Is your boat part of your Doomsday Plan?

[OrangeCrush]

Ok here's a grim topic, but it's something I ponder occasionally and maybe it could lead to some discussion... Do you have a "bug out plan", and is your boat a part of it?

I live in Brooklyn, and I can think of a few disaster scenarios where it could be useful having a boat to sail away in rather than elbow my way through crowds over Manhattan bridges to the mainland. Even without planning ahead, my boat usually has enough food, water and fuel on it for a couple people to last a week or more and/or get pretty far away from NYC. These scenarios are all unlikely but definitely not impossible... hey even the Yellowstone Super-volcano is overdue, right?

Then again, when the boat is hauled out for the winter I can't exactly push it in by myself, so that cuts out about half the year. And if I got away from the city, where would I go anyway? I couldn't fit all my family and friends on board, so how do I determine who makes the cut? And would I just be overwhelmed by throngs of angry Brooklyners before I could get off the mooring anyway?

Has anyone else had a thought process like this? How specific is your plan and how serious are you about it?

[boatman61]

Naah..!!
Portugal's my 'Bug Out Plan'.. who'd be interested in bombing us.. no ones been interested since Napoleon..

[CarlF]

Fortunately, not everyone with a boat in New York runs away from a disaster

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDOrzF7B2Kg

[hafa]

When disasters strike our islands and providence decides that we survive, we remain here to help however we can. If our boat remains seaworthy and is needed to assist in any way, we'll gladly use it or allow others to use it as relief officials deem necessary.

Tyhoon Soudelor, which scored a direct hit on us in August, 2015, showed the resilience, cohesiveness and concern for others extant in our community.

[a64pilot]

I don't really have a bug out plan, but concede that if that is a concern and if you don't keep the boat provisioned and well equipped, why not?
Also an issue if that is your concern would be to leave before people start taking things from each other.
Remember the old War of the Worlds movie toward the end, where the mob takes the trucks?
Well you don't want to be there when people get desperate.

Myself, I could not live in a Megalopolis, like NY has to be, my little town has become way to big for me.
I can only assume when people are packed together like that, that any thing that happened, could make things bad, fast

[SV DestinyAscen]

Ive been in two cleanup/aid delivery situations - once in Turkey and once in Taiwan. Both after earthquakes that'll shake most American buildings down.

People generally behave better after the disaster. In Taiwan where people usually drive like maniacs, suddenly with no electricity and no traffic lights it became polite driving.

My bug out plan? Talk and help my neighbors and help what I can.

[barnakiel]

Not really. The boat would have to be equipped with a watermaker, huge watertanks, huge power gen capacity, huge diesel tanks. You would need huge food supplies stored always onboard. Then a gun with huge number of rounds stored onboard.

This is simply not practical.

If anything serious happens, your best shot is sitting exactly where the first nuke falls. Minimum fuss and shortest suffering.

Or do you think you are so smart that others will die and suffer but you will somehow get away?

To where exactly?

Do not waste you time. Get a boat to glide on the bay on a summer day. Nuclear submarines need big crews and are damn expensive to dock.

Cheers,
b.

[a64pilot]

Well you wouldn't need huge water tanks if you had a watermaker, and why a huge generator? Why anything not already on a well equipped cruiser that was ready to cross the Pacific?
I'm with you on the Nuke thing though, I grew up during that era and as my home town had a huge B-52 base at the time of the Cuban middle crisis, we were supposedly number three on the hit parade.
Even as a kid I figured out the horror of a Nuclear war would be surviving one

[gamayun]

I grew up in Florida where hurricanes, tornadoes, sink holes, floods and drought (and hoards of tourists) seemed to be just part of everyday life. I didn't really start to think of an escape plan on my boat until I moved to California and there's a bit of talk about how we're overdue for "the big one." The earth liquefying and shaking everything to bits kinda weirds me. At least you can see a hurricane coming. So here's what the experts say....you should always be prepared for emergencies, such as preparing a ditch bag. For example, what would you/could you grab if you had 15 minutes to get out of your house? That's just good planning. Beyond that, I think you have to take everything else one day at a time and probably not think of the boat as an escape pod because that's probably not what you're actually going to need when doomsday happens.

[rognvald]

My brother's life coach would like to speak with any/all of you concerning the above topic. Please contact Mr. C. Little in the U.S.A. and Mr. H. Penny in the U.K. The website is: wwytheskyisfalling.com Hope this helps. Captain Rognvald en route to the constellation Cassiopeia with full main and genoa. Good luck and safe sailing.

[Richard5]

Yours is a question oft considered. The following is my answer.

I'll bust out my SAW, or 50 BMG, or both, to 'dissuade' anyone inside a 1,000 yard perimeter. I mean, what better reason? That's just to cover as I steal an aircraft to get me to the stolen boat (yet to be determined). Then I figure I'll head off shore of Brazil or uncharted atolls of the Pacific, dependent upon geography of course.

I've concluded that which ever zombie or combatant can fly could not swim so I figure I'm covered.

Some time ago I read a fictional account of a random group in a post-apocalypse scenario which involved that diverse group commandeering a sailboat to remain offshore until they figure a safe landfall. It was an engaging story, amusing at times, although not going anywhere, figuratively or literally.

[Stu Jackson]

Freedom Ark.

I already moved to Canada.

Good luck "Down There," you're in for a very rough ride.

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Freedom Ark.

I already moved to Canada.

Good luck "Down There," you're in for a very rough ride.

Is that the name of the book I read? The most memorable part was when one of the young women planted a peck on the old timer's cheek following some sage advise he gave. His response, You'll have to do better'n that if'n you want a boyfriend. Or some hokey thing like that.

'Down there', you say? In a word...Trudeau, eh.




Oh yeah, I just remembered. In the book they were on a... dun dun DAH!... a multihull. And get this, no mention of an anchor.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I'm with you on the Nuke thing though, I grew up during that era and as my home town had a huge B-52 base at the time of the Cuban middle crisis, we were supposedly number three on the hit parade.

I was born and grew up on SAC bases (B52's) during the cold war and and the cuban missile crisis. It was years later then I figured out why my parents looks so very worried then. I laugh now at the duck and cover drills in third and fourth grade, less then a mile from the ready alert building.

[Jason Flare]

A prepper forum I saw once gave high marks to sailors/cruisers for their ability to live off the grid.

From what I could see preppers sounded like us when we're getting ready to live on a boat.