Challenge: Sail Around the World on $15k ?

[boatman61]

Greetings from ole blue eyes.......
mind... I should mention... its not the colour that counts so much...
More the way you flutter em.....

[w1651]

Boat man mine are brown. A lot of people have told me why but I will Digress on if that is true or not...

[boatman61]

Stop Flirting......

Originally Posted by w1651

Boat man mine are brown. A lot of people have told me why but I will Digress on if that is true or not...

[rowingdude]

So, there is no where "cheap" to cruise anymore huh? Guess I'll have to put in more hours

[kenny chaos]

More life insurance on the missus?

[w1651]

Cuba is still cheap but you gotta have a really large bimini so the eye in the sky don't git ya!

[Mark Johnson]

Originally Posted by boatman61

And it just so happens there's a Morgan 30 there for sale... take a look at Towndock.net... the gods are smiling on you... also a sweet 27ftr ready to go... $5k each

AMEN!
Excellent resource. This is my neck of the woods... Both New Bern and especially Oriental, are GREAT places to find a good deal on a used boat. Check "Town Dock" regularly. If you find what you like, you couldn't find a better place to live on, sail, and outfit your boat.

Mark

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by NormanMartin

I think the days written about by Shane Acton and John [Guzz]well are long gone. I suspect the cheapest place to wander around on a sailboat is probably North America!

I agree. That's one reason it would be great to add Cuba to places we Americans can go legally. I'm generally an optimist but I'm pessimistic about these economic times. Many American circumnavigators are traveling on company pensions and stock benefits that very likely won't be available for future generations. We may be seeing the apogee of yachting right now.

I think we'll see a huge rise in the number of smallish liveaboard cruisers, the Shrimpys and the Trekkas, subsistence cruisers, as people lose their homes and can't find work. High dollar marinas will fade out. Lotta "rich guys" in these parts now just use their boats for marina cocktail hours with diesel at $4/gal. Gotta be worse in Europe, no? Hope I'm wrong.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by tgzzzz

I agree. That's one reason it would be great to add Cuba to places we Americans can go legally. I'm generally an optimist but I'm pessimistic about these economic times. Many American circumnavigators are traveling on company pensions and stock benefits that very likely won't be available for future generations. We may be seeing the apogee of yachting right now.

I think we'll see a huge rise in the number of smallish liveaboard cruisers, the Shrimpys and the Trekkas, subsistence cruisers, as people lose their homes and can't find work. High dollar marinas will fade out. Lotta "rich guys" in these parts now just use their boats for marina cocktail hours with diesel at $4/gal. Gotta be worse in Europe, no? Hope I'm wrong.

Lotta small boat/old boat cruisers here... under 37ft... which was BIG when I started...
shoot... when I got my 31ft Longbow in '94 it felt like a Cruise Liner... I was one of the 'Big Boys'... till I got to the Med
but the fuel heres $10/gall now so yeah...
and the 'Cocktail Boats' have been around forever... nothing new there....lol
But I can cruise from Norway to Greece to Canaries and Cap Verdes, the Euro Caribbean, the Azores and Madiera with only marina fees if theres no anchoring....
Which is nice....

[w1651]

I was at the dock Saturday and Sunday working on the old girl. I cannot imagine What there is to talk about at the dock sipping wine listening to opera.
Oh Well ! Maybe they don't own a boat but are growing pearls on the hull or something.

[Timsh]

I'm considering the same type of thing. I agree with dniello, just do it. Get a solid older boat with a good reputation for handling weather, do the work yourself to get it ready, set a budget and go. I bought a 62 Columbia 24. They have a good reputation for not sinking. Boats like that can be had for a couple thousand all day and you can use the 3k you have left to set it up for cruising. Of course a bigger boat would usually be better but I've seen alot of bigger boats that are considered easier to sink. Either way, Get the boat and subject yourself to some serious weather so you have some perspective... At least that's my plan. At least one Columbia 24 "Tola" has circumnavigated before. Maxingout has a valid point though, it won't be easy. Good Luck!!

[Timsh]

It might be reasonable to consider extended coastal cruising rather than an ocean crossing until you have a couple of extended trips behind you and a bigger budget but as far as getting out of So Cal waters I say go for it.

[allanpeda]

You are playing the odds. One can develop a budget that works if nothing goes wrong. You might even identify some possible contingencies, but Don Rumsfeld was right to point out the existence of unknowable unknowns.

Wow, one year only $15k? I am slack jawed.

[countrybimm]

cant be done if your including the cost of the boat in your 15k.im a 27 year old shop rat sailing on a 30 footer for the winters.booze or not it cant be done if your including cost of boat.work the summers, and sail the winters until you got the boat ship shape.get some coastal sails in, one season later that 15k will stretch if the boat is good to go.

[knottygurl]

15K per year including the boat, go for it 6000.00 for food, lodgeing, fuel, booze, smoke, 5000.00 for boat 4k left to fix up.
sounds like a grea plan, would be even better if you could hook up with another 15k dreamer and then you would have a 10k kitty with anoter 5k added to your yearly budget.