Hi guys,[LEFT]I am just wondering how you live one month at sea and one at home. (or 2 on 2 off…you get my point).
I am thinking about going to one of the academies (probably Maine) and was wondering how you live if you arent home.
For example, how do you:
[/LEFT]
[ul]
[=left]Pay bills
[=left]Maintain a home
[=left]Keep a car running
[=left]etc.
[/ul]
[LEFT]It seems to me that financially it is very hard to justify having a house and other property in which you live only half the time. Also I was reading that a lot of ships crew end up leaving the US for tax havens like Panama, Monaco, etc. and just rent a place while they are there in order to avoid the US’s exorbitant taxes.
Sorry if this seems stupid, just trying to figure out if this is the life for me!
Thanks [/LEFT]
It’s not easy. In the OSV world a more common schedule is 28 days work, 14 days off.
As for living conditions its highly varied from boat to boat as well as from company to company. Sat tv is common, some provide it in bunk rooms. Internet access varies highly but is becoming more common and will continue to do so.
Since we run a 2 shift watch system it is 12 hrs on 12 off. Ships run a 3 man watch rotation so you would work 8 hrs. If you have the aptitude for working offshore, it’s not the most physically demanding but we all are tested by the demands such a life puts on leading a “normal” existence.
Do you personally know any professional mariners? They might have input as to how you might fare.
It’s not to bad of a life style. Like stated before, Internet is becoming more common now. The boat I’m on now is actually the first boat that I have sailed on that has Internet offshore though. Online banking is how I keep up with everything. Before this boat, I’d find an Internet cafe to keep with my bills and I would leave my check book with my parents. If a bill came in (like something from the city) and I wasn’t able to pay it online, my parents would write the check. My dad would start my truck and bike and take them for a spin while I was gone. Now that my g/f lives with me, she takes care of my house and anything else that may come up. I still use bill pay and it makes life easy.
Prior to getting married, thanks to the wonder of direct deposit and the ability to pay my Amex bill over the phone, I was able to work for months with no problem while keeping the bills paid. You can get your bank or in some cases credit card company to pay all of your bills for you, plus a lot of utilities can draft the money right out of your account (you’ll want to arrange it so that these institutions only have access to a limited amount of your money, but most banks can set up putting a fixed amount in a certain account per month and putting the rest in another… you get my drift). My bank still has banking by phone services which is great in an emergency if you don’t have internet access, but nowadays using the internet for banking is common. I wouldn’t trust a GF with handling your money, no offense against anybody’s GF but I’ve heard too many horror stories over the years. You can also hire an accountant or bookkeeper to manage your affairs for you when you are gone, and I’ve heard that can work quite well for some people and if you shop around it isn’t all that expensive. Plus they can do your taxes for you, and print out neatly organized financial reports to let you know where your money is going.
If you intend to stay single for any length of time, you might consider a condo. There are plenty of good deals to be had right now, but be careful, you can be hit with fees and assessments without warning. The great virtue of a condo is that you own the place, your neighbors probably own their places and so will help keep an eye on things, there is inherent security to the premises in most all cases (unoccupied houses inevitably get burgled), and you can even rent your condo out by the week when you’re gone if you get a condo in a desirable area.
On the car front, if you’re going to work in the GoM, you should consider getting something expendable for work transportation since it will be parked in a vulnerable area during hurricane season. If you’re going to be out for a while, either disconnect your battery or invest in a high quality solar trickle charger (the one that won’t overcharge your battery until it explodes) that plugs into your cigarette lighter / 12 v output. Bear in mind that some imports like Nissan and Infiniti do not have 12 v power with the key off, so you’ll have to connect a trickle charger directly to your battery in that case.
I’ve heard horror stories as well. I wouldn’t let my g/f handle my affairs if we had just started dating, but since we’ve been together 3 years and she lives with me now, if I can’t trust her now then when will I be able to trust her?
With today’s technology, living away is much easier. Automatic bill pay is great. Before I got married I had no bills. Paid cash for everything (hell I made enough of it). I didnt own a home though. Just a car, truck and Harley. All paid cash. I would go to the hall get a 3 month job and then come home buy a car, party and repeat. If I had a chance to do it over again, I would have invested the money instead of buying toys. However that is neither here nor there. You just need to prepare before you ship out. Stop the paper and mail, and have the battery charger on hand when you return. Now I am married and wife takes care of the house kids, and bills. I still have a few friends who are not married and they bought condos. Easy maintenance while away.
[QUOTE=anchorman;68856]I’m not sure about you, but my normal existence comprises of 1/2 the year doing exactly what all the Abnormal wait the entire year to have 2 weeks of…
Life = work hard, play even harder…
If the younger guys are more worried about what the girlfriend thinks over what I just said, then they are already screwed.[/QUOTE]
If you are not married and work offshore there is no reason to have a GF. Especially when there are places like Colombia, Brazil. Peru, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic full of beautiful women (that wouldn’t give you the time of day in the states) that will throw themselves at you. Give it a whirl you will like it.
Thanks for all your responses. I can see that the internet is very powerful and is becoming more readily available on board ships which is a plus. Do a lot of you single guys rent homes or move to some tax haven? lol both of those options seem viable to me.
Get a mailbox in a tax free state, set up your car registration, voting and gun permits in that state and live like that a few years. Don’t own or rent a home until you’ve been working for several years. Just vacation or sleep at a girlfriend’s or buddies’ place while you’re ashore.
Bills are easy these days. Auto-pay everything with a credit card, then auto-pay your credit card via your bank account.
Cars and bikes can be put in storage. Storage is cheaper then rent/mortgage.
Once you have a ton of cash built up then buy a house with cash and live a more normal life. You’ll know how to do it by then.
Don’t forget to maximize your retirement savings as you go and don’t get anyone pregnant! Sailors make the best child support payers and the women know it.
