Is your boat part of your Doomsday Plan?

[RPZ]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

Which is to say, if we take this threat seriously and spend the money to harden our grid's control network we will be better off. Isn't that the whole point that you have been minimizing because it is a "hoax"?

Greg

Not minimizing, I just do not believe the danger is from where they are claiming, boogeymen sitting behind personal computers at home.

The biggest threat is from the inside. Several administrations have allowed the internal threat to fester. That is the problem.

But people that are boat owners or prospective buyers should know that there are very real reasons to have a way, if possible, to get the hell out of town at short notice. A grid failure, engineered, or naturally precipitated, is one of them.

[a64pilot]

I don't know about EMP, my gut thinks it would have to be directed to work, that as just general EM pulse to take down a whole city or something that it would take enormous power, and a lot of sophistication.

But I think the purpose of this thread is way more generic, in theory it could be anything from a general uprising, rioting, to a natural disaster, disease outbreak, who knows, anything that would make you think it would be better to be somewhere else, and a well equipped boat could get you there.

Without any real extra expense it would be relatively easy to make it so that an already long range cruiser could be autonomous for a couple of months, and in that couple of months, you should be able to get to somewhere else, or by that time, things may be returning to normal.

I'd need a watermaker, which I will soon get anyway, and I would like more fuel capacity than I have, but that is a like not a need, food is easy. Not gourmet food, but a big bag of beans and rice could feed you for a long time.

Friends I had in the Military that had Korean wives, they always had at least one huge bag of rice. I was told it made the wife comfortable, and rice was cheap so why not?
I assume that came from their parents may have come close to starving once or twice and a surplus of food was comforting.

[goat]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Hm.. You picked the wrong place Stu :-)

Cowichan ain't that far from the nuclear sub base at Bangor WA. As the US continues to alienate herself that surely has to be a prominent item on anyone's "hit list".

Let's both move up to Ocean Falls. That'd give us a few extra days before the radioactive garbage starts dropping on us.

TrentePIeds

May I suggest Rennel Sound on the west coast of Haida Gwaii? More fish, crabs and deer than you could ever eat, enough rain for fresh water. As long as Fukushima hasn't already borked it, it would be easy living there, and if you get too stressed out, pysillocybins (<----sp?) are pretty abundant in the fall.
Ready to bug out? I already have.

[bioandy]

A possible escape (however rare) off the island I live on, is enough justification for me to own a (cruising) boat. All other use is a bonus!
We've been cut off from the mainland before.
In a more realistic scenario, I know sailors who lived on their boats (off-season, on the hard) for a week or so in the aftermath of a storm which left them without power at the house. Just sayin, Boat = Options.

[Rock-Head]

Originally Posted by RPZ

Don't get me wrong, I think a boat as an emergency getaway is perfect sense. And there are a variety of possibilities that might precipitate the need.

But "cyber attacks" on the grid are just bs. Someone just name one grid "website" you can go to on the www and "hack" to gain access to the control systems. There aren't any. Its a media hoax. It would have to be someone with a direct grid power system control access console. You can't "log in" from the www, and therefore it can't be "hacked". It is a hardwired closed system. Its like saying you can " hack in" to a closed circuit TV system at a gas station in New York using you PC and the www in Moscow.

Are you certain that's the case? Im asking because I honestly dont know but the new meters don't need to be read by a meter reader, they transmit usage over a network.

[dwedeking2]

Back to the original question.

For me, my retirement plan is based on me putting money into the boat now (as I have income) to make it 80 - 90% self-sustainable. This is done for financial reasons (I have money in hand from employment that I may or may not have in retirement).

Luckily this also serves a "doomsday" purpose as well. Apocalyptic fiction is one of my favorite genre of books. A recurring theme is not that the virus/emp/zombies will kill you but in the long run, the most dangerous threat will be other survivors (especially after the initial flash kill off). We can see this played out in isolated collapses (Argentina1990's for example). So, by being self-sustainable it will allow you to choose isolation.

In reality, a catastrophic collapse (worldwide pandemic, EMP that covers a large geographic area etc) you're chances of survival are not good. But I think choosing a simpler lifestyle (less electrical gear, acceptance of more "camping on the water" type experience etc) will make being self-sustainable easier and increase your odds in a collapse.

[sailorboy1]

I read post #1 and then jumped to the end. Boating Dead people crack me up :-)

[bumpman]

My boat is part of a plan to rescue my relatives in West Seattle in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake there (several earthquake faults could possibly affect Seattle including the Big One). I would take my boat from Port Townsend to Alki Park, while using VHF or CB radio to communicate. I currently have plans to build a tiny house using shipbuilding construction so it will be impervious to even a 9+ quake.

[a64pilot]

I see them as mutually supportive of each other.
Personally I see a Doomsday scenario about as plausible as me winning the Lottery (I have never and never will buy a ticket )

Other than the defense issue which I will ignore, and please lets ignore that one OK? I think what would make a good doomsday escape survival boat, would make a good long range cruising vessel?
Instead of building a remote cabin / compound in the mountains, or a bomb shelter, doesn't a cruising boat make more sense, and likely be a more effective survival strategy too?

So when you grow up or learn to accept that you can do nothing about whatever used to worry you, you can go cruising in your old age.
What are you going to do with a bomb shelter, convert it into a rec room?

[appick]

Well if the world ends you want to be with the ones you love so of course it is!

[weavis]

Removed a lot of politics posts.
Next time will just close the thread and issue infractions. PLEASE READ THE RULES..

[boatman61]

Personally.. I think the $500/mth mob will survive a true apocalypse scenario much more successfully than many posting here.. they're already living in survival mode without all the electrically dependant aids to living..
Many here would top themselves when the ice maker stops working..

[RPZ]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Personally.. I think the $500/mth mob will survive a true apocalypse scenario much more successfully than many posting here.. they're already living in survival mode without all the electrically dependant aids to living..
Many here would top themselves when the ice maker stops working..

I agree.

Perhaps the greatest issue though is the "just in time" computer controlled distribution of food. Coupled with a disruption of the supply of potable water and the potential is for thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands (in larger cities) in just a matter of a few days to a week.

During the Great Depression the population was largely rural here, with a significant portion family farms that could feed themselves if nothing else. Yet millions died from malnutrition. Now we have the opposite with a predominantly urban population totally dependent on agri corporate farms, and a computer based distribution network, further dependent for the most part on road transport, and much of that refrigerated transport.

[nautitrix]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Perhaps, something like this:
http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2...ission-7MB.pdf

This is actually quite an optimistic document in the sense that it predicts positive outcomes.

[got seashells?]

We have both the RV and the Boat. so one or the other would be an option for us depending on the threat. We have used the RV when we got hit with an ice storm in Oklahoma and all the power lines were ripped down from the weight of the ice. We used the generator to power the house and the family came and stayed with us. Now that we are in Florida we don't have that worry but again we have options in the event of an emergency. The RV would help if we needed to stay in place but had no power but it would not be a great way to get out of here as the roads would be gridlock so then we would go to the marina. But I consider them both short term options, as if it was a real long term issue I am not sure I would want to outlive the others and see the carnage.