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Old 29-03-2020, 14:21   #1
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Seeing the World on a Pension

I have been wanting to see the world on a Sailboat since I was 7 and read Treasure Island. Because I have made some good decisions in my life, fiscally it is possible provided I buy a relatively affordable boat and provision properly. There is considerable information about how to properly provision the boat, but relatively no information on where to stop along the way. The plan is to leave California and head North to Alaska, Stopping in Oregon, Washington and Canada. Follow the Alaskan Islands across to Asian Continent and heading south and working our way around the globe. So here are the questions,

Is there a resource that lists which countries are friendly to the US?
Is there a resource that lists where there are Marina's and Moorings located throughout the world where we can replenish our supplies?
Is there a resource that discusses how to contact these countries ahead of time in order to get permission to enter the country?

Ill start with this.
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Old 29-03-2020, 14:46   #2
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

Welcome to the fourm……

Friendly warning..... noob questions THIS open seldom get a serious reply, but the more specific (and serious) the questions the better. These general questions usually scream of someone who has not spent much time here reading.

I'll be gentle on you.... I promise.

First, your header said cruising on a pension, yet no questions about how or how much.... You will find that $1k -$3K/ month is workable with sacrifices (AKA simple boat and not a lot of restaurant meals) more is better, less is real shoestring territory.

You may want to rethink your agenda.... aside from the fact that high latitude sailing is NOT what newbees typically start with, I'm pretty sure that checking Cornell's Cruising Routes will confirm that the Pacific is seldom done CCW from AK to Asia. Even a used (dated) guide from Amazon can be had for a few dollars and gives great insights into routes and seasons to get you anywhere in the world. It's not a simple as looking at a map and noticing that AK is close to Asia.

Also, high latitude sailing usually (but not always) involves a metal boat, again, not usually noob territory.

Since you are on the west coast with not a lot of real coastal sailing other than The Bay area, a lot of your sailing will be offshore like and you should try and get something pretty robust. A lot of the Pacific coast is exposed and open... not the ICW in any event.

To answer your questions, there are cruising guides for virtually anywhere you might want to go that has all that traveler info.

Start here:
https://www.amnautical.com/collectio...ruising-guides

Good luck researching your dream.... it can be done.... read, read!!

D
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Old 29-03-2020, 15:02   #3
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

Buying a boat and then provisioning it omits a few essential steps, the cost of which can dwarf those two - repairing it, outfitting it, updating it, etc... can make your provisioning and purchase costs seem trivial.
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Old 29-03-2020, 15:47   #4
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

Assuming you can buy a good boat and fit it out without relying on the pension, and it’s just you or one other, and assuming your pension is near $3,000 or so, then I think it’s doable.
However you may want rethink where you buy the boat, after this Pandemic has run its course , there are shed loads of boats for sale in Fl, always are.
Fl is easier as the sailing from here is easier and it’s a real good, safe training ground so that you don’t get in over your head right from the beginning.

Once you get away from civilization, you save boat loads of money. There just isn’t anything spend it on. I know the Bahamas isn’t away from civilization, but we save thousands of dollars per month being here, largely as we leave with the boat loaded down with provisions, it’s not at all hard for us to save ten to fifteen thousand if we are here for six months, of course then you spend quite a bit re-provisioning, but even as we eat good steaks a lot etc, we still won’t spend $10,000 plus stocking back up, but once you leave the automobile and Marina and electric bill etc and Amazon and all being you don’t spend as much as you would think.
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Old 29-03-2020, 16:01   #5
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

For a world wide description of typical sailing routes see Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes.

https://cornellsailing.com/publicati...uising-routes/

For cruising details of each popular country/region there are various "cruising guides", like the one posted above for Alaska. Less popular areas likely wont have a cruising guide.

To see what cruising guides are all about you can download free ones at the link below. Paid ones are available on Amazon or marine retailers. Paid or free often is not the determinant of which is better for a given area.

http://freecruisingguides.com/
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Old 29-03-2020, 16:35   #6
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbrothers View Post
I have been wanting to see the world on a Sailboat since I was 7 and read Treasure Island. Because I have made some good decisions in my life, fiscally it is possible provided I buy a relatively affordable boat and provision properly. There is considerable information about how to properly provision the boat, but relatively no information on where to stop along the way. The plan is to leave California and head North to Alaska, Stopping in Oregon, Washington and Canada. Follow the Alaskan Islands across to Asian Continent and heading south and working our way around the globe. So here are the questions,

Is there a resource that lists which countries are friendly to the US?
Is there a resource that lists where there are Marina's and Moorings located throughout the world where we can replenish our supplies?
Is there a resource that discusses how to contact these countries ahead of time in order to get permission to enter the country?

Ill start with this.
Russia is full of Volcanos and Bad bears.
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Old 29-03-2020, 18:19   #7
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

One more vote for Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes. Even his first chapters will get you started in the right direction. Do this before you do anything else.
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Old 29-03-2020, 18:41   #8
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

This are fantastic answers to what I was looking for. To answer the basics, probably around 3k Per month. Saving up for the boat, were thinking a Bali 42 Catamaran or Maybe a Lagoon. Will start pouring through the routes to plan accordingly. Completely agree with starting on the East coast versus the west coast. But will depend on time of year and where we get the boat from.

For now it will be a crew of 2 but depending on the leg we will probably grab a third or fourth. Thanks for all of the information. I will definitely be reaching again soon.
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Old 29-03-2020, 19:03   #9
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

You can start on the west coast. Typical route is to Mexico and Central America and then jump off to the Galapagos and then French Polynesia or directly to FP (a long way). Cornell is your friend. One advantage of starting in the east coast is that you can build up experience in the eastern Caribbean which is pretty easy and very interesting. Getting to the Eastern Caribbean from the US east coast is not all that easy. If you got a boat in the Caribbean, lots for sail/sale there, and you avoid the potentially challenging trip from the US - although some years it can be an easy trip - it depends.
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Old 29-03-2020, 19:46   #10
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

North then west, not so good.....
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Old 29-03-2020, 19:56   #11
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

Spend a 6-12 months reading circumnavigation blogs...then come back and start asking questions.

Right now you don't know enough to even know what questions to ask.
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Old 29-03-2020, 20:09   #12
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

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Originally Posted by valhalla360 View Post
Spend a 6-12 months reading circumnavigation blogs...then come back and start asking questions.

Right now you don't know enough to even know what questions to ask.
Thank you for your useless opinion. Right now you don't know enough about me to be able to know one way or the other what it is I actually know and do and do not need to know. I am not interested in Blogs, I am interested in facts, data and statistics and I will form my own opinions from there. What I wanted to know was actually provided by the other people in this thread. Thank you to those who pointed me to the guides.
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Old 29-03-2020, 21:11   #13
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

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Originally Posted by Dbrothers View Post
Thank you for your useless opinion. Right now you don't know enough about me to be able to know one way or the other what it is I actually know and do and do not need to know. I am not interested in Blogs, I am interested in facts, data and statistics and I will form my own opinions from there. What I wanted to know was actually provided by the other people in this thread. Thank you to those who pointed me to the guides.
Sorry you feel that way...let me break it down a little more for you:

The route you suggested is common to people with no experience who think hugging the coast is the safest option. Coastal cruising is often much more challenging than open ocean. The route you suggested is among the most challenging coastal cruising in the world. California to Alaska is challenging but can be done if you are patient. After that the level of challenge goes up dramatically and you add in Russia & China where getting permission to cruise is a challenge. Even Japan & Korea aren't really on the normal cruising circuit. The entire route, you are going against the prevailing current and often against the wind...there's a lot of reasons that someone with even a modest background would not consider this route...hence the reasonable assumption that you are very early in the process of figuring out how cruising works.

Cruising books can provide some information (Cornell's Cruising Routes is a good one for general routing) but books tend to get updates only once every several years so detailed information tends to be out of date (generic routes rarely change but info on ease of entry and flexibility entering countries often changes...particularly after the current virus issues settle).

Also if you only read 2-3 books, you will be heavily influenced by the author's bias. Some of the ones I read before we got out cruising, I now consider junk based on actual experience.

By reading a dozen or two blogs, you get more up to date information and you get differing perspectives helping you get a better data set to assess the best options. Noonsite.com is a great clearing house largely populated with info from those same cruisers who are out doing it now but the format may be more challenging for someone unfamiliar with the typical routes. By following a blog, you see the route they followed.
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Old 29-03-2020, 22:38   #14
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dbrothers View Post
I have been wanting to see the world on a Sailboat since I was 7 and read Treasure Island. Because I have made some good decisions in my life, fiscally it is possible provided I buy a relatively affordable boat and provision properly. There is considerable information about how to properly provision the boat, but relatively no information on where to stop along the way. The plan is to leave California and head North to Alaska, Stopping in Oregon, Washington and Canada. Follow the Alaskan Islands across to Asian Continent and heading south and working our way around the globe. So here are the questions,

Is there a resource that lists which countries are friendly to the US?
Is there a resource that lists where there are Marina's and Moorings located throughout the world where we can replenish our supplies?
Is there a resource that discusses how to contact these countries ahead of time in order to get permission to enter the country?

Ill start with this.



Generally speaking most cruisers like to sail with the wind behind them. The sailing winds around the planet generally are from east to west between the tropics and as you head further towards the poles the winds generally flow west to east and can be quite strong "called the roaring 40s) Look at the Windy website and play the animations of the wind patterns around the planet. https://www.windy.com/37.778/-122.44...11,3,m:eH6acK4


zoom out and you will see the whole world at once. Use the ruler path function on Google Earth to figure out the distances you need to go. Use 6 knots as your average and see how long it will take you. Going into the wind could take twice as long.


For the specific questions:


Is there a resource that lists which countries are friendly to the US?
The internet is the best resource and the US Travel advisories.


Is there a resource that lists where there are Marina's and Moorings located throughout the world where we can replenish our supplies?


Noonsite.com is pretty useful for country customs and immigration notes, service providers etc.



Is there a resource that discusses how to contact these countries ahead of time in order to get permission to enter the country? Noonsite.com


https://www.noonsite.com/


Jimmy Cornells books are available from Ibooks. and https://cornellsailing.com/publications/all-books/
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Old 30-03-2020, 02:32   #15
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Re: Seeing the World on a Pension

As to your primary question (and one that has seemingly has been missed by most responses ), if it’s resources you’re after, I would recommend you spend some time browsing around noonsite.com.

Despite your declaration that you have no interest in blogs, this is a useful web resource that will answer many of your questions.
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