Sailboat for 'End of the World' Getaway

[tomperanteau]

There are a few economists that have an almost 100% success rate for predicting economic turns, though. Gerald Celente is one, Very credible. Unfortunately he has predicted an economic meltdown that includes a very dire outcome. He's been on all the major news shows and has many videos on the web.

[swagman]

Originally Posted by sneuman

All past "end of world" predictions have been proven wrong. 100% of them. Not a very good track record.

Spot on.
Suggest best 'end point' is your own life and personally I prefer to use that to judge what time I've left to do what I want to do.
And no - I don't have enough time to do it all - hence not going to waste a minute of it on such 'end world' predictions.
JOHN

[knothead]

Originally Posted by sneuman

All past "end of world" predictions have been proven wrong. 100% of them. Not a very good track record.

And they all will continue to be proven wrong.
Except the last one.

[mesquaukee]

Anyone seen 2012, the movie.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by swagman

Spot on.
Suggest best 'end point' is your own life and personally I prefer to use that to judge what time I've left to do what I want to do.
And no - I don't have enough time to do it all - hence not going to waste a minute of it on such 'end world' predictions.
JOHN

this is the best post yet! and my last on this subject!

[sww914]

I lost faith in the end of the world a couple of months into 2000. A friend who is always preparing for the end (while overlooking today) convinced me to stock up on some stuff. I still have about 20# of salt and 30# of garbanzo beans. I used everything else, so no great loss but still.
I would buy the same boat as I will buy now. Something that has everything I want the most at a price that I can afford. Probably an old beater catamaran. Good thing I can fix broken bits.

[mesquaukee]

We sold everything we had, except the boat of course which we filled with supplies, just in time to survive y2k.
So now we are preparing for 2012 with the confidence of knowing what works and what doesn't.

[sbenest]

The whole 2012 thing is a great money spinner for those who produce the stuff people buy about it!

[hpeer]

2012 aside I do believe that we live in a very complicated world and that the complications have "critical coupling" elements that we either are unaware of or ignore. As they say "Past performance is no guarantee of future returns" so it only makes sense to be somewhat conservative in your approach. I may die next year, or I may die in 30 years, I simply don't know. So a perfect plan would allow for either eventuality.

I find that, for me, a cruising boat fits this bill well. I enjoy it but it also gives me great mobility and it can be equipped to aid my survival for some reasonable period of time. It is also a durable asset (well, sort of) that I can pass on to my kids. It gives me a way to teach them some skills and appreciation of life that they would not have otherwise. It is a way to take some wealth out of vulnerable "funds and securities" and convert it into a tangible good that is not subject to deflation, inflation, or evaporation.

I fully realize that one can argue with any point above and highlight shortcomings. However, on balance and for me, this is a workable plan for both short term and long term. There are additional elements to our plan, such as land in remote places. We have one boat, in our remote location, and we are now buying a second to have here.

Thankfully we are able to do this. Thankfully, the Wife has decided that there is merit to this thinking and has engaged in the plan in a big way.

[mesquaukee]

Originally Posted by sbenest

The whole 2012 thing is a great money spinner for those who produce the stuff people buy about it!

Should the predictions come true all modern aids to navigation will become obsolete.
It would be foolish to buy anything which requires fuel or the periodic replacement of sophisticated parts.
This leaves little to buy as experience and improvisation cannot be bought.

Perhaps it is time to set sail now to gain that then wait till the last moment.

I wonder if my wife would see the logic in that?

[tomperanteau]

hpeer; great plan. Not that anything will happen, but I would rather be prepared in the event that our society take a real downturn, than to be sitting on the dock trying to fend off bad guys, and wishing that I had left earlier.

[sbenest]

Live for now! You can plan as much as you want, but in my experience just when you think you have it all organised something comes along and changes everything. And not always for the worst!

[sageofsalem]

2012hoax: Planetary Alignments

Dear Gord,

I had my tongue firmly in my cheek when i mentioned the "end of the world" in reference to the end of the Maya "Long Count." I took my boat to the best hurricane hole in the Caribbean. It is also happens to be where the Maya culture is centered and twenty miles from where chocolate was invented.

[Anzo]

My apocalyptic scenario is more one of out of control bug/disease which hopefully will allow at least a couple week's notice. Then sail off till population "adjusts", and the zombies are pretty much gone.

[Lurker Beast]

Zombies eat brains, right? Good thing I'm braindead.

Mental Note written in Sharpie: Keep a shovel onboard. For Zombies.