Cruising on $500 / Month

[osirissail]

I guess some people cannot read whole paragraphs - - Living in the USA as a retiree can be very expensive medically - so leaving and cruising/living in some other country can save you significant money- and here was my point - you can save enough to make the cost of getting to the "another country" cost effective.
- - Trinidad/Tobago is NOT free to check-in/out. Overtime charges, harbor fees, etc. add up to some significant money - see: Noonsite: Trinidad & Tobago If you "enter Trinidad's waters" anytime outside the published limited "normal hours" you will incur "overtime charges" - Notice I said "enter Trinidad's waters" not enter the Customs/Immigration offices.

[YourOldNemesis]

So don't enter the waters until the right time then, you know how to heave-to, right?

Want to cut down on your drinking budget? Make your own!

[Springbok]

Welcome to the original post Indy How is Hogg Island
I would appreciate if you could clarify that medical expenses are FREE on all French Territory ie if in the Caribbean and feeling poorly head to Martinique It would definitely make me and my lady very happy if this is fact. Most of us still need a visa ( expensive ) to get onto the French territory even if customs have no charge. Can that be clarrified also
P.S. Having started this thread and cruised on less than $500 per month, with a Caribe and 15hp motor I am on your side so lets get the scoffers out there
Clyde

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by YourOldNemesis

So don't enter the waters until the right time then, you know how to heave-to, right? . .

Not a good idea around Trinidad as we have Pirates down here and the safest time to transit is during the night - outside the "normal hours."

[YourOldNemesis]

Originally Posted by osirissail

Not a good idea around Trinidad as we have Pirates down here and the safest time to transit is during the night - outside the "normal hours."

I wasn't aware of any of this when I sailed there in '07, maybe I should have been more worried! Are we being a touch paranoid? I had a quick google for some news articles on piracy, compare the results of this: Let me google that for you with the results of this: Let me google that for you

or have a look at the piracy map:

Piracy Map 2008

[Springbok]

There is even thread piracy on the forum
Yes there was an act of piracy between Trinidad and Grenada recently, at night. Even talk of creating a patrol in these waters or yachts all sailing together to make the pickings easier Pirate boat was motorised and from Venezuela waters if I recall right. Wonderful World we live in. We have the 2nd highest crime rate in the World, but no pirates yet
Clyde

[osirissail]

For verified reports of piracy, thefts, and other incidents in the Caribbean go to the website: http://www.safetyandsecuritynet.com/
Other worldwide piracy sources tend to ignore anything smaller than a freighter or mega-yacht. Noonsite and Caribbean Compass also have expanded articles on specific incidents.
- - The Grenada-Trinidad and Trinidad-Venezuela or ABC's is an enroute high crime potential area. Note the word - potential. Virtually all of the attacks and attempts have been in the afternoon hours. So traveling by night and/or in moderate seas is an effective method to avoid encounters - and - also allows you to arrive during the "normal working" hours set by the Trinidad officials.
- - Other Caribbean islands have crime problems in anchorages and marinas but - so far - not "underway" incidents.
- - There is always talk of this and that by various well meaning officials/politicians/interest groups - but reality is simple - there is no money to support such patrols especially since the boats involved are not citizens of either country. So don't hold your breathe on that one - plan to be on your own and plan to minimize potential problems as best as you can. And that can help keep your costs down by not having to replace stolen equipment or repair bullet holes in the boat or yourself - then you might approach that $500 per month goal.

[goprisko]

Make your landfall on the NW coast of Tobago... It is now a POE... you don't have to pass
through the Boca into the Gulf of Paria... should make the transit in 2 hours or so... Then transit
from that port to Trini via the east channel..

INDY

[goprisko]

Regarding French Hospitals and clinics... they have no way to collect money.... their system
is set up such that only treatment personnel are in the clinics.

I needed treatment for a coral cut very close to my achillies tendon... though I had to walk a mile to the clinic on New Caledonia, treatment was professional, thorough, and quick...

I have needed treatment in NZ, and Ecuador too... Each time it cost much less than in the US.

In China my kidneys failed... total cost, including hospital visits was USD$125

In the US, fortunately, Im a Vet and use the VA clinic... which is free for me...

INDY

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by goprisko

Hi,

Your medical expense in any French Terr will be ZERO ! and you can buy insurance
at Bumrungrad Hospital, Thailand's finest, for $ 200 / yr which covers EVERYTHING !


INDY

We recently moved to Thailand. We are in a house now but will be bringing the boat eventually. Can you tell me more about this insurance? PM me if you like.

[goprisko]

Bumrungrad Hospital is in Sukumvit District of Bangkok....

You will need to visit them and ask about their insurance plan.

Do you know how to get to Sukumvit?

INDY

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by Springbok

Welcome to the original post Indy How is Hogg Island
I would appreciate if you could clarify that medical expenses are FREE on all French Territory ie if in the Caribbean and feeling poorly head to Martinique It would definitely make me and my lady very happy if this is fact. Most of us still need a visa ( expensive ) to get onto the French territory even if customs have no charge. Can that be clarrified also
P.S. Having started this thread and cruised on less than $500 per month, with a Caribe and 15hp motor I am on your side so lets get the scoffers out there
Clyde

You are asking for something I cannot offer... My health has been good to the point I only used French Facilities in the Pacific, and then only for a coral cut.

Had you asked my father, in his later days, he might have had more to offer, since he had open heart surgery, spend weeks in ICU, suffered a stroke, and other matters.

Regarding Visas for those with RSA passports, I am clueless, as mine is from the USA, and I've never checked.

I'd suggest you ask the folks in Joburg at the French Embassy what they think, and report back, perhaps others might want to know, too.

If you had an emergency, involving a cut or something like that, I think you'd find the French most helpful. and I have found the Ecuadoreans most helpful, as were the New Zealanders, and the Chinese, and the Namibians.. But a guarantee, this is not...

INDY

[E-P]

Just few ideas;
- Eat porridge for a breakfast
- When going shopping in area which you don't know local knowledge comes valuable. Ask around for the cheapest place to get your groceries
- Reduce your meat eating. You can make delicious quick pastas, stews, soups etc. with no meat and for you mince meat dishes replace 50% of the meat with soya.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by Doodles

We recently moved to Thailand. We are in a house now but will be bringing the boat eventually. Can you tell me more about this insurance? PM me if you like.

I was hoping to get a little more information here before making a 500 mile trip to Bangkok to ask the question. You stated $200 for coverage of everything ... is that hearsay or can you substantiate it?

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by goprisko

Bumrungrad Hospital is in Sukumvit District of Bangkok....

You will need to visit them and ask about their insurance plan.

Do you know how to get to Sukumvit?

INDY

I was hoping to get a little more information here before making a 500 mile trip to Bangkok to ask the question. You stated $200 for coverage of everything ... is that hearsay or can you substantiate it?