Anybody seriously considering a bug out boat?

[Tater Raider]

To back-up what's being said about landfall, my bug-out plan, should I resort the the canoe/bicycle combination with water being the primary route, is to make camp daily and landfall twice a day. I'll be stopping on islands as much as possible but once I hit the Lower Mississippi (if I go with this plan, that's the route) I'll have a bit of trouble with that.

Self-supported using this plan is 2 weeks, and that's pushing it.

Of course that's not a sailboat, but realistically there are times when you have to drydock to make repairs/do maintenance, not to mention resupply. To paraphrase, man cannot live by fish alone.

[Sgt_Stadanko]

I wish it was in my budget. I have a canoe, but with a family of 4, and bug out gear, we are not going far.

I live right on lake Erie. There is a couple marinas in town, and if its bad enough, and summer - im sure i could figure out how to borrow one.

[KnightoftheRoc]

To back-up what's being said about landfall, my bug-out plan, should I resort the the canoe/bicycle combination with water being the primary route, is to make camp daily and landfall twice a day. I'll be stopping on islands as much as possible but once I hit the Lower Mississippi (if I go with this plan, that's the route) I'll have a bit of trouble with that.

Self-supported using this plan is 2 weeks, and that's pushing it.

Of course that's not a sailboat, but realistically there are times when you have to drydock to make repairs/do maintenance, not to mention resupply. To paraphrase, man cannot live by fish alone.

This reminds me of the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn stories. Even with a raft to hold supplies, they still had to land and camp pretty regularly, and the technical details weren't the focus of the stories- yet they were included, nonetheless. Tater Raider seems to have this reality pretty well in hand.

You can always go bigger=better for storage capacity, and that will extend your time out on your own, but every form of storage has it's limits. What you do when you hit those limits is the difference between prepping and planning. You probably have more than one way to make fire, right? That's redundancy- different ways to do the same thing. Your plans should be formed the same way.

No matter how far you go with a conversation of this type, sooner or later, you get to a point where, when asked "OK, suppose that doesn't work, or you run out of X?" you end up answering with a "ummmm....". The trick is making that happen as far into the Q&A session as you can.

[averagemutt]

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/largeImagePopup.jsp?productId=701690&cImage=s7_020882_710_01

This looks perfect for my needs. FL potential flood zone.

[prtp3warrior]

I have brought the idea of going to water as part of a bug out plan a couple of times and thought on it quite a bit since nearly half of my life is on the water.

My conclusions are that the ability to go on the water is very valuable as it can provide access to remote or relatively remote locations if needed and from my AO I could travel all the way to the Gulf of Mexico if I needed to. Also, the ability to at least get on the water provides many more gathering opportunities for fish and other natural resources.

Being close to water may be benefit or it may not.

In a PAW situation, waterways will become useful means of transporting goods, not that they are not now, but 1000 years ago to about 100 years ago, it was the preferred method...even to the point of exploring the interior of this very continent. Being close to a port may provide many opportunities for trade. There is a reason the most powerful tribes on this continent lived near the water.

On the other hand, there be pirates.

I think that even if not a boat, some kind of means to provide personal flotation is important to a bug out plan for crossing rivers ect.

One more note. On Out of the Wild Venezuala, there progress towards civilization was greatly increased when they got their hands on a canoe.

[Doctorr Fabulous]

Anyone mention Kon-Tiki yet? They didn't put in for supplies, IIRC.

[prtp3warrior]

Very interesting,

I think that a boat could definitely fit into a bug out plan and should at least be considered as an option for anyone who lives near water.

[nathat]

There is a lot to be said for planning.

1000 Days at Sea
Dude lived his homebulit 70 foot, 60 ton, gaff rigged schooner, for over 1152 days - at least, that was what he claimed. Worth a look to see what he food/gear/supplies were stocked and how he stocked it. Fun stuff, even if a bit off.

Indeed vessels routinely make extended voyages. The question is though what happens on day 1,153? At some point in time you need to make landfall, refit, refurbish, refuel and get groceries.

Being at sea is rough on any vessel. Sails chafe through, blocks and running rigging are under constant stress and strain, the hull and spars flex, motor vessels must keep an engine running for steerage way.

In theory you could travel to an isolated and protected anchorage (of which there are plenty) simply anchor and wait. This will minimize wear and tear as well as fuel consumption. If you added wind generators you could make electricity to reduce generator time. However, you still need at some point food. Yes you could fish to extend your food supplies, sooner or later you will run out of food.

However, if you are anchored, and why not simply go ashore. If you plan to do that why not plan ahead and purchase land in that area and prepare it ahead of time. Vessels require shore bases sooner or later.

I agree to an extent, but any BOL will eventually need restocking in some form or another. The only way it WOULDN'T need restocking is if you prepared it with crops, animals, and every possible need you could ever think of. A place like this you would have to live at now so you could do upkeep and have a functioning farm. I don't think the BO boat is any different than a shelter/farm house that is stocked for X months...One just has security of not being on land and the option to move it if needed.

[Tater Raider]

I had to get some work done on my human powered BOV's. After loading up, I had to take a photo.


Soylent's Envy sitting atop Dusty Rose, Scamp and 3 friends in back, ready to Bug-Out

[Patriot Pirate]

Indiana is a river rich state , I have traversed 1,000 miles of these rivers and covered 3/4 the length of the state from North to South.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/i ... r-map.html

These are the major rivers in Indiana. I live in Norhtern Indiana and can canoe all the way to the gulf. LOL

I have canoed From Peru, Indiana to Vincennes, Indiana. on a trip . Some portages but still did it.

[TacAir]

Anyone mention Kon-Tiki yet? They didn't put in for supplies, IIRC.

A hundred and one days at sea, after crossing 4300 miles (8000 km) of the Pacific, the raft was washed up on the Raroia reef well inside Polynesia.

The Kon-Tiki carried 250 liters of water in bamboo tubes. For food, they took 200 coconuts, sweet potatoes, bottle gourds and other assorted fruit and roots. The US Army Quartermaster Corps provided field rations, tinned food and survival equipment. In return, the Kon-Tiki explorers reported on the quality and utility of the provisions. They also caught plentiful numbers of fish, particularly flying fish, mahi-mahi, yellow fin tuna, bonito and shark.

As a ham, I found the radio equipment (for 1947) was pretty advanced.
The expedition used call sign LI2B and carried three watertight radio transmitters. The first operated on the 40 and 20 meters, the second on 10 meters and the third on 6 meters. Each unit was made up entirely of 2E30 vacuum tubes providing 10 W of RF input. As an emergency backup, they also carried a German Mark V transceiver originally re-created by Britain's Special Operations Executive in 1942.
Other equipment included a hand-cranked emergency set of the Gibson Girl type for use on the maritime bands, a special VHF set for contacting aircraft and two British Mark II transmitters. The Kon-Tiki also carried a National Radio Company NC-173 receiver. Dry batteries and a hand-cranked generator supplied the power.

Really well engineered rigs - Proximity of the craft's deck to the sea and the relatively small protection afforded by the thatched bamboo cabin meant that the gear would have to withstand the effects of moisture. It was desired to have transmitter units light and tight enough so that if they should fall overboard they could be fished out and put to work again immediately. Operation was required on maritime and amateur frequencies. Both 'phone and c.w. were specified.

The transmitters were to be tuned, closed up and remain watertight unless something went wrong. It must be possible to load them up on antennas of whatever length could be erected on available supports. With these requirements in mind, [C. F. Haddock] W1CTW and [H. A. Gardner] W1EHT of the National [Radio] Company's engineering staff designed and constructed the needed rigs. One transmitter was built to operate on 7 and 14 Mc., another for 28 Mc. and a third for 50 Mc."

The book details the tension of trying to contact 'the world' to tell them the raft crew was fine. Very exciting. They made contact with one of the British SES 'sabotage sets' and then all was well.


The National NC-173 receiver used on the boat. Old school.