Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by jannpage

And of course I discovered that true for me too. So my guess is that you too will discover that if those great looking women have a brain, they will tire of your budget. Cheers

Now I find this statement amusing... sorry..I can't help it...
When I'm flush I can't get a single woman interested past the drinks/dinner stage coz I'm just another flash ******* waving his wad around... however...
I have met and had long relationships with some amazing women (great lookers to boot) when I've been damn near penniless...
Dunno what it is with us guys but give us a few bucks and we become arrogant ignorant morons... sorta bucks kills brains thing... LMAO

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Now I find this statement amusing... sorry..I can't help it...
When I'm flush I can't get a single woman interested past the drinks/dinner stage coz I'm just another flash ******* waving his wad around... however...
I have met and had long relationships with some amazing women (great lookers to boot) when I've been damn near penniless...
Dunno what it is with us guys but give us a few bucks and we become arrogant ignorant morons... sorta bucks kills brains thing... LMAO

OMG!!!!! a smart and hands0me man-- i think i'm-a gonna swoon!!!!

[w1651]

Originally Posted by zeehag

OMG!!!!! a smart and hands0me man-- i think i'm-a gonna swoon!!!!

Boatman you silver tongued B@$^&%d !!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Ram

500 a month average year in and year out including maintaining the vessel is simply not realistic-even silly to think it can be done-

Ram is, of course, 100% correct.

A further bit of evidence that doesnt come from me so it may be more believable... is fatty Goodlanders latest:
Notice to Mariners that The World is Overpriced

Notice to Mariners that The World is Overpriced

You will note he includes ALL continents, even those that some think they can hide away from society.

Mark

[callmecrazy]

Well if he can't do it I guess I can't either... I give up, I'm gonna buy a jetski instead...

Meanwhile this guy spent a year in Africa on a few dollars a day.

Again, people that decidedly can't cruise on such a small budget, thats all good, good for you, but stop telling other people they can't do it.

[zeehag]

hay crazy--i thinks we needs to post our receipts along with our words...LOL...

[callmecrazy]

I like hearing others talk about their journeys, and I can totally understand why most people would not want to live such a simplistic lifestyle. But there are plenty of people out there doing it, and that have done it, to prove beyond doubt that it's more than possible.

Give me $500/mo a month and I'll prove it myself

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Ram is, of course, 100% correct.

A further bit of evidence that doesnt come from me so it may be more believable... is fatty Goodlanders latest:
Notice to Mariners that The World is Overpriced

Notice to Mariners that The World is Overpriced

You will note he includes ALL continents, even those that some think they can hide away from society.

Mark

That was just plain depressing!

[w1651]

Meanwhile this guy spent a year in Africa on a few dollars a day.

I thought about Africa for cruising but the countries you encounter can be a little unstable to say the least. I don't think Somalia is going to be high on my list of countries to see.

Hag ! We don't need your reciepts I believe you and I also think every circumstance is different. For some 500 is way to low but for others it is doable. Would I like to cruise on 2500 a month. Sure who wouldn't and I would find a way to spend all that a month too.
Like the wise man said, the more you make the more you spend.
I will be alone and fending for myself no one else. That's where I have an advantage over others. I don't need a crew to talk too I like being alone without anyone around. People get on my nerves and raise my blood pressure. So 500 a month is good for me I think as long as I stick to the plan and shop at the local stores and see the countries I go to with comfortable shoes.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

Well I give up, I'm gonna buy a jetski instead...

Don't waste your money. Jeyskis are banned in many places now too

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by zeehag

hay crazy--i thinks we needs to post our receipts along with our words...LOL...

Ditto.

[dana-tenacity]

The article by Fatty Goodlander was pleasing because it is true and somebody finally said it. It is also depressing because it is true.

[JDGreenlee]

Fifty four pages of comments in this thread - and some of you have been here since near the beginning! Has someone mined it yet for the top "consensus" techniques to reduce long distance cruising costs? Or might it be worthwhile to refresh the last summary with new ideas (please point to the previous one so we may review it)? Or are there well-respected publications on which posters agree distill distinctly useful penny-wise but not pound foolish cruiser wisdom?

Who was it that offered, "Drink tea and save the coffee for the beach?" That's not such a lifestyle sacrifice to save a little money. There have to be dozens like that - some with more, some less impact. They add up. Ignoring sarcasms like, "Buy a cheap boat," and "Drink rum, not champagne," or "Sail, don't motor," what are YOUR top half dozen or so cruising "habits" with the biggest potential savings for the buck?

Conversely, what do you do (or have you done) that wastes more cruising kitty than anything else? Let's leave out the obvious generalities like, "Don't collide," and "Prevent chafe (although this one has utility if novel and specific)," or "Don't surf CF on sat phone." What are YOUR most important lessons learned about cruising penny-wise and pound foolish?

Perhaps it might be useful to offer one or two ideas each in the categories of A) Pre-departure, B) On passage, and C) On the hook. Or any other category that suits you. Various "modes" of thought on this may surprise us all!

I intend to put the benefit of your hard won lessons to work aboard an extended cruise later this year and next - and hopefully save enough to buy some diving equipment!

Thank you all in advance.

[speakeasy]

Originally Posted by goprisko

Amen !!

Jack Tar finally gets it....

His Formosa 51 costs much more to keep going than can be afforded within the parameters of this thread. He should be at the 2000 / month thread.

Regarding his questions concerning my experience...

I sailed around the world... took 15 years to do it... I went most everywhere... South Pacific, South Atlantic, North Pacific, North Atlantic. Phippippine Sea, South China Sea, Malacca Straits, Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, Mozambique Channel, Coral Sea, Tasman Sea, ETC.

I have sailed on everything from an air mattress ( at the age of 3) to a CVA ( US NAVY ).

I just returned from a cruise down island to Trinidad. I am living aboard in the Virgin Islands.

Go back to page 29 and begin reading from there... Keep in mind that cruising on a micro budget is not for everyone... it is possible, and it takes ingenuity to make it happen... but there are limitations which were discussed in detail in pages 29-35.

Primary limitation is the size of the boat 28-32 ft.

Next limitation is NO ENGINE.

Next Limitation is A VERY SIMPLE BOAT.

Fair Winds !

INDY

Nice to see you, Indy. Keeping clear on the concept is the essence of discipline on internet thought, where associative rambles proliferate. Not that many of those rambles are entertaining and occasionally illuminating in themselves, but seeing the issue thought out upward, layer by layer to a plateau of clarity . . . is very useful.

I have been curious for a long time about cruising India. A cradle of civilization that seems to have had profound effect on all my friends who've spent any time there, mostly decades ago come to think of it. What's doing today I wonder. Did you spend much time at Sri Lanka and/or on the Indian sub-continent? I've seen almost nothing from cruisers who've visited there and would love to hear some first hand accounts of doing so. I figure it must be a monsoon/time commitment issue or is it that there haven't been any trailblazer cruising guide books written yet (Sort of a no you first phenom )?, or perhaps it's dangerous for all but the empathically curious and intrepid?

What sort of planning window would one have to give in order to cruise India, on through to Capetown? TIA for whatever you've got.

Jon

[atoll]

might went to read my very good friend lars hassler's account of their stop in india a few months ago,blog is in english and swedish

SailEvent - Segla med S/Y Jennifer

the best time would be to leave thailand in dec-jan via cochin,mozambique channel to arrive in south africa april -may,then leave cape town in dec-jan for brazil