Tallships. Which one?

[houseofcharm]

Wow, the opposite of the WJ Barefoot boats where Burke took powered ships and added a sail conversion to them. Too bad only one survived-you might have grabbed one of the others before they foundered at their docks.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Woodland Hills

Just another dreamer jerking around and wasting our time. If the OP was serious there would be discussion of a budget both for purchase and for fitting out. There would also be hard numbers on annual expenses. Dollars to doughnuts the OP has yet to get insurance quotes either.

Does he have any idea of the number of crew and their salaries? Has the OP done any actual research or is that what he expects us to do for him?

Wow. Somebody needs a hug.

[psk125]

How about this? You can build the hold to fit whatever you need to carry!
https://www.popyachts.com/schooner-s...hington-143811

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

Wow. Somebody needs a hug.

I could buy if he was a little vague on exact plans and didn't talk about a specific boat to be purchased or the budgets dialed in to the gnats ass...

But to refuse to even give a general idea of scale of his budget or rough plans suggests, he is a day dreamer who's given this no serious consideration and most likely doesn't have anything close to the backing to pull this off.

[mako]

Originally Posted by psk125

How about this? You can build the hold to fit whatever you need to carry!
https://www.popyachts.com/schooner-s...hington-143811

What’s with the POP Yachts guys where you have to setup an account just to view their valuable photos???

[DHLyman]

The website below is a good place to see what others are doing in the age of sail freight and cargo transportation.
I photographed Tres Hombres, a cargo brigantine, anchored off St. Anne in Martinique last January. They've been sailing between the EU and the Caribbean since 2007,.

ttps://fairtransport.eu/tres-hombres/

[IslandHopper]

Not 100% sail but have a look at what these guys are doing....

Sailing Vessel Kwai - Sailing Vessel Kwai

https://www.google.com/search?q=brad..._AUoBHoECAEQBA

[mako]

Originally Posted by Jackofall

I would like to hear your opinions on something like this.
https://www.gosailcargo.com/ec-100.html

Jack that's a very interesting concept. But let's put some rough numbers on paper for a cheap commercial boat of say, 200 tons at DWL, minus one 40ft container 27 tons, minus fuel, supplies, equipment... say 130 tons lightship:

• Naval architecture fees $75k
• CNC cutting files $50k
• Construction cost (China) $1.7 million
• Outfitting $300k
• Class certificate $50k
• Contingency 20%

TOTAL $2.75 million

Revenue crossing from Europe to America, hold loaded with one full container: $5,000. Let's add 6 paying passengers $6,000. Sure you can sell some rum and coffee online for a few hundred bucks.

Oh we forgot about expenses like crew, fuel, supplies, insurance, maintenance, etc.

Anyway, if you can raise the capital through investors and not put any money of your own up, then this will be one fantastic adventure. If you are wealthy and are planning to put up a couple mil of your own money, then just buy a 60-80ft private sailboat, hire one experienced captain and cruise the world and enjoy life.

[CaptWho]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

You would basically have to market based on how "cool" it is that they came by tall ship. That's possible. I have a couple friends into bourbon and they are all into a silly brand that buys a container fills it full of barrels and sends the container around the world.

This could work if you create your own ecosystem for your product. High quality liquor or coffee (or whatever) could be marketed to customers based on being environmentally friendly. If your pockets are deep enough, purchase your own product, transport it in bulk, package it and market it under your own vanity label with a picture of the vessel on it. There are people out there willing to pay top dollar for niche items like this. Like any startup there's a moderate risk of failure, but it would be pretty cool if you succeed. Best of luck.

[DeValency]

Is this a transcript from some 400 years old archeological scroll manifest?

Originally Posted by Jackofall

So I am entertaining the idea of buying a tallship and converting it back into a cargo ship and starting a trading company similar to fairtransport and tres hombres.......so someone please slap me back into reality. 😁

Back to the dream: I've noticed that the very few cargo tallships are all two masted ships around 30 meters in length. I am currently looking at ships that have three masts and are between 40-50 meters in length. It seems a bigger boat will hold more cargo thus higher profits , but also needs a bigger crew. So the question is, which Tallship for full time cargo sailing? Why not a 45 meter three masted gaff rigged schooner over a two masted 30 meter?
I have no clue what I am doing here. Please help.

Before I make any wrong descisions* I do plan on joining one of these voyages to get first hand experience and to see if its something I really want.
Until then lets talk about hypotheticals.

* Sailing a tallship solo is more realistic then that statement.

Got popcorn?

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by CaptWho

(...) Like any startup there's a moderate risk of failure (...)

https://review42.com/what-percentage-of-startups-fail/


barnakiel

[smoothpiere]

Lots of good replies here. I can understand your daydream and I have followed some of the voyages and trading journeys of Kwai which does a lot of the smaller islands around the Pacific. She has a big cargo hold and runs her engine quite often and is still too big to get into many islands ringed with coral reefs but makes do.
I have had similar dreams but on a smaller scale. A ketch cargo vessel carrying exotic fruits and vegetables from one Eastern port in Australia to another. Selling to people direct from the yacht at a wharf in a smart suburb. A great dream and still have it even though the reality has smacked me in the face and as a live aboard and commercial captain, I understand a lot more about ships and weather and maintenance.
there are still many ports and communities that are without REGULAR deliveries of goods. Suss them out and then start to put your plan together. Go small. Consider working paying passengers as a small part of your crew. As far as insurances go, squeeze your goolies in your hand till you really feel the pain and think if you can manage that every day then go ahead.

[mako]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

https://review42.com/what-percentage-of-startups-fail/

Interesting article, but the great thing is there is not a single mention of a square-rigger-running-coffee-startup that has ever failed!

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by makobuilders

Interesting article, but the great thing is there is not a single mention of a square-rigger-running-coffee-startup that has ever failed!

Read against what the other poster said.


90% rate of failure is not "moderate risk".


Are you saying square riggers with coffee onboard make that lucky 10% ???


;-)
b.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

I've seen zero evidence the OP can be remotely close to profitable hauling cargo with an old sailing ship (even if not the highest ROI.)

If he wants to dump money in at a loss every year, that's certainly possible...as long as his bank account can support it.

A pipe dream in my humble estimation. Sometimes bursting someone's balloon is helpful.