Question: I am going to sail...how do i make enough money each year?

(Posted by: BlackZach on 2010-08-11 19:38:06)

I want to do frugal voyaging, but I am worried about making enough money each year. How would I be able to make a decent profit to continue sailing?

Posted by: georage_1966 on 2010-08-11, 20:27:58

Learn to fix diesel inboard engines. Go to a tech school for a while. Once you are in exotic locales, you can make a pretty penny fixing engines (and they ALWAYS break!) Or, just be handy with boat repairs. You can make a lot of cash at the marina helping other sailors. Fixing DC electrical wiring is pretty simple, but many people would prefer to pay someone to do it. Boat refrigeration is another thing that is always breaking. If you get the right boat, and go the right places, you don't need a LOT of cash. I know people who have sailed around the world on a few hundred dollars a month. Check out this site. He did it, you can too. atomvoyages.com/ Note: Dentistry is also a fine profession, but I figured you wanted to leave before spending 8 years in college. :)

Posted by: Capt. John on 2010-08-12, 05:57:40

Forget Diesel School... Go to Dental School... That's right... Forget diesel school or refrigeration... While that was the case 30 years ago... it's not any longer. No one has problems with diesel engines anymore, and when you can buy a new boat size refrigerator unit or compressor for a few hundred dollars, and have it shipped anywhere in the world in 4 days - how are you (as a mechanic) going to compete with that? First off, you would have to be in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time to even get a chance. Up until the mid 1980s - it was essential a sailor have these items repaired. There simply was no choice. Today however, new ones can be delivered most anywhere in the world in a matter of days... not the six months or a year that it used to take. Anyone now that recommends "diesel school or mechanic " as a means of making a living while sailing around the world, has never had the experience in the last 20 years, and is reading old and out of date "how to " and "sailing " books. It is very rare today, that anyone has problems with diesel anymore. In the 17 years I have been sailing, we have never run across a sailor with an inboard diesel problem. Besides, most sailors "out-there " are pretty darn good at repairing everything that needs repairing, themselves. When you go sailing across oceans, you will learn two startling facts. One, there are an amazing, and I do mean, a shockingly large number of people from every nation (mostly all couples) that are "out-there " sailing around in Paradise, and on around the world... By far, most of them are doing it on very frugal "shoestring " budgets. They are no different then you or I. Certainly we would all rather "pay " someone else to do all the maintanence and dirty work for us... But fact is, doing it ourselves is one of the ways (if not the only way) we can remain "out-there ". The other thing we came to realize is that a Dentist could make a wonderful living simply be sailing around the world. As in every Port in every country, as soon as your American Flag is identifiable... the calls on the VHF or SSB would be "any good books to trade? " Any new movies/ " and... "You don't happen to be a Dentist do you? " People can, and will put off most anything... but it is inpossible to put off a toothache. Now, with that actual experience behind me, I can truthfully say, that had I known, if only I had of had any idea... I would have been a Dentist, and straight out of dental school my dental chair would have installed in my sailboat. My Dental hygienists would have all been wonderful darlings in bikinis, and when we landed in a foreign Port... it would have been those with toothaches first, new crowns second, and we wouldn't leave Port till everyone's teeth were cleaned. If you have money (of course) to get started, and for the equipment you need, it is very possible to run an Internet business from anywhere in Paradise... Some in fact, are doing it as we speak. I am a believer that where there is a will... there is a way... Good luck, John PS. Talk about "frugal voyaging " check out the link below...

Posted by: Tinpanallycat on 2010-08-13, 06:14:42

I agree with Capt. John.. except I would recommend, if you plan to do the Bahamas and Caribbean, that you go to a trade school and LEARN REFRIGERATION.. The busiest people I have ever seen or known in ANY anchorage in the Caribbean were the REFRIGERATION MECHANICS.. You can work 24 hours a day doing that if you want to. That being said, You don't have a CLUE about cruising... do you? There are COUNTLESS BOOKS about cruising and earning a living on the way.. and it's obvious you haven't read a SINGLE ONE OF THEM or you would not have asked this question this way here on Answers. Go to BLUE WATER BOOKS and ORDER SOME BOOK on CRUISING and MANAGING YOUR VOYAGE and any of the OTHER HUNDREDS OF BOOKS on the subject.. because you won't get the information you want here on Answers.. YOU have to do some of your OWN research on this

Posted by: James on 2010-08-13, 13:51:00

BlackZac... I checked... Capt John is right. I went to that "AtomVoyages " website, and that guy was sailing in the 1980s when he gave that advice. 30 years ago, sailors were waxing their eggs to keep them fresher longer... and everyone was still walking a mile for a Camel. That was before Federal Express, and UPS, had world-wide guaranteed 72 hour delivery. There also was no GPS, Cell-phones, or Internet... Thinking about it, I would not think going to diesel school and being a diesel mechanic or working in refrigeration repair would be a viable option... I have had my boat for 15 years and I have never even touched my inboard diesel except to change the oil and filters. A few years ago when my refrigerator went out, I never even thought to have it fixed. I just bought another. While I certainly don't advocate one career or positon or job, or situation over another... If it were me, I would have to look real hard for some kind of Internet business...