time valuable barter items at the destination you are headed to. like say fishing hooks barter for a side of goat kind of thing . is there a web site or something that has the value of goods in different areas of the world ?? I am looking to sail the south pacific islands from the BVI , so taking good barter goods maybe well worth the trouble of hauling it across the Ocean thank you all

cheers

jimmy

[Captain Koch]

Originally Posted by HVYJimmy

some things can be plentiful here ,and at the same time valuable barter items at the destination you are headed to. like say fishing hooks barter for a side of goat kind of thing . is there a web site or something that has the value of goods in different areas of the world ?? I am looking to sail the south pacific islands from the BVI , so taking good barter goods maybe well worth the trouble of hauling it across the Ocean thank you all

cheers

jimmy

That would be nice to know. I know from going by plane to the middle east in Israel you can get 3 times the money for electronics out there. It can pay for your ticket. Take it out of box and have someone mail that to you. Customs wont mess with you if it is open. Vide cameras are best.

[deanowens1966]

Though I have yet to get there, I've been reading a lot about this very topic. In the South Pacific some of the best items to barter are some of the smallest. For example, fish hooks are prized there as they are fairly expensive and lost often. Take larger hooks and lures to barter in the Marquesas. electronics are only good if they work on the voltage of the surrounds. Non-DC electronics from the US won't work in most other areas of the world. Small digital cameras available in the US at Walmart for 10-30 dollars probably would do well. As my wife is a visual impairment specialist, we plan on taking a large variety and number of reading glasses with us when we head out, if she goes that is... we are still working on the A/C issue....

[svTOTEM]

We didn’t have much luck bartering in the South Pacific in 2010. People just weren’t so interested in the rope and fishing gear that we heard were popular. We did give away 300 pairs of glasses.
If you want to barter, go to Papuan New Guinea, wow, just awesome. We bartered 600+ lbs. of clothes, food, tools, rope, etc. The first few days in each island was trading sunrise to sunset – intense, but we met more people in 3 months there than all others combined in prior 4 years of cruising. There are a few bartering related stories on our blog.

[nhschneider]

Perhaps our experiences in the South Pacific were unique but we came across very few opportunities to barter with locals. Sure, people would come out to our boat to sell us things but rarely were they interested in trading. We had fish hooks, t-shirts, make-up, etc which we gave away as gifts but I don't recall much in the way of trading.

The French take pretty good care of their citizens and the islands we visited in French Polynesia were no different. There's a pretty good infrastructure and schools, health care, etc are all provided. That's not to say there aren't a lot of poor people but abject poverty wasn't obvious to us. On the other hand, the people of Vanuatu are very poor by any standards and yet what they seemed to want the most were educational supplies for their children. Books, computers and things like that were very hard for them to come by. I promised several people at Port Narvin on Erromango Island that when I get back home, I'm going to commit a lot of energy into gathering supplies for them. I have no intention of letting them down.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[duck55]

We went to New Guinea in 2012. We took some stuff to trade and part of it was a church delivery that was on a mission trip. The missionaries had been there for a week when we got there and had a couple different boats delivering supplies to them. We had no idea what the other boats were taking.

For trade...
spool (1000') of 750 paracord that we cut down to 100'
2 spools (600' each) of windless 8-plait 1/2”
2 spools (600' each) of 3 strand floating 1/2” twisted rope
20 1/2” rope thimbles
20 metal rings
We would cut, splice, and add thimbles and rings as they wanted
5,000 fish hooks in a couple of different sizes
Case of fishing line
Case of note books and pens
3 cases of crank radio / light
2 cases of 3M I think it was 4200

We were there for 3 days and traded away everything, but part of the fishing line and part of the fish hooks.

Delivery
3 cases of top sheets
2 case mosquito netting
2 case of baby bottles
5 boxes of different types of fabrics
box of sewing materials
100 lbs of sugar
300 lbs of flower
100 lbs powdered milk
100 lbs of rice
100 lbs of beans
box of salt, yeast, and other stuff

We donated 2 LifeStraw Community and 3 cases out door solar powered lights to the missionaries.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by duck55

We were there for 3 days and traded away everything, but part of the fishing line and part of the fish hooks.

yes, but what did you get in the trades? It looks like you've had $1,000 or more of goods on your boat. what did you get in return? $1,000 of fish to freeze?

[duck55]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

yes, but what did you get in the trades? It looks like you've had $1,000 or more of goods on your boat. what did you get in return? $1,000 of fish to freeze?

We got a bunch of fish, vegetables, some wooden carvings, hull cleaned, wash and wax, and other odds and ends.

[Scot McPherson]

Tshirts....it's not so much that you'll trade them, but a gift to the store clerk or quick guide for "where can I find XYZ?" type questions will help you get what you are looking for.

[Ofer]

Originally Posted by Captain Koch

That would be nice to know. I know from going by plane to the middle east in Israel you can get 3 times the money for electronics out there. It can pay for your ticket. Take it out of box and have someone mail that to you. Customs wont mess with you if it is open. Vide cameras are best.

Video cameras are no longer a valued commodity in Israel. Samsung S5 is another story.

[Ofer]

you can take anything to Cuba that's easy to haul such as cloths etc. if you take ladies clothes/earrings/cosmetic products then you will get young beautiful ones in return. don't ask me how I know. actual a friend told me about it.

[rb1685]

I just listened to Sail Podcastaway (http://www.saildosgatos.com), and Martin mentions several times bartering with commodities like fuel, flour, rice, sugar, and even cigarettes. He also made a point to have loads of candy for kids, as the local children would often come to the boat with fresh produce.


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[deanowens1966]

I had no idea about the school supplies. It makes sense though. My wife and I are devout Christians who want to be helpful more than getting something from our barter. My wonderful wife is a teacher for the blind and those with special needs. I'm just the oaf that swept her off her feet. We can bring thousands of pens and a lot of notebooks to the South Pacific.

I'd really like to hear some more about the experiences of those who have 'been there.' I am a voracious reader but the writings I've read recently are obviously dated.

[Scot McPherson]

Careful with cigs...could be considered smuggling if you have too many

[deanowens1966]

Originally Posted by Scot McPherson

Careful with cigs...could be considered smuggling if you have too many

Personally, that won't be an issue for us. We are both anti-smoking and would never take them onboard our boat.