Anone up4 joining SeaGypsy?

[SeaGypsy]

I plan to have a snipers rifle and 'special' ammo for pirates.
Ten on a boat....mmmm? But not too big?
I know some people I can't say too much about who have a 60 family network in Northern Australia; but hey are rev heads. I don't know what happens to their scene when they run out of gas. These guys can get 200 men together when they need to pretty quickly; but the whole group only gets together once or twice a year.
Sextant?
Yeah I know how to use one and an Ephemeris, trigonometry books and a watch to navigate at sea or coastal. But I am more interested in traditional Polynesian methods. These use star maps which you hold up to the sky and are accurate enough. There are also key tricks like never sailing in shallow water on the top of a tide, always leaving enough water to come to lift the boat off any obstruction. Sailing on an incoming tide is always safer than an outgoing, in reef and coastal areas; because there is less time to wait if you get stuck.
Shallow draft boat have many advantages, not least of which is the ability to navigate tight complex coral reefs much further than keel boats. This will be crucial in terms of maximizing fishing opportunity.

[SeaGypsy]

The most detailed site on the web for simple construction of a 36 foot Origami steel yacht; a real beauty.

http://www.moonflowerofmoab.com/construction.html

[SeaGypsy]

It looks like it can be done for free!!! (Thanks DeMolay)
People are junking them!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/busin ... v66oSZmJMg

I have settled on a boat plan, I will keep a lid on it until it's done.

Depending on the pace of economic collapse I may end up buying a cheapie in Australia. This site is the best boat site in Australia; some real bargains:

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/

[ReverseEngineer]

It looks like it can be done for free!!! (Thanks DeMolay) People are junking them! link
I have settled on a boat plan, I will keep a lid on it until it's done. Depending on the pace of economic collapse I may end up buying a cheapie in Australia. This site is the best boat site in Australia; some real bargains: [url=http://www.boatpoint.com.au/]link

As per our discussions in PM SG, I don't see MYSELF as a "Sea Gypsy", and bottom line here is I think I am ALREADY stationed in one of the best spots on earth to try to ride out this storm. If it gets bad enough HERE that I would have to pack it up on a Trimaran and sail off, WHERE would I really GO? I can't imagine that anywhere there are People would be much better, I wouldn't know anyone and chances are any port you pull into the local Warlord will ask for all your preps as Tribute to remain alive and be a slave. The only real choice in that situation would be to try to find a sufficiently remote and uninhabited place to try to survive, but I am no Crocodile Dundee myself. I'm a first class shot with a rifle, but if I can;t get ammo that isn't gonna do me a whole lot of good. I suppose I could Fish up a living in some places, but I sure wouldn't want to be Robinson Crusoe, nor would I really want to be Fletcher Christian.

However, if you are in a not so good place and figure you might have to make an ESCAPE to some other place you already know and have friends, then I think the Doomship is a good plan, or as good as any other anyhow. You know at least one place where you will be Welcome anyhow, if you make it up the estuary and hit my town, I'll Vouch for you. Find a good boat, make it here, I will show you the best fishing holes. We will need good men of the water here, with good boats that can be junk rigged with unstayed masts of our timber. You would be a fine addition to the Tribe.

[SeaGypsy]

As per our discussions in PM SG, I don't see MYSELF as a "Sea Gypsy", and bottom line here is I think I am ALREADY stationed in one of the best spots on earth to try to ride out this storm. --snip-- You know at least one place where you will be Welcome anyhow, if you make it up the estuary and hit my town, I'll Vouch for you. Find a good boat, make it here, I will show you the best fishing holes. We will need good men of the water here, with good boats that can be junk rigged with unstayed masts of our timber. You would be a fine addition to the Tribe.

Why, thank you kind Sir and likewise to be sure!
If I were stuck in Alaska and the Ruskies had decided to take it back or millions of Japanese decided to resettle there (Scenarios I don't see as impossible) I would head due South by Sou East for New Zealand or Tasmania via Micronesia, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef.
If you want nice cool weather and low populations that is.
The tropics are my thing in the short to median term but push comes to shove I would head for the deep south.

[SeaGypsy]

Anyhow, I'm still not afloat but have made a lot of preparations to build something special here at my home in the Philippines.
I am still committed to the whole idea of sail based transport being extremely important to personal freedom in coming years.
I wonder is this idea progressing aka Dmitry Orlov's ideas or mine or any other peakers who have decided there is wisdom in sail?

[Revi]

I think it will make sense, and I'll bet you could do some "coasting", which was what people did around here until the 1930's. They took loads of lumber and goods up and down the coast.

There were schooners from Belize and Guatemala hauling wood to market in Texas as recently as the 1980's. I think that would be a viable trade with prices for fuel going up. In Haiti there are lots of small sail cargo boats working now. As the world changes the need for that kind of boat will come back.

I could see hauling firewood, hay and veggies to the islands here in Maine. I think it could make sense now. You could stay on the boat and sell your produce right from it. I took some of our maple syrup out to an island and sold out almost instantly.

[SeaGypsy]

Yes sail trade is looking more and more feasible, along with sail powered deep ocean fishing.

[Newfie]

Sail trade indeed. I keep thinking about this. I kinda think that it won't catch on for quite some time yet. I believe that the existing system will be quite resiliant and hand on for dear life.

And when it gets started it will be rough going for quite some time. But, eventually, it is something that will come back into it's own. If mankind survives the other challenges about to be trrown at us. I have the perfect boat picked out. Just need about $150,000 bucks.

[SeaGypsy]

The thing with sail trading at this point in time is not in directly competing with major freight. There are many places in this world where multiple supply logistics keep prices way up compared to capital cities (distribution centers). The idea here is simple: where is a quite remote small population accessible by small freight ships but not larger ones?
In my part of the world there are untold numbers of island communities in several countries where general merchandise is worth 2 to 3 times what I can buy it for in regional capitals. I'm thinking Philippines, Eastern Indonesia, South pacific Islands, PNG and northern Australia.
Carefully chosen product lines can maximise profitability per volume of cargo. Having a loop route which can multipy value at each port of call is a wise move. Here's an example:

40 foot schooner: 6 cubic meters of cargo space.

Starting point: Manila Philippines. 1st load: domestic equipment and clothing. Bulk soap, toothpaste, shampoo, fashion & accessories.

Side load: surfing backpackers times 4 on the 6 week remote surfing trip of a lifetime.

Route: Micronesia, North Coast PNG, New Britain and the Coral sea archipelago. End 1st leg in Auckland New Zealand. This is where the fashion starts being worth a lot more than Manila price, the toiletries are half gone already.

Second leg: Auckland to Darwin via Eastern Australia; main load toiletries, fashion & backpackers; side load Australian semi precious stones.

3rd leg Darwin to Bali Indonesia then on through remote east Indonesia.
This is where the stones get set in Indonesian Silver, half the price of sterling yet 95% of the purity.

On each leg the ideal is to have a small group of adventure tourists on board who are paying the costs of running the boat plus a bit extra.

Remember that for thousands of small villages on this route the only way to get anything in is by small boat, after paying the mark up price at the regional center.

With a bit of imagination and investigation there are many such route's around the world and the internet provides a link to marketing to travellers. Adventure tourism is still doing quite well globally unlike upmarket hotels.

[SeaGypsy]

Hi everyone, I am bumping this thread for the 1st time in a few months to update and give newbies a look.
As many are aware my plans were interupted by the recent birth of my daughter. I have also found there are some legal hurdles to overcome about where to build the boat. In Australia building will cost me about double what it would in Philippines; but I pay no excise. If I build in the Philippines the Australian customs and excise decide how much the boat is worth and charge me 50% import duty. This could easily eclipse the cost saving of building elsewhere.
At least I have firmed up on a plan. Some of the earlier posts on this thread helped me come to a design. The plan is now to build in steel, 32 feet, deep chines, retractable centerboard, water ballasted, unstayed mast, junk rigged. The draft of this vessel will permit access to very shallow tidal rivers, unaccessible to most sail or motor boats.
The area of main operation/ retreat is remote northern Australia, where there are a great many of these rivers, in the worlds last great tropical savannah.
I am loosely basing the ideas on some of Dmitry Orlov's work, his essay "A new age of sail" was a major inspiration. Dmitry's boat design is very particularly aimed at future survival situations. I believe that there will soon come a time when the best thing to do will be to get well away from everyone, but for a chosen few.
Most critiques of this idea center on fears of piracy. If one actually researches piracy at sea (sites like noontide) actual attacks are very rare outside of a few areas in the world. Every survival situation has it's risks, my plan is not perfect; just an informed choice.

I am wondering if any other readers/ posters are shifting plans in this direction? I know Newfie is well into it and has just purchased another yacht. Any thoughts?

[timmac]

I will stick to my motorhome mate, and when it run's out of gas I will put a sail on it..

[SeaGypsy]

I had one built from an old caravan built onto an old Isuzu truck; was a real beauty.
For a while I thought of putting together a simple barrel and frame raft and ramp to float the motorhome; never got around to it. Easy enough to drop the tailshaft and bolt it onto a prop shaft to save on duplication of engine requirements.

[timmac]

I had one built from an old caravan built onto an old Isuzu truck; was a real beauty. For a while I thought of putting together a simple barrel and frame raft and ramp to float the motorhome; never got around to it. Easy enough to drop the tailshaft and bolt it onto a prop shaft to save on duplication of engine requirements.

Bingo !!, I think I will draw me up some plans to do mine like this, I wonder if my wife will approve ??

[Newfie]

SG,

It's me back again. Have not taken delivery yet but it looks likely to happen within a month. I'll give details when if/when it does.

Right now there are some pretty good bargains out there. You may want to think about buying a used boat. Might be hard to beat. Up here I know of a 48' Hanna style schooner, steel, overbuilt, but very rough home built finishes. 5'6" draft. Well under $30,000 US. If you have time and talent that gets to be hard to beat.

As to designs, a Presto Sharpie comes to mind. Very shallow draft boats designed or refined in and around Miami for shoal waters.

Also, a great read for anyone interested in survival and doomsteading, yacht or no is Annie Hill "Voyaging on a Small Income." And she is big into sailing dories. Here story is much like yours. Needed something seaworthy with very low investment, unstayed mast, junk rig. She also has a nice web page.

And, I read Sea Steading. Not as technically helpful as I would have liked but it touched my emotions deeply.

Lastly, there were some very interesting conversations over at Cruisers Forum on where to sail WTSHTF. Clearly we are are not the only ones thinking about this.

[pedalling_faster]

it sounds like fun, except for the fact that the last time i went sailing for 4 hours i spent 4 hours being seasick & vomiting.

i'm sure i'm not the only person who's experienced this. i wonder how long it takes to get used to it, without using chemicals like dramamine etc.

[Newfie]

it sounds like fun, except for the fact that the last time i went sailing for 4 hours i spent 4 hours being seasick & vomiting.

i'm sure i'm not the only person who's experienced this. i wonder how long it takes to get used to it, without using chemicals like dramamine etc.

The vast majority adjust within three days. But then get sick again after being on land for a day.

Others appear to build some tolerance to it over the years.

For a small few there is no resolution.

[SeaGypsy]

48 foot is a pretty big boat, very unlikely to be single handed, which is one of my requirements. Thanks for the heads up on reads & cruisers forum.
I have never been seasick, a bit queasy in extreme weather but no more than that. Seems to me that adrenaline overrides seasickness. I like to be in charge on a vessel I am very confident in, or on same with a very surefooted captain. It is not pleasant to be in serious seas with a shaky captain or vessel.

[Newfie]

Sleep it the nemesis of the single hander.

Which means having someone else in charge or figuring out a way to get through.

My boat has an Autopilot (1+2 spare) and wind vane and radar and two kitchen timers.

[Narz]

I've read your posts & you sound like a good dude with a decent head on your shoulders. If I was single with no dependents I would consider it.