Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by TOM

$410 on a modest but adequite first aid kit {the very least you should take}.

It must be a marine one.
We got a Johnson & Johnson 170 Items for USD$20 and we have a few supliments to it like face screens for mouth to mouth and heaps of panadol etc, some platers as in for fractures etc. But don't buy from a chandler!

[TOM]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

$410 on a first aid kit? Holy cow! Does it come with its own stretcher bearers?

No nor does it come with it's own nurse. I will list the contents of our first aid kit for your benefit and other members of the forum. Perhaps after reading it you may be able to offer some advise on what I could omit so as to reduce the cost.

The following list was built using my own research and advise from a doctor who has circumnavigated with his wife and two children. It is as follows:

Amoxicillian (broad spectrum antibiotic 48 tables)
Doxycyclin Hydrochloride (Malaria prevention 150 tablets)
Lomotil (loose bowels 20 tablets)
Sudafed (Nasal Decongestant 24 tablets)
Chlorsig (1% eye ointment antibiotic 4gs)
Panadene Forte (severe pain 40 tablets)
Keflex Pulvures (staph infections 1000mg capsules 40 tablets)
Silvazine Cream (for burns 50gms)
LPV 500ml Capsules (for tonsilitis 50 tablets)
Amoxil capsules 500mg (ear infections)
Junior Melorine (child malaria tablets) 100 capsules
Endone (very severe pain) 20 capsules)
Bactrim (urinary tract infections and coral cuts) 10 tablets
Fenac (pain and inflamation 100 tablets)
Travacalm (sea sickness 10 tablets)
Kwells (sea sickness 10 tablets)
Nurofen (Pain relief)
Gastrolyte (prevent dehydration in case of stomach infection)
EDP antiseptic first aid powder
Savlon antiseptic cream
Child Panadol
Band Aids 60
Medium crepe bandages x 2
Medi swabs
Parafin Gauze dressing
Sterile Gel Burn dressing
Wound tape
Sucher strips
Saline
Eye bath
Thermal blanket
Lignocaine injection (local anistetic for around wound before stitching)
Chlorhexidine Irrigation solution (cleaning wounds)
Needles and syringes
Surgical blades

The whole kit fits in roughly three shoe box size boxes. Perhaps there are a few things I may be able to do without, or perhaps not. It would be unfortunate to find ourselves on some remote island in the Louisiades with an inadequate first aid kit just to save a few dollars. I'm not going to go into the cost of each item, sufice to say in y last post that's what I spent and that's what I feel comfortable with to keep me and my family well. After all I am asking them top come and cross oceans with me the least I can do is spend a few extra bucks on the first aid kit.

www.byamee.com

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by TOM

No nor does it come with it's own nurse. I will list the contents of our first aid kit for your benefit and other members of the forum.

Hmmm... I think there is a mismatch between what we think of as "first aid" kits. What you have sounds more like a medicine kit than first aid. That would explain the discrepancy in cost. First aid (to me) is usually only for the lightest of injuries or plugging the leak with a bandage or plaster until a real doctor shows up. Indeed, the first aid courses I have attended have stressed that your first decision is whether to stick a plaster on a minor wound or if you should call for an ambulance and if you do then complete the ABC checks and stay with the injured person moving them as little as possible.

I appreciate that in the middle of the sea, more drastic measure may be needed and doctors are a scarce commodity.

Firt Aid Kits - Safety - Page 1 - Piplers of Poole

Even the expensive one contains no drugs Crewmedic MODEL 180 FIRST AID KIT - Only £44.99 - Piplers of Poole

[slomotion]

We also carried Amoxicillian, but per physician recommendation we kept it in the refrigerator.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by TOM

Doxycyclin Hydrochloride (Malaria prevention 150 tablets)

Travacalm (sea sickness 10 tablets)
Kwells (sea sickness 10 tablets)

Sea sickness? If anyone gets sea sick on this boat they get a sepository.

Malaria. Someone wrote here of the advice their doctor gave on inoculations require to circumnavigate. The poor prick came out oooooozing from a flagilation of holes and much poorer.

If you get sick have a panadol and call me in the mooring.

Mark

[goprisko]

Hi,

Thanks for mentioning this Gillmer Design from the 70s...

Friends of mine have one, and this was the very first GRP yacht to Circumnavigate...

However... the cabin length is much shorter than in the SC 31... and with dacron
material, there is no longer justification for the complexity of two masts and three booms.

So, if you have one, by all means cruise it, but if you are thinking of buying one, look at others in this category, because they will give you a small cockpit, which will hold less water in the event of being flooded, and a larger accomodation, for everyday.

Regarding a budget of $150 for two people... for food... this is possible in the main
land of the US and in Latin America...

I'll use USVI prices for the things which come to mind....

25# flour $ 12
25# whole wheat flour $ 20
25# rice $ 20
5# beans, lentils, garbaonzos $ 7
5 L canola oil $12
1# Salt $ 1
5# loose tea $ 8
10# potatoes $ 4
10# onions $ 4
9# smoked picnic $12
5# cottage cheese $5
5# sour cream $5
5# whole chicken $6
3# bacon $ 9
5# squash $ 3
5# oranges $ 8
5# apples $ 7
Totals about $150....

To this you must add spices, subtract fish you catch...

There is no liquor, detergent, beer, napkins, matches, etc on this list

Get the Guide to Vegetarian Cooking or the Bean Book for ideas, or a book on
Indian Cuisine.. or Arabic Cuisine... For recipe ideas..

You must make your own pasta, crackers, bread, etc...

The flour and rice will last several months... giving room for yeast and peanuts,
jam... etc.

You must bottle your own meat and fish..

You should add powdered whole milk and powdered eggs to this again using the
funds liberated from the carbohydrates which last several months...

You must get used to lime juice and local gin or rum and chilled water for sundowners...

INDY

[goprisko]

First thing to remember is the whole world has meds... and they are much cheaper...
Don't go overboard on meds... none of the places you are likely to visit first, have malaria, and after living in Africa, I can categorically state that no one there takes prophylaxis... I did once in Cancun, just as I was leaving for Chichen Itza... ruined my whole trip.... due to allergic reaction...
The preferred malaria drug is the Chinese one Artemisin, in one of its formulations such as CoArtem..
Virtually no side effects... effective...
Plan on buying your drugs in Panama or Ecuador or Mexico..

INDY

[goprisko]

Dear Agrainofsand.....

The downeast 32 is a nice boat.... whether you make it to the South Pacific depends not on anything you mentioned...but on things you didn't... like BA pilots, Radio Signals books, paper charts, quartz watch as chronometer, sextant, tables, almanac,
Most of what you described won't be working by the time you make Papeete... Will you spend
precious resources trying to get it fixed there? Or will you simplify and carry on to NZ where you can get replacements cheap?

If you can't fix it, it will break and you will have to do without it... how you deal with that situation when it arises will determine how successful you are.

INDY

[goprisko]

Hi,

Thanks for mentioning the DownEast 32... at 8 tons, this boat has sufficient displacement to carry the necessities...

Looks like one can be had for $25K...

See the photo, Boat Specifications Moana Polynesian word for “Blue Sea” Make Downeast Yachts Model Downeaster 32 Designer Bob Poole Year 1979 Where Built Santa Monica, CA USA LOD (length on deck) 32 feet LOA (length overall) 35 feet 6 inches
LWL (length waterline) 25 feet 10 inches Beam (width of boat) 11 feet Draft (depth in water) 4 feet 9 inches Ballast 5,500 lbs Displacement (weight of boat) 17,000 lbs. Engine 27 hp Westerbeke diesel (new in 2002) Cruising Speed 5 knots (approx 6 mph) Max Speed 6 knots (approx 7 mph) Fuel Tankage 60 gallons Water Tankage 93 gallons in two tanks Primary Anchor 35 lbs Delta Primary Rhode 275' of 5/16 High Test Chain (3,800 lbs breaking strength) Electrical Storage three group 27 (115 amp hr) and one 8D for a total of 565 amp hours Instruments Two Garmin GPS 76, Raymarine ST50 wind, depth & speed Cooking Three burner Hillerange propane stove and oven Refrigeration Isotherm 12 volt with seawater cooling (yes we can make ice cubes) some specs

[s/v Breakaway]

I don't think I would want to live on $500 per month. That said, it is sooooo refreshing to have a conversation about cruising on a shoestring instead of hearing the "you have to put $150K in a boat and $2000/month." I am sure that there are people out there doing it who don't know it can't be done!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Not done any extended boat cruising (shoestring or otherwise) - but have lived for extended periods ashore in SEA on various budgets, from next to sod all to more money than sense The key to the former was knowing my way around and knowing people.

500 Dollars a month? many parts of the world one can live onshore well for that. But the questions are always whether you can............and want to. For most the novelty of living like a peasant wears off sooner or later.............

Throw a boat into the mix and things start getting more expensive than ashore. A trade off between spending money up front to get a well sorted boat that will allow a lower cost cruise and instead spending that money on actual cruising at the price of higher running costs.

But in the spirit of this thread I throw in the following

1) Food preservation - doesn't have to be a walk in fridge , but being able to extend the life of food bought or caught and also to build up stocks for times of scarcity is something that allows moving beyond day to day hunter gathering and allows forward planning to succeed. Plenty of ways to acheive that.

2) The Boat - KISS . If you ain't got one it can't break. If it can't break it does not cost to repair. Running costs are also low But everyone has a different point of comfort on the hair shirt curve.........so zero is usually not an option.

3) Knowledge - The hard bit. Skills learnt and used can be a substitute for cash........from actually knowing how to fish to getting 3 meals out of a tin of sardines and a pot noodle to making your own sails from knitted yoghurt But takes time, effort and even sometimes cash to acquire skills that work for you.

[goprisko]

Lets begin with agreeing that OldJersey has valid points.

The boat must be kept simple....

Skills must be learnt

Food preservation is important

Let's begin with food preservation...

You either buy tins or bottle. Bottling requires a pressure canner... mason jars, rings, and lids. We bottle... beef, chicken, pork, butter, ....

We do not bottle stews, or bean dishes. We use the raw bottled materials in recipes, for flavor... You can buy any of several good books on this method, and we also recommend oven drying too....

Skills... the major skill needed is sailing competency.. and mechanical repair skills..

You must go sailing... in anything that floats.... often.... until it is natural...

How?

Why not begin with the dinghy... you will need one, preferably a hard dink that rows and sails well...

Danny Green's Chameleon Dinghy is a good choice.... Danny originally designed her for himself, and he is a small boat sailor, with limited deck space. Chameleon nests into a package 5'6" long which fits on the smallest cabin top, but when assembled is nearly 11' long, and gives great service.

SV Valhalla scaled Chameleon and I am posting the full set of pages for both dinks.

INDY

[goprisko]

Here are the pages for Gecko...

INDY

[goprisko]

We are provisioning for the trip south to the Grenadines... Below is my shopping list...

Three Months Shopping List:

32 cans Tomatoes
32 cans mushrooms
24 cans olives
4 cans coffee
4 pkgs of 100 Tea bags or lge box of loose tea
20 cans of chicken breast
8 cans of crab
30 cans of tuna
3 bottles of peanut butter
3 bottles of jam
9 cans of peaches
3 cans of cherries
raisins
dried apricots
prunes
dates
walnuts
almonds
40 # rice
20 # brown rice
10 # assorted pasta
6 cases of beer
2 boxes of white wine(5L)
4 1.5 L bottles of red wine
6 bottles of cheap gin
1 bottle of vodka
6 bottles of lemon juice
4 bottles of lime juice
4 bottles of mayonaise
25 # white flour
15 # whole wheat flour
10 # whole oats
5 # corn meal
25 # assorted lentils, split peas, beans
25 L Canola oil
10 # white sugar
5 # brown sugar
5 # dry roasted peanuts
1 bottle molasses
1 bottle honey
yeast
baking powder
baking soda
dish washing detergent
laundry powder
scrub pads
sponges
matches
20 # tin of crackers
30 tins of roast beef
10 # smoked bacon (slab)
1 smoked picnic
3 whole chickens
3 rump roasts (boneless)
1 boneless leg of lamb
6 kg powdered whole milk
cocoa
bulghur
salt
pepper
thyme
basil
oregano
curry powder
red pepper flakes
rosemary
parsley
mint
dill
cardamon
cumin
coriander
curry powder
tumeric
fennel
anise
allspice
taragon
powdered sugar
ginger
garlic
corn starch
assorted cheeses

All the above was bought today in St. Thomas, VI 00802

Much of this is cheaper in the DR, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama....Mainland USA..

INDY

[goprisko]

There are many reasons why you might want to go on a limited budget, let's discuss several...

1. You are young and don't have much money, but have tradesman skills such as welding aluminum and stainless, have your USCG 100 Ton master's license, or are a teacher/fireman/policeman facing layoff or early retirement.

2. You are facing the loss of your family's last job... it is only a matter of time before you can no longer make the house payment of $2500 / month on your dream house gone sour.. Your car, jetskis, skidoos, can be sold and bring about $ 20,000.. If you hang tight, you can probably stay in the house 9 months after you default, saving $22,500.

3. Your retirement pension went south during the last restructuring... Social Security won't cover the expense of your house, but a renter might...

In each of the above cases, it is out of the question to finance a floating condo... yet you need a place to stay.. quickly... the question is what and how...

If you give up on the condo... and look at Annie Hill's book Voyaging on a Small Income... and you have camping experience, some things come to mind...

You don't really need water tanks... gallon milk jugs will do... but if you have water tanks.. get a FynSpray FS80 hand pump.

You don't really need a marine head, a bucket will do... but if you must, get a LAVAC.. I put one in in Papeete in 2000, it came with a henderson Mark 5 diaphragm pump, and it has been very reliable.

You don't need an electric bilge pump, but you do need a good one.. the best is the Edson gallon a stroke diaphragm pump.. I have two, bought in 87, and they have never given a bit of trouble.

You don't need an engine.. a long oar will do... but if you must have one... nanni diesel or the Perkins line of engines have worldwide parts availability..

You do need a sound hull... you need one that requires minimal maintenance, because maintenence costs money.... GRP hulls before 79 did not have osmosis problems, and CE Ryder's boats did not have this problem either... Look very carefully at this, if the boat had problems once, it can to so again... Look very carefully at balsa cored decks... they can be fixed, I know, I did one..

Look carefully at the hull deck joint in GRP hulls... Hal Roth had nothing but trouble there in Whisper...

GRP hulls generally have condensation problems...unless the hull is cored... needed is insulation...

Avoid steel like the plague... unless you like rust streaks...

A sound wood or three skin boat is hard to beat. Aluminum is even better...

Stay with a simple rig... cutter or sloop. If the boat is one with a long production run, chances are you can get a deal on sails at Bacon.. Regardless, if the boat is less than 34 ft. You can download SailCut for free, and get the material from KayoSpruce, and SailRite, and the sewing machine from SailRite and make your own... I made a suit of 5 sails for Pegasus, total cost $3000. and my sail area is 1200 sq ft!!!

Forget chart plotters, RADAR, wind direction indicators, etc... put up a masthead
windex, or a pennant, Get real chart kits, BA pilots, an almanac, the list of radio signals... Learn coast wise navigation, celestial too... By all means get a GPS.. they are so cheap now... there is no excuse to not have one anymore... but plan on looking out the window... and on plotting your position...

See Discounted Nautical Charts, Reproductions, Electronic Charts & Navigational Software | Bellingham Chart Printers for their portfolios of DMA chart copies...

A boat less than 34 ft does not need a windlass either... use a pawl... for a description of one see Hiscock's Voyaging Under Sail..

INDY