# Making money while cruising



## sailforlife (Sep 14, 2016)

This is a question to those of you who have been out cruising for a while and have funded their travels while cruising...

How do you do it? What kind of work do you do? How do you find work? How much do you get paid? How long does that last you? Do you need permits as you go? What would be the best skills to learn to pick up jobs most frequently? Etc.. etc...

:ship-captain::2 boat::captain:


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

I don't think many actually do it that way. You're going to have to stay in a US state/territory or work on the internet. No way you'll work in a foreign country very easily.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Not many countries want to give employment to rich white folks with yachts.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

As above, to work in a country you are not a citizen of requires a sponsor or work permits. 
Isn't that exactly what about a quarter of Americans are so worried about these days? Some undocumented migrant coming in and taking their jobs? 
It's no different overseas, except you are talking about most Caribbean islands counting their populations in the low 6 digits versus America's hundreds of millions. Kinda hard to stay below the radar in those small countries.
Bring it with you, write a best seller or figure out how to make money on the internet. You've probably seen the v-logs on youtube, etc, though I'm not sure how many of those actually make enough to cruise on.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

An option that I do know of is to return home for seasonal work. Stuff the kitty and return to cruising the remainder of the year. It's not a bad plan. One could leave their boat on the hard for hurricane season, for example. Although, I highly suspect many (not all) that practice this have no rainy day savings, no retirement (long term care) plan and no health insurance. They spend what they make. Recoverable if you're a kid, could be financially devastating if you come up craps in middle age.

There is a sailing vlog, Another Adventure, featuring a woman doing this. Works for a stretch, then sails for a stretch. She's somewhere between being a kid and middle aged and had a severe accident. While it was on a Caribbean island, where medical costs are much lower, it still had to be extraordinary: a chest drain tube, immobile arm, etc. She was run over by a powerboat, in her dinghy, at night. Her last vlog, which have understandably halted ever since, showed her on her boat without being able to move her arm. My first thought was that she couldn't afford to stay in the hospital. Might not be true. Still, until she gets use of her arm back, neither the cruising, nor working, are going to happen very easily. 

Becoming disabled is about 7-10x more likely than dying, until you reach retirement age.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

Unless you have a stash of cash or some sort of annuity which provides money for living... anywhere... you have to work. Some means may fly under the radar of local authorities with lax enforcement... such as waiting tables. Other mechanical services to the cruising boating community may work... but getting the word out is a problem. You can do engine work, refer work, electrics/electronics work, canvas work (cushions??), detailing, bottom cleaning... or miscellaneous boat labor.

And then there is work than can be done "online" as connectivity in ports at least is not hard to find these days, I presume. You can write articles, take and sell photo stories, write a book! I suppose you could also do work on board that you can do at your desk at home... CAD work, graphics... app development / computer work and that sort of thing. Things like apps I suppose can spin off regular cash flow.

What about a floating take out food service? Likely not legal but could be popular if the food is tasty and not too spendy.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I think jobs that match time on/time off would be a way to go. Often times professions that require work in isolated areas have good paid leave programs; professional sailor, oil rigs, guys working in the bush can have leave schedules something like 4 weeks on, 4 weeks off or 6 weeks on, 6 weeks off . You could use the "off cycle" to go play at whatever you chose.

Or there are seasonal jobs. Places like British Columbia are loaded up with "lifties" who spend the winter operating ski lifts and snow making equipment and their summers surfing/climbing/playing (and every free moment in the winter skiing).

Same thing with tree planting with forestry companies. Spend 3 or 4 months living on the ground in the bush planting as many trees as possible. They are paid by the tree, so the harder you work, the better the money, then go boating.

The above are mostly pretty easy to pull off for some one without kids. 

You can make beer money off youtube, but for the most part, you are not going to make a living at it.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

I've been cruising for 13 years.

If there was a valid, viable way to make money *WHILST* cruising I would know about it.

Mark

PS "Cruising" does not mean floating in your own country.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Not reliable or steady, but I’ll bet one could get away with bartering services. Work for a case of beer or food. It doesn’t make it any more legal, but less likely to be a problem. Infrequent too.

First you’d have to find the opportunity. Most cruisers are typically self sufficient, so there probably aren’t too many that would need to pay. I’ve always thought the one bartering skill that many do not have is refrigeration. You’d have to stock various gasses, gauges and specialty tools aboard.


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

So far I haven't seen a way to make big money while cruising. I make a _small_ amount of money writing for various publications. I suspect the same is possible on youtube.

Other than that there is an active internal barter-type of economy in most communities of boaters I've been in. And by this I mean: _I help you, and you help me_. Sometimes food and drink is involved. A very specialized skill or service might fetch some cash in this economy, but this is rare.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

One plus to being a seasonal cruiser/worker and remaining within your own country is there may be some cash flow from programs like employment insurance and your health benefits. I myself just finished a year off with paid parental leave benefits (for example, paid parental leave benefits in Canada run for up to 18 months and dont require that you remain in the country). I didn't live on a boat during that time, but I easily could have. I did do a lot of travel and camping though. So in a sense, in those scenarios you are getting paid while you are cruising, even though the work was done in a period when you weren't.

Paid off duty cycles in jobs like shipping work the same. You get paid for work you did at an earlier period in time while you are cruising. In truth, day sailing on the week end works the same way, you worked during the week, so you can play on the week end. You just can't go very far on a week end. 6 weeks paid off cycle though...

If your personal definition of cruising includes a mandatory transoceanic element, many of these options become less viable, and some dont even work if your personal definition of cruising has a mandatory international element.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

Minnewaska said:


> An option that I do know of is to return home for seasonal work. Stuff the kitty and return to cruising the remainder of the year. It's not a bad plan. One could leave their boat on the hard for hurricane season, for example.


Around 2000, I was working summers in Alaska taking cruise ship passengers Salmon fishing and pretty much everyone in Skagway had come up (except the 500 residents) to service the cruise ship passengers in one fashion or another. 
The turtles (world traveling backpackers) could do exactly as above and generally, one could earn between 20 and 30 grand in 3 months. I'm sure there are other places to do the same if Ak isn't as it was.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

^^^ The ferry drivers can do really well up that way. Have a buddy that drives a car ferry on the Dempster Highway across the Mckenzie River. He livrs in a camp/trailer on the river bank during the operational season, makes about $100k in 4 months, then takes off to Sri Lanka for the other 8 months and lives very well. If he chose to be a cruiser instead of an island dweller, I am sure he could do that instead


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

Set up on the Devils Table reef corner of Bequia from 4 to 6 pm with a camera. You will want a decent RIB with a 2 hp backup just in case. Catch the charter boats coming in and get pics showing the crew. Printout the pics and frame them. Do the rounds of the boats in the morning. In the 90s you got 75$ US per pic and it was not unusual to sell multiple copies to a boat. 

Even grumpy tight Scots gits cruising on a shoestring will buy. Mind you I haggled him down to 40 $

Tim Wright is still taking pics of boats in the Caribbean.

Refrigeration A/C etc skills have a market as do ali and stainless welding skills.

A number of people have scraped a living doing canvas work but you really need a biggish work table and this means a shore base. 

But to be legal you need a work permit. Try to fly beneath the radar and you risk being deported with 12 hours notice. Possibly by air with your boat/car/significant other left behind. This happens fairly frequently.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

TQA said:


> Set up on the Devils Table reef corner of Bequia from 4 to 6 pm with a camera. You will want a decent RIB with a 2 hp backup just in case. Catch the charter boats coming in and get pics showing the crew. Printout the pics and frame them. Do the rounds of the boats in the morning. In the 90s you got 75$ US per pic and it was not unusual to sell multiple copies to a boat.


I think Kenmore Henville would get a tad upset if someone illegally set up shop in direct competition with him in Bequia! Bequia Photo Action - Kenmore Henville We've bought two sets of pics from him and he does a great job!.
All the rest require work permits and I seriously doubt any island will grant a foreigner one as there are plenty of locals who can do those jobs. Most maybe not well, but that's no different from even the states.
Don't forget, if one does get caught breaking the law in a foreign country, they can take your boat, fine and incarcerate you. Feeling lucky...?


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## chicory83 (Dec 21, 2009)

I have friends who run a medical animation company who are able to operate their business both cruising and while living out of a van. They have a well established business they can operate out of their home, but both have been able to function reasonably well while cruising the coast of Maine and Nova Scotia for weeks at a time with me. We usually have to drop into a town with a high speed internet connection periodically. Ironically this was less of an issue in Nova Scotia where you could be anchored in some isolated cove and have a faster internet connection than most major cities in the US. There were a few awkward times when they had a product delivery deadline and weather made getting into a large enough town a bit touch and go, but we were always able to pull it off. The two main ingredients are having computer based skills that are valuable enough to earn a living from and access to a good internet connection while you are cruising.


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## mbianka (Sep 19, 2014)

capta said:


> As above, to work in a country you are not a citizen of requires a sponsor or work permits.
> Isn't that exactly what about a quarter of Americans are so worried about these days? Some undocumented migrant coming in and taking their jobs?
> It's no different overseas, except you are talking about most Caribbean islands counting their populations in the low 6 digits versus America's hundreds of millions. Kinda hard to stay below the radar in those small countries.


Very true. It's even immortalized in Caribbean song:


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## SeanM26 (Feb 18, 2018)

Become a privateer.


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## Minnesail (Feb 19, 2013)

I've heard you can make a lot of money selling drugs. People love drugs.


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## MikeOReilly (Apr 12, 2010)

Minnesail said:


> I've heard you can make a lot of money selling drugs. People love drugs.


In Canada you'd still need a business/work permit


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

There is a bunch of web based stuff you can do. Youtube was given as an example, but there is a lot else out there. 

You can sell digital photos to Foap.
You can run adsense or similar on a blog
You can work for a call centre via VPN. My wife does this as an independent contractor taking take out orders on her computer. All she needs is a laptop, head set and wifi. She does it from home when the babies napping, but a cruising boat is just a floating house moving from place to place from time to time. Decent internet is a requisite for this, so cruising plans must be adjusted accordingly.

Also, some employers offer really good leave programs these days if you want the security of full time employment but also want to live on a boat and float around from place to place from time to time. Some offer unpaid leave of absences for "Personal reasons" (like going boating), up to 1 year. I think there is a limit on how many times you can take it. Another thing a lot of employers are offering these days is leave with income averaging. For example, can take up to %20 reduction in wages for a corresponding amount of extra vacation, (so that works out to 10 weeks/year plus your regular vacay, or 1 year off in 5). And there are telework agreements to be had if you want to set up a home office on your boat and work from there, although this would likely fall more into "liveaboard" status then the traditional idea of "cruising". My employer offers variations on all of the above programs (in addition to the 18 months parental leave for birth of a child I mentioned earlier).

Some academic and clergy type positions also have pretty good sabbatical programs as well.

There are many options for boat living and exploring. I have tried out a few. Waiting until retirement and living off investment or pension is the most popular, but there are lots of people who dont follow that kind of traditional approach and just kind of do there own thing. Labels applied by others are pretty easy to shrug off when you are out on your boat having an adventure to some new place on a Wednesday afternoon


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

Here is a wild article on a cruiser/coke smuggler. He has been busted a bunch of times for drug smuggling on his sailboat- is it 6 times?(I lost count about half way through the article).

He was caught once with 2.5 tons of cocaine on board.

It seems his most recent brush with the law he is alleged to have had 20 something gallons of liquid meth on board and was high on fentanyl.

Seems he keeps getting dinged in international waters.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5160937/john-philip-stirling-drug-smuggling-arrest-bc-oregon/


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

mbianka said:


> Very true. It's even immortalized in Caribbean song:
> Your Own Comes First - YouTube


Calypso!

When I went to the Caribbean I thought I'd hear this type of music - Underneath the Mango Tree - all the time.

But none

All music is just that boring, over done Bob Marley... :|


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## sailforlife (Sep 14, 2016)

Arcb said:


> Here is a wild article on a cruiser/coke smuggler. He has been busted a bunch of times for drug smuggling on his sailboat- is it 6 times?(I lost count about half way through the article).
> 
> He was caught once with 2.5 tons of cocaine on board.
> 
> ...


The real question is how do you get dinged 6 times and your A. Out of jail and B. Still doing it .... Crazy stuff, Id never risk my fredom over money not worth it. Thank you for the good online ideas.

:2 boat::2 boat:


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## sailforlife (Sep 14, 2016)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Calypso!
> 
> When I went to the Caribbean I thought I'd hear this type of music - Underneath the Mango Tree - all the time.
> 
> ...


Bob Marley+Awesome=Bob Marley was Awesome.

:2 boat::2 boat:


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## mbianka (Sep 19, 2014)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Calypso!
> 
> When I went to the Caribbean I thought I'd hear this type of music - Underneath the Mango Tree - all the time.
> 
> ...


Had enough Marley myself and if I hear Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville one more time! Slowly I turned step by step, ....


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## Minnesail (Feb 19, 2013)

mbianka said:


> Had enough Marley myself and if I hear Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville one more time!


I've thought that would be a good way to raise money for charity in a Caribbean tourist bar. Circulate two jars through the crowd, one marked "Yea" and the other "Nay," collecting money in both. If the "Yea" has more money the crowd will be subjected to Margaritaville, if the "Nay" has more the crowd is spared. I bet "Nay" would win every night.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)




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## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

Much of my gleaned income was from re/re fishing boat engines but one of the more interesting gigs was following the herring fleet up the coast, charted by a couple of working girls.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

Capt Len said:


> charted by a couple of working girls.


Perfect. Worked for a charter boat company in TO that targeted the swinger market, which is a market that is alive in well in TO. Good passengers, no baloney, they were there to party and have a good time. Simple, tipped well, didn't fight.


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## chall03 (Oct 14, 2002)

I believe the answers is it depends.

It depends on your skills. It depends on your cruising 'goals'. It depends on your cruising area. It also depends on how much and how you define 'making money'.

Here are some options.

*Option 1.* Create a famous superstar sailing channel/instagram/blog.

This is the new thing. In reality though there are a handful of people who are 'making money' from Vlogs, blogs, social media and sponsorship. The handful that are successful got into this when it was an emerging platform, they work incredibly hard creating engaging content and have normally found a specific niche or developed a unique brand. IMHO the market is very saturated now and the ROI is also not as great as you would expect. 
Having said that if you have the skills and the passion, give it a go 

*Option 2.* Have or develop a sailing specific skill targeted at other cruisers.

A rigger or diesel mechanic? A Sailmaker? As others have said there are local laws that may get in the way of being able to 'work' in any given country but having a skill that is in demand in the cruising community has worked for several cruisers I know.

*Option 3.* Work remotely.

It's 2019. If you have a job that allows you to work on a laptop from the boat this is obviously a great option. Sadly I don't have the skills or an employer that allowed me to explore this, but I know others who have. Downside is that potentially you have 'cut the lines' and 'sailed to paradise' to sit on your laptop answering emails from some moron in a open planned cube farm in New York. ' I need that report in PDF format by close of business tomorrow '

Is that why you went cruising?

*Option 4.* Get a 'Just a job'.

Bartending. working in a shop. Divemaster. Sailing instructor. Etc. Get a simple job in the destination you end up at. I tried this. I am a qualified dive instructor. However turns out so are about 5 million twenty something backpackers. So the pay was low and the hours long. Also because it is a 'job' it commits you to a location. In my case it was actually better to return 'home' and earn good money in my chosen career and then just return to the boat and go cruising.

*Option 5.* Chartering. 
I know a few cruisers who do this. Either officially and complying to all standards or just a 'shared costs' type arrangement. You need to be aware of the local laws. In principle I would be open to other people joining me on a 'shared costs' basis if it helped but it is hardly 'making money'.

*Option 6* Deliveries 
Help other cruisers move boats around. I know cruisers who have done this to bring in a bit of money.

*Option 7.* Write a book. 
See all the issues with Option 1.



Minnewaska said:


> An option that I do know of is to return home for seasonal work. Stuff the kitty and return to cruising the remainder of the year. It's not a bad plan. One could leave their boat on the hard for hurricane season, for example.


This was and is more or less is our plan. It has worked for us before and after taking a long hard look at the options it suits us now.

As for the concerns you raised it is true we make financial compromises to go cruising. Very rarely will cruising ever be the 'best financial decision' however we have good contingencies and insurance in place but perhaps we are more conservative than some?

The other side of the coin in a discussion on making money is cost. The key to making money while cruising is perhaps to just to be very careful how you spend money. Buy the slightly cheaper, slightly smaller boat. Do as much work as you can yourself. Remember that not paying someone $50 a hour to fix something on your boat is as good as earning $50 an hour.

Ultimately the longterm cruisers I know are doing a combination of all of above as best they can. The attributes they share in common is closely managing costs while also having a good work ethic where they are willing to work hard and be adaptable to keep their dream afloat.


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## Capt Len (Oct 9, 2011)

Whittle cutsy faces in bits of driftwood. If you have any talent in any field you'll get by.


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## DanM1 (Oct 4, 2017)

"Option 3. Work remotely. 

It's 2019. If you have a job that allows you to work on a laptop from the boat this is obviously a great option. Sadly I don't have the skills or an employer that allowed me to explore this, but I know others who have. Downside is that potentially you have 'cut the lines' and 'sailed to paradise' to sit on your laptop answering emails from some moron in a open planned cube farm in New York. ' I need that report in PDF format by close of business tomorrow ' "

Reminds me of a friend, over thirty years ago, who took off down the coast with his bride in a Cape Dory 30, and came back more than two years later with a baby. Trip was made possible, in part, by a cell phone the size of the baby. Every once in a while I would look up from my desk in the cubicle in New York and call him and ask him where he was. After telling me "15 miles off such and such" he would ask why I called. "Just to make your damn phone ring while I'm stuck here," was my response.


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

Get a ,metal detector and hit the beach after the cruise ships leave


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## VIEXILE (Jan 10, 2001)

"Get a ,metal detector and hit the beach after the cruise ships leave"

Yeah, no. Most jurisdictions have figured this out and such activities are reserved for the connected in the Caribbean. It's prohibited, for the most part.

You can buy, fix and sell stuff without invoking the word "employment." Years ago INS told me that in the U.S. an alien, precluded from working, could acquire vehicles, fix them up and sell them without raising the issue of "employment." If you're in Bequia and want to sell a winch, nobody will bother you. It just means you have to maintain the "right" inventory, or have ready access to shipping from home. Jurisdictional rules may vary. Me? I've got a landing pad in the Virgin Islands and a landing pad in Maine. Work both places and remotely from each. Bounce when necessary. Haven't gotten to full time cruising yet, boat's still in refit in Maine, I'm in the V.I. Mantra is "no hurricanes, no blizzards." Will be out of the V.I. by mid-July through mid-Nov. Maybe bounce a few times in between.


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

"INS told me that in the U.S. an alien, precluded from working, could acquire vehicles, fix them up and sell them without raising the issue of "employment.""
An example of perfectly correct but potentially dangerous advice. In many or most states, and municipalities, you may required to get a used car sales license if you buy and sell more than six (pick a number) in any one calendar year. So aside from needing a business license, and then being SELF-EMPLOYED in that business, and needing a sales tax license, and other possible complications, sure, the INS was right, you're not employed in the usual sense.


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## titustiger27 (Jan 17, 2013)

I think chall03 #2 is the best...

You have cruisers all around and they are rich :devil and need services. You haven't mentioned much about yourself... how are you at perms or hair dyes?

I wondering if a floating brothel would be profitable.. you have to get to the 200-mile spot where there are no laws.(200-mile spot is a joke in itself)

All that said, living the life of a hobo hoping to find a job... well unless you have some great skill.. it is going to be tough.

I watch a lot of sailing vlogs and not many of them are self-suficient (living off fish and cocoanuts.. I think those who work, don't vlog so it is hard to tell if it works..

My guess there are people who do certain work and leave their boat, like they go oil derrick and spend a month there. SV Prism take time off and do some video work for hollywood.. things like that.

what are your skills?


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## Minnesail (Feb 19, 2013)

titustiger27 said:


> what are your skills?


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## kmacdonald5 (Aug 16, 2011)

Isn't making money something you do before you go cruising? I thought it was illegal to work in foreign countries with just a cruising permit.


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## VIEXILE (Jan 10, 2001)

hellosailor said:


> "INS told me that in the U.S. an alien, precluded from working, could acquire vehicles, fix them up and sell them without raising the issue of "employment.""
> An example of perfectly correct but potentially dangerous advice. In many or most states, and municipalities, you may required to get a used car sales license if you buy and sell more than six (pick a number) in any one calendar year. So aside from needing a business license, and then being SELF-EMPLOYED in that business, and needing a sales tax license, and other possible complications, sure, the INS was right, you're not employed in the usual sense.


You did understand the part about "jurisdictional rules may vary"? If you're doing more than "six" in one calendar year in one jurisdiction, you're clearly not cruising. And no, selling a car for profit, which is passive income, is not "self-employed." The suggestion was selling "things," not necessarily autos. SE income is earned income. Profits, rental income, etc., interest income, distributions, is passive. No SE tax. This will vary from one State to the next, one country to the next.


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

I'm very much aware of differing venues and jurisdictions.
But let's see: You personally go looking for a car. Personally buy the car. Personally fix it up, do anything more than a car wash, and then market it and sell it. To me that doesn't sound like passive income--you've been actively involved all the way. Whether the tax men will ignore that if it is done casually, I wouldn't care to be. It still is active involvement as best I can tell, unless there's been a tax court ruling to the contrary.
Whether the number is six or not, buying and selling a car can take a couple of weeks, even a month. Unless you snatch one up and drive it down to CarMax or someone for a fast same-day sale. So your point about "cruising"...do you stay in port just long enough to sell one? Whole other issue. And if you do need the used car license--that's now a business, you may be the sole proprietor, but that's employment. 
All I said was that the quote from INS left a lot of room to get in trouble. Learning to be a professional poker player and getting in on the local games might be simpler, and totally off the radar.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

While still not legal, I bet one could make a buck or two by cleaning a few hulls along the way. I'd pay someone who convinced me they knew what they were doing. Not going to make a living doing it, but would probably raise sporadic beer money.


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## titustiger27 (Jan 17, 2013)

Minnewaska said:


> While still not legal, I bet one could make a buck or two by cleaning a few hulls along the way. I'd pay someone who convinced me they knew what they were doing. Not going to make a living doing it, but would probably raise sporadic beer money.


Why isn't it legal?

Would that reason also make it illegal to mend sails?

------

I would think one problem (and this might be it) what every you could do and make lots of money in one place, you couldn't do in others


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## Minnesail (Feb 19, 2013)

I would think sewing would be a good way to make some cash. Carry a good machine with you and fix people's biminis and dodgers and such.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

titustiger27 said:


> Why isn't it legal?.....


Because it's not legal to work in a foreign country, without their permission. Period.


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## titustiger27 (Jan 17, 2013)

Minnesail said:


> I would think sewing would be a good way to make some cash. Carry a good machine with you and fix people's biminis and dodgers and such.


I would too, but wonder a couple of things about that

a) how much materials do you have to carry to do that profitably

b) at one point is your side hustle making it so you are a sailmaker in a boat and no longer a sailer/cruiser


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## titustiger27 (Jan 17, 2013)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Not many countries want to give employment to rich white folks with yachts.


these are the amazingly funny posts that I enjoy about forums...

The discussion will go on at various levels of seriousness... and someone will point out the most obvious thing that makes the dialog moot

*But that won't stop us*

Not sure how I missed this the first time through


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## chall03 (Oct 14, 2002)

kmacdonald5 said:


> Isn't making money something you do before you go cruising? I thought it was illegal to work in foreign countries with just a cruising permit.


You actually can work legally in plenty of foreign countries depending on your circumstances. Plenty of cruisers doing it. You just have to get that work visa.

I understand the sentiment expressed because it is very difficult for a foreigner to work legally in the US, however depending on your exact circumstances the reverse is not necessarily true.

If your an American under 30 you can apply for one year work visa here in Australia. It's an online form. Easy peasy. New Zealand has a similar program.

SO if your a young shoestring sailor and wanna work in a foreign port, don't accept that it's 'impossible' cause a sailing forum says it is. It's actually never been easier for those under 30 to travel the world and work.

Those of us on the wrong side of 30 do have a harder time getting that work visa but it is still possible. There is an American yacht I met yesterday anchored here where the mother onboard has been sponsored by her previous Canadian employer to work for the Australian arm of the business.

Impossible and difficult are different things.


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## titustiger27 (Jan 17, 2013)

I thought it was the wisdom side of 30... no matter how far past I have gone


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