Caribbean locations with reasonable property taxes and crime rates?

softdown

mcgivor said:

softdown said:

Commercial vessels are required to use....are they called transponders? There are alarms that will warn you of commercial vessels in the area.

With all the boats using auto-pilot, I am wondering about "radar" that audibly warns one of proximity to boats that are not using transponders.

Then I consider the sinking of the "state of the art" cruise ship Concordia on...........Friday the 13th in 2013(IIRC). Talk about piloting error. One would think we might have audible warnings for such things. Visually...the ship appeared to be far too close to the shoreline. Perhaps the Captain thought the multi-inch steel hull would be "impervious" to limestone outcroppings. The granite outcropping peeled off the steel like a sardine can.

I suspect the earths crust is, more or less, primarily made up of granite and basalt. Basalt is heavier so it is pushed under the granite when continental plates meet. The earth is slowly recycling itself as we inch ourselves towards Asia.

Wasn't the Concordia incident a result of the Captain  thinking with the wrong head?

The documentary that I viewed did not present that angle. He certainly was not thinking with the right head of course. At least he made the right decision to bring the ship is as close as possible after it started going down. That saved a lot of lives though he has responsibility for the 30 lives that were lost.

I thought his overall performance was simply inexcusable. He did one thing right....he brought the ship in close.

softdown

Dave Angelini said:

It turns out an egg timer will wake you up to scan the horizon and 10 minutes is about how long a ship going 20 knots might cross your position. I kept this secret from the crew for a few years and paid dearly when it was discovered. Might help you though....

 I had heard about Cameron but deep water over 125' is something I never wanted to think about.

Look at the new Ford class carrier. Alot less personnel on board these days in the USN. Less to see you at night also....

I think ~110' is the deepest I have been. I should not deep dive without two tanks since I can gobble down a tank of air quite quickly. Not due to lack of fitness, more due to exceptional lung capacity. And possibly a very slight hangover the day I went to ~110'.

Having said that, I was intrigued by the accomplishments of Sheck Exley when I read up on his deep dives.

Have not heard of too many submarine casualties. Then again, most people do not own a submarine.

softdown

So it turns out that sailing is possibly fifty times more complicated than motor boating. At least it seems that way while studying all the jargon and equipment.

Plan revision: Buy an affordable ~25' sailboat on a trailer and spend ~$2000-$3000 fixing it up. This will largely be a learning experience doing something that I am fairly good at doing. Then I may be able to fix broken stuff at sea. Sell it for ~$2000-$3000 in a few years when I am better qualified to hit blue water on a long term basis.

Since I am very tall, almost  6'5", I have to look at headroom closer than resale value. I think most anyone, who is not a marine professional, should probably expect to lose money on a boat.

Lots of emergency equipment that one should carry. Lots.

softdown

Whoa pardner, it seems that quite a few internet sailors are about as polite as a fire ant. Whats up with that?

Dave Angelini

At some point you have to walk the walk and anything written or spoken will have to be compared to what you have learned from actually walking the walk. 

softdown

By auction, I bought a 1979 S2 sloop 7.9 (26') with trailer and diesel "from" an original owner. Now it gets interesting:
*The owner lengthened the keel and added 900 pounds of ballast. The boat has never been on the trailer. Adjustments will be needed.
*The diesel does not work. Have a few months to get that fixed with luck.
*Boat needs some work....they all do. S2's were nice boats built for racing with spartan interiors.
*Hope to get to Isleton, California marina this week-end and get the boat dropped in the trailer. Bit east of S.F.
Wish me luck!
*Trying to raise some help. Not everybody can go to Cali on a couple days notice.

Dave Angelini

Buenos Suerte  !   As a  wise group of guys once wrote, and they were wrong as they ended up on the Ocean for some time.
It may take a life for them to admit it might have been among their best times!

CROSBY, STILLS & NASH LYRICS

Play "Might As Well Have …" on Amazon Music

"Might As Well Have A Good Time"

[Intro. (Piano)]

There are windows on the water
Lighting up the silver strand
Shining on the sea
Shining on the sea

And the ocean's just a player
On an old piano
Who repeats one melody
Repeats one melody

I belong on the shore
Hustlin' nickels and dimes
'Cause it ain't long before it's gone
You might as well have a good time

softdown

Big fan of having a good time...thanks. Will take a decent amount of work to get there. Currently needing eight thick steel plates that are 4' long to accommodate the 4' keel on the S2. EZ Hauler trailer came with 21" plates for a very shallow shoal keel or a swing keel sailboat.

Got the best and the worst deal imaginable at auction. Best deal due to number of great items received with win. Worst deal because the trailer does not currently accommodate a  4' keel. Needing a deal on 8 thick plates that are 4' long. Should be 1/2" thick or better.

Buying "new" is over $1000 with shipping. Not going to happen. Will find used plates somewhere, somehow. Any help would be appreciated of course. Can't find too many reasons to buy new steel plates.

Estragon

With an extra 1/2ton keel and 8 big thick steel plates, will the trailer take the extra weight?

softdown

Estragon said:

With an extra 1/2ton keel and 8 big thick steel plates, will the trailer take the extra weight?

Good question. My preliminary research at EZ-Loader trailer says the trailer is built for 4000-6000 more pounds than what I have....per memory and understanding. This is not proving to be the easiest problem that I have encountered.