Looking for a Better Life

[dnmnsn]

A few good people and I are selling a Honda , buying a boat, sailing out of California. We have no real experience except with smaller boats and no huge budget ( only about $2000 after the boat and $200-300 every month). We may be crazy but we are doing it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks ,
Dan

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard Dan and his few good people.
You may be crazy, BUT YOU’RE STILL DOING IT!

In the words of Billy Joel:
... You may be right, I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for
Turn out the light, don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know, but you may be right ...

Originally Posted by dnmnsn

... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks , Dan

Reef early, never commit to a schedule, and never ever play cards with a man named 'Doc'.

[Ocean Girl]

Head for cheap places
dnmnsn,
I totally get your wanting to sail off into the sunset, that is the feeling of most of the population here on this forum. Take it slow but go! I would look at the older Columbias, bristols, tartans. They are good strong boats that can be had fairly cheap. You will have to check out her structural areas carefully (chain plates and keel bolts if they have em), you sound pretty resourceful. Check out your local boaters consignment shops before purchasing anything new. Thats about all the advice I have.
I met a guy in belize once that did exactly what you guys want to do. He had an old bristol with no engine, sailed it around the caribbean playing guitar. He wrote a song called "I got a dollar in my pocket and a dirty shirt, and I aint changing neither!" Neat guy, loving life with very little.
Godspeed to your adventures,
Erika

[Rising Star]

That is a tight budget! I hope you meant 200-300 per person. Keep a fishing line in the water and buy a big bag of rice.

A $2000 kitty is not a cruising kitty - just a hairball.

Good luck on your adventure!

[Dockhead]

That is serious poverty -- Haitian poverty. If something breaks on your boat you will have a significant challenge. There are many, many relatively routine failures on an ocean-going sailboat which cost more than $2,000 to fix. It will be an extremely tricky enterprise to keep people fed and the boat functioning.

But poverty, if experienced in the right way, can exalt the spirit and focus the mind. On passage, you will have to live on caught fish and that big bag of rice someone recommended, and I hope you've all got marketable skills, because you'll all need to be working at something and working hard every time you're in port.

In choosing cruising grounds you've got a little paradox -- go to a cheap place, and labor is cheap there too, including your labor. Unless you've got some unusual skill which is valuable even in a poor country. Go to an expensive place, and you can make decent money even waiting tables. But your outgoings are also much higher.

Think about it.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha and Welcome aboard! Many people have done it for less. Good luck in your endeavor. Read a lot about sailing and boats before you get underway.
Remember, safety first.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[Randy]

Yeah, take it easy & don't place yourself in a position your $2000 can't get you out of as boat maintenance is not cheap.

When things go to hell with me there's no place I'd rather be than a 1000 miles out at sea. It isn't always pleasant but life on the sea can be simple and straight forward if you're prepared.

[maxingout]

Just do it!

[First Mate]

fair winds and following seas - I'm jealous.

[Ex-Calif]

I hope the Honda you are selling to buy the boat is a Honda Dealership.

Not sure what kind of boat you'll get with the proceeds from a used Honda vehicle.

Originally Posted by dnmnsn
... Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks , Dan

My advice - Spend a little more time on this forum and get a sense of what you are contemplating.

[captain58sailin]

Welcome to the forum. If you want to get extravagant, you can get a 5 gallon pail of soy sauce from Costco, for your rice and fish, and after you use all the soy sauce you can use the bucket for 1000 different uses. Buckets with lids are especially valuable. I like the jasmine rice myself, you can make it go further if you buy a 25 lb sack of jasmine rice and mix it with a 50 lb sack of regular rice. Also if you soak some raw fish in soy sauce and then sun dry it; it makes very good snacks, kind of like fish jerky. Yum!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by dnmnsn

no huge budget ( only about $2000 after the boat and $200-300 every month).
Dan

Hi Dan,

Its good to see theres some nutters out there.

I don't see how $200 per month will feed and beer a bloke let alone feed the demon bubbling below the floppy white things.

If you manage to do OK please drop me a line with your advice.

By the way, the advice about going to cheap countires is valid... but many cost nearly $200 entry!

Mark
PS Our dinner tonight cost 2 weeks of your budget. Damn fine desert though!!!!

[jimking100]

Markj,
Welcome back...wondered where you guys had been.

Dan and friends,
Welcome aboard. I wish you the best though I don't know how you can do it. I agree with others...just do it. And, let us know how you progress.
jim

[Rhosyn Mor]

Its certainly possible on an average of 2-300 a month, and you should not be having to live on rice and beans although they will form your staple diet. Buy food in large amounts where its cheap. entry fees can be expensive but if you spread the cost over a period of time they are not too onerous. Buy beer where its cheap to trade for fish etc. the sprouting bean thing works and will provide fresh greens.
make sure you have a good sail inventory, especiall light air sails so that you can at least maintain headway without using precious fuel.
Read the Hills' book, " voyaging on a small income"
Once you start minimizing engine use its amazing how little you will spend on parts etc, carry spares that keep you going, shackles, blocks, line, wire for shrouds etc.
I upped the size of my lifelines to the same size as my standing rigging and put staylok fittings instead of turnbuckles on both ends as attachements so that the lifelines are also a spare shroud .
Do not worry too much about the cosmetics of the boat ( or spend a lot on that) if you cruise for a while you will notice that the long term cruising boats look like just that, spend money on buying the best kit that allows the boat to keep sailing and keeps you happy and well.
just my 0.02

[GeorgeH]

Awesome! Where are you leaving from in California?