[quidam1947]

Originally Posted by Valiente

I'm Canadian and seriously expect our dollar to leap about 40 cents U.S. in value when the world realizes the U.S. is printing its way to "recovery", which I interpret as "10 years of stagflation until all the crap debts are dealt with".

I agree. I don't much care for the path that got us here, nor the path being cut to get us out. It will be all too painful for a lot of people.

Having said that, we have two adults and one child proposing a five-year circ on a paid-for boat with about $20,000 in further services I can't do, or can't do well enough for the open ocean (like welding) and in gear (like RADAR, solar panels and batteries) to install or to retrofit before we go in 2011.

Sounds like a most excellent plan and your child will benefit greatly -- what a perfect age to start out on this adventure.

I expect that we will spend approximately $25K (assume Canadian/American money at par here) per year, of which $6,000-$8,000 will be fuel and maintenance. This may seem low, but the rather simple expedient of anchoring out consistently, the fact that a great deal of the boat's systems will be new (sea-tested, for we plan a trial trip to the Maritimes) or personally refurbished and simplified, plus the willingness to use the sails as much as possible (and carrying the means to repair and extend them) can save a great deal of money...

AND... (redacting a few paragraphs here if you don't mind)

I also expect to lower costs by doing some fabrication and fixing for other cruisers, as I will have a small workshop aboard that will carry the sort of tools I need for a steel boat (plus the means to power them), but aren't always practical to carry on a Beneteau, for instance. I suspect many of these sort of transactions will be "in kind", but that's fine: If I'm handed a case of 24 cans of top-end stew and a bottle of rum for two hours of putting in custom-cut backing plates or for beefing up an anchor roller or stitching together a mainsail split, that's a good cruising day for me and for my crew..

Actually, this sounds very doable. Bruce will have workshop capabilities onboard and can even do a bit of welding & fabrication work. And, I'm taking currently taking a basic electronics in the hopes that I'll be able to facilitate our own electronics repairs, (maybe learn how to do a little canvas work too) and thus have the option of bartering with other cruisers for our skills, if opportunity should arise.

At base, however, the key to cruising economically is to extract oneself from the money economy in the first place. This can mean getting creative with stores, buying supplies when and where you find them cheaply, and getting used to trading with the locals.

It also helps to like fish. A lot. I do.

DITTO all this for us, too.

I look forward to more cruising dialog with you here on SN.