parallel to the SHTF thread - which HULL Material is best for the "days after"?

[Ibetitsthisway]

maybe you will find this "mindgame" interesting - taking the discussion of the "best" hull material into a "phantasieworld" in which most of the supply chains and infrastructure is not working anymore.


At one certain point of time, our arks will need some repair or maintanance, which vessel will live for the longest time?



- chopping wood?
- searching for steal plates?
- glasmats and glue migth be unobtainable?
- aluminium?


what about anodes?
which sail material?
which engines?


What do our boats look like and how do they function 25 years after "the day after"?

[cherylchecheryl]

A constant quest by the hunters to acquire a boat that still floats at the expense of the hunted? Hope not!

Thinking aluminium, at least for us fresh water folks.

[Lake-Effect]

Hulls made of MREs will be very popular.

[cherylchecheryl]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Hulls made of MREs will be very popular.

Funny!

[thinwater]

A small farm sounds like a better bet. Just go old school.

• Batteries. No battery, engine type mostly won't matter.
• Fuel. Ethanol?

So I would suggest a 2-stroke gas engine might be practical, but keeping on running for 25 years is unlikely.


Given the long lifespan we've seen from some 70s boats, a small FRP mono would easily make 25 years with practically no maintenance. Many have.

[Chotu]

Fiberglass, of course. You can't source all the consumables needed to keep other hulls from rotting away.

[cherylchecheryl]

Arrrrg matey! I'm going with PVC.

Start with the biggest plastic hull you can find, and add on kayaks as outriggers. We have a huge PVC toy chest left over from the kids that will never die.

[Ibetitsthisway]

PVC?
Ok...i See most of US seem to prefer to dig in instead of sail away.
Surprise in a cruiser forum... lol

[cherylchecheryl]

Just looking for the toughness stuff in the event of a zombie apocalypse. In 25 years of that, what will someone use to patch their fiberglass hull? Zombie drool?

I think Tom Hanks turned some pvc into a sail to escape his island in Cast Away. Might be a run on portapotties come the zombie apocalypse.

[ontherocks83]

As "romantic" as sailing away in solitude when SHTF may sound, I would rather dig in with large stores of food saved up and availability of other resources on land. Ideally it would be a largish Island (then I get to use my boat too) but now I'm just dreaming

[roland stockham]

The problem will not be the hull but everything else. Can you make rope or sails from natural fibers without machinary? Wood is the only low tech material that can be worked from scratch with hand tools. Basically look back through the history of sailing and guess where tech will be down to

If things go down for a long period then we will be back to dugout canoes, mind you the people I live with used to trade between Mexico and Hawai using a dugout canoe and woven cedar sails in the days when they had no metal tools. The chineeze also crossed the pacific in low tech junks before Europeans crossed the atlantic and the Polyneesian voyages as the stuff of mythology. Read Tim Serverin for an eye opener about what low tech boats can do.

All scenarios depend on what tech gets preserved and the ability of the environment to support people

[SV Bacchus]

Originally Posted by cherylchecheryl

Just looking for the toughness stuff in the event of a zombie apocalypse.

If you don't hit anything you shouldn't have to repair it. It was noted above a lot of 70s boats are still floating nicely and quite a few have, unfortunately, not had a lot of upkeep.

Just look around the Keys for prime examples..

[patrick brooks]

waterworld " got any sails or resin" if not were not trading

[Breaking Waves]

I'd go with 10mm Titanium

[LostBiker]

This is why I moved to Alaska - just in case. Low population, lots of like minded former military friends, lots of good hunting and fishing, good water, lots of trees and lots and lots of boats on the coast and on the lakes that many people will abandon in a major disaster to choose from. I prefer fiberglass myself, but Im sure I wont be picky when it all goes pear shaped. Even a row boat will be handy.



John