Sailboat for 'End of the World' Getaway

[erasmos]

Originally Posted by Bash

So, should you ever participate in a forum of cruising sailors in which a huge number of Americans voice their opinions, you'll find that an unusual number of us favor the (cough!) "bluewater" design best describe as "lifeboat-with-a-stick."

Such designs make us feel self-reliant. And when the aliens invade, you'll understand.

(Sigh!)

was waiting for the alien card to come out...

in any event we all be sitting ducks out there not matter what fort you build, polarshifts, magnetoferical whatever up the arses, so these discussions are usually more for the entertainment value than any serious blabber. highly appreciative of the Twanian tone there - it tis not wasted!

my recent designs include a dolphin suit (exists so far only as a drawing).. but the more I think about it the more it seems its just easier to die and forget about the nonsense...

[Hiracer]

Ding, ding, we have a winner.

Originally Posted by Bash

Excuse me for waxing philosophical, but your post begs the question.

We Americans, as a matter of self-identity, tend to value self-reliance. Should you wonder why this is, read the essay "Self-reliance" published in 1841 by one of our premiere transcendentalist philosophers, Ralph Waldo Emerson. You'll find a zillion copies of it on the internet. Americans who have never even heard of Emerson are still likely to likely to be caught up in the vortex of his musings. It's not only part of our culture--it's who we are.

The ultimate test for the self-reliant individual is being able to survive social collapse. It's not that Americans are more likely than Europeans, or others, to think that society might actually collapse; rather, we tend to be more likely to fantasize about how to handle that situation, should it ever arise. You'd understand this had you grown up in a culture that grew up on the border of wilderness.

Our American tendency to fixate on self-reliance is often reflected in our choice of boats. As a general rule our preference in vessels is less influenced by economics, hydrodynamics or aesthetics than it is by questions of how the vessel might survive hurricanes, societal breakdowns, nuclear winter, alien invasions and/or (shudder!) the collapse of the Dow Jones.

This is also why we seem so fixated on cruising with firearms. Or (ahem!) wasp spray.

So, should you ever participate in a forum of cruising sailors in which a huge number of Americans voice their opinions, you'll find that an unusual number of us favor the (cough!) "bluewater" design best describe as "lifeboat-with-a-stick."

Such designs make us feel self-reliant. And when the aliens invade, you'll understand.

(Sigh!)

[Hiracer]

Originally Posted by tomperanteau

So is there anyone here that cares to take a serious look at the economist's thoughts? Economists like Celente that believe that have correctly predicted events in the past and think that we are headed for a disaster. Perhaps you folks might want to tell how you might have a plan "b" for a just in case scenario...

Well, let's see.

We've had the tech bubble burst. We had the real estate bubble burst. We've had a private debt bubble bust.

Mmm. Have not had a public debt bubble burst.

Yet.

* * *

And just a short few years ago we had a worldwide run up in oil prices WITHOUT a contraction in world oil supply--the first time in history that has happened.

Speaking of which, the rate of world oil production has be dead flat since 2005. That's five years with no worldwide increase in production--another first. Mmmm.




So, yes, maybe things are getting interesting.

[Jetexas]

Also remember, electromagnetic pulses are the weapon of the future and a side effect of a nuclear blast. Anything with a circuit board on your boat will be fried. Luckily that doesn't affect sailpower, but it might kill your starter solenoid. Therefore, make sure you have a hand crank to start your diesel and plenty of charts for navigation.

[cburger]

The sure sign that the end of the world is nigh: Young men walking around the streets with there pants pulled down to the back of thier knees and no one has a problem with this?

[erasmos]

Originally Posted by cburger

The sure sign that the end of the world is nigh: Young men walking around the streets with there pants pulled down to the back of thier knees and no one has a problem with this?

This is wrong: A lot of people have a problem with that. Them, the baggyhose boys, they dont have a problem with that. They'd be thinking its a pretty stylish way of accommodating the laws of attraction.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by erasmos

This is wrong: A lot of people have a problem with that. Them, the baggyhose boys, they dont have a problem with that. They'd be thinking its a pretty stylish way of accommodating the laws of attraction.

It reminds me of this:

http://www.dsphotographic.com/g2/126...boons+-004.jpg

[cchesley]

Oy!

Talk about a red a$$!

[Pete7]

Well folks, there is a small volcano thats gone pop in Iceland. the fallout is affecting most of northern Europe flights at the moment. What is slightly worrying is that this is the small volcano and the bigger one next door could go bang too.

BBC News - Volcanic ash: Flight chaos to continue into weekend

Pete

COUNTRIES AFFECTED
Airspace closed:
Belgium
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
Hungary (from 1700 GMT)
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands
Slovakia
Switzerland (from 2200 GMT)

Partial closures:
Austria (closures from 1600 GMT)
France (northern airspace)
Germany (most airports closed)
Italy (Rome's Fiumicino airport affected; Alitalia cancels raft of flights)
Norway (limited flights in north)
Poland (all but Rzeszow airport closed)
Republic of Ireland (most airspace opened Friday)
Sweden (northern airspace opened Friday)
UK (near-total closure)

[Pete7]

If the big one goes pop again? quote from the Daily Mail UK paper,

On June 8, 1783, a volcano called Laki, also in the south of Iceland, was literally rent asunder. Fountains of fire shot nearly a mile into the air. Several cubic miles of lava spewed forth from the fissure and, most importantly billions of tons of minute ash particles were thrown into the atmosphere.
By June 23, the air was so thick with ash and sulphur dioxide that the sun, described as 'blood-coloured', could hardly be seen in the sky as far south as the English Channel.
The estimated 120million tons of sulphurous gases spewed out by Laki soon turned into a miasma of lethal sulphuric acid, mixed in with an equally lethal cloud of microscopic, razor-sharp shards of airborne glass.
A report in Gentleman's Magazine, in July of that year, described 'a thick, hot vapour. . . both the Sun and Moon appeared like heated brick bars'. The effect was devastating. Crops were starved of sunlight and ruined by acid rain, and trees lost their leaves in midsummer. It was even cold enough for the Mississippi to freeze at New Orleans.

Are you ready to go to sea?


Pete

[sww914]

Originally Posted by cburger

The sure sign that the end of the world is nigh: Young men walking around the streets with there pants pulled down to the back of thier knees and no one has a problem with this?

I explain to my son's friends that wear their pants like that exactly where that fashion came from. It was originated in prisons. The lonely boys would wear their pants like that to inform other lonely boys that they were available.
None of the kids choose to do that anymore after I explain to them what it means

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by sww914

I explain to my son's friends that wear their pants like that exactly where that fashion came from. It was originated in prisons. The lonely boys would wear their pants like that to inform other lonely boys that they were available...

Interesting but False

While a wonderfully colourful (apocryphal) story, and a potentially effective tutorial; the truth is much simpler.
The sagging pants phenomenon can be traced to the American prison inmates who wore loose fitting (oversized) prison uniforms without a belt. The trend of sagging pants got a major boost as a style statement when rappers, in imitation of prison toughs, started wearing them in 1990s.

➫ snopes.com: Sag Harbored

[DaveOnCudjoe]

While I do occasionally ponder the big picture, for me a strong hurricane is a more likely threat. I am shore based but the trimaran is my planned lifeboat in event of a hurricane taking the house. As the storm bears down my one escape route, US1, is a bad choice. I have a great hole picked out about 7hrs from my home. It would take a truely scarey storm to put the plan into effect but the reality is that few plan to fail and most fail to plan. Dave

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Pete7

If the big one goes pop again? quote from the Daily Mail UK paper,

On June 8, 1783, a volcano called Laki, also in the south of Iceland, was literally rent asunder.

Did they blame the eruption on immigrants?


Best boat type for fleeing a Volcano is perhaps.........a speedboat

[h20man]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Did they blame the eruption on immigrants?


Best boat type for fleeing a Volcano is perhaps.........a speedboat

Unfortunatly, due to the self censorship we are not getting the full story of why the Icelandic volcanoe blew... It is a byproduct of all the secret UN troops stationed there with their dark helicopters, and a prelude to the capsizing of Iceland. I guess one could call the troops immigrants.

A Congressman who is aware of these things was just grilling the American forces about this problem in a recent hearing....