A (partial) counterpoint to "wait for Fruits of the Zee": if you're doing Light Fingers (and don't want to wait for Fruits) this saves money.

The Counterfeit Constellation task costs ~690 Echoes for the base option, versus 55 Echoes for the Yacht option. Success here costs 187.5 and failure 47.5, so you can afford far more than the expected failures and still save Echoes. If you've got a ship you don't want to give up that's tougher, but with a Tramp Steamer you'll save echoes *and* reduce the cost of a later FotZ ugprade.