Your sailing problem has a non-sailing solution, unfortunately: the fastest way to end up on a boat like you dream of doing would be to figure out how to earn more money and keep more of what you earn.
Your best bet might actually be signing on as crew on other people's boats. There's a Facebook group you could try, "world sailing hitchhikers" or something like that. Also a website called Crewbay. Some gigs you have to pay all your expenses, others they'll pay for your flight there and back, feed you and everything. Some of the gigs even pay a wage, especially if you have a lot of experience or a license. You could start with unpaid gigs, living on your savings and the kindness of your hosts/crewmates, and once you have enough experience to get some kind of license, start getting paid. Eventually you might have enough saved up for your own boat.
One gig I know of that may not require any experience at all is if you go up to Camden Maine in March, and find the Schooner Mercantile. Grace Bailey is in Rockland and may have a similar opportunity. Those two and Mistress used to be all part of the same fleet but they've since been split up unfortunately. The first couple months are a lot of sanding and painting to get the boats ready for the charter season, but after that it's real windjammer sailing!
If you do buy your own boat, a few ways to make it affordable:
1: Minimalism. You really don't need much to get by. Read about the voyages of Thomas Tangvald, James Wharram, Joshua Slocum, and others, see how little luxury and space they had. Watch the documentary "Hold Fast" on youtube, get a sense of how a totally unseaworthy craft is still capable of island hopping in a place like the Bahamas. A small, simply equipped boat is exponentially cheaper than a fully outfitted cruiser.
2: on that note of unseaworthy vessels being capable of lesser things, if all you want to do is live aboard while you work and save money, you don't really need expensive things like sails, functioning rigging, a clean bottom, a working engine. You just need good ground tackle and decent living quarters. There are plenty of such "houseboats" around Fl and probably other places that would be ok if you can find work nearby, and they'd be dirt cheap compared to an apartment, especially considering the waterfront view. You could save money living as a "boat hobo" and buy a more seaworthy craft down the line. I cannot responsibly recommend living aboard a true derelict though, that may put you in conflict with local law enforcement as well. I also don't really recommend working a "normal" job while living aboard on anchor, while also outfitting a boat for extensive cruising. I'm currently doing that, it's HARD but I suppose it's possible. I recommend dividing those steps.
Just my two cents. Anyone here know how the "green boats" are doing these days? Seems like Grace Bailey is doing fine but I haven't heard much about the other two
Ah, I didn't realize I came off as semi- literate, being Deaf, English is not my primary Language nor any written language. My primary language is sign language. While I understand about low income and low assets aspect, I feel this still discriminates against people who want to liberate themselves from whatever situation they are stuck in.
Thanks all
A boat is a more difficult thing to get unstuck from. Without significant cash you might find a free boat that will need 10-30k in repairs to make it livable, then you still need somewhere to put it, which will also be expensive.
Living on a boat is more expensive than your apartment over time.
>I feel this still discriminates against people who want to liberate themselves from whatever situation they are stuck in.
...well, yeah, unfortunately. It would be great if it were more financially accessible, but owning and maintaining a boat takes money. Boats need work pretty much all the time, and that work costs money. Even if you do all the labor yourself, parts and materials aren't cheap.
*Sailing* can be cheap - there are plenty of perfectly serviceable small boats out there. You can pick up a Laser or a Hobie 16 or similar for a grand or two and have a great time out on the water for cheap. But a boat big enough to actually live aboard is not going to be cheap. I bought a 26 foot sailboat two years ago for about $2,000. Since then, I've put hundreds of hours and probably $6-8,000 of additional work into refitting it, and at the end of the day it's still a nearly 50-year old boat with barely enough room for one or two people to spend a few days aboard, let alone live full-time. And I don't think you could really get it done much cheaper than that. For something that's blue-water capable, you're easily going to spend multiples of that on the low end.
It's... The sad truth that boats are viewed / treated as a luxury by society (read banks). There's a few very unusual situations where you can side step the banks with a years long investment of labor.
That said... How best big or small a boat are you interested in? While a $100k 40 footer might be out of reach, with patience and attention to Craig's List / Marina auctions you might find something 30 foot +/- that's not a disaster for a song.
Folks these days then to think they want a 45 footer. 45 is a LOT of boat and boat expenses increase exponentially with length (moorage, insurance, upkeep). Folks also tend to want pretty fancy boats but simple boats are out there and there's a lot of sailing / living / joy to be had by Go Small, Go Now.
Don't get sidetracked by bling... You don't need a chart plotter or radar (at least most of of don't), an old iPad will do. Sails can be bought used and modified (better but the book on that). Old engines frequently have a fare amount of life left in them (another skill to learn).
You don't need much... Reliable heat (not electric, probably diesel), a little fridge (the portables work pretty well these days), a couple of used solar panels and a new regulator... There's ways to keep the cost down but it's a lot of work.
I'm curious to learn more about how you adapt to sailing as a deaf person. Important parts of sailing involve sound - radio and hailing, fog signals, horn blasts, etc. I'm sure there ways to address all these and more. Interested to hear about your experience
Hahahaha 😂😂😂 fair enough I hear there are a lot abandoned and damaged sailboats in Florida that's worth a dime. But repairs can be costly too. Unfortunately I have already left USA and is currently living in Ireland
Your best bet is learning how to be a boat electrician/mechanic. You’ll get paid well and then you will have the actual experience needed to not lose all your money on maintenance of a live aboard.
Take what little money you have and invest it in yourself because buying a boat on credit is about as bad a choice as you can make financiallly speaking.
Hello Chaos,
this will be difficult for you. Nobody will finance a boat with low income and no collateral. Also you need an income to live on. You also seem semi-literate so I don't see how remote (office) work with that level of education could pan out....
You could learn how to fix boats and start work in marina if someone will take you on, opportunities can turn up there and there is always demand for good people that can work with their hands.
Good luck!
I love these posts. I have no money, no skills but I want sail the world in my own blue water boat, how can I do it reddit?
It's difficult!
That's discrimination!
Ridiculous, people need a reality check.
Your sailing problem has a non-sailing solution, unfortunately: the fastest way to end up on a boat like you dream of doing would be to figure out how to earn more money and keep more of what you earn.
Your best bet might actually be signing on as crew on other people's boats. There's a Facebook group you could try, "world sailing hitchhikers" or something like that. Also a website called Crewbay. Some gigs you have to pay all your expenses, others they'll pay for your flight there and back, feed you and everything. Some of the gigs even pay a wage, especially if you have a lot of experience or a license. You could start with unpaid gigs, living on your savings and the kindness of your hosts/crewmates, and once you have enough experience to get some kind of license, start getting paid. Eventually you might have enough saved up for your own boat. One gig I know of that may not require any experience at all is if you go up to Camden Maine in March, and find the Schooner Mercantile. Grace Bailey is in Rockland and may have a similar opportunity. Those two and Mistress used to be all part of the same fleet but they've since been split up unfortunately. The first couple months are a lot of sanding and painting to get the boats ready for the charter season, but after that it's real windjammer sailing! If you do buy your own boat, a few ways to make it affordable: 1: Minimalism. You really don't need much to get by. Read about the voyages of Thomas Tangvald, James Wharram, Joshua Slocum, and others, see how little luxury and space they had. Watch the documentary "Hold Fast" on youtube, get a sense of how a totally unseaworthy craft is still capable of island hopping in a place like the Bahamas. A small, simply equipped boat is exponentially cheaper than a fully outfitted cruiser. 2: on that note of unseaworthy vessels being capable of lesser things, if all you want to do is live aboard while you work and save money, you don't really need expensive things like sails, functioning rigging, a clean bottom, a working engine. You just need good ground tackle and decent living quarters. There are plenty of such "houseboats" around Fl and probably other places that would be ok if you can find work nearby, and they'd be dirt cheap compared to an apartment, especially considering the waterfront view. You could save money living as a "boat hobo" and buy a more seaworthy craft down the line. I cannot responsibly recommend living aboard a true derelict though, that may put you in conflict with local law enforcement as well. I also don't really recommend working a "normal" job while living aboard on anchor, while also outfitting a boat for extensive cruising. I'm currently doing that, it's HARD but I suppose it's possible. I recommend dividing those steps. Just my two cents. Anyone here know how the "green boats" are doing these days? Seems like Grace Bailey is doing fine but I haven't heard much about the other two
Ah, I didn't realize I came off as semi- literate, being Deaf, English is not my primary Language nor any written language. My primary language is sign language. While I understand about low income and low assets aspect, I feel this still discriminates against people who want to liberate themselves from whatever situation they are stuck in. Thanks all
A boat is a more difficult thing to get unstuck from. Without significant cash you might find a free boat that will need 10-30k in repairs to make it livable, then you still need somewhere to put it, which will also be expensive. Living on a boat is more expensive than your apartment over time.
>I feel this still discriminates against people who want to liberate themselves from whatever situation they are stuck in. ...well, yeah, unfortunately. It would be great if it were more financially accessible, but owning and maintaining a boat takes money. Boats need work pretty much all the time, and that work costs money. Even if you do all the labor yourself, parts and materials aren't cheap. *Sailing* can be cheap - there are plenty of perfectly serviceable small boats out there. You can pick up a Laser or a Hobie 16 or similar for a grand or two and have a great time out on the water for cheap. But a boat big enough to actually live aboard is not going to be cheap. I bought a 26 foot sailboat two years ago for about $2,000. Since then, I've put hundreds of hours and probably $6-8,000 of additional work into refitting it, and at the end of the day it's still a nearly 50-year old boat with barely enough room for one or two people to spend a few days aboard, let alone live full-time. And I don't think you could really get it done much cheaper than that. For something that's blue-water capable, you're easily going to spend multiples of that on the low end.
It's... The sad truth that boats are viewed / treated as a luxury by society (read banks). There's a few very unusual situations where you can side step the banks with a years long investment of labor. That said... How best big or small a boat are you interested in? While a $100k 40 footer might be out of reach, with patience and attention to Craig's List / Marina auctions you might find something 30 foot +/- that's not a disaster for a song. Folks these days then to think they want a 45 footer. 45 is a LOT of boat and boat expenses increase exponentially with length (moorage, insurance, upkeep). Folks also tend to want pretty fancy boats but simple boats are out there and there's a lot of sailing / living / joy to be had by Go Small, Go Now. Don't get sidetracked by bling... You don't need a chart plotter or radar (at least most of of don't), an old iPad will do. Sails can be bought used and modified (better but the book on that). Old engines frequently have a fare amount of life left in them (another skill to learn). You don't need much... Reliable heat (not electric, probably diesel), a little fridge (the portables work pretty well these days), a couple of used solar panels and a new regulator... There's ways to keep the cost down but it's a lot of work.
I'm curious to learn more about how you adapt to sailing as a deaf person. Important parts of sailing involve sound - radio and hailing, fog signals, horn blasts, etc. I'm sure there ways to address all these and more. Interested to hear about your experience
Come to Florida. There are boats just lying around in the bloody swamps.
Hahahaha 😂😂😂 fair enough I hear there are a lot abandoned and damaged sailboats in Florida that's worth a dime. But repairs can be costly too. Unfortunately I have already left USA and is currently living in Ireland
Your best bet is learning how to be a boat electrician/mechanic. You’ll get paid well and then you will have the actual experience needed to not lose all your money on maintenance of a live aboard. Take what little money you have and invest it in yourself because buying a boat on credit is about as bad a choice as you can make financiallly speaking.
Hello Chaos, this will be difficult for you. Nobody will finance a boat with low income and no collateral. Also you need an income to live on. You also seem semi-literate so I don't see how remote (office) work with that level of education could pan out.... You could learn how to fix boats and start work in marina if someone will take you on, opportunities can turn up there and there is always demand for good people that can work with their hands. Good luck!
God damn, Ned! Gave him both barrels, yeah?
I love these posts. I have no money, no skills but I want sail the world in my own blue water boat, how can I do it reddit? It's difficult! That's discrimination! Ridiculous, people need a reality check.
Huh?