Voyaging on a Small Income

By James

Anybody who knows of Annie Hill and her Ex Husband Peter will instantly know the book title above. It is a classic guide to sailing on a minimal budget and how to do it. As a young man with very little resources Annie quickly became an inspiration to me, along with James Wharram and other adventurers who made there way across the seas without much money (hence the Stirling Hayden quote on the home page of this website).

Sailing

As a teenager and trying to get hold of my first boat this approach wasn't a lifestyle choice, it was the only way I was going to go sailing. So I paid weekly for an old Snapdragon 23 that had been sat forever in a yard in Leigh-on-Sea. Finally I owned it but I still had no money so I got my friends involved, painted her with Woolworths paint, and proudly launched 'Spirit'. She had two broken outboards (you had to swap them over as each one over-heated in turn), no toilet, and crabs came up through the drop keel slot at low tide.

I was eventually able to make some more money and buy better boats, but Annie's words never left me... "We never wanted to be wage slaves". Back then there was no social media/internet so it wasn't yet really a movement unless you were a hippy. But even from a young age I had realised that there was more to life than chasing a buck. But how?

I know there are many others who want to experience the world without sacrificing fifty years of their life to do it, and it's no coincidence either that the longest running thread on any sailing forum was 'Living on a sailboat for less then $500 per month'. It finally feels like more and more people are waking up to understanding that life is finite and relatively short.

Over many years and many tough lessons learned, I have realised what works and what doesn't, so I started SeaClan. It's about sailing yes, but it is about the other things in life that make life worth living too. Community, camaraderie, opportunity, and perspective. The Sea itself offers strength of character, peace and harmony, and most of all a powerful independence to any who choose to take up her challenge.

Thus here we are. I am very happy sailing single handed; it is very spiritual. But I also like nothing more than good company, a sound boat, and a destination to steer to as it brings out the best in people. I So I would like to offer this way of life to any like minded individuals who want to experience these things.

Voyaging - not Cruising.

“I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me.”

Herman Hesse