Cruising on $500 per Month . . .

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

One can use knowledge instead of money - doesn't always work the other way around, no matter the size of cheques involved.

A nice list - albeit I have made a couple of amendments



Saved a few dollars

Can't say I (or most?) would enjoy / cope with such a minimal vessel - but that not the same as can't be done.

In practice I would be swapping out the Sextant for GPS on both cost and conveniance grounds. Downside is that will need to take the first steps on electricity storage and generation.

After that my "nice to have list" would be headed by an autopilot (and for that would need a Battery and some Solar / Wind). Next would be a toss up between an o/b and a spray hood (dodger).....which then leads onto some sort of Bimini / cockpit enclosure - easiest way to double the living size of a boat. A coolbox would also be nice. Seeing as I now appear to have money to burn might even get a lifejacket at that point VHF / communications equipment? Well, maybe a handheld VHF if I can find something cheap enough on Ebay etc - but no one I really want to speak to enough to spend big money.

My next priority would be to upgrade water tankage (and plumb some into a sink - albeit only hand or foot pump). The bonus with multiple tanks is that gives one redundancy and they don't always need to be filled. A Marine bog would also be very nice - with or without holding tank.

IMO the cheapest LUXURY to have onboard (that will also save loads of expense) is someone in the Galley who can cook - in practice that likely be "you". Me is still working on that one

At that point I would be looking for a Woman So I might fit some curtains

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post707487

David is having a little fun..

He likes to row long distances... that's what they do in the channel.. against the tide.. now and then... Can't possibly put out $20 for a piece of spruce, much less $ for a piece of pine for use as a boom and certainly not $5 for a bedsheet to bend on everything.. Too easy..

He judges how far off hazards he is by eye... not for him bearings on landmarks, much less shifting the position lines forward to get a running fix.. Oh no...

Then of course, being English... he doesn't know that a cooker is something to cook on.. whether it is a sea swing primus single burner... or a Force 10 four burner. He prefers using a charcoal braizer... was
good enough for Slocum..

He will never have to heave a line upwind in a gale... oh no... besides why should he get a copy of Marlinspike seamanship and learn how to make his own from some piece of old line.... so a monkey fist he will not have..

I could go on and on... but you get the idea...

INDY

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by tgzzzz

Indy, on another note, months ago you mentioned a buddy who had gone RTW the hard way, and with no engine. He was a physicist or some such. I'd like to hear his tales. Can you get him on here? Thanks if so!
T

Kevin has no electricity aboard Ruth Avery. He left via Bermuda for Maine last month. As I mentioned earlier, he circumnavigated in Ruth Avery some years ago. He is in his late 30's. His budget is $500 / month.

Speaking of budgets... would seem some find such a small budget suspicious.. they have alleged that I advocate scamming the govt for the money. Not at all so.. I advocate minimalist cruising as a place to begin.. for those too young to afford more.. and for the many baby boomers who's retirements were cleaned out by the last two crashes.

The alternative is living in a homeless shelter for the latter. The alternative is adventuring for the former... Then there all those pesky Russians, Chechs, Slovaks, Poles etc who simply don't have much money and want to go anyway.

On a minimalist budget it is possible to finance your cruising with odd jobs, like teaching English, or fixing boats, or delivering boats, etc.

Of course, if you are fixed financially, why don't you start a thread on cruising the lifestyle you love? Perhaps it might be called hedonistic cruising or Maxi-budget cruising, or Cruising on $5,000 per week or something..

I almost forgot, just before I left Brewers Bay for Fajardo, i met a guy on a 48 ft Cat. He tried to buiid a 40 ft tri in foam covered with GRP. Took him years to get the hulls half finished. He tried to sell the project... Found 1400 other projects of various types for sale partially finished. Observed that most of them were boats longer than 40 ft. He also observed that his tri project required he build 3 hulls and a bridge deck to tie them together and that was a great deal more work than one hull.

INDY

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by osirissail

After ten years in the Caribbean, I have met and seen maybe 3 trimarans cruising and hundreds of small mono's with budget cruisers onboard. It is total BS that there are "many thousands" of multihulls like the Wharram, etc., out there. No way, no how. The vast and almost total population of budget cruisers are on monohulls.

Thanks Jim,

BTW.... in case I forget... I left Chicago in 92, bound for the Gulf via the
Mississippi, then I sailed up the East Coast of the US to Maine, then I cruised the bahamas (all 600 of them) the West Indies, Spanish Main, Central America, South American Pacific coast, Polynesia, Galapagos, New Zealand, Auz, New Guinea, Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji, Micronesia, Phillippines, China, SE Asia, India Madagascar, South Africa, St. Helena, Ascension, Brazil and back to the West Indies. I've seen a lot of the world and a lot of boats sailing on it.

The part of the world peopled with multihulls is the caribbean. More are found there as a percentage of the fleet than anywhere else.

Luderitz Namibia is peopled with wrecked cats enroute to the West Indies from Capetown on their maiden voyages. They get caught in gales while north bound up the coast and the steep cross sea wracks them until they break.

I made friends with a very nice guy who built a 36 ft Wharram in Windhoek Namibia. He trucked the cat in pieces to Walvis Bay and launched it at the club. While he was home 1000 km away in Windhoek, a gale caused another club boat to drag and foul his rudders. They had to be replaced. I later saw his boat in St. Helena. No sooner he arrived in Argentina than he sold it to the guy I met.

Wharrams are easily built by an amateur. However so are Benford's dories, and the latter have keels and go to weather, and you only have to build one hull, not two. See "voyaging on a small income" by Annie Hill.

Regardless, ply boats don't last much more than 15 years or so, and you aren't going to find one in the good old boats list.

INDY

[zeehag]

according to the ssde folks, the deal is ye have to have your mail be received in a usps receivable place. you have to have your check in a us bank snitch?? whatchye gonna snitch/ seems ye didnt read your fine print. only thing disallowed in ssdi is marriage.
right down the dock fromme is a for sale trimaran looks likein good shape, under the dust layer...>LOL

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by goprisko

David is having a little fun..

Maybe a bit of chain yanking, along with an attempt to engage.........


He likes to row long distances... that's what they do in the channel.. against the tide.. now and then... Can't possibly put out $20 for a piece of spruce, much less $ for a piece of pine for use as a boom and certainly not $5 for a bedsheet to bend on everything.. Too easy..

Didn't say a sail wouldn't be useful. or just nice - but not needed. The answer to long rows against the tide is........a watch (and wait for the tide to turn / slack - or simply pick yer mooring spot).


He judges how far off hazards he is by eye... not for him bearings on landmarks, much less shifting the position lines forward to get a running fix.. Oh no...

The eye works well especially when also looking at the steering compass. I appreciate that in certain circumstances a hand bearing compass would be better, but given you are on a boat with no engine then seems likely that one wouldn't be doing any aggressive navigation where a few degrees is crucial.


Then of course, being English...

Ouch! getting called an Anglo - that's harsh


he doesn't know that a cooker is something to cook on.. whether it is a sea swing primus single burner... or a Force 10 four burner. He prefers using a charcoal braizer... was good enough for Slocum..

Ok, a terminology thing - was just trying to say don't need a full sized cooker (that includes an oven / 4 hobs / a microwave / a TV ).


He will never have to heave a line upwind in a gale... oh no... besides why should he get a copy of Marlinspike seamanship and learn how to make his own from some piece of old line.... so a monkey fist he will not have..

Never say never - but didn't think it was a list of "might one day be useful"......for that be a very long list. FWIW, with a bit of practice, a coiled rope can get a long way - including up.


I could go on and on... but you get the idea...

I am sure you will

INDY

Perhaps, as suggested once or twice , a new thread would be more appropriate.......

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Perhaps, as suggested once or twice , a new thread would be more appropriate.......

Or just close it. 1,625 posts on the subject ... what more could be said?

Nothing new here folks, let's move along.

[w1651]

BTW.... in case I forget... I left Chicago in 92, bound for the Gulf via the
Mississippi, then I sailed up the East Coast of the US to Maine, then I cruised the bahamas (all 600 of them) the West Indies, Spanish Main, Central America, South American Pacific coast, Polynesia, Galapagos, New Zealand, Auz, New Guinea, Solomons, Vanuatu, Fiji, Micronesia, Phillippines, China, SE Asia, India Madagascar, South Africa, St. Helena, Ascension, Brazil and back to the West Indies. I've seen a lot of the world and a lot of boats sailing on it.

Hey what were the cheapest cruising places in this list? I was thinking about Vietnam, Thailand, Phillipines and Indonesia as places that were cheaper to cruise then others in the area. Australia to me is out of the question.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Doodles

Or just close it. 1,625 posts on the subject ... what more could be said?

Nothing new here folks, let's move along.

Always something else to say

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Always something else to say

Like what ....

[atoll]

home made rig for under $1000?

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Doodles

Or just close it. 1,625 posts on the subject ... what more could be said?

Nothing new here folks, let's move along.

Yeah.... it's not a thread anymore. It's f#%king rope.

But it will be the end of Goprisko. He seems to have zero interests outside sailing on the cheap. I've never seen him contribute to any other thread. He started this one, jealously posessed it, blindly obsessed over it.

One trick pony?

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Always something else to say

We've noticed... didn't know you had

[Mark Johnson]

Regardless, ply boats don't last much more than 15 years or so, and you aren't going to find one in the good old boats list.

INDY
(Another QUOTE that is "totally wrong" from Indy)...

The WEST systemed plywood that our boat is made from is in it's 32 year, and in GREAT shape. NO delam or rot anywhere, and being EPOXY/glassed, I have never had to deal with "hull blisters" (not even one), as so many production boats get.

Multihulls can be found all over the world. In "very" shallow archipelagos, they are often even the majority, as that's all that can cruise there. SOME (not most), of these multihulls, are the older, simple, "seasteading" type, living as always, on micro budgets.

An exact same size sistership to our Searunner has circumnavigated by way of Cape Horn, and there have been "numerous" other circumnavigations, as well as hundreds of ocean crossings, on Searunners, Crosses, Kantolas, Marples, etc. over more than 40 years.

The aging fleet is still out there by the thousands, if you know where to look, but often you can't get close enough to see them on any monohull but a centerboard one, because we like to anchor in shallow areas. I spend weeks on end in the Bahamas, or the reef of Belieze, anchored in just over 5'. (PHOTO)

The boats that have been neglected and allowed to deteriorate, (perhaps 50%?) have indeed fallen apart more than a production boat would. (This is ONLY in regard to the "hull", which is a fraction of the complete boat). The others, that HAVE been maintained, are in great shape! They do indeed require more maintenance over the decades, but it is 90% an expense of "time", not money. They need to be loved and taken care of, as we all do.

If one wants to look at thousands of these boats listed for sale, they are no longer listed in magazines like the old days. (Multihulls Magazine was the prime one). These are now listed on the internet. They are all over the world, and many are in bad shape, but some are the best "bang for your buck" imaginable.

There are a lot of ways to cruise inexpensively, and I have no doubt that your way works well for you. There are, however, hundreds of highly successful gunkholeing, multihull "seasteaders", living REALLY close to the Earth, all over the world. (Inexpensively). I've been there, cruised with them, communicate with them, and exchange ideas on a regular basis.

I would never try to change someones "boat preference", or claim that what they/you have done didn't happen, and won't work. I don't understand why YOU feel the need to do exactly those things???

Mark

Perhaps you "don't see them", because they sail and live in areas like this, anchored in just 5' of water, as we were... Not seeing them, doesn't mean that they're not there.

[goprisko]

Originally Posted by callmecrazy

Its true. I got a kaito 1103 (same radio as the Degen) for about $60 on ebay. If you search around on the Amateur Radio websites, you'll find most people agree these two radios are the best bang for the buck available.

Here is a review of this radio...

Degen DE1103. Review of the radio-receiver.

Regardless, whichever you choose: Degen Grundig, Sony, RadioLabs

RadioLabs || ClearMod ATS-909X Modified Radio Receiver

Grundig S350 AM/FM/SW World Receiver Product Reviews

Regardless, you should have a receiver that can receive HF weather broadcasts. I personally prefer a yaesu or Icom because it is much easier to tie the receiver into a backstay antenna and direct the output to a wefax device (laptop) however, this is beyond a micro-budget cruiser's budget and for this thread we will stay with a basic receiver with a speaker or headphones.

INDY

[goprisko]

To my mind, cats and tris are high tech boats. Anything hi-tech is expensive.

Let's look at our contributor from Key West who lives on a tri.

He has a watermaker. While he claims he gets water for free, we know better. The fuel expense alone amounts to $0.12 / gal, and maintenance, which he claims is never needed, but occurs nonetheless, amounts to $0.08 / gal or a total of $0.20 / gal.

His mindset is typical of americans... He'd much rather spend money in advance for water ( to a mfr ) than buy it from a local while cruising.

Furthermore, he disparages the cheapest method of getting water, an awning. An awning can provide water for as little as $0.01 / gal. and you get shade in the bargain!

Think carefully about our Key West friend. He never talks about cruising the Marquesas Keys, or the Dry Tortugas, much less Cape Sable and Florida Bay. All these places are within a few hours sail from Key West. Instead he speaks of "sea steading", a parody on homesteading, by which I'd guess he means putting down a mooring, making a claim to a piece of seabed, and sitting for years in one place.

I personally have no problem with his lifestyle. But cruising it isn't. By cruising, I mean going places in one's boat. It matters little whether the voyages are short or long, what matters is voyaging.

Our friend is justifiably proud of his wife. As mentioned she brings home the bacon. One could guess that her income is ~ $40k and his ~$20k, giving them a combined income of ~$60 k. Since he mentions their being married several years, it begs the question of where the $68,000 went. For that is the amount they should have saved if they could indeed live on that boat on $500 / month for the past 2 years, assuming they paid a third of their income in taxes.

AND

IF they have saved this amount, why are they moulding in Key West, when they could be off to asia to work in China teaching English for a combined income of $40K but much lower expenses, and the time of their lives?

Don't fall into the high tech boat trap. Keep the boat simple. Look carefully at those who have micro-budget cruised in the past and today and follow their example. He just mentioned again that boats like his are found in shallow waters... Hmmmm... Pegasus has tandem centerboards.... yet I have never seen a multihull in Florida Bay, Shark River, Dry Tortugas, Andros, Abacos, Eleuthera, , unless they were larger than 45 ft LOA. Granted there are lots of big ones... but where are the small ones? Yes, there was a tri craze back in the 70s, and a ferrocement craze too.. But those boats are long gone.. In the past year I know of only a handfull of small cats and tris one in calvigny harbor used for seasteading, one in tyrell bay used similarly, one in Martinique that is cruising.. that's it. Where are the others? Seasteading off Key West?

Go back and look at the many photos of small budget boats I have encountered in St. Thomas, a cross roads of the Caribbean. They are all mono-hulls, one as small as 26 ft. !

This thread is about micro-budget cruising, which means minimalist cruising, including cruising without an engine. Anything else costs more, and multi-hulls cost more BECAUSE they don't go to weather, they need watermakers and engines, and take more paint, cost more to haul, cost more to put in a slip, cost more to fix.

Go back to pp 28-36 and read up on suitable boats and equipment.

IF after all that you choose to follow Mark, don't be surprised if you wind up just like him working the best years of your life away to support the boat, instead of cruising.

INDY