Shoestring Sailors (Cruising on $500 per month - part II)

[stephenronning]

VINO THE DOG, HOW ARE YOU BUDDY!
Yes, you can work from your boat....and you my friend can make an honest living and earn more than you ever imagined!! I know that and I've only read one of your posts ever! You are overlooking what you are doing right now!!!! it's right there in front of your face buddy!!! You know what it is??? IT'S.....YOU! You are your Job, your work, your own boss!! buy a decent pressure washer, and a laptop, and a 4g phone and/or buy a 'cruiser's internet package.' Then GOTO WORK! Craigslist will let you list your job's you do..and when you know you'll be in a certain area just put up an add ahead of time that you will pressure wash, paint, install electronics, give sailing lessons, teach them about the cruising lifestyle with your knowledge you have learned and or offer sailing lessons....IT'S RIGHT THERE BUDDY!! I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS!! the nice thing is that you don't have to get outta bed at 530am and sit in traffic to goto work and kiss everybody's a#$ all day!! You let people know when it's convenient for you to fix, wash, or help them with their Boat!!
blessing's and goodluck!
you'll do great!
Doesn't this make sense? As you stated you can do 90% of the work on your boat yourself...well great...there are a lot of rich people that don't wanna mess with it and they'd love to hire you!
I started doing bottom jobs for people at at $4.00/ft when the big marine business were charging $29.50 a ft plus tax...I was so busy my head was spinning!! and they alway's tip you!! you make great money!! Then I got into pressure washing at $2.00/ft!!! again, I was busy as hell....I live in Seattle and love to cruise the san juans..so I'd just put an add on the craigslist board for the area's I wanted to visit and when I got a job there..that gave me a destination!! WIN WIN WIN SITUATION!
Take care buddy hope this helps!
Stephen K Ronning
S/V solstrade
seattle

[Vino the Dog]

Stephen, Thanks for the confirmation. I will leave sailing lessons and the like to those more experienced than me. Will be seeking out teachers myself as this is my first cruising boat. Will be happy with boat craftsmanship. I have over 35 years experience in custom woodwork, AC and DC electrical (ran solar electric business for 12 years including building electric cars and boats), reasonably decent mechanic including diesel, and pretty much lived off my art since 1973. Twice around the world out of a backpack. Check out Untitled it is a new site with links that don't work yet and takes a long time to load, but you may enjoy. Cheers, Steve and Aleutia (Aleutia is a professional too... certified search & rescue dog.)

[ElGatoGordo]

Steve...you ought to add dog training to the resume!

[forsailbyowner]

Here are some money savers I'm using on this winters downtime. I replaced all the old worn out foam with spring units. I picked up 3 high quality used mattresses off craigslist. Tore mattresses apart to reveal springs that look as new. Reshaped the edgwire to match the cushion shape, retied edgewire to new confuguration. Made pad to fit over top and canvas covers. Total cost $80 to do the whole boat.

For aging worn countertops throughout the boat. I rigged a table saw out of a skillsaw and cut whatever untreated would I could find and glued the strips to form butcherblock. Easy and cheap to maintain and good to look at. Total cost about 20 for a gallon on glue and bar clamps.

Boats lookin good after these jobs and was almost all labor equity

[Vino the Dog]

@ElGatoGordo,
Consider dog training added to my resume. Spent seven years training dogs for search & rescue, 3 as Dog Training Coordinator for Bonner County, Idaho Sheriff Dept. Search & Rescue, 4 as founder and President of Search Dog North Idaho, Inc. (now defunct). Done Agility training and started a Dog Baseball League. Takes minimum 8 dogs to play competitive Dog Baseball... seriously a riot!

Photo; Aleutia on a Down-Stay beneath the rotors of a running USAF helicopter.

[Doodles]

Vino, if you're planning on leaving the US and need to actually "work" as opposed to just picking up a few bucks ever now and then, you'll need a work permit and probably some foreign language skills.

[Vino the Dog]

Thanks for the comment, Doodles. I have already spent 8 years working my way around the world. Set up stained glass studios in New Zealand and Australia, worked on an Aboriginal settlement then built a house in OZ, did street art in Portugal, worked as a solar electric consultant in Puerto Rico and Peru, and built electric vehicles in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Bali. One needs to get work permits just as one must pay taxes, it's the law. Never worked from a boat though... next on the list.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

Thanks for the comment, Doodles. I have already spent 8 years working my way around the world. Set up stained glass studios in New Zealand and Australia, worked on an Aboriginal settlement then built a house in OZ, did street art in Portugal, worked as a solar electric consultant in Puerto Rico and Peru, and built electric vehicles in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Bali. One needs to get work permits just as one must pay taxes, it's the law. Never worked from a boat though... next on the list.

You sound well prepared. :-)

[Vino the Dog]

I think we can do OK, but this is my first cruising boat. Have crewed a few times and had several smaller boats, but will need the help of more experienced sailors for a while. Will be looking for a crew and hopefully a skipper with CT-Formosa experience for the first few trips. Also looking for CT-Formosa owners for ideas, tips, and advice over the next couple months getting Mystique re-fitted.

thank you all,

[ElGatoGordo]

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

@ElGatoGordo,
Consider dog training added to my resume. Spent seven years training dogs for search & rescue, 3 as Dog Training Coordinator for Bonner County, Idaho Sheriff Dept. Search & Rescue, 4 as founder and President of Search Dog North Idaho, Inc. (now defunct). Done Agility training and started a Dog Baseball League. Takes minimum 8 dogs to play competitive Dog Baseball... seriously a riot!

Photo; Aleutia on a Down-Stay beneath the rotors of a running USAF helicopter.

That's what I was saying! You didn't include that in your list of skills...and who knows, there might be people out there cruising who need their dog trained!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Vino the Dog

Thanks for the comment, Doodles. I have already spent 8 years working my way around the world. Set up stained glass studios in New Zealand and Australia, worked on an Aboriginal settlement then built a house in OZ, did street art in Portugal, worked as a solar electric consultant in Puerto Rico and Peru, and built electric vehicles in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Bali. One needs to get work permits just as one must pay taxes, it's the law. Never worked from a boat though... next on the list.

Sounds like it is you that folks should be asking questions of!

FWIW, never done the living and working from a boat thing - but has always seemed a bit strange to me that folks often seem to want to restrict themselves to only doing boat related work when 99.99% of the opportunities are onshore doing unrelated stuff. Perhaps it is something to do with wanting an easy commute (5 mins by dink or by foot?), but if the mindset is simply that the boat is a place you live on (as any other style of accomadation is) then horizons open up (otherwise same as if you lived in a Condo and only sought work that could be done in the Condo or was related to Condos or was only for other Condo owners, and only nearby ones at that - would be (IMO) a kinda bizarre way to make a living ).

[Vino the Dog]

OK, you folks just made up my mind on what to do with the foc'sle - the bunk has been narrowed beyond use as a berth and I had thought about restoring it, but now think it would be much smarter to convert the area to a tiny workshop.

[w1651]

Okay I got Paint and sand. Any ideas about my non skid decks?

[frank_f]

Originally Posted by w1651

Okay I got Paint and sand. Any ideas about my non skid decks?

Did that on the Mac and it didn't work out as well as I thought it would. Great non-skid but I seem to have to repaint these areas each year as the sand colour bleeds through.

I think a negative impression might work better. Maybe put down a coat of paint and then sprinkle epsom salt on the wet paint. The liquids in the paint should dry fast enough not to melt the salt. Let the paint dry and then pour lots of water over it. That should dissolve the salt and leave a negative impression in the paint itself. Nice and grippy but easier to maintain.

I haven't tried it yet, but repainting every year sucks.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by w1651

Okay I got Paint and sand. Any ideas about my non skid decks?

Tape off your areas have your sand and a fine sieve handy... roller on the paint then sieve some sand over the wet paint.. not to much more an even dusting... let it dry then roller on a second coat thinned 10%... don't dust of any loose sand..