Make Money While Cruising - List

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by tmoandj

Does anyone know whether there's really any demand out there for scuba instructors?

There are transient Scuba instructors all over Asia. Subsistence living for the most part but for backpackers and such it finances their trip.

[Mike Banks]

A pal of mine is a commercial diver and instructor and he gets regular work--as a taxi driver--

Some coastal towns and reef resorts provide SCUBA courses--and instructors are essential for this--but there are more appellants than jobs available, and often it is a matter of being in the right place at the right time, or as a kind of locum filling in for a regular instructor absent either through injury or leave. Lotsa luck--

Mike

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by tmoandj

Does anyone know whether there's really any demand out there for scuba instructors?

[I hate it when you'se guys steal my opportunity for a "one liner" which would have been . . .]

Yes . . . No.

[tmoandj]

Good to know, thanks! Seems like I have a endless portfolio of unmarketable skills!

[Normanby]

Ha ha, me too, esoteric knowledge is hard to travel with.

I'm thinking of taking the TESOL course, the daydream being to be a wandering Sea Gypsy getting jobs teaching English along the way.

Anyone have experience with this?

I believe it pays okay, for subsistence boaty backpacking, and in SE Asia I gather the demand is high.

[Ex-Calif]

Not necessarily in the make money while cruising list but make money while traveling list...

When I lived in Tokyo there were tons of "kids" stopping in to work in bars teach conversaitonal english, be nannies. English teaching is also lucrative in Korea.

In my day - about 10 years ago - there was no hassles from Japan authorities working under the tabe.

[Travelnik]

Whenever someone mentions teaching english, I always think of this scene from Born In East LA.

wass sappening - YouTube

[micah719]

Watch out with foreigners and their English skills....they can get touchy about them if you're not careful:

Parody Terrorist Interview - Are Those Subtitles?? - YouTube

[tmoandj]

So, at the moment it looks like the cruising kitty can be mantained by a couple of different routes in my case; 1) teach english - im pretty good at talking english... 2) go back to school for 2 yrs to do nursing - sort of on the expensive side, still gotta cough up the dough for the boat! 3) Get really good at playing small musical instruments and busk my way around the world.... 4) get some training in diesel mechanics.... I guess that's all I've come up with so far. Any feedback from people who've seen any/all of these strategies employed in cruising?

[Freddy_Vagner]

Hey there;
You know I have been avidly reading this forum because I would love to find a great way to finance my globetrotting.
The people that actually report making any money (as opposed to suggesting a “fantastic idea”) while actually on the go seem to be those that already have an established Internet based business with a good portfolio of loyal clients prior to setting sail. See post number 98 for some very sound comments. (Unfortunately not my case).
Are Janet’s additional ideas (comment no 167) just ideas or is she or anyone else actually doing this and making money while underway?
I have seen traveling musicians making a reasonable living and my thanks to those artists for some memorable evenings. See comment 94. Maybe I could also make money by singing as people would pay me a fortune to shut up and go away, but with my luck they would probably throw the slop pail at me instead. OK I’m joking, but be honest with yourself are you really a good singer and musician with a gift to entertain, if so, what are you waiting for? Up anchor and happy cruising!!!!!!
Regarding some of the other posts, I hope readers will not think this is a rant or that I am trying to belittle their ideas. I’m just an OF trying to be helpful to would-be travelers---but some people really need to do a major reality check:
1) The idea of sailing into the bay of a fishing village or even a small town in a developing country, dropping anchor and then going ashore to cut hair is frankly harebrained (sorry about the lousy pun, ooops, there goes another one). In small communities, the vast majority of people live on subsistence wages and they have extensive families so in each family there is an “aunty” that cuts everybody’s hair for free. I have also seen people cutting hair at street fairs for as little as a dollar. If you go to a barbers shop in a small town a haircut is real cheap (say US$ 2.50 to 5.00 at an unpretentious unisex salon). In a large city then obviously there are places that charge more, but their clients expect a superior service with all the fringe benefits (sorry). Maybe some people cruising would want a haircut/beauty treatment, but as has already been correctly pointed out they are a savvy lot on a tight budget and would never pay more than a local would charge. My wife used to cut my hair and our son’s also when he wasn’t going through the phase that all adolescents seem to go through of refusing to have his hair trimmed.
2) Fishing is great to keep your personal food costs down, but all coastal communities have their own local fishermen and they would not be happy to see you trying to sell fish. I’ve often seen fishing boats arrive and give all the small fish away for free to the locals ( they are all relatives and or neighbors) and the larger fish are sent to a nearby city to be sold. So it would be like trying to sell crushed ice to Eskimos. Other cruisers might accept a few fish, but I doubt very much they would pay for them as they usually have their own fishing gear anyway. Furthermore, in most countries you need a license to be a commercial fisherman and if you don’t have enough money to eat, then you certainly won’t have enough money to pay the fines and could even lose your yacht.
3) Regarding rape counseling, forgive me if am wrong, but I really can’t imagine her finding any clients whatsoever unless she has a nice well established clinic in a major city and even then I think it would be difficult outside of the USA. Just a minor detail; how many languages does she speak? She would have to be fluent in the language of every country she visited. Young girls lured into prostitution in Third World countries come from the poorest families, so how on Earth will they be able to pay for counseling? If she really is concerned then she could work as a volunteer for one of the many charities addressing this issue in cities such as Calcutta or Manila.
Furthermore, if you ever catch a whiff of some exotic smelling smoke coming from another yacht then the last thing they want is someone rowing out to them and offering drug counseling (unless you can recommend a good supplier) and they certainly won’t pay you for your opinions.
There are free AA groups all over the world.
4) My experience is that if a yacht has a problem everybody pitches in and helps each other without asking for payment. Maybe you will be presented with a bottle of wine or be invited for dinner as a thank you, but that should not be your motive for helping. Whatever happened to solidarity?
Regarding tasks like varnishing, bottom scraping, etc. if there are lots of other yachts around you will inevitably be competing with locals offering similar services. Repairing diesel engines is a great skill to have, but you would have to be at the right place at the right time to get any work. Nobody is going to hang around waiting for the off chance that a good diesel mechanic will sail by and fix their seized engine. You would get some work occasionally, but I doubt you would be able to finance your living expenses that way.
5) I have lost count of the many times we have been invited for a meal by some friendly family, but you have to remember that these are usually poor people and you should contribute with something (even in rich countries nobody likes an empty handed freeloader). Don’t give them money that would not be cool, but do bring along some extra meat and make a fruit salad or something. We accepted a meal from a family a long time ago and later I saw the mother serving her seven small children a plate of rice because she had given all the beans and meat to us. The saddest thing is that none of the kids were complaining that we had just eaten their dinner.
6) Selling food on the beach: whenever I go to a beach with many tourists there are always some raggedy youngsters selling barbecued shrimps/ice cold cans of drinks/etc. and where there are no locals to compete with that usually means there are no tourists wanting to buy something. Besides which, if you are going to pay for food, half the enjoyment is going ashore and trying some local cuisine as you chat with other travelers or locals if you can speak their lingo.
7) Teaching English: this is a real possibility and lots of people do this, but just because you can speak English does not mean you can teach it. Do you know the difference between the Present Perfect and Past Perfect Tenses, or cardinal and ordinal numbers or the three ways of pronouncing Past Tense “ED” endings? If you answered yes to all of these questions, then great you will be able to make some money teaching English! However, it is not quite so simple if you are planning to live aboard and make money while you sail. It takes a real commitment to stay in one place for at least a year and you will only be able to make a reasonable salary in a major city. Furthermore, it used to be much easier, but now the competition is intense. Swarms of Native English Teachers can be found under every nook and cranny, including online. Thanks to dsmastern (comment 502) and micah719 (comment 503) for posting some hilarious videos about teaching English. Check out this link, I think it is relevant for anywhere in the world and not just Mexico:
http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/75/Teaching_English_In_Mexico.html
8) Regarding doctors and nurses: Yes, of course there are work opportunities, but we are talking about working while cruising rather than a job with a commitment to work and stay in one place over a relatively long period of time. My wife is a nurse and she often helps locals with simple health problems, but never makes any money out of it.
9) Regarding chartering your yacht or taking people scuba diving, etc., in some places it seems to be OK if you keep a very low profile. If you try it in a heavily regulated country full of petty officials and don't have the proper licenses/insurance/etc. then you are certainly going to get into trouble. Legitimate local operators will not hesitate to denounce you to the competent authorities (contradiction in terms???) if you start taking away their business. If your yacht is large enough to attract paying tourists, do you want to risk losing it for a few extra bucks?
Thanks for reading such a long post and so sorry about all the negativity, honestly I prefer to say "Just do it" (I wonder if I could sell that phrase to a shoe manufacturer?). If I am wrong please, please correct me. You can call me a self-opinionated puffed up old buffoon if you like, provided you tell me how and where you are making cash while afloat…

[SayGudday]

micah719 - I agree that #98 made some great points. I blog for money and it's easier than people think. That's not to say it doesn't require work and you're definitely not going to make a full time income by blogging part time (at least for a while) but it's the best way I've found to work from my boat.

[janice142]

Originally Posted by Freddy_Vagner

If I am wrong please, please correct me. You can call me a self-opinionated puffed up old buffoon if you like, provided you tell me how and where you are making cash while afloat…[/FONT][/SIZE]

Your post is spot on... that said, I have made minimal money by helping folks out ... a willingness to go to the top of a mast and diagnose/replace sheaves or fix spreader lights, and trouble shoot electrical issues helps, plus, (#1) it's fun, but sometimes folks have paid which is even better, but mostly, well, for fellow cruisers, you help where you can.

Still, I have paid folks to help me and will continue to do so ... my physical strength might not be stellar but I'm out here. The realization that I'm not getting any younger nor stronger means there will continue to be more items I'm willing to pay to have done for me, though because of budgetary constraints (I've looked at the living on $500 per month thread and thought "gosh, it'd be great to have that much money") I am not going into a gold-plated marine repair facility for anything.

[osirissail]

To paraphrase Freddy Vagner's very good post - basically outside of your home country only some sort of world-wide web (internet) form of business can earn enough money to support your cruising kitty.

Where it is possible to earn a "living" outside your home country, it normally involves having a technical/educational skill and a willingness to "settle down" in a country for long periods of time so that you can start up/originate a local business based on your skill set providing if does not already exist in the country. Mostly I am talking about 3rd World category countries as the 1st World countries already have too many people looking for work that are equally qualified. Little countries are usually always interested in obtaining outside investment either in money or expertise that results in more of their own citizens becoming employed.

I have seen that throughout the little countries of the Caribbean. European, North American and other cruisers with technical skills start up local businesses that support the visiting cruisers. In the process locals gain employment and wages and everybody is happy - - until - - enough locals "learn the business" and then start up there own versions of your business. Then you become no longer welcome and have to move on to another little country.

[carstenb]

Let's face it. This is an age old question. It has been asked by those wanting to move 'way up in the rockies, or those wanting to spend their time bicycling around the world.

The one thing that can be done, is write. If you have the ability to communicate your life and where you are through writing, someone will be willing to pay for it. But don't expect to get rich. Even assuming you can find a magazine willing to take a monthly article - the proceeds will not buy you a bigger yacht. Writing books are good, assuming you can find a publisher (not easy) and assuming the book sells a few squillion copies (not likely).

If you are very good with your hands you can make things - but remember, you'll end up street peddling it and the local authorities might not like that. Also, you won't make much on each sale.

I read somewhere about a woman cruiser who was a hairdresser. When she reached a new anchorage, she set up a lawn chair on the beach, put up a sign "haircuts - 5 bucks". And the cruisers sat in a long line (with a beer in their hand) waiting for a haircut. The cruisers were willing to pay to get a prof cut once a year - but note the price? She didn't get rich there either, but she could put a little bit in the kitty.

Basically, you're gonna have to have the cash to cruise or a dividend check coming every month. You can't make money off fellow cruisers (generally they don't have any - or are unwilling to spend it), and the further afield you go, the poorer the local population is (and the fewer things they will classify as "need to have").

[osirissail]

I have to correct myself - I was cleaning the bookshelves in my boat and found a good way to make money to support your cruising - - produce and market DVD videos of your travels or of the cruising life.

Paul and Sheryl Shard (Canadians) have for years supported their cruising worldwide by making travel or educational videos of their journey and the places and cultures they visit. The sell them to educational TV networks, travel networks, and also directly to the public. I have most all of their dvd's and they are excellent and for a cruiser or potential cruisers very inspiring.

Of course you need the talent and ability/equipment to shoot, edit, and produce the stuff, but now-a-days most pc computers come with the editing and composition applications for putting together such programs. Then all you really need is some decent cameras and some personality traits that make the productions interesting and inspiring. And - when you show up somewhere with professional video equipment it is amazing how much special treatment and how many "extras" are offered to you for free if you include the local's pub, cafe, etc., etc.

I recommend their cruising DVD series to all, especially those dreaming of taking up the cruising life.
Distant Shores Home
Southerly - News - Paul and Sheryl Shard are currently filming in the Solent
Travel Channel United Kingdom | Our Presenters: Paul and Sheryl Shard