This is a documentary (1 hour 15 min) about a group of crust punk/hippie kids who scrap together and buy a cheap sailboat, fix it up, sail to the Carribean, live off the land/ocean, and have a kick ass time. They have barely any money, but live out a dream.

This is what I'm trying to do with Windsong, though I am taking a bit more time with the rebuild. I have a lot of respect for what they did, but have a few gripes on how they went about it. I love that they sail everywhere without using the engine, catch their own food, and that they did all of this on such a budget that skill was needed to overcome easy technology. They squatted, stole materials and did some other things that I don't condone...but it's their spirit I love.

Hold Fast: Stories of maniac sailors, anarchist castaways, and the voyage of the S/V Pestilence...

Hold Fast from Moxie Marlinspike on Vimeo.

A set back

Things got a shake up last week as I was laid off from my job. I've survived 6 layoffs thus far, but I guess I couldn't escape this one. I should be fine in the long run, however, all of the money I have been saving to restore Windsong will need to be used for bills until I find new employment.

So as my mind processes all of the things it needs to so I can adjust to my new circumstances, I need to figure out what I can accomplish on the boat that won't eat my savings immediately. If the weather holds up I will be going up to see Windsong this weekend to do some deconstruction on the inside. I think I will focus on removing the headliner and some more wood trim. With my free time (aside from looking for a job) I will be working hard on things like restoring the woodwork. I am excited for the time to get a leg up on the work, but would rather have my steady income back.

Engine still overheats and bad news from work.

This weekend didn't go too well. Well, it didn't start well either. On Friday I was cut to part-time at work, effectively reducing my salary by 20%. Thats all the money I had to save and spend on the boat. I will be just making the payments and insurance now, but money for refitting is severely limited now. I've said many times that as long as my job holds up, I should be on target for everything boat related. This will be a set back for sure, but temporary at most.

As for this weekend on the boat, I'll let this post I made on Sailnet describe it. I am stuck on the engine problem still:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/diesel-engine-forum/56761-cooling-system-problems-need-some-help.html

I recently purchased a 1975 Downeaster 38' Cutter, re-powered in 1994 with a Yanmar 4JH2E. It only has about 900 hours on the engine, but has been sitting unused for a few years now. I live in Orlando, FL but the boat is in Inglis, FL near Crystal River in the Big Bend area at the sellers dock. He is being kind enough to let me keep it there until I get it in shape to take it elsewhere. So I am limited to making weekend trips up there for now.

When we did the sea trial, the engine performed just fine. We ran it up and down the river for almost 3 hours with no problems at all. I had not taken her out since then (about a month) and have just been doing a lot of cleaning and work replacing the running rigging. Two weekends ago I decided it was time to take her out on the river (its on the Withlacoochee River) and show some friends a good time. Before we went out, I checked all fluids, cleaned out the raw water strainer and topped off the coolant. I noticed there was no rubber gasket or anything on the cap of the raw water strainer, just a metal plate. I didnt think much of it at the time, but now I wonder if there should be one.

The engine ran just fine for about an hour up the river. At one point, I revved it up to 2,800 rpms to see how it responded at cruising speed. Soon after my heart sank as I noticed steam (of course I first thought it was smoke and we were burning down) gushing out of the engine room. I quickly shut it off and had to release the anchor for the first time on the boat (something I needed to learn soon, but in less stressful circumstances).

The cap on the expansion tank for the cooling system had popped off and the cooling water was steaming everywhere. I also noticed that the air silencer had popped off and was hanging by a hose. I had checked it before we left and may have not secured it correctly. So I topped off lost coolant and let the engine rest for a while.

It was getting dark soon and we needed to get back. The engine cranked up just fine but after a short while the temperature was running high. Right before we got to the dock the cap on the expansion tank popped off and once again steam goes everywhere.

We had to go back to Orlando for the week so I did some research and stupidly realized that I didn't check if water was flowing out of the exhaust at all. I had also remembered that the belt was pretty loose, so those were first on the list to check when I came back. I would make sure to double check how I closed the water strainer.

So I go back to the boat this previous weekend. I tighten the belt after much hassle and checked to make sure the raw water strainer is tightly sealed. I then started the engine and first checked to see if any water was coming through the exhaust....none . So my guess is that the problem lies in the raw water circuit somewhere, correct?

I planned on checking and replacing the impeller, of which the previous owner already had a new spare. I soon realized that the impeller is in a hellish place where I can only fit one arm with barely enough room to move a tool. Removing the cover plate for the impeller was tricky, but I did it without loosing my cool. Then I realized that I would not be able to take the impeller out with any ease. I hoped to use the 2 screwdriver method to pry it out, but there was no way I could get two of them in there. I spent the majority of my day getting frustrated over figuring out how to get the impeller out, and didn't get much else done.

The only other thing I checked was to make sure there was nothing blocking the through-hull. I popped the inlet hose from the raw water strainer and was able to suck water through, so that was clear at least.

After leaving my dad asked if I checked to make sure the impeller was even turning after the engine was on...no, I didn't check .

The boat is old, but the engine is the one thing I was happy to have working fine. This completely has left me in the dumps emotionally, and then to cap it off I got cut to part-time at work this week amidst a bunch of lay-offs. Im lucky I still have the job, but loosing 20% of my salary takes away the extra money I was using each month to get the boat in shape.

So that is where I am. What steps should I take this weekend while I am there? I assume to make sure the impeller is even turning by running the engine with the cover off? Do I start to just pull hoses at various points along the circuit to see if water is flowing? Am I limited to buying an impeller puller or is there a cheaper tool I don't know about?

Any help isolating the problem would be appreciated. I hope I can get this done without paying someone to come out to the boat. I am willing to learn and do the hard work, but need some sage wisdom.

Thanks!

Saving sucks.

I've been lazily boat shopping for a while now. Just browsing the net for anything new, but not really getting excited about anything. There are plenty of boats that I could potentially buy, but I am in no rush since I am still saving.

As I have been looking through ads, I noticed that the Downeaster 38 is still up on most sites, and has been posted to new ones since I asked about it. I emailed the broker again and asked what was up, sure enough the person who was going to buy it failed to come up with a deposit so its back on the market. I plan on going up to see it this weekend so wish me luck!

This will be my first boat walk through with the owners or a broker so I'm sorta nervous. I have a lot of guidelines on what to look for, but I hope I don't miss anything in the excitement of it.

I have about 1/5 of the cost of the boat saved up, so I would feel fine about putting that down as a deposit and financing the rest. As long as I stick with my budget, I won't be putting any strain on my goal. It is amazing how the habits I developed while getting out of debt have stuck with me. I still think every purchase over many times before buying anything, unlike a few years ago when I bought anything I wanted without a second thought. Since I have this mind set, I have been able to save more than I had anticipated when I put together my budget a few months back. I am happy with the progress, but with this progress comes a lot of sacrifices.

I still sacrifice a lot of discretionary spending in order to keep my savings up. Unfortunately, a lot of the things start to wear on me from time to time. Its hard to see my friends go out to dinner or to a bar week in and week out. I want to go, but eating and drinking out is the easiest spending category for me to save in. Last year when I made the big push to change my spending habits in order to save, I saw that my budget was eaten away each month mostly from nights on the town. The hard reality set in after I gave up going out for a while and then tried to go back. The check at the end of the night hurt like it never had before. But I like that it hurts, it proves that my habits have truly changed, and I have indeed become a more frugal person.

I don't really know how to tell people that I can't go out or do whatever because I'm broke. They know I'm not broke, and could easily call me out on it. But do they understand why I'm not spending money? Do they really believe that I am saving for a sailing journey or do they just see it as an excuse lately? Sometimes I get a cold shoulder when I pass on an activity, and lately I've seen less invites from my friends to do pretty much anything, and that sucks. I understand that I put myself in this position, but do they understand why?

While most of my friends have a vague idea that I'm looking to buy a boat, I don't think many understand that my mind is completely set on making this boat not just a toy, but an avenue to a new life. I'm sure its hard for them to really get behind my cause and support me currently, because its all just a dream right now and to them, me saving money for a big cruise just looks like me being a boring friend who doesn't do much anymore. I have no boat, I have no one pushing me to do this for motivation, I have nothing solid but a blog and some savings. Hell, I have a hard time bringing up this dream to many of my friends, because we have all talked about doing something this outrageous many many times, but only in passing jest. It is always said when we see an island, go on vacation, or see someone traveling more than we are to say "lets say screw our lives and go do that!" Do my friends really realize that I mean business? Will it shock them in a few years when I announce that I am untying the dock lines for good? Will they care? Will it all click with them that while I was being a little reclusive, I was using all of my willpower to fulfill a dream?

Sorry for the rant, not sure where I am going with this. I've just been a little down lately about everything. Hell, I haven't even been able to pursue my personal hobbies such as beer brewing lately due to my savings push. I almost feel like I need to get the boat sooner rather than later, so the motivation is physical, people close to me can see I mean business, and maybe I'll actually get a little support and conversation from those people.

Until then, I'm nothing more than another guy sitting in an office wishing I was doing something better.

"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the philosophy of what you shall at last unveil." - James Lane Allen

DF-Day

Debt Free Day!!!

TODAY IS THE DAY! I have been reaching for this day for a couple of years now. I have no more credit card debt to my name. Now its all savings and the lessons I learned to get myself out of this will last me a lifetime.

Feels like a huge weight off my shoulders and the day just seems brighter. Don't have much time to write right now, but I just wanted to commemorate today with a post.

Omatakos’ 16 Commandments for the Frugal Sailor

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

Boy I wish I heard that piece of wisdom a few years ago.

With my limited budget I need to make every dollar I save for the trip to go a long way. I was browsing the Sailnet forums today and came across this good list of frugal tips while cruising. A lot of people can't fathom cruisng without a six figure+ cruising kitty. I'm a pretty earthy guy when I need to be, so most of these wouldn't bust my comfort zone. These are all discussed in my books but this guy put them in a nice little list for me:

• 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.

A little bit of this, some of that...

Since my fishing excursion my life has become a little routine once again. These past few months have been difficult on me. Day in and day out I try to find another way to save money in my normal routine in order to reach my magical goal: no more credit card debt. I have had to sacrifice many nights out, slowed down my hobbies such as beer brewing, driven less, been a little cheap on gifts (and suffered the regret of it), and all sorts of other things. Finally the moment is upon me where I can finally stop paying someone else and I can begin to pay myself. With today's paycheck, I think I will be in the position to pay off the remaining balance on my 0% interest card carrying the remainder of my bad debt. I still have to deposit some rent checks, pay bills, and have everything clear before I can press the "Submit Payment" button. Once the numbers clear, I hope to see something that will allow me to pay it off with enough savings to get me by till next paycheck (plus emergency fundage). I had a 1 year (0% interest for 1 year) goal to pay off this balance, and the end of this month marks that year. WOOHHOO!

So everything after that is padding the coffers for Erick's Boat! Whatever the name of it will be. I have yet to decide if I will name the boat something, or keep its original name. It is said to be bad luck to change a boats name, but most agree that it can be done with the proper ceremonies. Either way, I think that will be decided once I find the right boat.

Speaking of which, I have not been too sedentary in the dream chasing (well, sacrificing a lot of my previous lifestyle to save isn't being too sedentary, but it isn't the same). I have been actively perusing the world wide interwebs for sailboats that fit my criteria. I have been keeping up with Yacht World boat search for the most part because it seems to return the results of all the other big search sites, plus many more. When searching Yacht World or any of the other sites, I put in search critera as follows:

Boat type - Cruiser (try to weed out the racing boats)
Length - 30 to 40 feet
Price - $15,000 to $25,000
Location - Southeat Region (Seeing whats available in the region, but I pay more attention to Florida boats)

All of the ads are different and not all of them will show up with refined searches, so I have to keep it general. I use the list I had made in this previous post to go by. There are many brands that are very popular models, but most are coastal cruisers that do not fit the off-shore criteria I am seeking. These brands include Hunter, Catalina, O'Day, C&C, Morgan Out Island, Columbia and so on. Many of those brands have larger boats that are perfectly fine for off-shore cruising, but not within my price range. When I search yacht world under the criteria above I get 194 results. So there are a lot of boats out there in my range, however, there are only about 10 of those that really fit the characteristics I need. I'll start posting those in the next post.

Little investments

In my effort to finally get out of bad debt and begin to pad my savings for boat money, I have started to sell some items that I no longer need. One of these was my home gym that I purchased last year second hand from Craigslist. The original idea was to save money from the gym membership and I accomplished that. I only paid $200 for the full gym and it did everything I needed. Since then I began to play soccer regularly and that has done more for my fitness than lifting ever did.

Yesterday I sold the gym for $400 yielding a 100% return woohoo! A little investment like that is something easily possible on Craigslist. When I am in the market for something, such as the gym, I wait till I find some guy who is moving and needs to get rid of the item fast. Ususally they have rock bottom prices and you can even haggle them lower. If most of the other comparable items are going for a higher price, you found arbitrage! Try it sometime, you may make some cash.

Another example is my hot tub. Last year I decided it would be extremely fun to have a hot tub at the house. I wasn't willing to throw $4,000 into it as I had begun to be wise with my money by then. But I did keep an eye on Craigslist until I saw a perfectly working hot tub for only $900. It was only a year old, fully under warranty and sells new for $4,000. Most other tubs listed were two to three times more expensive and not in good condition. The guy had to move in a week, so he needed it gone. I have enjoyed the hot tub for over a year now and plan on selling it soon for profit. After installation and everything, I paid about $1,400 and can easily get back $2,000-$2,500 for it. Decent return for a year of hot tubbing!

I dumped the gym money right into my credit cards and with that I now have a positive credit card net worth. In other words, my savings are now greater than what I owe on my cards. Once I pad my savings a little bit more I can pay off the remaining cards and finally be out of bad debt. I was aiming to be done by March, but it looks like I may be able to beat it in February. Either way, the day my card debt goes away I am going to celebrate.