Leaving the workforce. Again.
Yesterday was a sad day for boaters in the USVI, but an extremely happy one for cruisers everywhere. It was the day that our friends Keith and Jaime once again joined the ranks of cruisers, officially ending their two year stint as liveaboards working in the USVI. Woo hoo!
ZTC anchored beside Keith and Jaime’s boat Kookabura. Hog Island, Grenada, 2011
Like Rebecca and I, many cruisers have a need to return to the workforce to bolster their dwindling cruising kitty. We knew full well that we’d have to do it at some point when we first set off. The problem is, when people start working again, some get sucked back in to the consumerism-based lifestyle that they left behind and sadly, never end up being able to shake it again. Kudos to Keith and Jaime for not falling into that trap, and also to our two other friends, Barb and Stew, who recently accomplished the same trick and left behind USVI jobs to return to cruising full time. Needless to say, we are extremely happy for all four of them!
Why did I begin this post by saying that it was a sad day for boaters? Because Jaime is an excellent refrigeration technician who has done great work servicing countless boats here, including One Love. We’ll miss both her skills and her wonderful smile the next time our fridge or our AC breaks down.
On that topic, I’m going to make a suggestion for those still in the early planning stages of cruising. Many people are curious about what skills could help them to earn a living while on the water. I’m going to list two, based upon my observation of the amount of work that appears to be available:
- Refrigeration Technician (I know of at least one job opening 🙂 )
- Sail and Canvas Repair
Just about everyone at one time or another ends up with issues with their refrigeration system. And we all know how important having cold beer is! I list the latter one based upon our challenges with finding someone to sew cushions for us last season, and have a new dodger/enclosure made for us on One Love. The good canvas people are booked up months in advance. My 2 cents.
There’s not much better than setting sail for a new port!
How about diesel mechanics
Definitely.
You two are very lucky folks!! To live the life you’re Live’n..
I know what you mean and I agree but I don’t think luck has much to do with it.
Hi, Mike. This is Deb on s/v Neytiri. We met you in Grenada a couple of years ago. Just wondering what kind of BBQ grill you are using and do you recommend it?
We have this:
http://www.weber.com/grills/series/weber-q-series/1000
Yes, it works very well. Note that it is not fixed on the boat. We simply rest it on our custom grilling table. We have however seen three very large FP cats that have the same grill mounted on a custom bracket on their rear rail.
I panicked at bit with that heading. I thought it meant you were giving up!
Mike
🙂
I’m looking for the job title of Ballast.
rail meat.