Best places for quiet cheap living

[Franziska]

Watch out, most of the Caribbean as well as Florida means risking it all due to the Hurricanes.

You can escape those further south or in the Med.

[Fore and Aft]

Babyhauler the catch with boat buying is that the disposal is not as easy as you think. If your boats a real lemon you may have to pay to get it dumped. Just the other day a client rang me offering his 50 foot trawler to me for $2000 just to recover the marina fees. I love the boat but its reached the end of its life and the cost of disposal is going to be a serious chunk of change.
I think Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia all have the ability to be cheap to live in. But like Boatman says there's a big difference to a cheap bay boat and an ocean cruiser. Not to mention the Cajones to head offshore. You could probably just buy a boat in the country you want and avoid the ocean crossing.
Thom225 you're the sort of guy I admire but don't want to sail with. I have been on sea trials on boats like yours and you feel like turning up in a bomb disposal outfit. Sun bleached sheets, sails that look like dirty cheese cloth, an engine that starts if you hold your tongue in the right place. On the sea trial you get the rags up and clench your butt cheeks every time a gust hits and loads up the rig. Everything creeks and groans and hopefully we get back to the marina before anything breaks or someone is hurt.
Cheers

[babyhauler]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Watch out, most of the Caribbean as well as Florida means risking it all due to the Hurricanes.

You can escape those further south or in the Med.

yeah I could go back to my slip in Galveston area, or to another nice cheap place during hurricane season

Also supposing I lose a boat to hurricane or anything, if my reaction is other than laughter, I spent too much on my boat.

[babyhauler]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Babyhauler the catch with boat buying is that the disposal is not as easy as you think. If your boats a real lemon you may have to pay to get it dumped. Just the other day a client rang me offering his 50 foot trawler to me for $2000 just to recover the marina fees. I love the boat but its reached the end of its life and the cost of disposal is going to be a serious chunk of change.
I think Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia all have the ability to be cheap to live in. But like Boatman says there's a big difference to a cheap bay boat and an ocean cruiser. Not to mention the Cajones to head offshore. You could probably just buy a boat in the country you want and avoid the ocean crossing.
Thom225 you're the sort of guy I admire but don't want to sail with. I have been on sea trials on boats like yours and you feel like turning up in a bomb disposal outfit. Sun bleached sheets, sails that look like dirty cheese cloth, an engine that starts if you hold your tongue in the right place. On the sea trial you get the rags up and clench your butt cheeks every time a gust hits and loads up the rig. Everything creeks and groans and hopefully we get back to the marina before anything breaks or someone is hurt.
Cheers

Great thoughts.

Yes I'm saavy it should cost $10k to scrap a fiberglass boat.

Yes I could buy a boat in SE Asia and keep and leave it there. Or better yet rent one there. That could be a fun idea in any country really.

Also I agree I'm not going out in any boat that's unsafe in any way. I'm also not living on any boat that creates a yucky or unhealthy living experience. I'm frugal but meticulous. And I think I will eventually go bluewater. Need to try close in stuff first and see how it goes.

[Shanachie]

Not sure which of your goals is more daunting.


I spent 34 years as a writer and editor. I can tell you it's an ugly world out there today.


Magazines and newspapers that used to provide living cash for aspiring writers are gone. Places that still pay generally only give you a token amount that won't pay the bills.



Publishers generally are no longer interested in mid-list writers who might expect to sell 20,000 or so copies of their first books. Connections, particularly in New York and L.A., are everything.


You can always write for the Internet, of course, but it takes particular skills to turn that into a money-making enterprise. Self-publishing is challenging. Becoming an "influencer" depends a lot on you having a showy personality.



I wish you luck.



A boat for less than 20K is something maybe 30 feet from the 1970s or 1980s. Imagine living in a walk-in closet. No fridge. No AC. A 20-gallon water supply. A small holding tank that needs to be pumped out every two days.


I've lived rough. I spent eight months once traveling by bike and living in a tent. It was a lot of fun, but it got old. The same can be said for living on a small boat with few amenities.


The danger is when your youthful adventure becomes the status quo in your life. Don't let hard living become the norm. With some thought and hard work, you can write and live a decent life.

[babyhauler]

@shanachie great thoughts thanks for sharing

[OldManMirage]

Luperon in the Dominican Republic and Carriacou Island down at the south end of the Caribbean are a couple of places. Cheap living there. San Blas Islands in Panama maybe ?

Carriacou has the advantage of being mostly out of the hurricane belt.

Just go to YouTube and search for sailing in those locations and you'll find several Channel's of people who have done it. It's good info.

Try this one...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z6_h1WMzpQ

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatman61

What you also have to take into consideration is it's a weekender boat.. if you want to move around in more remote/cheaper areas you need a seaworthy boat and the cajones to match it.
Sailing weekends around Chesapeake Bay close to rescue services is one thing, travelling is something else.
But... having said that, BoatAlexander did circumnavigate on a $1000 very basic boat.
It all boils down to your comfort levels and risk tolerances.

Yep it was a very basic boat right off the Atomvoyages Boat list.

It was actually the same boat I have, a Bristol 27, but I not in as good of shape, but it did have all the good seaworthy numbers as noted on sailboatdata.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/bristol-27/

Some have said they'd be worried about sailing his boat across a large bay though, but he basically circumnavigated on his with electronics he build himself and using OpenCPN as the software as I understand it.

He also had a homemade autopilot driven by his PyPilot Software.

He was around 30 years old or even younger I think when he did this.

See story here after he arrived at Oriental, NC which is one of my starting destinations after I retire.

Btw, after reading about OpenCPN in the article below I built my own chart plotter using a Raspberry Pi 4 computer for under $200. Later moved to my old Toshiba Laptop with 17" HD Screen and Windows 10.

https://towndock.net/shippingnews/se...-and-alexandra

https://svcrystalblues.blogspot.com/...ne-around.html

[babyhauler]

Thanks my list to checkout so far is: Tunisia; Western Caribbean; Luperon, Dominican Republic; Pacific side of Central America; Cartagena, Columbia, Panama (Linton , Portobolle, Bocas); Rio Dulce Guatemala; Isla Mujeres Mexico & South Florida.

Luperon looks great! I watched the video about it, except my wife and I would be more likely to hang out with locals vs other cruisers.

Also I like what Thom225 is talking about making your own gear. I'm a tech worker.

[leecea]

...my wife and I...

So there's going to be two of you living on this small, cheap boat while you try to write!!!

Just rent a cheap place in a small town somewhere that speaks Spanish. You say $1600/month for rent but that's US costs not the cost to rent in other places.

[landsend]

Originally Posted by leecea

So there's going to be two of you living on this small, cheap boat while you try to write!!!

Just rent a cheap place in a small town somewhere that speaks Spanish. You say $1600/month for rent but that's US costs not the cost to rent in other places.

THIS!!
You can find cheap places to rent all over the world.No living on some crappy cramped smelly 30 ft floating dump.

[Kettlewell]

Despite the negative comments from some about 30-footers I lived aboard and cruised a 30-footer for several years, traveling from New England down to the Bahamas and back several times. Our boat was very comfortable, safe, and we were faster than most other cruisers. The larger the boat the larger the costs, so when you say "cheap" you want a smaller boat. Also, the USA gets a bad rep for costs from those that pay for marinas, have big boats with lots of expensive systems to maintain, and spend lots of money ashore or for things like travel. You can easily anchor out every night almost anywhere up and down the East Coast, you can day hop from harbor to harbor, and once you're south you can easily pop over to the Bahamas and hang out all winter long. I spent time down in the southwestern Caribbean and things can be cheap there, but there are more hassles with security, visa limitations, hurricane season, super hot and humid summers, and accessing boat repair supplies. In general, I have found it much easier and usually cheaper to repair major things in the USA. Sure, it can be done a lot of places outside the USA, but when it comes to finding a particular part you often run into expense and shipping delays.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by landsend

THIS!!
You can find cheap places to rent all over the world.No living on some crappy cramped smelly 30 ft floating dump.

I presume this is based on personal experience.???

The way to avoid this situation is simple, clean as you go and don't let the pots and pans pile up, ventilation, airing duvets for an hour in the sun.. Cleanliness is next to godliness
Lived (2) aboard a Westerly Longbow sailing from the UK to Med where we spent nigh on 4yrs on the hook in summers and 4mth winters in a marina or alongside/Fore and Aft at a quay.
Definitely not damp and smelly.
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/longbow-31-westerly/

[MicHughV]

I've seen a good portion of our lovely planet, but in my opinion, the Bahamas are tough to beat. The Bahama islands consist of numerous groups of islands, each with their own charm, stretching for 100's of miles. You can be on your own or with other fellow sailors. You could spend years there and not see it all.

The water is exquisite, clear as a bell, the people super friendly, the diving and fishing is awesome, the weather is great year around.
Though the Bahamas lies in the hurricane belt, advance notice will give you plenty of time to find a place of refuge.
The US east coast (Florida) is very nearby. Many local airports are found throughout the Bahama Island chain and a variety of small airlines fly daily.

Hands down, my favorite cruising destination of all time

[MicHughV]

My experience may not be like others, but while in the B'mas, I never once, locked my boat, not ever. Never had to lock up my dink either.