Sailing the world

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avatar33

e-Hustler
Dec 5, 2009
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Calgary, AB
Just saw this: Matt and Jessica Johnson quit their jobs, sold their belongings and travel the world on a boat | Daily Mail Online

This is their official blog where they document all their costs: http://mjsailing.com/

I'm surprised at how cheap this whole thing is costing them. In 2014 their total costs (all included) were as follows:

Marina/Dockage: $1,322.38
Diesel: $743.20
Boat Maintenance: $2,439.45
Boat Insurance: $1,106.67
Groceries/General: $3,859.39
Eating Out/Entertainment: $1,308.86
Cell Phone/Wifi: $70.01
Other: $1,769.23
Total: $12,619.19

and they went all the way to South America and Europe, which is pretty impressive.

I'd love to do something like this for retirement, but as a gay webmaster for life I wonder if there's a way to get steady Internet while at sea...
 


I've always wanted to do this as well. My concern was pirates. Don't even know if thats a real threat but nothing scares me more than being 1000 miles from shore in international waters and a boat full of Somalian pirates closing in on me.

I imagine you could get internet access via Satellite but I'm sure it's pricey.
 
cheshire said:
I've always wanted to do this as well. My concern was pirates. Don't even know if thats a real threat but nothing scares me more than being 1000 miles from shore in international waters and a boat full of Somalian pirates closing in on me.

I imagine you could get internet access via Satellite but I'm sure it's pricey.
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An old associate of my Dad's did this a few years ago and had a machine gun mounted on his yacht for that very reason, lol.
 
cheshire said:
I've always wanted to do this as well. My concern was pirates. Don't even know if thats a real threat but nothing scares me more than being 1000 miles from shore in international waters and a boat full of Somalian pirates closing in on me.

I imagine you could get internet access via Satellite but I'm sure it's pricey.
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I guess you would avoid sailing dangerous areas like the african and middle eastern shores. I think East African pirate ships tend to stay close to their borders.
 
Check SV Delos on Youtube if you haven't already:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO-PFOVST4s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO-PFOVST4s[/ame]


They even get paid like $4k per video they upload via Patreon or some shit. Great way to finance the lifestyle.
 
jonbird said:
An old associate of my Dad's did this a few years ago and had a machine gun mounted on his yacht for that very reason, lol.
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How does that work when you pull into harbor? I mean if you just sail up to port with a machine gun mounted on your boat they'll just let you in?
 
cheshire said:
How does that work when you pull into harbor? I mean if you just sail up to port with a machine gun mounted on your boat they'll just let you in?
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No idea, but he was sailing under the British flag and it was all legitimate so there must be some procedure in place. Also I gather it was more Asia rather than Africa that was sketchy.
 
cheshire said:
How does that work when you pull into harbor? I mean if you just sail up to port with a machine gun mounted on your boat they'll just let you in?
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Yeah, the story is rather suspect. A vessel is bound by the rules of its flagged nation when in native or international waters, and bound by the rules of any country it's visiting. Thus I seriously doubt he was sailing under a British flag with a machine gun mounted to his boat.

Firearms on the Boat: The Legal Issues Surrounding Carrying Weapons for Defense in International Waters | Craig Agranoff
 
Well.. I can't prove it, obviously.

I can assure you though that firearms aren't illegal in this country - even section 5 - if you have appropriate reasons for holding them and good standing. My old man wasn't an alcoholic graphic designer btw.
 
jonbird said:
Well.. I can't prove it, obviously.

I can assure you though that firearms aren't illegal in this country - even section 5 - if you have appropriate reasons for holding them and good standing. My old man wasn't an alcoholic graphic designer btw.
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Fatbat said:
No, maybe he was just a fucking lying piece of shit with a piece of shit son.
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well-that-escalated-quickly.jpg
 
The total cost is cheap as fuck - very surprising.

I'd love to do something like that later on in life. Done a fair bit of travelling already, so not right now.

Next for me would probably be South America, Indonesia again (Bali is too fucking sick), or Cuba and the Caribbean islands.
 
I really want to do something like this! Having an entire ocean separating you from the rest of the world feels like the ultimate escape.
 
Fatbat said:
Yeah, the story is rather suspect. A vessel is bound by the rules of its flagged nation when in native or international waters, and bound by the rules of any country it's visiting. Thus I seriously doubt he was sailing under a British flag with a machine gun mounted to his boat.

Firearms on the Boat: The Legal Issues Surrounding Carrying Weapons for Defense in International WatersGAY|GAYCraig Agranoff
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This. Many countries have very strict firearms laws and if you pull into port with a gun you'd likely be arrested and have your boat impounded or confiscated. This is something that is frequently warned to people sailing to other countries.

It's possible to have guns on your boat in international waters, but the problem is if you ever pull into port somewhere you're completely fucked.

I know sailing sounds romantic, but it's a fuckload of work. The open ocean is dangerous and storms suck. Unless you're cruising on a huge powered yacht with a crew doing everything for you, you're going to be getting tossed around a fair bit.

Also, those people doing it cheap are using small boats. Usually around a 30ft boat or smaller, which is generally about the smallest size that you would want to take on the open ocean for safety reasons. Slip fees increase with the size of the boat, so the smaller ones are cheaper, but smaller means less space and more cramped conditions. If you can deal with living on a 30ft boat with no air conditioning, no fridge, shitting in a bucket that you rinse out with sea water, etc., then go for it.
 
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