Living on the Cheep or Just a Cheep SOB

[s/v Beth]

I do great teak work, as well as bottom work, welding, plumbing, etc. If I walked up to Randy with the same problem, I would lay out my skills, explain I have very little cash, and ask what I could do in exchange. BTW- I would kiss someone's feet for an hour to hour exchange. I consider myself lucky when I work less than 2 hours for every one hour they work in the shop. I realize they have lots of overhead that I do not.

[nwdiver]

I like barter, I would trade sail work for doing brightwork hour for hour in a minute I pay $20/hr to have brightwork done.

[Khagan1227]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

I do great teak work, as well as bottom work, welding, plumbing, etc. If I walked up to Randy with the same problem, I would lay out my skills, explain I have very little cash, and ask what I could do in exchange. BTW- I would kiss someone's feet for an hour to hour exchange. I consider myself lucky when I work less than 2 hours for every one hour they work in the shop. I realize they have lots of overhead that I do not.

Hear, Hear Newt!

I am a cheap SOB, but I always pay people a fair wage and what I feel there service is worth. If they and I cannot agree to a price that suits both parties, I walk away with no hard feelings or regrets.

In the case of the trade offered to this young man, I would have JUMPED at it. Sails get me from point A to B without using fuel, teak work generally looks nice and doesn't effect the operation of most boats. DEAL!

[Nemo55]

Seconded and Thirded,,

Originally Posted by Khagan1227

Hear, Hear Newt!

I am a cheap SOB, but I always pay people a fair wage and what I feel there service is worth. If they and I cannot agree to a price that suits both parties, I walk away with no hard feelings or regrets.

In the case of the trade offered to this young man, I would have JUMPED at it. Sails get me from point A to B without using fuel, teak work generally looks nice and doesn't effect the operation of most boats. DEAL!

[David_Old_Jersey]

Randy, you are clearly an evil capitalist exploiting the (non) working man .

I have costed up the materials involved and can clearly see that s/h thread sells on E-bay for a Dollar a mile, and sailcloth can be had for a similar price - if you are willing to hunt around - rather than lazing around in your jacuzzi, sipping Champagne whilst scorning those who are unwilling to be a part of "the system".

The labour (labor ) should take no more than 10 minutes, if you are truly a proffessional, and that is allowing 5 minutes for a tea break (yes, I do know how business operates!).

All in, should therefore be under USD20. That's fair. FAIR. Anything above that figure is a tip, and therefore at the discretion of the CUSTOMER.

My guess is that you couldn't even be bothered to antifoul his boat to encourage him to return - remember that THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS KING and that without any CUSTOMERS your (evil) business would not survive.

Maybe you should rename your business "Obama Sails".............

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Randy, you are clearly an evil capitalist exploiting the (non) working man .

I have costed up the materials involved and can clearly see that s/h thread sells on E-bay for a Dollar a mile, and sailcloth can be had for a similar price - if you are willing to hunt around - rather than lazing around in your jacuzzi, sipping Champagne whilst scorning those who are unwilling to be a part of "the system".

The labour (labor ) should take no more than 10 minutes, if you are truly a proffessional, and that is allowing 5 minutes for a tea break (yes, I do know how business operates!).

All in, should therefore be under USD20. That's fair. FAIR. Anything above that figure is a tip, and therefore at the discretion of the CUSTOMER.

My guess is that you couldn't even be bothered to antifoul his boat to encourage him to return - remember that THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS KING and that without any CUSTOMERS your (evil) business would not survive.

Maybe you should rename your business "Obama Sails".............

Thanks David, I needed that.... matter of fact, I'm printing the post from you and hanging it on the wall over my desk, no, over my machines, and I vow to work harder at a cheeper price than ever before , and If someone walks in with no money, I'll do it for free, ..................

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

Thanks David, I needed that.... matter of fact, I'm printing the post from you and hanging it on the wall over my desk, no, over my machines, and I vow to work harder at a cheeper price than ever before , and If someone walks in with no money, I'll do it for free, ..................

no doubt when you enter heaven you will also recieve 50 virgins...........

[lolarose]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

Which catagory do you fall into?


Cruising is a lifestyle, good bad or different, and If you cant afford it, maybe you should get yourself back on land..
I hear people bitching constantly about how much marinas or moorings are, the fees for entering a country, the cost of parts for their boats and how people are ripping them off..
Its all part of the lifestyle and If you're going to dance, you gota pay the fiddler..

i agree with you 100%. i wrote earlyer how i would burn my boat and never set my foot on the beach let alone on the boat, if i am or should become "shoestring" cruiser, they burned me on the stake.

if you can not afford it, sel it and go farming or gardening. i would like to have privat jet plane on the "shoestring". any idea.

[Notpopeye]

you all could be missing the point. $45 as a reasonable rate or not is not the point. the OP's suggestion that if he could not afford the cruising life, he should get back on land is not a solution.
I would contend that living on land cost more than living the cruising lifestyle. Either way you pay for housing - whether a boat, house, condo or apartment. You pay for utilities either in the form of electricity, gas, water, etc or fuel, propane, water, electricity in the case for marina dwellers.
Anyway, I digress. Perhaps the poor guy has just gone through a long cruise, is tired, as is often the case, and is broke, as is often the case. He needs new sails or at the least, the sails he has repaired. He discovers he cannot afford repairs and new sails are out of the question.
He is now frustrated, feeling depressed at not finding a solution to his problem and it just so happens the OP is standing there to listen to his vent.
Yes, I will agree, the time for time offer was generous and a means for the cruiser to solve his problem. Maybe the cruiser now regrets not accepting and is kicking himself for half-heartedly listening to the suggestion and failing to consider it as a viable offer.
Nonetheless, the OP appears to be a reasonable merchant that offered a generous answer to a customer's problem. In another situation, I would bet the cruiser is a decent guy, too.
On the other hand, some people cannot be pleased no matter what you do and if the cruiser is one of those types, you did not want to fix his sails anyway. He would have just complained about the job and bad mouthed you and your work even if it was $1 per hour.

[lolarose]

Originally Posted by Notpopeye

I would contend that living on land cost more than living the cruising lifestyle. Either way you pay for housing - whether a boat, house, condo or apartment. You pay for utilities either in the form of electricity, gas, water, etc or fuel, propane, water, electricity in the case for marina dwellers.
Anyway, I digress. Perhaps the poor guy has just gone through a long cruise, is tired, as is often the case, and is broke, as is often the case. He needs new sails or at the least, the sails he has repaired. He discovers he cannot afford repairs and new sails are out of the question.
.

if you can not have both, then sel house or boat. i he is broke, he should sell boat.

simply like that.

one day if i ever came in situation that i can not afford to repair old sails let alone to buy new one i woul sell my boat, without even blink of my eye.

[Notpopeye]

what I implying is that he does not have any land property relation. he is a full time cruiser-liveaboard. I was stating that living on land with a home, utilities, taxes, etc cost more than livingaboard.
He is broke, his only home is his boat and he cannot afford repairs. What does he do? selling the boat and moving to land is not an answer, he will have the same problems on land with expenses,,, as a matter of fact, he will have bigger and more frequent money problems.
Maybe he better buy a needle and thread and get busy.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

Thanks David, I needed that.... matter of fact, I'm printing the post from you and hanging it on the wall over my desk, no, over my machines, and I vow to work harder at a cheeper price than ever before , and If someone walks in with no money, I'll do it for free, ..................

Copyright theft causes Terrorism - or summit .

[John A]

Ir would be interesting to find out how many posters passing judgement on fulltime liveaboard/cruisiers have ever done any fulltime liveaboard/cruising, or God forbid any "budget" cruising..

[lolarose]

Originally Posted by John A

Ir would be interesting to find out how many posters passing judgement on fulltime liveaboard/cruisiers have ever done any fulltime liveaboard/cruising, or God forbid any "budget" cruising..

i am living aboard every year for three months since i bought crabber 7 years ago. every juny, july and august. i start from dubrovnik to cavtat and then up north towards trieste, visiting island by island, then sometimes i cross to the italy around kornati islands then down italian coast to bari crossing to dubrovnik and that is it. even when i am in dubrovnik i still live on boat even i am moored 100 yards from my balkony.i have too. because my mother living in the house there, she is 82 and she anoying me. she is spying on me all the time. i can not bring any girl in the house. she always teling me that she does not wont "whores" in her house. i have to bring girl thry my garden then climb window bedroom to enter. and i am 56yr. old men. can you imagine that.

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by John A

Ir would be interesting to find out how many posters passing judgement on fulltime liveaboard/cruisiers have ever done any fulltime liveaboard/cruising, or God forbid any "budget" cruising..

we've been on our boat for, going on 10 years, 5 years of that cruising or exploring you might say.. and we're preping the boat for another trip out.. and all our cruising has been "Budget"..
Guess that would qualify me..
And I dont have any problems with fellow cruisers or live-a-boards. But I do Have with "squaters".. those that are at anchor outside the marina waiting for the harbormaster to leave so they can pull in to use the showers and the bathrooms.. Or surprisingly come to life around 4:30 to 5 and appear on the local street corner with a sign in their hands looking for hand outs..
I'll help anybody out, and having a boat myself, I've got a soft spot for cruisers, but I've also been around enough to spot a derilick squater from a cruiser..