Over the last 10 days I read all the posts in this thread, that has been going for over 4 years now. Many good ideas were posted, some hilarious ones, and some dubious/illegal way of making
money.
First some observations:
- All cruisers need
money to survive:
o some have it before they start
o some have money that works for them
o some make/earn this during their travels
o some
cruise parttime and work in between shorter cruises
- It has been noted that very few successful money making people listed their skills here……. They are keeping quiet. And thank you to those who shared!
- Very similar thread on CF has been started, see post # 942 … how does one insert a link?
If nothing else read these posts: # 44, 98, 166, 352, 505, 563, 665,697, 738, 821.
Over the last few months this thread was dominated by a discussion between Delfin and Certeza (mainly to do with Commodities spread and MRCI as I understand it). If you do not know what this is, please read the posts, or
google it. In short how to make money in investments. Quite in
depth, but as others already said: not suitable for all of us (cruisers).
Over the years a few contributors have summarised all the ideas (post #505 comes to mind), and maybe another one here:
1. By all means target fellow cruisers for an income by providing one of these services:
a. Welding, bending pipes
b. Woodwork
c. Bottom
cleaning
d. Fibreglass repair
e. Rigging and splicing
f. Mechanical
g. Painting/varnishing
h. Boat name stickers
i. Pet services: grooming, sitting etc
j. Boat minding for absent owners
k. Sail,
canvas making/repair
l. Plumbing
m. Electrical
n. Electronics
o. Refrigeration A/C
mechanic
p. Cooking (ie delivered to boat): bread, pizza, cold beer, dinners, waffles
q. Computer repair/advice
r. WiFI access point provider
s. Delivery
skipper
But be very mindful of this kind of work because:
· You may not have a working
permit in an overseas country
· Locals might get upset, and dob you in
· Cruisers are generally a tight lot, short of money as well
· Generally this kind of work does not involve money exchange, it's rewards are often a drink or a feed. “What goes around comes around” and “ karma” has been mentioned.
2. Other sources of income are also boating related but targeting others than cruisers themselves:
a. Charters
b. Fishing
c. Diving trips
d. Sailing tuition
Again and even more so, you may need a work
permit, licence,
insurance etc. etc. to work as above. If not you might find yourself certainly on the wrong side of the law.
3. You have some artistic skills:
a. Jewellery making
b. Painting (the artistic kind)
c. Musician
d. Street acts, ie puppeteer
e. Writing (see more under ’internet’ }
f. Photography (again under ‘internet’)
The first 4 are at times tolerated without much trouble, the others can be done anywhere anytime.
4. Trading:
a. Fuel
b. Drugs (if one is stupid enough)
c. Liquor
d. Cigars
e. Local art
f. Or just providing transport for various wares (excluding smuggling)
Most of the above would be illegal if not declared,
taxes paid etc. Then often the incentive to
trade disappears as the profit goes down to zero or below that. It seems that there is little income to be gained in this area.
5. Skills already present, provided to locals:
a. Any of the skills/trades listed under point 1.
b. Medical: doctors have often enormous obstacles to get accredited in a foreign country, may take 6-18 months.
c. Nursing, as above but a lot easier
d. Teachers maybe possible (definitely in some East Asian countries)
e. Hair dressing
f. Tattoos
g. Chef
Again, workpermits,
taxes, licences all need to be in place, unless you want to risk your freedom (jail) or loss of your boat.
6. Internet, services and sales via the
Internet seem to be most in favour to make money:
a. Writing: website, blogs, copywriter, travelguides, product, boat or marina
reviews or for magazines
i. Income can be direct from a paying customer or indirect from ads on the blog/website
b. Photograhy/video: postcard making, educational
i. As above
c. Travel agency either free standing or using one’s own boat/assets
d. IT, ie programmer, webdesign etc etc.
e. Sales, whatever you have, can make, can source, can supply
f. Crowd sourcing accurate
charts
g. Contribute to
weather information
All the above require a regular good
internet connection, in many cases being IT savvy.
7. Working your money to make money. Money you already have, used for investment:
a. Rental property
b. Stockmarket, future trading, options, foreign exchange etc. etc.
8. Items that did not fit the points above, some hilarious, some left of centre ideas or others outside the law (in no particular order):
a. Rape, marriage counsellor
b. Massage therapist
c. Making
fishing lures
d. Collecting/selling shells
e. Sell carbon credits
f. Printed T-shirts, or/and embroidery
g. Brothel
h. Male escort
i. Gay nudist cruises
j. Pole dancing (around the
mast was suggested)
k. Trawling for floating debris
l. Rum quality control inspector
m. Breeding puppies
n. Bunkering
service for
water or
diesel
o. Drug running
p. People smuggling
q. Pet smuggling
r. Smuggling anything else
s. Spying
t. Invent
halyard anti-slapping device
u. Invent
wind generator noise silencer
v. Winning lottery
w. Breastmilk provider
x. Sell
Avon products
y. Setting up own religion
z. Fred Hollows clinic (but a profitable one)
aa. Off shore Botox clinic
bb. Gambling/ casino/cards/roulette
cc. Weaving palm leaves
dd. Certified lifecoach
ee. Repairer of inflatables
ff. Opening a local business: like marina…. Hmmm not really cruising anymore
Paid jobs which can allow you to
cruise a large part of the year:
a. Airline pilot
b.Oilrig worker
Sorry for the lengthy post, and the formatting is not optimal