Posted on 11/25/2013 7:47:39 AM PST by Travis McGee
And the definition of a “hole in the water you pour money into.”
I never figured you for an Echo fan. Great band. I saw them perform back in the day.
I don't think the wilderness/water decision is as simple as you imply. The "woods" closest to NYC would be a nightmare. Those in Newfoundland would be no more crowded than before SHTF. The water closest to NYC would be a nightmare. The waters off Newfoundland would be no more crowded than before SHTF. It would be hard for a particular pirate to find one boat on the open ocean, but multiple pirates will trip over multiple sailors, especially within thirty miles of major ports, and it's hard to outrun someone built for speed if you're built for comfort and on a budget. Unless you really are far from land (transit to/from Guam), which would make many marginal sailors squeamish, I don't think either land or water is an obviously superior choice.
I'm not disagreeing with your fundamental point, that for perhaps 3% of people, sailing is a great SHTF plan. I'm just saying that the choice requires balancing several factors.
Never club them. Slide the tip of your filet knife right between their eyes. Saves time, effort and holes in the boat.
Matt, don’t you think they will utilize the CG to keep boaties in line? The water police are active even when we aren’t in a SHTF situation. They claim jurisdiction over all US registered boats and can haul you back to Lauderdale if they decide you spent too much yard time in a port notorious for other things.
Some islands have times when they close their harbors. It is always political. Some boatyards are so bad, you have to redo the work at the next one. Supply chains in the islands are long and slow. Whoever owns the concession for any given commodity can wake up on the wrong side of the bed and voila! No One gets any of whatever it is until they feel like it. (Of course, a well-supplied boat can make a few bucks if they have extra) The EPA and the EU work long and hard to make things like bottom paint expensive and scarce. These days, leesides belong to someone and low cost slips/moorings suddenly become regulated when the locals decide they need a revenue source or are afraid of the riffraff.
Your idea is my husband’s dream and my nightmare. At 62 and 70 with both our birthdays just a few months away, it won’t be for us. I know people who have done it and it really takes youth, skills and a lot of $$. Contacts help, too.
BTW, DH is reading Castigo Cay at the moment and loving it. I have it downloaded and am just waiting for the free time to become available. We’ve read the EF&D series and loved those as well. I know you are hip to the real problems of live aboard life in SHTF times.
Matt....do you have any suggestions about schools...that I could contact down there?
FRegards,
Ha!! If you're stuck 50 miles in some wilderness with no water, no power, no gun, no fishing pole....you're prolly going to die.
Plenty of people have died stuck 50 miles somewhere on LAND and have perished.
Nice Who!!!
LOL!!!!!
Good post.............
I started with a Daysailer back in ‘07 and learned to get her moving. I sold her though after two years of almost no trips. I would love to follow the advice of this piece and live free at sea but it requires dedication to the cause. It is not possible on a middle class paycheck to prep and acquire the means of escape. Alas I will be here on dry land holding off the jackboots while the younger stronger freedom lovers steal away. God speed.
Get on some of the sailing message boards and look for a “crew wanted” subsection...let them know you`re inexperienced but willing, help them move a boat somewhere while you absorb. Learning vacation.
Thanks!
I've walked and rode plenty of miles tired and parched.
Hunted S.D. last month...Hours on end, day after day, up and down...hill after hill. I ain't done yet.
The present administration has no idea...what I am capable of.
Nor do you.
Good job!!
My boat owning experience has never followed that joke.
I've sold with trepidation, bought with hope, and in between had nothing but fun. The worst thing that ever happened on a boat (so far) has been I hit an unmarked rock with a prop. Had to pay $45 to reconstitute the prop and took 10 minutes to take it off and put it back on.
Every day on our boat has been better than I ever hoped for.
I learned how to sail from a library book. My dad had bought a sailboat somewhere cheap and didn`t know how to sail, I was a kid with no patience. So I got the book from the school library, and my friends and I committed grand theft boat. We had a lot of fun, everybody survived, sunburnt and ass-whooped...but then after that I got to take it out.
My dad never learned to sail.
Thanks for posting this. Now to find a bimini, some self-steering gear, and a cooler of beer...
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