Haefen Heading Home

Vessel Name: HAEFEN
Vessel Make/Model: IP32
Hailing Port: Fort McMurray
Crew: Jeff and Lorna
About: Just heading back to the Wet Coast from Florida.
12 April 2009
06 March 2009 | Mobile, AL
15 February 2009 | Mobile
Recent Blog Posts
12 April 2009

Cuba and USA

Trying to figure out what the relationship is or is going to be between USA and Cuba is difficult. Generally the thought is that any American boat returning from Cuba is going to be confiscated but things are going to change.

13 March 2009

Sailing is cheaper than not

Many think that living aboard and cruising is cheaper than living on land. Lets go Sailing it only costs about $10G a year, this or that book says so!

06 March 2009 | Mobile, AL

Looking foward

As time marches on more stuff gets done and left undone but a departure date is still approaching.

15 February 2009 | Mobile

First

First post

Cuba and USA

12 April 2009
Trying to figure out what the relationship is or is going to be between USA and Cuba is difficult. Generally the thought is that any American boat returning from Cuba is going to be confiscated but things are going to change.

Now that change is difficult to pin down. Some say no change until Cuba gives up the revolution. Before I thought that was just stupid particularly the idea that property taken during the revolution would be returned.

It seemed clear to me that revolutions cannot be undone and people that lose property are generally those in power or connected to those in power. My idea was if you lose control of the country then you blew it and do not get a second chance. Property should not be returned.

Then I realised that my long past family had lost property due to a revolution. Maybe that idea of having property taken during a revolution being returned is not such a bad idea.

As Loyalists we lost quite a bit of property during the American Revolution and even though my take would be quite small percentage wise I'm pretty sure the value of New York City property would still have me ending up with a pretty good chunk of cash.

Yep good idea. Everybody who lost property due to a revolution should be able to get compensation. It really is the only proper thing to do.

Sailing is cheaper than not

13 March 2009
Sunny as always!
Many think that living aboard and cruising is cheaper than living on land. Lets go Sailing it only costs about $10G a year, this or that book says so!


The reality is it, as you've likely already determined, cost varies and depends on many things. Wealth, Age , risk tolerance and family situation are just a few issues that will have a direct impact on cost.

So nobody can tell you what kind of money you need to do this only you can tell you.


The best advice on what you should budget is this: It costs aboout the same as living ashore. If you spent $10G to live last year, then you should be able to get away with $10G. If you spent $50G then you should be rich and will do fine, BUT....

Do not believe the stories of food for nothing and chicks for free, people fib. It gets worst if they write a book, particularly if they let time do the deceiving for them. Yeah right, anybody can live off a couple hundred grand of investments or savings! What was the return on that last year? Zero, minus even. That means you would have starved to death or used a safety net. They rarely mention the real safety nets they have, one of which is the book!

Many liveaboards or cruisers say they have sold everything and are living on little or nothing. Sounds cheap but it takes very little discussion to find out that they have pensions, retirement funds, cars, houses, property, family and generally speaking lots of money, assets, and safety nets. They, like us, are rich. Well we are rich for now, lol.

This is, for the most part, a rich mans sport or lifestyle, at least if you want it to be comfortable. If you are not rich it is much tougher, but do able. Just like living on land, compromise can get you anything.

There are some who are living on the cheap, just like on land. And that's a key point, you can live off $10G or $20G a year ashore and it will be more comfortable, not to mention safer. Comfort is an issue that is unique to each person.

If you do not mind camping then just like living on land it can be done quite cheaply. We had a 30yr old Alberg before we got this boat and personally I'm glad we sold it and got this 10X more expensive boat. There is nothing wrong with using a bucket and living in a small (to you) boat but for myself the view would not make up for such short comings. Great boat for short trips though!

For others they would not consider using a bucket or having a small or damp boat as a short coming but a means to a view or a once in a life time experience.

Now I'm not talking about everybody, particularly single folk. Generally speaking if you are on your own you can live just about anywhere, even the street. Single persons can more easily live on a smaller affordable boat. And clearly I'm not talking about those who are rich. With a large paid for house and many assets and safety nets, they can do this and then write about how cheap it is!

I'm thinking about the couple, maybe family, having some money issues that want to just sail away from it all. They may have read a couple famous books that suggest it is cheaper for them to sail off to foreign lands than stay at home. They have tens of thousands saved maybe more and hope to live off the investment or interest from that. They look at $10G or $20G a year figure and say, hey we could do that for years, maybe decades!

Now lets assume those saying you can do this on the cheap really did live on $20G last year, and lets assume they did the same the previous year and hope to do the same next year. What are they leaving out?

Almost always these folks leave out the fact that they are consuming the boat. Many do not even know it, though they will find out when it comes time to sell, or rather not sell. I personally know of such situations.

We looked at several such boats before buying this one. One in particular was purchased/upgraded for about $75G then sailed the South Pacific. It provided material for a book on how to cruise on the cheap and was then put up for sale. You can be sure that they are not factoring in the $50,000 bath they took on selling a leaky boat full of rusting equipment after just a few years of cruising on the cheap. More than $10G+ a year there.

It costs money to maintain a boat. The best way, maybe only way, to limit that is to buy a cheap boat, one that already has an oar in Davies locker. That will let you convert labour into cash but you will still need some money. (nothing is free)

Then there is the comfort factor. Older boats are often less comfortable for many reasons.


JOBS

Another issue to consider are those who say they are cruising but do paid work while doing so. Yes this is possible but not for most of us. Right now as I write this I would like to add some money to the kitty to replace the money taken by the markets and currency traders. To do so while I'm in this foreign country is illegal. If I do not mind breaking the law then no problem. Being law abiding is expensive in more ways than one.

Illegality:

Many people doing these great things are not following the law. I do not follow all the laws (heck I don't even know most of them) so there is no holier than thou here but we all have our limits. If you want to follow the laws it gets expensive. Everybody wants a piece of you and many will get it. If you are the type to avoid certian expenses you will do better but some cannot be avoided easily.

Example:
There is a boat currently cruising the South Pacific, bloggin about how cheap it is (yes a book is in the works) who is flying the flag of a certain country. A country in which they have not paid boat taxes. When their trip has ended and they return to that country they will face a tax bill of $10G to $20G (just a guess based on the almost new boat).

Since they have deliberately avoided paying the tax by the due date (tax was due when boat was documented) they run the risk of having a penalty fee of another $10G to $20G. If they cruise for 4yrs are they likely to add $5G+ to their annual costs? Are they even likely to mention it in a book about cruising costs? They are rich and can afford such a bill so would they even consider it a cruising cost?

Not if they want to sell books. People buy books on how to sail on the cheap because they want to believe they can fulfill a fantasy. They are not going to buy a book that tells them they cannot afford to lead the lifestyle they dream of. Hence the reason I do not think I could write such a sailing book, not profitably anyway. LOL

Between books written to sell and people "forgetting" actual expenses, the cost of safety nets and the assets backing them (not always just money) it is no wonder that so many people think all they have to do is move aboard a boat to solve their money problems.

Of course some have but most cannot. Living aboard is still living and that costs money. Just like living on land.

And if it really was cheaper do you not think more people would be doing this? Do you not think that people down on their luck wouldn't move aboard rather than into the streets? Look at your local marina and anchorage, are these folks the same folks who live off $10G a year on land?

Just like living on land getting 14% return on investments and living off of $10G a year while sipping Umbrella drinks on the beach is best left as fanatasy.

But do not let that ruin your fantasy. For some, particlularly those of us with money, this is a cheaper way to do things at least for a while. I'll let you know how sustainable it is because we already like it enough to try.

In the meantime I can still dream of sipping umbrella drinks on a warm beach while living off investments and hopefully I can make half that fantasy become reality.

Looking foward

06 March 2009 | Mobile, AL
Sunny
As time marches on more stuff gets done and left undone but a departure date is still approaching.

The endless discussion seems to be when and then where.

The original plans were simple. Head up the east coast as weather permits and then off to Europe before winter. Well that isn't going to happen. Time and money worked against that ambitious plan. Didn't get as much for our home as we would have liked, spent more looking for the boat than we wanted and then spent more on the boat than we wanted.

We have since added another expense, we'd like to keep the boat. Original plan had us selling the boat to move ashore. Now we would like to move ashore and keep the boat, this is a really nice boat. So plans get revised again and that's a big expensive revision.

So big shakeup to the plans. Money, thanks to things completely out of our control, is a larger issue than we wanted it to be, and now we want to keep the boat.

So everything is on the table. I know this because Lorna keeps telling me to clean it up! As for destination it really is unknown, until we commit to one route or another.

We could just bounce around Florida and Cuba until Hurricane season. At which point we take the boat to some place like Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda, Florida and ride out the stormy season. That place looked like the perfect spot to ride out a stormy season at least if I could get a slip on the floating dock again and maybe a j.o.b. to pay for it.

But I hate hurricane season. Every developing low pressure system seems to have my name on it. Too much stress for me. I have no idea how people leave their boats down here. Insurance I guess.

So hanging out here waiting for the big one is not our first choice. We want to move on even though this would be a great place to have a boat for vacations. Maybe just hang around Florida and area.

Which takes us to Cuba some time in April/May. This seems to be a good time to sail Cuba as no risk of Hurricane and lots of time to sail around to Cayo Largo. Cuba would be nice.

Which is about the only must do place on our list. We have no particular drive to go anywhere other than Cuba and the West Coast of Canada. That's pretty much it. Some sailors want to Circumnavigate, or cruise the Caribbean or go thorough the Panama Canal. Others want to sail the South Pacific or shoot the Cape. While that'd be nice it is not on our must do list.

About the only thing I would like to add to the sailing resume is maybe the Northwest Passage but that doesn't have to be anytime soon and is more a future thing.

This lack of nautical drive may sound odd to sailors but we've had lot's of past adventures. I lack the drive to set new personal records just for the sake of doing it, at least at this point in time.

Heck we aren't even "real" sailors as I'll run the engine to make time, electricity, or just maneuver the boat.

And we may live on a sailboat but we aren't "real" cruisers by any cruisers definition. You can't be a cruiser until you (insert qualifier here) and we haven't done that yet!

Which means we can look at many options. We decide our own path.

Sailing out of the Carib before hurricane season means:

Heading east to cross the pond. We could but are not yet set up for real offshore sailing, neither us nor the boat. A stock Island Packet is very much a coastal cruiser. Now that will change with time and money but neither the boat or the crew wants to do an Atlantic crossing at this time.

Heading South to South America. Now this would be neat but we are not yet ready to shoot the cape so any time down that coast means turning around and going back up. Something about that doesn't feel right.

A trip down to Venezuela or the ABC islands would be fun. Maybe even get some wood working done on the boat in Columbia. I heard it was cheaper to have cabinets made there and we have several little projects to complete before heading offshore into a storm. So this is on the list.

Heading West to Mexico or Guatemala or Belize. Not really far enough away from those pesky storms for me but a good backup plan. There is talk here of a place called SweetWater (Rio Dolce) in Guatemala. It is well inland but still risky. Some concerns about safety there but I suspect that is an issue everywhere outside North America and even in North America if you are not careful. I kinda like the idea of hanging out in Rio Dolce, sounds like it might be fun. Check out ruins and stuff too!

Heading North, via East coast to Canada: Now this sounds good but think about it for a second. North, cold and on the coast we do not want to be on for the winter. It will be cold enough living aboard in BC, living on the east coast during winter does not sound like fun. Of course we could do the loop, head north, then inland, then south again ending up back here in Mobile. That's an idea, lots going for that I figure. It also means we can afford to go visit family more often, maybe even be in Ontario for some visits....I think this will have to be considered more.

Head for Panama before Hurricane season: I can't say I have a great feeling about that. I can't even say exactly why. It isn't just because I would rather take the NWP. Panama is expensive, mind you cheaper than shipping but expensive none the less. Exact cost is hard to determine but it looks like $4G is not out of the question. Hopefully $3G would be more likely.

Another concern is risk to boat. Seems like lots of stories of boats getting banged up and broken when bouncing around with the commercial traffic. Insurance seems to be required and that can be thousands of dollars. Experienced folks have ways around that but experience is one thing lacking, not that we couldn't get it just by hanging around and crewing.

Once on the other side we would then be looking at shooting the coast north. Something most people recommend against, nose on into the wind and current with limited services and safe harbours for hundreds of miles. I actually don't think that is a problem once we get comfortable with the boat but so many people recommend against it that it does give us pause. (like that's stopped us before, LOL)


Heading Straight to the West Coast over land: Now here is an option all those "real" sailors do not have. We could just sail around the Caribbean until those nasty clouds start showing up and then put the boat on a truck and haul ass across country. We put more miles overland on our last boat than we ever did on the water (while we owned it anyway) so this wouldn't be a first. It gets the boat to wherever we want it on the west coast and we (me anyway) could drive the truck ourselves.

Of course the downside is having to take down the mast, wear and tear on the boat, maximum hassles and the expense of the trip. Still this could be fun. We could leave it in the USA and put off the Import to Canada for a while as well. Though that may not be a good idea.

Another twist is to have someone else sail it for us. Not like that, but on the deck of their ship. There are shipping companies that would ship the boat for us, through the Panama Canal right to Vancouver. I think we would have to look into cost. Of course that cost is offset by the money saved not going through the canal ourselves.

We could just cross to Costa Rica and be off loaded there. That takes 10 days, faster than if we tried to drive there! Cost Rica has it's own set of concerns which includes pirates but would be fun. We would still have to shoot the coast to get north but would be out of hurricane zone.

So now I'll have to figure out what the cost of these various options are.

But first help Kittywake get started on their electrical system. Shouldn't be hard all they have is 3 - 12vdc systems each with their own battery and charging systems, 2 - 48vdc systems with wind and diesel charger as well as regenerative drive motors and of course multiple 120V invertors. It would be great to see this Cat in action but it will not likely be done before they leave to sail the world.

Now to get some quotes and figure out costs and hassles.

First

15 February 2009 | Mobile
Sunny
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