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11-10-2019, 14:08
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 7
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Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Hi!
I am currently working as a freelance translator translating English texts to Norwegian.
Let's say that in the future satellite internet is cheap, and the whole globe is covered via for example Starlink (satellite constellation): I don't want to talk about internet connectivity here. I will maybe do this in 1.5 years, hopefully the satellite internet is better then.
Do you think it is possible to work as a translator from a sailboat? The only real obstacle I see is that a monohull can swing a lot from side to side, especially during storms. If one gets seasick, it would be difficult to translate. Maybe it is better with a multihull because of this? The problem with the multihull idea is that it is too expensive. The cheapest multihulls are old trimarans -- the problem here is that it might be difficult to resell a trimaran. I like the Horstman Tri-star trimarans myself. If I were to go with this idea freelance by sailboat idea, I would buy a production monohull in Greece, in case cruising the world as a lifestyle is not for me.
Is it feasible to be a translator on the high seas? or would it just be too impractical because of the boat moving around all the time? Do you have any examples of people doing this? I am a 30 year old man.
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11-10-2019, 17:15
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#2
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, cruising in Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 28,432
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
People vary considerably in their abilities to adjust to boat motion. Some never can, while some never have a problem. So it is quite a long range of possible severity of motion sickness. My suggestion would be to go help out as crew on smaller sailboats, and see how your body accommodates to the motion. [It took me years to find a medication that reliably keeps seasickness away from me. It is called Stugeron, and is available some places in Europe and in England, Canada, Mexico. It's chemical name is cinnarzine HCl (the HCl being hydrochloride).
Any work that someone can do from home can be done from a boat that is appropriately equipped for it to be done from there. But, you would first have to see how your body does.
From what you wrote, I don't have a good feel for what your long term goals are; nor whether or not you are able to support a cruising boat full time; nor what your sailing experience is, so am unable to answer you further.
Ann
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
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11-10-2019, 17:28
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 7
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Hey, thanks for answering.
The whole motion sickness thing is kind of what I am afraid about. But yes, sailing on different sailboats is probably the thing I must do to see if this is a real problem or not.
This is just something I have been thinking about. I earn enough money now to work maybe two days a week and go cruising the rest of the time.
I want to travel a lot the next years. The sailboat thing as a permanent lifestyle seems interesting. Also, trying it out in the Mediterranian first is probably best, since I have no real experience here.
Can people who get easily seasick over time develop the ability to resist seasickness from just sailing a lot? I think I get easier carsick than others, so I am afraid that this also applies to boats.
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11-10-2019, 17:43
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Bellingham
Boat: Outbound 44
Posts: 9,319
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
While cruising the majority of your time is spent at anchor. That's where you would work. When offshore doing passages you will be taking care of the boat and yourself, not working on a translation. So the seasick thing doesn't really have anything to do with your work time,
__________________
Paul
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11-10-2019, 17:47
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#5
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, cruising in Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 28,432
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Yes, if you get carsick, you may get seasick.
For me, it is jerky motion that bothers me, not rolly.
Yes, there are a lot of little tricks for helping minimize seasickness, keeping your ears parallel to the horizon, swaying your body, but keeping your head pretty still, keeping your eyes on the horizon, not tensing your stomach muscles, all those help, but it takes practice and thought. You have to help your body figure out what to do, then it will just do it, and it is easier.
But, in your case, you already are known to get carsick, and you are right to feel concerned. The motion riding in a bus can set some people off, as well.
Catamaran motion is faster and "twitchier" than monohull motion. Even trimarans twitch at anchor. You need to find out which motion suits your body better. For many people, multis work better, but not for all. It is only by experimenting that you will find out which is better for you.
A
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
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11-10-2019, 17:48
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 7
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Paul
Yes, you might be right. I was thinking of maybe having crew, so when on passage someone else can sail for a time while I am working. Or I might just have to do really long passages, like sailing over the Atlantic, once a year or something. Since I would have to take a break from translating during the passage.
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12-10-2019, 05:49
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 7
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Long passages are the only real obstacle I see to this plan. One cannot often take week-long or longer breaks from translation, which would be seen as being unreliable by the clients. If I got seasick into a passage and received an urgent translation request from a client, I would be in trouble.
One solution might be just to buy a small monohull in Greece and sail around in the Mediterranean for a time, since the distances are not that great there. And if I like it and want to travel further, I can upgrade to a fast and more stable multihull in the future. I think that the twitchy movement might be better in terms of a working environment than a rolly movement. I have also heard that the Horstman trimarans are pretty stable.
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12-10-2019, 05:56
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Bellingham
Boat: Outbound 44
Posts: 9,319
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Quote:
Originally Posted by sindre
Long passages are the only real obstacle I see to this plan. One cannot often take week-long or longer breaks from translation, which would be seen as being unreliable by the clients. If I got seasick into a passage and received an urgent translation request from a client, I would be in trouble.
One solution might be just to buy a small monohull in Greece and sail around in the Mediterranean for a time, since the distances are not that great there. And if I like it and want to travel further, I can upgrade to a fast and more stable multihull in the future. I think that the twitchy movement might be better in terms of a working environment than a rolly movement. I have also heard that the Horstman trimarans are pretty stable.
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You are fooling yourself if you think you are going to do any serious land style work while on passage, cat or mono. Just plan to be away from work for the few times you will do long passages.
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12-10-2019, 06:07
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 7
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul L
You are fooling yourself if you think you are going to do any serious land style work while on passage, cat or mono. Just plan to be away from work for the few times you will do long passages.
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even with crew?
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12-10-2019, 06:16
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Bellingham
Boat: Outbound 44
Posts: 9,319
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Quote:
Originally Posted by sindre
even with crew?
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Even with crew. This is not a 1,000 foot Carnival Cruise ship you are on. It's 40+ foot mono or cat. Passages are hard work and tiring for everyone.
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12-10-2019, 07:33
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Australia
Boat: Catalina 470
Posts: 4,578
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Quote:
Originally Posted by sindre
even with crew?
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Think sleep deprivation, little normal tasks like cooking, going to the toilet etc are more difficult under passage, of course there are easy(ier) days but in general I agree with Paul, your time is spent looking after you and the boat.
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12-10-2019, 09:14
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#12
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Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 6,190
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
I agree with our forum-mates who say you can't translate while on passage. When you skipper you skipper, except when you are actually sleeping. That demands your entire concentration. Translating well requires your entire concentration. Particularly when you are translating into Norwegian. Det kan vi godt blive enige om, ikke :-)?
TrentePieds
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22-12-2019, 14:17
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2019
Location: Auckland, NZ
Boat: Don Brooke Yacht 34'
Posts: 23
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
I'm in a similar situation. 30 year-old who recently bought a 34' monohull yacht in Auckland. My partner and I will sail and work remotely. I do freelance content writing, editing/proofreading and we both do web design.
Have you considered outsourcing? I pass on tasks and take a % when boat work becomes too tiring. We have a different setup/situation, as we plan to sail close to shore and the cell coverage is better on the water here in NZ.
I could see where motion/sea sickness would be an issue for long voyages, but would think a solid work routine could be a viable option (i.e., work while anchored in a bay in the evenings).
Being close to the coast will also give us a chance to hop on the dinghy and go ashore to handle any serious work that proves too distracting on the boat.
Cannot wait for Starlink. I think down here they'll have 5G satellite internet in the next year or so (fingers crossed).
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22-12-2019, 16:11
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 2,614
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
From the mid 1990s through mid 2000s, I was a full time delivery skipper based out of San Francisco generally for 1000+ nms deliveries. There is no world outside the boat. I went into corporate America afterwards and whenever someone says "on the radar," I snicker a bit.
Bottom line : you'd be lucky to be productive at anchor let alone underway. It's a much different world. Reality check.
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Cruising our 36-foot trawler from California to Florida
Join our Instagram page @MVWeebles to follow along
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22-12-2019, 18:48
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 148
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Re: Working as a freelance translator from sailboat
Yes it's possible but only for certain people. To find out if you are one of them is easy, go to a big city, buy a day ticket for the public transport and spend a day working in a bus. The next day translate the same text again in your normal working environment and compare the two textes. If you find no significant differences you are good to go. If you can not immerse yourself in the work to the degree that you can ignore the movement and noise forget about it.
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