How much cash aboard?

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by travellerw

Wow.. Interesting to know thats an option in the Med.

Down here in the Carribean that would only work in about %50 of places. Even then, the "systems" go down on some islands enough to make it not work. More than once I have been with a buddy boat that had to leave a cart full of groceries because they couldn't accept cards. Even the superyatch crews carry some cash for those situations.

However, I very much agree with your philosophy. Carry the absolute minimum you can.

Yes but that's why there're ATM's behind every other corner to get cash to pay local Chinese supermercado..

BR Teddy

[sailcrazy]

ATMs are eveywhere, as everyone has said. BUT....most have a very small limit ($200 if you're lucky on withdrawls-but of course the fee remains the same. We look around until we find an ATM that lets us w/d $500-$700 at a time-the fee is still the same-and we keep it in a safe hidden stash onboard. With 3-4 different cards, that allows a $1500-$2000 total withdraw on any given day. We generally keep $3000-$5000 in cash on board.....because you never know who will take which card, if any card, and everyone takes cash.

[Seighlor]

"A hidden stash of a few thousand USD in $20's can really come in handy sometimes too. . ."

Some years ago, tied up at Marina Gloria in Rio de Janeiro, my dock neighbor was robbed. The bad guys had come aboard and, in their attempt to steal the electronics, they came upon the $8,000 US my friend had hidden behind the panel. At that point they abandoned the electronics and went merrily on their way.

Think long and hard about your hiding place.

[astokel]

OP is probably not heading to Cuba, but those who are should be aware that American banks are not allowed to give cash or credit to Cuban banks. That means your ATM card and credit cards won't be accepted.

Don't blame the Cubans for this.

BTW: They love US dollars. Cash is king!

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by sailcrazy

ATMs are eveywhere, as everyone has said. BUT....most have a very small limit ($200 if you're lucky on withdrawls-but of course the fee remains the same. We look around until we find an ATM that lets us w/d $500-$700 at a time-the fee is still the same-and we keep it in a safe hidden stash onboard. With 3-4 different cards, that allows a $1500-$2000 total withdraw on any given day. We generally keep $3000-$5000 in cash on board.....because you never know who will take which card, if any card, and everyone takes cash.

I see you are in the USVI.. We have never had a problem with Scotiabank letting us take $500 USD.. For us, there is no fee as we bank with Scotia in Canada. I think they have a partner bank in the USA. If you have an account with thier partner, there should be no fees!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by onavegador

Remember that ATM's may be out of working order that happened ofter in the 3rd world. May your next ATM is in surrounding where you do not feel save or because it will be dark soon.
As now you have to pay more and more fees for cashwithdrawels I had a allways a reserve of about 1000 US$ on board most of it in 1/5/10/50 $ Bills.
I payd most with credit cards but for handy men, on market you have to pay cash.
I had never much local currency aboard if this was not US$.

Smooth sailing

onavegador

Yes, common problem in developing countries...tend to run out of cash on holidays too.

Small bills are another good idea...for local tiendas/public transport a $20 (or equivalent in local currency) is a large bill and they may not have change.

When on the street keep some small bills in one pocket for small expenses and stash any additional larger pocket change in another.

[MarkJ]

Reduculous to keep money on board!

As for talking about it... loony.

Use ATMs and keep few, very few dollars in your pocket or on board.
So what if you have to pay a $4 ATM fee? It's little price compared to some thug with bolt cutters looking at your wife's fingers as he asks you about the $2k he *knows* you have on your boat.


If you are really cruising some weird whacky place soooooo far from civilisation they don't have an ATM you will be fully provisioned, won't you? You will leave the town you cleared in - which obviously has ATMs - and sail off to some cluster of islands for a few weeks. What's there to spend $2,000 on?
Just take a few hundred to buy sonething from local stores or make donations to village chiefs etc. Maybe the village puts on a dinner etc.

But those places are few and far between. And by the time you get there you will know.

[CaptsWife]

Originally Posted by sailcrazy

ATMs are eveywhere, as everyone has said. BUT....most have a very small limit ($200 if you're lucky on withdrawls-but of course the fee remains the same. We look around until we find an ATM that lets us w/d $500-$700 at a time-the fee is still the same-and we keep it in a safe hidden stash onboard.

I thought the limit was set by the withdrawing bank, not the ATM, no?

[john61ct]

Both, lowest one wins

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by akprb

Here is what you DO NOT DO!!!!!

Do not store your cash is a "soda can safe" and then ask your girlfriend to clean the boat.

Trust me ;-)

Or...dont have a very large cache and piss off your wife.

Guy did this in Belize once. He had $100K stashed on the boat which of course he did not declare on entry. WAY over the $10K limit.

Unhappy wife left him and alerted the officials on her way out of the country.

Boat and cash were impounded...seriously doubt he ever saw that cash again.

Oops.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by CaptsWife

I thought the limit was set by the withdrawing bank, not the ATM, no?

Originally Posted by john61ct

Both, lowest one wins

Yes, some banks, esp in more remote areas, set relatively low limits so they dont run out of cash as often.

In Guatemala a common daily limit is Q2,000 (about $260). This applies on the bank's entire network so you will have to go to a different branded ATM if you need more.

I used to make a regular cash run down a street with several brands of ATM...hit each one and extract the max. Now, anyone paying attention knows there is a gringo strolling down the street with pockets full of cash. Never had a problem, but it was often on my mind.

[barnakiel]

USD 4 at the machine? You kidding or a genuine kid?

What about the FX rate???

Next time you sail back home have a good long look at the withdrawal fee AND the FX fee. Maybe some other fess, who knows.

You call the other guy a THUG? And the guy who takes like 5 to 10% on every your dollar that you pull is who?

Bankers are thugs in Armani ties. And they are actually the worse kind as they do bad things while having it all.

b.

[Benz]

Last time I was in Colombia, I did the math and found out the ATM was taking 10% in fees, as well as having an exchange rate that fluctuated out of sync with the posted rate in the exchange house. That was the end of my long struggle with both ATMs and my provincial credit unions, which couldn't imagine why anyone would want to leave 'merica anyway, and kept shutting down my cards. Next time I was 'stateside, I pulled out most of my cash (wasn't much, anyway), and travelled with it alone. Some places, cards are fine (Mexico), but others are a disaster (much of central america).
What was useful was having a whole box of ones and fives, which I'd saved from my tipping job, and not having to chase around to banks to change larger bills too much. In future I'll have a CC for emergencies, but never be without dollars in cash.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

USD 4 at the machine? You kidding or a genuine kid?

What about the FX rate???

Next time you sail back home have a good long look at the withdrawal fee AND the FX fee. Maybe some other fess, who knows.

You call the other guy a THUG? And the guy who takes like 5 to 10% on every your dollar that you pull is who?

Bankers are thugs in Armani ties. And they are actually the worse kind as they do bad things while having it all.

b.

ATM rates are obscene (try more like $5+ in many places these days on International txns), thus best to make large withdrawals when possible, but the alternative is inconvenient or no access to cash.

Having an in country/regional card dramatically reduces those fees.

I used to work in the tech side of that industry. We charged $0.03 to switch a transaction...and were making a healthy profit margin.

Fees charged by financial institution vary. My CitiBank card for example charges no foreign txn fees so a purchase costs me nothing extra.

[Rudderless]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Use ATMs and keep few, very few dollars in your pocket or on board.
So what if you have to pay a $4 ATM fee? It's little price compared to some thug with bolt cutters looking at your wife's fingers as he asks you about the $2k he *knows* you have on your boat.

In that situation, isn't your wife better off if you DO have some money on board to give the thug?