Low Cost Cruising Details

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

This shows that I'm REALLY out there cruising, for I have yet to see this offered in the many yacht clubs we've visited over the years. Thus, I'm cruising on a different planet, and should be eligible for some big award from the CCA.

Many of the yacht clubs in the world don't have marina docks or club moorings or, for that matter, even real club houses. The quoted post does not reflect reality as we have seen it.

There are other reasons to join a YC, of course, and I'm not dissing that practice... we even belong to the one here in Port Cygnet.

Jim

idk but a quick search finds reciprocal moorage yacht clubs .
But most see the burger and don't even look at the list

Just for example
https://www.fsc.com.au/about/reciprocal-yacht-clubs/
For Fremantle Australia

A quick search usually finds something in an area that will provide you free dock days for provisioning

[sailorboy1]

Well time for me to just unsubscribe and place this thread on ignore to never be seen again.

It was 1 thing to put up with the not answer question dodgers making excuses of why they can not just put their cruising costs out there to help wannabes etc.

But now there is the anti cruising beach cat used to be in his mind guy showing up with nothing his same old insults.

Sorry to all hoping to learn. Hope you have enough for your planned cruising.

[Cthoops]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Funny.

I have responsibilities.

I have to maintain a home for family members otherwise I'd have been sailing/cruising at least a few months a year for the past several years.

I say a few months because I couldn't spend much more than that stuck on a boat full time

I'm happy that you folks are enjoying yourselves but you are total beginners also

You spent like $75,000 to refit a boat to sail to the Bahamas! Really? After paying $15,000 for the old boat you have

I have maybe put another $10,000 in my boat which I purchased for $2,000 and it can easily sail to the Bahamas

And btw, your boat doesn't have the best looking Capsize Screening Formula which indicates maybe not the best AVS so be careful and watch the weather

Please get some experience before attacking those of us that have grown up on the water

This is my goal.

I plan to retire at 70. Before I sail away from my dock to cruise maybe to Bermuda first, I want to run 3 miles. Before the run I want to do 25 push ups and 6-8 pull ups.

The above is my true goal not the sailing.

The sailing/boating is second nature to me. I've been on boats since maybe age 5 crossing the Chesapeake Bay on the ferries my Dad worked on after he stopped farming.

Plus I have already done most of what many vacation style cruisers do while I was living on the Gulf Coast

This not counting the other 12 boats or so I have owned myself since age 16

And as for the beach cat reference. I spent 15 years racing them against some of the best sailors in the US. I owned 4 of them two new. Two with spinnakers. One a single hand boat with a spinnaker

We raced from February to November most every weekend. Mostly buoy racing but with the yearly 100 miler, and several 20 to 30 mile races.

When racing you tack and gybe more in the prestart than most cruisers do over 100's of miles

You can lose a race simply by starting on the wrong side of the start line, mast prebend slightly off, wrong battens, or your sheeting is too loose or too tight not to mention mast rake plus tons of other stuff

The best though (the toughest actually) is holding your boat still for a minute or two without crossing the start/finish line when only 15' from it with boats on either side of you within 1-2 feet with wind anywhere from 5-21 knots.... and not fouling anyone or going OCS early

Struck a nerve it would appear.

Here’s a thought, Beach Cat: why don’t you stop trolling other cruisers who have had the sack to actually go for it while you sit around making excuses for why you won’t.

And learn some basic math while you’re at it.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

If Beach Cat

Did someone mention Beach Cats!?

Hey thanks, it's a great way to learn sailing.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSYCz7gePBU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYZ9e18paPc

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

Struck a nerve it would appear.

Here’s a thought, Beach Cat: why don’t you stop trolling other cruisers who have had the sack to actually go for it while you sit around making excuses for why you won’t.

And learn some basic math while you’re at it.

Cruisers that have gone for what?

Motoring the ICW and crossing over to the Bahamas? Paying prices your average tourist pays!?

Is that it?

Is that what folks dream of for a lifetime? And spend tons of money in the process then anchor out for days or sit at a marina

Do the math.

You can do these things on a vacation

The Gulf Coast has beaches and water just as beautiful as the Bahamas. You can actually work during the week and sail your boat to very nice places most every weekend BEFORE you retire

I worry about the anchoring out part though as we get older. We need exercise and a good diet. Maybe you can go ashore and hike I guess and take your bike

As for as having the sack, I know my responsibilities and what takes priority. I don't have to cross 60-100 miles of open water on a boat full of safety gear and COMMS where you can call for help at any time to prove I can sail

Btw, this is my first boat with a radio, depth finder or any electronics........and charts! (now a chart plotter that I built for $110)

When we were teens, we came into the inlets on the seaside by riding the back of a wave on our 14-16' power boats. It seemed normal then.......but you did need to select the right wave if it was low tide

[Mike OReilly]

You know folks... it's not necessary to put others down just to justify your own choices.

Originally Posted by a64pilot

When trying to decide to Retire I agonized about it, I didn’t want to live the rest of my life poor, cause I didn’t work for just a few more years, but of course once those years are gone, they are gone. Wait too long and your not physically capable.

This has been a driving force for me since my early 20s. I had a serious brush with death early on, and I think that has shaped some of my approach to all this stuff. We all know time is the most important commodity we have, but some of us don't truly understand this till it's too late.

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Years ago we went on a live aboard dive cruise on the Aqua Cat, I can remember looking at the boats anchored out at Staniel Cay then, thinking it took Millions to do that, and it was simply above my pay grade.
Then I started looking into costs, and a whole lot of reading on this forum and reading every single “how much does it cost thread”.
I finally came to the conclusion that you stated, it can be done quite inexpensively, or cost quite a lot, just like living on land, ...

A beautiful summation A64. If readers of this thread take nothing else away, let it be this. Most people who live in developed countries can go cruising. It just depends on the choices you are able, and willing to make.

Originally Posted by a64pilot

So the argument of you can’t live on a boat on a low budget is somewhat meaningless, just like can you live on land on a low budget.

Perfect. Too bad the OP can't understand this.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

You know folks... it's not necessary to put others down just to justify your own choices.

It's nothing serious just lively conversation to make a point.

We just know which buttons to push after a while to get things.......started!?

We are all learning here which is the great thing about the internet and CF!

Tom

[Pegu Club]

Thom, you’re sailing around in a boat with no hoses on your through hulls (you supplied the pictures) then you tell people that the dollars they spend making their boats sea worthy is foolish, on top of that you tell people that they aren’t actually cruising because it’s not how you define it., when you have next to no practical knowledge or experience doing it yourself. Then you prater on about a boat you “raced” ages ago, which has nothing to do with the topic at hand, and you do it over and over, not recognizing how foolish you come across in your statements. FFS, Just stop already, go get yourself a beer and a blunt, it will do you a world of good to meditate on your behavior on a public forum. Nuthin but luv Thom.

Fair winds,

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by newhaul

idk but a quick search finds reciprocal moorage yacht clubs .
But most see the burger and don't even look at the list

Just for example
https://www.fsc.com.au/about/reciprocal-yacht-clubs/
For Fremantle Australia

A quick search usually finds something in an area that will provide you free dock days for provisioning

So, I had a look at the linked YC site... and guess what? They do offer some reciprocal privileges but none of them are free moorage. And the clubs to which they extend those limited privileges ain't the 65 buck a year types, but rather gold plater clubs whose initiation fees alone will buy a lot of days in a commercial marina, let alone the annual taffifs.

Besides, Freemantle is a couple of thousand miles sailing from here... seriously, the days of free reciprocal moorage are gone from most venues. But I say again, we've been made welcome at a lot of clubs as guests, but always as paying guests at the bar or restaurant or boat yard. A few places have only charged us members rates, but because we were overseas visitors, not because we were members of some distant YC.

Jim

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Pegu Club

Thom, you’re sailing around in a boat with no hoses on your through hulls (you supplied the pictures) then you tell people that the dollars they spend making their boats sea worthy is foolish, on top of that you tell people that they aren’t actually cruising because it’s not how you define it., when you have next to no practical knowledge or experience doing it yourself. Then you prater on about a boat you “raced” ages ago, which has nothing to do with the topic at hand, and you do it over and over, not recognizing how foolish you come across in your statements. FFS, Just stop already, go get yourself a beer and a blunt, it will do you a world of good to meditate on your behavior on a public forum. Nuthin but luv Thom.

Fair winds,

Haha!

Very funny!

I'm sorry that my closed seacocks scare you. (I didn't have hoses on the plugs of any of my previous boats either!!) Get a grip.

Speaking of seaworthiness ........do your homework before buying.

Bristol 27
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/bristol-27

Bristol 29.9
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/bristol-299

[carstenb]

I guess one of the reasons we all seem to differ is that we have no common definition of "cruising". Do you have to cross oceans to be a cruiser?

we have and because we live on our boat full-time and rack up say 6000nm per year, we tend to think that is the definition of a cruiser. We're happy to extend that definition to anyone who lives fulltime on the boat and spends at least a fair bit of time sailing.

I do have to say that as soon as you get away from your home country - things will get expensive - as will boat repairs and I don't care how much you can do yourself - none of us have a swag capable of making new rigging so when that comes up - you have to pay.

Few have a stainless steel welder on board and if you need that - you pay.

Few can just careen the boat on a deserted beach (try finding one these days -HAH!) and clean the bottom and repaint (paint costs money).

Get hit by lightning? We just did - fried every piece of electronics on the boat and we are very, very happy that we have good insurance - otherwise we would have had $10k out of pocket ourselves.

Health insurance? Well you might end up in a place where the medical care is simply non-existent and then flying to someplace where you can be cared for is your out of pocket problem.

we spend the 4 grand per month, of which as noted about 1/3 is insurance and such. The $2600 includes all boat costs and whatever we eat and drink.

When we are in new places we usually rent a car for a day or so to see those things that might otherwise be inaccessible.

[contrail]

Thomm, I, at least, do enjoy your posts, not the least because they are so outrageously irrelevant. I don't think anyone doubts or disrespects your experience. But I also don't think anyone finds them to have anything much to do with what most of us do. I love beach cats, and, for that matter, smallish monohulls. I had a 33 foot monohull, at one time, TRULY ready for the sea, and sailed about 20,000 singlehanded miles on it. I also lived aboard that boat for 19 years and helped a number of others on sister ships to get going, as well. It had a few similarities with your Bristol, but it was way more thoroughly prepped. Now I have a 45 foot cat, which I have cruised from your beloved lower Chesapeake to Grenada and back and forth, and many places in between, coastal and offshore. I have lived on it for sixteen years, and cruised it by almost anyone's definition. It has nothing to do with your beach cat sailing, enjoyable though you and I might both find that to be. I remember when I first sailed a Hobie and asked myself if I could ever be content on another boat? But, of course, I couldn't cruise it other than for the most basic short trips, nor could I live aboard. It was a wonderful and enjoyable experience, but it has nothing to do with what I do now, or what many on this forum do. No matter how hard you try to skew things, that is the case, and it doesn't matter that you have responsibilities, or anything else. And, it doesn't help your credibility when you wildly mock those who have way more actual experience than you, while stating that three months on a boat is all you could stand. Many of us can't stand being dirt dwellers, and that includes myself, although we do understand that others might disagree. Heck, we were all dirt dwellers at some point! I suggest you give it a rest, and limit your assertions to things where you have actual experience and these assertions might be helpful and pertinent.


As for SB1, over the many years of owning my two boats, I really learned the costs of things, as I included things that you replace at ten, fifteen or twenty year intervals, which his monthly accounts don't even contemplate. And, I learned the costs of cruising by simply starting the month with X dollars, and living on it. Sometimes it was a lot, and other times not. I remember when, in the Sea of Cortez, 30 years ago, the ATM in Loreto was out and I was confronted with surviving the next six weeks on $180. I made it with $40 to spare, and I would guess most of the rest of us could have done the same thing. As the saying goes, you spend what you have. I have had friends that spent a lot, others that spent a little, and everything in between. Trust me on this, SB1, because there are a whole lot of us who would rather spend our time cruising, rather than toting up all the figures to help some newbies who will be sailing completely different boats in who knows what area. You have asked for figures. Several have given you answers but stated that they either don't have exact numbers, or don't want to bother organizing them, or don't want to share. None of these reasons means their statements are untrue, but you question them because we can't submit them for audit! I, myself, belong in the first two categories and have much better things to do. You might, as well, if you weren't parked in a marina. I do remember thinking, at the inception of your reports, that many people were cruising on way less. But, it's a different type of cruising that we do, and that's just fine.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by smbdyiam2

I don't understand.
The low income people I know---Do not make much money----It is not about how they spend it. They just don't make it. Some people with poor lifestyles make money and waste it--- That is not LOW INCOME. That is life style.
As in the professional who made a million plus on one job. And is complaining on being poor a year later. Not low income just stupid--or uneducated.
lee

It's one of those cause and effect kind of things.

A lot of the same poor money handling habits also limit you to low income.
Learn to handle money well and you often will find opportunities coming your way and thus will no longer be low income.

Obviously, you could find an exception but most low income adults, I know for any length of time...there's a clear reason they are low income...and it isn't the system holding them down.

On threads like this you will find some stray people who have consciously chosen to step away from making more money for a simpler lifestyle...but they are the exception not the rule.

On a related note: While I appreciate and apply means of cutting expenses...at some point, it's more effort and hassle to save a dollar as opposed to earning a dollar.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

This shows that I'm REALLY out there cruising, for I have yet to see this offered in the many yacht clubs we've visited over the years. Thus, I'm cruising on a different planet, and should be eligible for some big award from the CCA.

Many of the yacht clubs in the world don't have marina docks or club moorings or, for that matter, even real club houses. The quoted post does not reflect reality as we have seen it.

There are other reasons to join a YC, of course, and I'm not dissing that practice... we even belong to the one here in Port Cygnet.

Jim

This is our experience also. We've stayed in a number of yacht clubs with dockage but always paid. Typically at the recipricol rate even though we didn't have membership...they generally didn't seem to care as it brought in a little extra cash for the club plus some new people to talk to.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

This shows that I'm REALLY out there cruising, for I have yet to see this offered in the many yacht clubs we've visited over the years. ...
There are other reasons to join a YC, of course, and I'm not dissing that practice... we even belong to the one here in Port Cygnet.

Bit of a derail, but many, perhaps most of the yacht clubs around Lake Ontario that have their own docks/moorings offer reciprocal privileges, It's not uniform (every club to every other) but there's usually enough that we could bounce around the lake without paying any marina fees. It's usually just for one or two nights per club. It makes for low-cost short cruises. Often the clubs cooperate to have organized "exchange" cruises - eg club X organizes a cruise to club Y and vice versa, so both groups know there's slips available at their destination.

Some of the more posh Toronto clubs even have reciprocal privileges with some other famous clubs in different parts of the world.