[mussnot]

When I read posts touting six figure sums for the cruising kitty it gives me the shivers!
Perhaps if I can count the zeros after the decimal point?

As I am about to be unemployed, I'm a little more interested in how or if it can be done with virtually nothing in the kitty...

Having enjoyed sailing my little gaff rigged cutter around Europe over the last few years... see: A Yarmouth23 Sailing Blog - “Eileen of Avoca” - The journal of a small sailing yacht.
I'm off to give it a try full time from June. I'll let you know if it's a success.

Cheers!

 

[smackdaddy]

Welcome to Sailnet muss! And fair winds, dude. I think you're handling a lay off just about as well as it can be handled!

I'll let the other experienced cruisers give you the low down on the kitty.

 

[eherlihy]

Let me also chime in to welcome you here Muss.

I was laid off in November, so you me and 5.3 million other Americans are all looking for a job. Unfortunately, I am *still* without a boat, and the admiral is not ready to put to sea. Otherwise, I would be there with you!. (With two kids in college, however, I thank God that she has a regular paycheck.)

I hope to live vicariously through your adventures. Keep us posted!

 

[TSOJOURNER]

When I read posts touting six figure sums for the cruising kitty it gives me the shivers!
Perhaps if I can count the zeros after the decimal point?

As I am about to be unemployed, I'm a little more interested in how or if it can be done with virtually nothing in the kitty...

Having enjoyed sailing my little gaff rigged cutter around Europe over the last few years... see: A Yarmouth23 Sailing Blog - “Eileen of Avoca” - The journal of a small sailing yacht.
I'm off to give it a try full time from June. I'll let you know if it's a success.

Cheers!

Please keep the updates coming! Has to be the best unemployment option I've ever heard of!

Mark

 

[Omatako]

Become a miser . . .

Be frugal with everything you do.

• Save your electricity, don't run anything unless you must (even nav lights ). Don't run instruments or gear you don't need at the time.
• Save your water, don't use any fresh unless you must (definitely don't flush the head with it ).
• Save your fuel, don't run your engine unless you have to. Sail even if it's at 2 knots.
• Eat ALL the fish you catch even if it means eating the same meal 3 days in a row.
• Take your sails down in a storm, don't risk damage.
• Scrub the bottom by hand regularly if it needs it.
• Row the dink ashore unless you really need an outboard to run (far, wind, current).
• Convert you gas barbie. Burn driftwood, not bought fuel. Cook on it often, it's free.
• Buy rechargable batteries and a cheap solar charger (AA, AAA, etc).
• Buy lots when you find bargains, especially groceries. Learn to enjoy pasta if you don't already.
• When you bake your own bread do as many loaves as you can manage at one time (costs money to heat the oven from cold).
• Take only what you will consume when you visit other boats (but try not to be a mooch ). Don't be embarrased to take your "excess" stuff home again.
• Try and charge strangers for knowledge/assistance/labour. Let them know up front.
• Have boat clothes and shore clothes, don't wear out your good stuff while you're at sea.
• Don't pay Baksheesh (bribes) to anyone. Let them know up front too. If they won't help you without a bribe, find someone else.
• Trade if you can, don't always just buy.

If you can get into the saving habit, you will be amazed at how much you can get away with as far as cost-of-living expenses go.

Most important, lower your standard. Don't expect the things you have become accustomed to ashore. They'll just cost you lots of money.

 

[tdw]

Mussnot...great site....stick around and let us know how it goes...we'll all be cheering you on. What I really love about it is the different perspective it puts on cruising.


Omatako.......good post mate. You have a habit of posting good stuff....smart arse.....

 

[kwaltersmi]

Way to make lemonade when life hands you lemons, Mussnot! So long as your boat is paid for, you'll be able to make it. It's all about trade-offs and standard of living, and enjoying non-monetary income.

 

[imagine2frolic]

I have gone 2 times....one with money, and one without. The sunsets are just as beautiful. The sailing just as exhilarating. The accomplishments just as rewarding. It is truly surprisong how little you can get by with......BEST WISHES in sailing mile after mile.....i2f

 

[WanderingStar]

Read "Voyaging on a Small Income" by Annie Hill. They've been at it for years.
Best wishes, have fun.

 

[Valiente]

Good thoughts here.

We will be able to afford stuff, but will live as much as possible as Omatako indicates. Why? Well, my parents are both dead, and they left me money they should've spent on amusing themselves, not tacking a couple of years onto my trip (it's not a big amount, but it was certainly a couple of cruises or five round-trips to Europe, for instance). So money saved, or more to the point, not spent, gives the option to extend cruising or to have little extras outside of the budget.

Money's purpose isn't to buy you things, it's to buy you time away from making money...

 

[hellosailor]

All depends on what you want to do, and how you want to do it. You can live big, or frugal. Plan to take off a year, or ten. Six figures put aside will generate enough income to pay for cruising expenses, but that's no different from saying you want to put it aside to pay for retirement, or anything else.

The only way to make sure you won't get in trouble, is to run up some numbers for what you want to do, see what the expenses will be, and then see how your kitty can or can't match that versus your long term plans.

The math boggles a lot of folks, but if you get the raw numbers together, any financial planner or accountant can run them for you. Sun Office (similar to MS Excel but freeware) or any other spreadsheet software can do the grunt work, and your local library has DVDs on how to use that, if you're not familiar with it.

 

[TSOJOURNER]

"Money's purpose isn't to buy you things, it's to buy you time away from making money..."

Better words have never been said......

 

[sailhagg]

You're doing what I've been thinking about! I read an interesting book written by a cruiser with information on making money while cruising, something he's done for years. Here's a link if your interested.

How to support cruising on your sailboat

Keep us up to date as you can. I'll be following along leaving drool in my wake.

 

[mussnot]

Wow… Thanks for taking the time for providing the excellent suggestions and links. Omatakos’ 16 commandments for the frugal sailor will certainly be followed ardently!
Fortunately I own my well equipped little boat so I’m off to a good start (I have somewhere to live).
Rent is paid ‘till the end of May which leaves me just enough time to sell my furniture, my car and the other trappings of my current life, (all of which goes to the kitty) and then I weigh anchor.
Perhaps I’m foolishly optimistic but I’m looking forward to it. As i2f says “The sunsets are just as beautiful” without money.
Touche!

 

[Winderlust]

Must,

You got me thinking: if one can go off cruising and make it, after losing their job, then why am I still in a job and not cruising? Then I remembered, I don't have a boat. You are way ahead of me man. From your website, I can tell you have real potential in your new endeavor. Good luck.

 

[Omatako]

You're doing what I've been thinking about! I read an interesting book written by a cruiser with information on making money while cruising, something he's done for years. Here's a link if your interested.

How to support cruising on your sailboat

Keep us up to date as you can. I'll be following along leaving drool in my wake.

I read the book review and one thing rang a little alarm bell. There is mention made "Who would have thought of treasure hunting?"

If you take a metal detector onto the beach in most counries you'll attract the attention of the authorities, if you find some other guy's Rolex that's probably OK for you to keep/sell/trade it.

But if you find "treasure" and try to keep it, you'll find most places will have strict covenants on treasure and you'll end up falling foul of some draconian laws if you try to keep it.

A "for instance" was a guy I met in Seychelles who had a metal detector and who was a serious treasure hunter, was forbidden to even take the metal detector off his boat. When the customs guys went aboard his boat upon his arrival, they gave him a very stern warning. This is not uncommon.

And it's no different with diving for "treasure". If you find stuff, it is not yours, don't just take it. You could end up in jail.

 

[kjango]

Welcome to Sailnet Mussnot . Last year I was in such a knot over getting robbed at the end of a 14 month marriage & the court making awards of amounts of money based on things that never existed in the 1st place that I took the last of what I had worked for all my life , bought a sailboat , & disappeared . If I could kiss that shoe clerk of a judge on the lips .....I would . This has turned out so well for me . I'm right at the end of my first winter living aboard , I'm pretty poor but don't hardly have the words to describe how happy I am . I guess I'm Skipjack happy . My point is if you want to do something....maybe the thing to do is just do it & pick it apart as you go . My life now is a whole tapastry of new smells , sounds , & sights . I now have swans & osprey for friends & sleep every night like a baby & just considering the prospects of my new life makes me smile . I hope you look back at some point as the day you lost your job as the best thing that ever happened to you . Good luck

 

[shawmac]

[*]Try and charge strangers for knowledge/assistance/labour. Let them know up front.

Wow, that sounds to me like an open invite for karma to bite one in the arse. Labour perhaps, if it is significant, but if someone told me I would have to pay for some advice on something I would write them off as a first class jerk.

But boy, would it be sweet justice if I found that royal jerk adrift with a dead motor. Sorry, that usualy friendly tow into the harbour is going to cost a few hundred.

 

[Joevacs]

Wow, that sounds to me like an open invite for karma to bite one in the arse. Labour perhaps, if it is significant, but if someone told me I would have to pay for some advice on something I would write them off as a first class jerk.

But boy, would it be sweet justice if I found that royal jerk adrift with a dead motor. Sorry, that usualy friendly tow into the harbour is going to cost a few hundred.

I would agree with that too. What goes around, comes around.
The rest of the list i would agree with though

 

[jrd22]

Muss- good luck to you. I've found that people that think they can make it, usually do. My son (builder, developer) took off like you are going to, he figured there wasn't going to be any building going on for a couple of years so he wasn't going to lose much by going cruising. He's on a tight budget, but he's doing OK and it will be the trip of a lifetime. Fair winds.