Saturday, October 30, 2021

What it costs and empowerment from a surprising source....

In my RSS inbox today there was another “is the cruising life for you” themed podcast. Which apparently answers all your needful questions like “What’s it all going to cost?”.

The thing is, I don’t feel the need to check out the podcast in question because it will just be a regurgitation of the same old same.

On the “what’s it going to cost” front, I recently concluded that the oft-given answer of “whatever you have” is the worst answer ever. We should center the question not on what it costs, but more on what you are willing to spend.

The universal thinking on cruising and boat costs treats the average cruiser or boatbuilder as being clueless, stupid, and unable to live on any kind of budget of their own making. While a lot of boat folk and cruisers I’ve come across match that description, it is not the majority.

Now folks of scant means (spelled lower income) have a significant advantage, as they know it’s a hard world, people have to make do, and living on a budget is a fact of life.The choice between buying a $1,200 CAL 34 that needs a bit of work or a $69,000 Pacific Seacraft that also needs some work, our scant resource guy/gal understands what they can afford and fits their budget.

A lot of the email I get asks me about what I think of certain sailboats and whether they should get one type of boat or another. Whenever I get this sort of question, the first thing I ask is what their disposable income is and what sort of boat/cruising budget they envision for themselves. Sadly, some find the basic idea of being on a budget something of an insult, as only poor people have to live on budgets.

The simple fact is that everyone’s on a budget, whether they know it or not.

Off-hand, I find the idea of living within a budget both needful and empowering. I know what I can afford, and it keeps me away from adverse monetary surprises.

Take that $1200 CAL 34 for instance, It needs a little work, but if I were going to buy it, I’d make sure I have enough set aside for the boat, a full-on refit, and all the other expenses involved in turning it into a cruising boat.

I’ve lost track of the number of well-off folks who have bought a boat and then complained about the surprises they come across in the rehab that added thousands of dollars and weeks/months/years to their project. Turning it into just another hole in the water you throw money into.

Since the less well-off have the advantage of both knowing what their budget is and how to get by. They know surprises are part of the game and have budgeted or sorted out workarounds. They get on with the job at hand.

Of course, for budgets to work, you have to be honest with yourself and realize the difference between what you can afford and what you can’t. A lot of folks I know have a genuine issue on this front. As a result, they find themselves far too often with a project or lifestyle beyond their means.

Armed with a bit of homework and choosing a project within your budget and skills makes all the difference. A budget done right empowers you and makes achieving your goals a lot easier. Knowing what you can and cannot afford in the long term is a great asset rather than something that cramps your style or inhibits your freedom. It is the key factor that defines the difference between success and failure where cruising and boat projects are concerned.


Wednesday, October 27, 2021

a 26-foot project I'd be all over...

“One of the very best boats ever designed. I based a good part of my design work around the Haida 26. I love that boat.”... Robert Perry

Robery Perry sure knows what he's talking about.

For a variety of reasons I monitor sailboats for sale in a few places and a 26-foot Haida in Washington State popped up on my radar today.

The thing is, back when I was living on a CAL 20, I lusted  for a flush deck Haida 26 that was for sale in the marina which had seduced me with the siren song of go-anywhere possibilities. In other words it was a pretty awesome boat.

The boat was everything my Cal 20 was but bigger and tough in a way that made the idea of sailing off to Hawaii and Japan a much more sensible proposition. However, as a starving film student it was just outside my budget.

Still, It's one of those boats I've always wanted and wonder how things would have turned out if I'd been able to scrape the needful purchase money together.

So, seeing a Haida for sale on Craig's List for only $750 really caught my attention and had me (for a few moments at least) considering buying a plane ticket to Seattle. Hey, it would be nice to have a Pied à l'Eau in the San Juans...

Sure it's a fixer upper and that's not a bad thing. Back in the days I was living on a Cal 20 in Sausalito I spent hours and hours working out how I'd fix up the Haida I was so enamoured with. The fact is that the Haida 26 is a very simple boat and at 26-feet there is actually very little to replace or fix so the cost of fixing it up would be fairly minor if you were doing the work yourself. 

Even having to buy an outboard for it I can't see it taking more than $1500 to put things right.

I recently saw a nice Haida going for $8900 so the fixer-upper VolksCruiser route makes a whole lot of sense if you're able to do it right.

Sadly, it's the wrong coast and time for me and a project for someone else in Washington State who I hope knows what a wonderful boat it is.

Sunday, October 24, 2021

An exercise in common sense and frugality...

I just realized that we've been using our DIY composting toilet without any issues or problems since 2009. which, if you do the math, adds up to twelve years. As it only cost around $100 that's a pretty good return on investment.

I mention this because the whole idea of VolksCruier is not about doing stuff on the cheap but more about coming up with better ways to do things while avoiding spending stupid money in the process.

Composting (and yeah, I know that composting toilets on boats don't really compost) toilets are a good example since they work better than MSDs, don't require holes in the boat, have near-zero maintenance, and can be built for next to nothing. Plus, I guess I should add that they don't smell as much as most MSDs.

For comparison, the only MSD I'd actually install on a boat I live on is the LAVAC which, in my opinion, is the best of the bunch. Of course, the LAVAC is a bit pricey at between $659-$780 plus the various needful bits not included (hose, holding tank, etc) add up to an installation that will run over a $1000 or so  and then there will be the ongoing cost of maintenance that in my experience works out to about $125 or so per year (seat seals and pump rebuild kits).

So, if I had installed a Lavac in "So It Goes" back in 2009 I'd expect to have spent at least $2500 to install and maintain it. Which, when compared to the total outlay for our composting head and the cost of peat moss/sawdust (maybe $100 over twelve years?) it would seem that we've saved $2300 or so by choosing the composting head with the added perq of never having to rebuild a fouled Henderson MK5 pump and replace gross nasty sewage hoses.

Which is a roundabout way of saying we chose the composting head because we thought it did a better job with the least potential problems or issues. The fact that it has saved us a couple of thousand dollars was really just a bonus.