Caribbean vagabonds or gypsies if you will

[MattSplatt]

Mixer??? ;-)

[Chadfunk48]

Yea a Mixer... You know when you catch rain water off the sails to mix in with your scotch.

[c_witch]

Thank you all for your various inputs. 'She' has found them interesting. Fuel of course is not a maintinace issue but a living cost . This is not to be a cruise perse but a retirement option for life style. We have more available then the 500.00 but as mentioned any excess, the more the better, goes into the emergency 'kitty'. Buying water seems rather silly when one can capture fresh water during the numerous rains and refill ones tankage. Of course this will not work 100 percent of the time but should suffice most of the time. We are talking of clearing in and living on the hook in the out islands for the most part. I was mostly looking at the costs for local food 'away' from the mainstream supplies. I was also interested in the fee's one might expect at a yard to pull the boat for bi or tri-annual maintince, the labour being performed by the crew.

We are use to a rather minimalist life style and would continue as such. The boat would have solar and wind gen capabilities and use propane for cooking. We would not have pressurized water nor hot water on demand. Being canadian there are also some advantages to being common wealth citizens, although they have become fewer over time.

c_witch

[TQA]

For a boat 35 ft long 200 to 250 $US for haul chock and splash with 5 days ashore. Most yards are OK with liveaboard DIY. See CLICKY tor a typical Grenada yard rate sheet.

You will use quite a bit of diesel getting to the Eastern Caribbean following the route decribed in A Gentlemans Guide to Passages South by Bruce Van Sant [ Essential reading ] Once here you can use as little as 10 galls a year if your boat sails well and you dont mind ghosting along at 2.5 knots from time to time. My boat is much thirstier than yours will be and I use 20 to 50 galls a year. Wish I had a Code Zero on a furler though!

Good idea on getting set up to catch water. Make sure your awning can be tied down FIRMLY and stretched out TIGHTLY and you have good collecting channels.

Get a solar shower many days it is hot enough to do the washing up.

Go to Goodwill and get a Pfaff sewing machine with a metal armature $10 -30 it will pay for itself on the first diy repair of a sail or awning.

[Tourjours Pret]

Hi, I am TV producer developing a documentary series about what it's like to live off the grid on a sailboat. Do you know of any salty sea dogs who live on the hook in North America and the Caribbean who might be good characters to feature in the series? If so, can you contact us at smoore@cineflix.com?

[capta]

You know, there's a bar-b-Que in Portsmouth, Dominica every Sunday for the yachties. In season there are usually a hundred boats or more anchored there. It's $20.00 US a head. It is a blast & a great place to make friends. Wouldn't it be a shame not to be able to go? Or eat out anywhere, or take a tour to the waterfalls, or rent a scooter in the Saints?
I could go on & on, but I think you get the idea.
It isn't about how little it costs, it's about the quality of the experience. Unless you want to always make excuses as to why you aren't joining the cool people you keep meeting at the next get together, spend an extra couple of years getting together enough money to have some fun too.
Don't get me wrong, we DO NOT party every night, hardly, but when it's Carnival, a few beers is not out of place. When some friends are meeting at Secret Harbor Marina to watch the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, you might wish your finances allowed it.
Just by the by, are you going to do laundry by hand? Water in many places is nearly 30 cents (US) a gallon. Overtime clearance fees could blow a whole monthly budget in Bequia.
It is not only about the sailing, or beautiful anchorages or self sufficiency; it's about a lifestyle that is unique, durable and a whole heck of a lot of fun.

[Hawaiigirl]

We are getting ready to do this within the next couple of years so I will update and document as I go...first we are going to sail around Florida to gain experience

[Doneldar]

thats the dream that I'm working for...so I hope this is do-able