Using a Boat In Survival Situations

[Matt In Oklahoma]

There are numerous situations where a boat could be useful post SHTF.
In cases of weather emergencies such as during the aftermath of hurricanes even small boats are immediately useful in basic movements of Bugging Out, going to fresh water/food distribution points, patrolling your area and rescue operations. In the event of snow/ice storms some smaller boats make usable sleds for material movement and even recreation. (yes I know I will hear from you all who say this isn't a game and disasters are not fun blah blah blah, don't care I still play like an overgrown kid in snowstorms and our mental health is top notch because of it, so there neah).

In the case of PAW/TEOTWAWKI a boat will be useful for re-stabilized world things such as food gathering (fishing, lining, netting, hunting, bowfishing etc) and bartering travel. I know alot of places are devoid of water ways but in many areas water ways have long been used for trade.

Water gathering is better in a boat when compared to the muddied waters of a small stream. if you get to a larger body of water where silt and/or chemical concentrations may not be as high your filtering devices may last longer or require less maintaining.

Depending on the amount of water near your location the boat could be used as your BOV.

Boats overturned can be used as makeshift shelter rooftops and sides. Boats uprighted can be used as makeshift shelters that have good floors once overhead cover is established and usually have drain plugs for any rain that does come in and it to can be easily collected thru this port.

The drawbacks of boating are security and motoring.
Security is a tough challenge from simply being exposed to hidden snipers, pirating and trying to hide the cargo contents.

Motoring is tough because they require alot of power with fuel motors and almost none are known for their "mileage" outputs. In fact most boats are ridiculous in the amount of fuel and oil they use. The motors can be challenging to say the least to work on and trouble shoot too.

Smaller vessels can be powered by trolling motors which again are very limited by the amount of draw on the batteries and your ability to recharge them. Paddling and rowing are options and again are limited by the amount of calories and strength of the individual. Paddling, rowing and trolling motors offer a much better sound discipline for opsec than fuel motors.

My plans include me loading my O.D green pelican 2 man bass buggy and utilizing it in food, water and possibly salt/mineral collection efforts (still working this one out) in my bugout locations. The water ways are not good enough to do much else in that particular area however things change rapidly with events and loactions can change. I'd rather have it than not.

[Klayton]

I KNEW IT!!!

You had your barn door open yesterday Matt when I drove by, and I KNEW IT, I saw a small Ark hiding inside.

:)

[Matt In Oklahoma]

I KNEW IT!!!You had your barn door open yesterday Matt when I drove by, and I KNEW IT, I saw a small Ark hiding inside.
:)

LOL your burned up hahaha

[monkeybird]

As I live on tidal water and own a boat, using it to bug out, if necessary, has crossed my mind! Fuel is indeed an issue. Having run out of it in the Gulf, I can attest that you are indeed at the mercy of both nature and man.

The beauty is that here are bayous and small inlets all over the place around here and you definitely could hide if you got an early start. Another issue is that unless you're a millionaire and own a large boat, storing all your preps is very difficult.

The boat would be my last resort (i.e. the storm troopers are at the door) if I need to bug out. I plan to use it for fishing to supplement my preps.

[arcangel911]

Curious, I do not know much about boats.... raft yes.

Could a sail be a good idea? Or are you at too much of the winds discrection?

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Sails are good ideas especially on sea bearing vessels for when the wind is with you and noise dicipline. This is not an area I am familiar with however so anything else would have to be refered to someone with sailing experience as I am a land lover. I havent been on a raft since me and some buds built one as kids and used it on some ponds to swim and fish.

[monkeybird]

When my husband was healthy, sailing was his major enjoyment. I went along for the ride. Sailing requires KNOWLEDGE. It's not something you can learn in just a few lessons. It also required a good deal of physical effort.

Sail boat which would be large enough to take far into the open water, require a large keel. You can get them with a drop down keel, but these are small boats like a Sunfish. My first and last solo sailing experience was in a 12' sunfish. I took my sister. My inexperience resulted in my capsizing the boat while my husband was screaming and yelling off shore. My sister and I still laugh about. I suffered from over confidence.

My husband and I did go sailing for 2 weeks with 4 others to the British Virgin Islands in the late 70's. It was a 48 feet and required experienced sailors to manage. This would be good for a BOV.

So if you choose to sail (no fuel required) you must prepare now. Things to consider:

Learning to sails takes months and months as well as hours of sailing with experienced people.

The keel of a boat large enough to bug out in is very large and unless you live in a deep water channel you can't moor it in your back yard. You have to moor at a pier. Which means you have to get to that pier in an emergency, and beat the crowd of people who are thinking about doing the same thing.

Sailing is very physical. So if you have a heart problem, or other major illness, you probably won't be able to manage it.

Sailboats are EXPENSIVE. Mooring is EXPENSIVE.

On the positive side:

You can provision a sailboat so that you can remain on board for months and months. You will have to go ashore for fresh water.

You can go far out into the ocean and not see another person for days and days.

No fuel required (unless you decide to use the diesel engine). However, you might be sitting still for a while when the wind dies.

One last consideration: Sail boats are very easy targets for pirates in fast boats!

[Klayton]

LMAO while reading this thread again, all I can think of is Matt playing Kevin Costner in Waterworld!! YOU GO MATT! :)

[Matt In Oklahoma]

LMAO while reading this thread again, all I can think of is Matt playing Kevin Costner in Waterworld!! YOU GO MATT! :)

hahaha older uglier version in a bass buggy with a farmers tan screaming "Wolverines" LOL Hey I wonder do they make a Burt Gummer floatation vests?? Oh man I gotta do some research now

[CMWells]

I'm planning on a sailboat for the long haul and so will try to contribute a little here.
You need only a hint of wind to get a sailboat moving as long as you know how to sail and have knowledge of currents. This will take a couple hundred hours at the helm to develop these skills, possibly more depending on aptitude.
You can catch rain water on your sails that you can filter and you can also filter sea water if you have the equipment. So you don't necessarily need contact with marinas and the like if you prepare for this. You can set up solar panels on a sailboat and power a lot of small equipment - like filtration systems.
Sailboats are rated on how quick they can recover after a roll – a powerboat can’t do that unless you have one of the cool coast guard models they use in the PACNW - so buying the right sailboat takes a lot of research. From what I can tell if you plan to do a lot of blue water sailing or circumnavigation then a 30' - 35' boat is the choice. You don't want it too small for provisions sake but you don't want it too large either because of rough seas/weather, everything needs to be tight when you're out there bouncing around and healed over.
You need to know more than just how to sail if a sailboat becomes your plan. Things such as the material your boat is made from - cement, iron, wood, and fiberglass - need to consider if you can fix those materials by yourself and with limited tools or supplies. Can the boat take a whale or random dropped container hit and be able to limp to ground where you can beach it and repair it. You need to know how to sew and tie ropes and even make them if it comes to it. You need to have mechanical knowledge for when pulleys and booms and rigging fails. Knowledge of how to use leverage to your advantage in the event your mast ever needs to come down/go back up.
You can't rely on electronics and this will take a lot of time to learn. You’ll need to learn to read the sea and charts and stars and the like, Christopher Columbus style, and that will take time and experience.
You should have snorkel gear and be comfortable using it in order to be able to make repairs in water.
Sailboats do not have to require a lot of physical effort - the main thing you have to keep in mind is leverage and work smarter, not harder when sailing. Pulleys and quick releases have enabled teenagers and 80 year olds to circumnavigate the globe solo.
I recently sailed on a 48' Jenneau in the Caribbean off of the Yucatan and we had that boat in less than 5' of water and then we also had it in 25' swells. The boat was a very seaworthy blue water boat so when planning to purchase a sailboat it takes research. A lesser boat would have broken up in those seas and a less smartly designed boat never would have made it in the shallows. It is all about design and just takes research to find the one that works for your situation. Only two people were needed to sail it when the seas were rough and in the calm stuff, one person handled it. Had there been quick connects and more pulleys closer to the helm, one person could have sailed it in the rough stuff. It’s all about setup that determines how many people are needed to sail a vessel.
Because sailing was basically limited to the elites in the Jolly Old England days there is this long standing image that sailing is only a rich person's domain. Well I'm here to tell you that sailing does not have to be expensive. If it was, I certainly wouldn't be involved. If you want a boat that will basically run by itself guided by all the electronic bells and whistles, or if you want to win the America's Cup, or if you want everything to be brand new - then yes it will cost a lot of money. But it does not have to, if you don't need to achieve those things. I am a firm believer in the older a fiberglass boat is, the better constructed it is. We used to go overboard with that stuff in construction before we learned about it. Now the new hulls sound like flicking a melon to see if it is ripe - hollow and flimsy.
As to defending yourself, I’m still working that end of things out and know that shotguns seem to be the old faithful for most sailors in the salt water scenario. But one thing I do know – those fast boats need a whole lot of fuel to motor around. I would think if you could figure out the range from shore that most of those fast boats can go and then sail out beyond that, then you increase your chances of encountering similar speed craft and reduce the amount of attackers you will need to fend off.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

CMWells how do you filter that seawater? I'm a landlover myself but am interested in that

[CMWells]

Reverse osmosis filters are the most popular systems used on land, most folks have these attached to well water supplies here in Florida. The same system used to filter sea water on boats are called desalinization systems.

And then there are solarization techniques (how we get sea salt) that take more time.

And now there seems to be some new theories using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) but I am no physicist so I'll try to put a link to an article that explains them http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-...gy-filter.html - they are calling them nanotechnology filters but I need to do some more research on them. Could be too large of a system for my needs or just too new for my comfort level. I like the tried and tested if I'm going to rely on it.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Reverse osmosis filters are the most popular systems used on land, most folks have these attached to well water supplies here in Florida. The same system used to filter sea water on boats are called desalinization systems. And then there are solarization techniques (how we get sea salt) that take more time.And now there seems to be some new theories using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) but I am no physicist so I'll try to put a link to an article that explains them http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-06-...gy-filter.html - they are calling them nanotechnology filters but I need to do some more research on them. Could be too large of a system for my needs or just too new for my comfort level. I like the tried and tested if I'm going to rely on it.

Thanks, I familar with some ways to do it but didnt know what they had on the boats (again landlocked) or what you would do with the stuff you collected from the sails.

[CMWells]

Thanks, I familar with some ways to do it but didnt know what they had on the boats (again landlocked) or what you would do with the stuff you collected from the sails.

A lot of what folks are planning on land could be used on water with some advanced preparation and ingenuity. The boats that we are seriously considering are in the 40' to 45' range so there is a lot of deck space available for use. Luckily my husband understands load weights and the like so I'll be relying heavily on his knowledge and learning as we go.

Figure we would use the deck space for the filtering area when using solarization or rain catching and once the process is complete the water could be transferred to the freshwater tanks built into the boat at time of manufacture. The models we are looking at usually have a freshwater holding capacity between 150-200 gallons. We could also make use of a dingy pulled behind the boat if deck space and load weights become a concern. Just like a fixed engine though, that would increase resistance/drag and cut down on cruising speed so a worst case scenario.

I'd also like to comment on the mooring of the boat. One of the reasons why we are moving on to a sailboat full time directly involves the cost of living over time - specifically reducing it. We have found mooring for as low as $300 a month. Our boat budget ranges from 20k that includes a lot of "sweat equity" in a fixer upper and the high end of the spectrum is in the $70k range but would be liveaboard bluewater ready. We own a semi that we will be selling and using the funds to buy the boat free and clear. So our monthly expense if we do opt to moor and not just sail off would be $300 a month and often includes shore power, cable, Internet, freshwater access, security services and laundry facilities. The state of the economy has also opened up the amount of private homeowners who would be willing to rent their docks for even less. The popular marinas in the heart of town do cost more but in a crisis they would be packed with likeminded folks. So cheaper really is the way to go. Our property taxes here in Florida are 300% higher than that and housing costs are even higher and that's not even considering the cost of utilities. Most people with homes can not get their monthly expenses reduced to $300. So initial outlay may be pricey to some but the long run costs make it an exceptionally affordable way to live.

Just be sure you can live with your mate in close quarters though. Luckily hubby and I had 5 years in @ 120sf on a 24/7/365 basis so we know we are good candidates for this type of lifestyle. A lot of couples could not do that and retain their sanity!

[monkeybird]

IMHO not many will get out of Central/South Florida in a true SHTF situation. I lived in Orlando many years, and when the Southern part of the state were under hurricane evacuation orders the entire area became nothing but a huge parking lot! This was with all highways, interstates and toll roads going North in all lanes. The hurricanes in question were cat. 3 or less. I believe that the mindless evacuation of South Florida in the event of TEOTWAWKI would kill more people than it saves.

Since the last hurricane frenzy to affect Florida, the population has only increased.

It remained one of the fastest-growing states in the past decade, in spite of the recession, new census data show. The Sunshine State added 2.8 million people, enough to win two new seats in Congress and assure that Florida remains on track to overtake New York as the third most populous state in the 2020 census.

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/24/fl...-census-shows/

No only do you have significant population increases, Florida has depleted resources. How easy it would be for the entire lower part of the the state of loose power.

That's why the only way out may indeed be a boat. I read the pros and cons on this and other forums. People, in desperate situations have to do what ever is necessary to survive. So, if it's a boat, fine. A boat may be the only way out if things really go bad.