Salish Sea/Puget Sound boatpunx | Squat the Planet

Salish Sea/Puget Sound boatpunx

CrowTheBard

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Heyo,
Long time lurker, first time poster.
Been living a traveling punk life by land and sea in and off for the last decade. Currently full time liveaboard in the San Juan Islands.

Looking for other local boat punks. Maybe plan some meet ups, get ourselves organized a little, help each other out, help others get into the lifestyle here in the PNW, etc.

Beach parties, hikes, music, and tons of water to explore. I’m tired of the yachty crowds and want to get the crusty boat punks hiding out there in the PNW waters meeting each other and building a community. It’s a hidden paradise up here. The perfect place for a bunch ‘o boat punks to build up a sweet community.

Not to mention what we have to offer other traveling kids as both a means of travel and a destination! Impromptu folk punk fest everywhere we drop anchor...

Anyways, general shout out, looking for other hiding out there, riding out these gales!

Fair Winds
S/V CROW
 

iamwhatiam

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Im in Western Washington...been trying to hold out for the right boat and take the plunge. What do you sail on?
 
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CrowTheBard

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Im in Western Washington...been trying to hold out for the right boat and take the plunge. What do you sail on?

Don’t wait for the right boat. Just get whatever you can get and go sailing! There is so much protected/semi protected water around here to sail, you can literally Sea Gyspy for thousands of coastal miles in little more than a sailing and rowing dinghy...anything more is just super delux.

I’ve had a ton of boats. I currently have a wooden 30’ gaff rigged cutter, designed by Jon Atkin. (Cool wooden boats are cheap and if you’re handy with tools and patient, they can be fun to keep going)

Wintering at The Islander Marina on Lopez Island this year. Cheap rent, includes a hot tub, bar at the top of the dock, short walk to town, easy to find day work/part time/full time work by word of mouth on this island. Small community of hippies and farmers on this island, everyone is friendly. If you bring a good attitude it’s easy to work in exchange for what you need.

They also have this super rad recycling center at The Dump called Take It Or Leave It. Kinda like a free swap meet. Anything too good to toss in the trash makes it there. With patience you can score everything there for free. We’ve gotten all our cooking stuff, clothes, blankets, camp stuff, everything from TIOLI over the last year we’ve been hanging around this island. Pretty rad.

I’m hoping to get more boatpunks and aspiring boatpunks up here into the islands. I think it would be a great place to found some sort of boatpunk outpost or floating, traveling community. With Bellingham and anacortes a short sail away, (meaning cheap food, supplies, freegan opportunities, busking, thrifting, etc) and all the opportunity in the islands themselves, I’m confident s thriving, water based community of wanderers could flourish!

I’m a little out of touch these days (living out of a boat in remote places for extended lengths of time will have that effect on an individual!) is there anywhere else I could be standing in my soapbox, shouting out the rallying cry?

And again, anyone interested in getting into this life style, getting up here, whatever you need, HMU. I’m always happy and eager to help.

Cheers,
Crow

P.s pic of my boat
 

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Coywolf

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This sounds incredible. I have been wanting to get into the liveaboard community for a while now.

I'll be back up in Bend, OR here in a couple weeks, and will definitely be making trips up to the Sound. And to The Olympiv Penn.

I spent a few weeks in seattle recently, and it looks like you could get hooked up with a boat pretty easily.
 

CrowTheBard

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This sounds incredible. I have been wanting to get into the liveaboard community for a while now.

I'll be back up in Bend, OR here in a couple weeks, and will definitely be making trips up to the Sound. And to The Olympiv Penn.

I spent a few weeks in seattle recently, and it looks like you could get hooked up with a boat pretty easily.

It’s pretty awesome. I’ve been feeling a bit lost in life the last couple years. Even though I managed to carve out a pretty dreamy lifestyle that more or less lines up with all my values and ideologies, it’s felt a bit hollow. A bit like burying my head in the sand while the world around me burns.

That apathy train is a tough one to avoid...so I decided in 2019 to actually do something. I’ve been laboring over how best to approach life going forward. There’s all sorts of places in this country snd abroad that are in need of activists, compassionate hearts, and the occasional windows in need of bricks...I flirited with the idea of selling my boat and just grabbing my pack and hitting the road and seeing what I could get myself into. Portland seems hot right now with activism and anti fascists and punks organizing themselves and getting out there to try and make a difference...

Then I realized that in all my years of sailing, finding boatpunks was tough. There’s a ton of people that want to get into it, but don’t know where to start or even how to start. It seems to expensive and overwhelming. While anyone can stick out a thumb, hop out of town, it’s a bit tougher to get started in boats.

A sailor can thumb around the world as crew in sailboats just as easily as hitching on a highway. There’s a ton of retired folks sailing around the world that take on crew for ocean passages. Having some skill at boat handling could be a free ride around the globe.

Or perhaps more locally (like I’ve settled into for now). Sailing around the sound and islands. Free anchorages everywhere. Work trade, festivals, nature, wildlife, it’s the ultimate drifters life and I want to help get as many boatpunks into it as I can. I wanna help get a solid community started here.

The answer isn’t abandoning my lifestyle, it’s sharing it. It’s teaching others and giving all that I have to give so others can find freedom too.

I’ve found, it’s only at sea that you can truly be free. There are no masters out here save the wind and tide, and no gods besides the ever changing face of wind and sea.

Cheers,
Crow
 

iamwhatiam

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damn, definitely sold on spending some time checking out lopez island this coming year.

was thinking of getting a trailerable boat to cut down on the costs of moorage/docking fees. i live around an hour's drive inland from the nearest marina, with a windy road home...so i don't know how comfortable I am driving a bigger boat on a road like that. but a little 24-25 foot swing keel is probably doable. i'm not looking at living full live aboard year round, just something i can cruise around the sound and eventually up the inside passage in the warmer months.

fuck it, i'm not waiting another year for a boat. 2019 is it
 

CrowTheBard

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damn, definitely sold on spending some time checking out lopez island this coming year.

was thinking of getting a trailerable boat to cut down on the costs of moorage/docking fees. i live around an hour's drive inland from the nearest marina, with a windy road home...so i don't know how comfortable I am driving a bigger boat on a road like that. but a little 24-25 foot swing keel is probably doable. i'm not looking at living full live aboard year round, just something i can cruise around the sound and eventually up the inside passage in the warmer months.

fuck it, i'm not waiting another year for a boat. 2019 is it

I’m waiting for warm weather myself! Been holed up riding out gale after gale lol.

There are a couple project boats on island that firmyour needs. If your handy (or want to learn to be) they would be a worthy use of time and resources. Both come with a trailer. I’ll get some pics for you sometime.

You can leave your boat on the hook. Don’t need a marina or a dock. A friend that lives in eastern Washington has his little Cal 25 left out on a hefty anchor in the bay while he is back on the other side of the state. I’d be on the hook this winter (instead of paying moorage) but my wife is working full time this winter and rowing her to shore in 45 knots and 3’ chop, 38 degrees and lashing rain made for an ugly morning commute lol. Plus rent is only $350 cause my boat is off grid so I don’t use power (it’s $500 with power). Pretty affordable compared to rent most places! But still more than the free I like to pay.

Another guy I know built his boat in the 70s and has traveled between the Sound and The Columbia ever since. He moves every 30-60 days to avoid run ins with any kind of law and has more or less lived on the fringe of society that whole time. Cool old timer.

Here’s a slo-mo of some wind the other day. You can see the little cal 25 out there on the hook.

Cheers,
Crow
 

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Matt Derrick

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@xxCROWxx yeah man, i feel you on finding more boat punks, i definitely think water living and travel is a bit of a missed opportunity for punk travelers as a whole. there seems to be a decent community down in key west, but that could be gone now for all i know since i haven't been back since 2012.

it sounds to me like you're the perfect person to try and make that community bigger, and if there's any way StP can help you do that, just let me know.
 

CrowTheBard

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@xxCROWxx yeah man, i feel you on finding more boat punks, i definitely think water living and travel is a bit of a missed opportunity for punk travelers as a whole. there seems to be a decent community down in key west, but that could be gone now for all i know since i haven't been back since 2012.

it sounds to me like you're the perfect person to try and make that community bigger, and if there's any way StP can help you do that, just let me know.

I was in the keys around 2010 (I think?)and there was a small but decent group of floating folks back then.

Warm water, sunshine, and bikinis attrack people all on their own lol!

The PNW is a special, hidden gem. Requires a bit of northern heartiness to really thrive, but I’m finding it worth it. And I think others would too.

And I totally agree. Boatpunking is a huge missed opportunity for the community. There’s thousands and thousands of miles of shoreline in the US alone and thousands upon thousands of cheap/derelict boats that would make killer sea tramp set ups.

I appreciate the offer and fully expect to lean into it!

Cheers
 

Matt Derrick

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@xxCROWxx just so you know @feral wanderer is an awesome dude, you two should definitely hangout.

just thinking out loud here.... i know it's a long ways to go, but would you be interested in coming to our next jamboree and maybe doing a workshop or just talking about getting a community of boat punks going on up there? i think it would be a great way to make some contacts and get people interested.
 
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CrowTheBard

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@xxCROWxx just so you know @feral wanderer is an awesome dude, you two should definitely hangout.

just thinking out loud here.... i know it's a long ways to go, but would you be interested in coming to our next jamboree and maybe doing a workshop or just talking about getting a community of boat punks going on up there? i think it would be a great way to make some contacts and get people interested.

Awesome! Thanks!

That sounds like a great idea. I’d love to make it to the next jamboree. That sounds like it would be fun as hell.

That’s pretty much gonna be the game for a while I think—just being able to reach people and getting the word out.

Keep thinking out loud. I dig it ha!

Cheers
 
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Matt Derrick

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hey, sorry to keep bothering you, but we're working on a new resources section of the website, and i was wondering if you might have any input for our boat punk section? you can add any information you like by clicking the edit button below the post:

https://squattheplanet.com/resources/sailing-boat-punk/

we're basically compiling a list of useful resources on various subjects that anyone can add info to, so it's available to newbies for easy reference. kinda a mini-wikipedia of travel info :)
 
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CrowTheBard

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hey, sorry to keep bothering you, but we're working on a new resources section of the website, and i was wondering if you might have any input for our boat punk section? you can add any information you like by clicking the edit button below the post:

https://squattheplanet.com/resources/sailing-boat-punk/

we're basically compiling a list of useful resources on various subjects that anyone can add info to, so it's available to newbies for easy reference. kinda a mini-wikipedia of travel info :)

Ah man it’s no bother at all. Keep it up

I’ll start compiling some resources. It’ll take me a bit since all I have is my phone for computering/interneting, but I’ll get on it. That’s a pretty weak resource page right now boatpunking needs some help!

Seriously, keep the ideas coming though. I really think we can build essentially a floating, moving Slab City. Exciting stuff!

Cheers
 

CrowTheBard

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Sidebar: I’ve been taking a ton of video the last year, thinking about starting a YouTube channel on boat punking and the boatpunk life. What kind of stuff would people actually want to see or find useful/entertaining/inspiring/ whatever?

Cheers
 
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MetalBryan

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xxCROWxx - are there any links to classifieds in your area for these fixer-uper boats? I have a lot of hand skills and am handy with tools, but "cheap" is relative. I've saved a little money and am planning the next adventure.

Becoming a boat punk from scratch seems to require a bit of networking support though, so I'm interested in this community you're searching for. I wouldn't mind putting in a little year-round wage-labor to be able to bounce between the coasts.
 

CrowTheBard

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xxCROWxx - are there any links to classifieds in your area for these fixer-uper boats? I have a lot of hand skills and am handy with tools, but "cheap" is relative. I've saved a little money and am planning the next adventure.

Becoming a boat punk from scratch seems to require a bit of networking support though, so I'm interested in this community you're searching for. I wouldn't mind putting in a little year-round wage-labor to be able to bounce between the coasts.

Craigslist is a great resource. I check daily even though I kinda finally have my dream boat.

I just got a call today from a gal with a boat for $1000. Has heat, sails, a motor, and cooker. 26’ Haida. Absolutely screaming deal.

If anyone is interested LMK. Hard to beat a 1k boat!

There are about half a dozen on CL right now for under $5k that would make awesome seateamp rigs. CL cities I search are : Seattle, Olympic Peninsula, Bellingham, Skajit/anacortes/SJI, Victoria, Vancouver, and Olympia. That’s kinda the whole of the Salish Sea/Puget Sound including Canada.

And yeah it can be tough. I bought my first boat for $2500 and spent another $2500 over 6 months getting it ready, then sailed from San Francisco to Mexico and then out to Hawaii and then back to SF. Not bad for a $5000 PoS. I was barely 19 years old then. Took me a year to save up $6000 at a minimum wage job, spent 5k on the boat and lived off the other 1k for over a year.

For staying local here in the PNW you need even less boat than I had. I’m risking going off on a tangent here ha! Anyone and everyone is capable of getting into this. Ya just gotta want it bad enough to figure out a way.

Hopefully I can get a community off the ground so we have a new way to share info and get people involved.

There are 4 fixer uppers on the island I know about too:
1. A Cheoy Lee 26 (frisco flyer) on a trailer. $800.
2. A 19’ one off on a trailer. $2000 Super micro cruising but a very, very cool little boat. Needs a new cabin/cockpit built, but its all easy work.
3. A 30’ seabird yawl II designed by William garden. $5000. This one is pretty much ready to go as is. Also on a trailer.
4. Cal 25- old and tired but gets ya going. $900.

Hope that helps!

Cheers
Crow
 

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