by Ray Jason
For over a decade I have been encouraging people around our Watery World to form Sea Gypsy Tribes. My belief is that they are the best defense against any catastrophe that may overwhelm Society. Here is my 2024 update.
The basic concept remains the same. Essentially, it provides all of the survival benefits of land-based emergency “prepping,” but with the significant advantage of not being stationary.
Human history proves that when people have to choose between starving and marauding, they always attack. Having an ocean-ready sailboat, properly equipped and stocked, allows one to “Flee to the Sea!”
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Here’s why sailing boats are ideal survival platforms.
They are propelled by the wind. On my longest single-handed voyage of 30 days from Hawaii to San Francisco, I used my diesel engine for only 2 hours. The Age of Exploration and the establishment of the great Oceanic Trade Routes were achieved solely through wind power.
Modern sailboats have been using solar panels and wind generators for decades. Although these “green” energy sources do not successfully scale up for massive urban requirements, they are perfect for sailors. They produce enough electricity to power refrigeration, lights, pumps, radios, GPS, fans, computers, etc.
Reverse-osmosis onboard desalination systems provide plentiful water. The less expensive option, that I have used for decades, is a simple catchment system to fill my tanks with rain water. I have never run out in all of my years of sailing the Wide Waters.
It is easy to store plenty of long-life, non-perishable food onboard. Rice, pasta and flour are basic staples with a long shelf life. Canned meats such as chicken, tuna, salmon, beef, sardines, crab-meat, shrimp and turkey are widely available.
Entertainment has certainly advanced since Capt. Cook’s days. Singing sea chanteys has been replaced by ebooks, real books, music players, board games, computer games and movies on DVD. Plus there are magnificent birds, dolphins and whales as companions.
Self-defense is obviously easier when you are a moving target. SHTF pirates will be limited by the fact that almost all of them rely on internal combustion engines. They can only venture out a limited distance from the coast due to their fuel requirements.
My personal Sea Gypsy Tribe has members skilled with firearms, bows and arrows, close-quarter knives and IEDs. Not only are we a moving target, we are also a formidable FAFO adversary.
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Putting a Sea Gypsy Tribe together should be done carefully and secretly. All members must be Kindred Spirits in the most profound sense. The ideal size is 5 to 10 boats. Less than 5 does not supply much “strength in numbers” and more than 10 potentially leads to personality disputes and decision-making difficulties.
Physical fitness should be the norm and not the ideal. Boats with kids onboard are particularly valuable. Each Tribe should have at least one person capable of doing Celestial Navigation and this skill should be revered and taught.
When an emergency occurs, the boats should head to a pre-arranged offshore rendezvous point. Each vessel should depart separately and quietly so that they will not be noticed. Once assembled, then a Decision Council will convene.
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Through the years, I have written over a dozen articles fine-tuning my Sea Gypsy Tribe concept. Some of the possible catastrophes that I previously discussed included:
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Economic Collapse
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Cyber Attack
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Electric Grid Failure
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Massive Civil Unrest
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Bio-weapon Release
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Reserve Currency Termination
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Electro-Magnetic Pulse Weapon
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Nuclear War Devastation
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Peak Oil
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Climate Change Crisis
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Digital Enslavement
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CBDC Control Gulag
In those prior essays, I discussed each of these issues and then described how Sea Gypsy Tribes have the best chance of surviving these cataclysms and possibly even flourishing after some of them.
On the topic of Climate Change, I completely reversed my position after I did more serious research. I realized that there was no genuine human-induced Climate Emergency. Instead it is a lie designed to further enslave Humanity.
As a live-aboard ocean sailor, I am more immersed in raw Nature than 90% of Humanity. So, I share the sincere desire of the early environmentalists, who truly wanted to protect the Oceans, Mountains and Deserts. However, Climate Change is a brazen power grab.
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As we sail into 2024, I will now discuss some new dangers that deserve serious analysis. They are:
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Technocratic Tyranny
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White Displacement
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The Human to Cyborg Transition
TECHNOCRATIC TYRANNY
After a decade of research, I am convinced that there is a self-anointed group of Elitists, who want to Rule the World. I fondly refer to them as our Malignant Overlords. Certainly, history is strewn with similar tyrants, but now there is a significant difference.
Recent advances in technology provide them insanely powerful methods of control. They claim that their New World Order is designed to catalyze global improvement. But what they are truly seeking is to build a High-Tech Slave Planet.
The Sea Gypsy Tribes have the best chance of escaping this control grid. Most people will be imprisoned by the Central Bank Digital Currency and the Digital I.D. systems. But the Tribes will be bartering with folks on out-of-the-way islands and distant shores, where independent people are far less likely to buy into the lunacy.
More importantly, when events start to go disastrously sideways, these ocean vagabonds will go into full self-preservation mode, which means fishing and foraging. This will initially be buffered by the long-term food supplies that they already have stashed onboard.
Knowing that the Sea Gypsy Tribes are “out there somewhere” resisting the Cyber-Chains, should inspire those onshore, who are also striving to rebel against the brutal oppression.
WHITE DISPLACEMENT
Any perceptive person can see that there is a massive and deliberate campaign underway to denigrate White People and diminish their value to Society. Statues of prominent Whites are removed or demolished. Men are forced to undergo “White Privilege” re-education. TV commercials are full of “multi-cultural” families devoid of White Parents and White Children.
The Sea Gypsy Tribe movement is an excellent anti-dote to this. It is a True Meritocracy. You either have the skills and courage to sail the vast ocean or you don’t. The Sea will not grant you a pass because of your Race, Gender or Sexual Preference.
As a result, the offshore cruising community is a significantly White sub-culture. We surely do not exclude others. But they earn their acceptance through their conduct and not through immutable characteristics that they were randomly born with.
The children are home-schooled onboard and they are taught real-world skills and decision making. A sizable portion of the Cruising Fleet is out here because they deliberately have chosen to flee from the Real World. Many of us use the stars to navigate. Yet I have never heard the term “Lesbian Astronomy” mentioned.
FROM HUMAN TO CYBORG
For thousands of years, ordinary people have had to suffer under the rule of maniacal dictators (Malignant Overlords). But even the worst of these power junkies never wanted to actually change the very nature of human beings.
But that is what is facing us “little people” early in the 21st Century. Crazy People – and that is how they would have been perceived in saner times – do not get locked away for everyone’s protection. Instead, they get flown to Davos on private jets to promote their personal psychoses.
They literally want to merge Man with Machine. They even have a catchy word for it – Trans-humanism. They market it as being enormously beneficial for Humanity. They will show videos of amputees being able to walk due to a brain chip.
What they don’t mention is that the regular folk will get The SLAVE BRAIN CHIP and the Elites will receive The IMMORTALITY BRAIN CHIP.
Because of this lunacy, the Sea Gypsy Tribes may have to play a role like the Monks of the Dark Ages who kept alive the flame of previous human knowledge in their caves and monasteries. But in this vile scenario, our mission will be monumentally important.
We will be the living custodians of the True, Natural, Biological, Carbon-based Human Being.
For more of Ray’s work, please visit THE SEA GYPSY PHILOSOPHER.
OK, but bring a blue boat tarp and watch your six . . . and yer high noon.
.
Especially see Mark’s voluminous comments/links, way down the page.
There is no New Frontier. Stand and fight:
They can’t put the creeping death upon ya
If you stand
“Follow the gourd!”
“Give me your shoes!”
“People in blue, are immune to DEWs”
Lol
Does mark work for a blue tarp manufacturer or retailer?
Cause that would be a conflict of interest, you know, if he did.
Lon Moe ER,
Being a Prepper in occasional hurricane country I actually have enough super large tarps to cover both my houses (one is a doublewide I rent out) and my one room man cave we call the Little House…in case of wind damage…and they are all BLUE!
Bought most of them (except one recent purchase) Pre Maui.
Added three smaller Blue ones to cover all three vehicles.
Now I have a red barn…with a tin roof…and I’m considering painting it…yep…BLUE!
Whata ya gonna Dew?
I love it. My Sea Gypsy Tribe essays always tend to generate lively debate over which is the better approach – to Stand and Fight or to Get Out of Dodge. Personally, I do not feel they are mutually exclusive. My gang is pretty well “geared up” BTW.
Ray
UV lasers are NOT “new news”….had them in the 80’s, online.
“After a decade of research, I am convinced that there is a self-anointed group of Elitists, who want to Rule the World.”
You are probably correcr.
Why do we always assume those at the top want to do us harm?
Not all the evidence of harm between people I see comes “from the top”
What if the clot shots were the most humane way to off 6 billion people who are living hand to mouth, desperate lives, marred by them abusing each other and themselves?
People at the bottom pursue horrible lifestyles. Alcoholism, drug addiction.
Gambling. Porn. Rape.Robbery. Theft. Murder. Molestation.
Why shouldn’t these sick ones be addressed?
One’s daughter is more likely to be raped or murdered by a street nog than an elite is all I’m saying.
There are other angles to consider.
[Sorry Ray, gotta play devil’s advocate, though I love your articles]
So everyone here actually thinks every wealthy person of power is a child sexing pervert who wants to kill you?
Does that about size it up?
Pretty certain, no one here would turn down an offer of such wealth and power.
No. Many would foolishly step right into the breach to be used by them, same as all the rest.
Next time you watch Trump look at him closely. He is tired of his current assignment which I believe is to espouse endless nationalist talking points/platitudes, to fool the sheep into thinking: “It’s all going to be ok.”
Speak for yourself.
The problem with your theory is that they exactly did NOT do that (“humanely” killing off the homeless, the poor – global or domestic, the lazy).
They did focus on the old and obese though, but otherwise seemingly those that actually have jobs and belong to the middle class. So I agree with ICE, it was more likely intended as monetary policy to slow the velocity of money and give them time to regroup after the Repo market collapse in summer 2019 and buy time to implement CBDCs.
You will recognize them by their fruits.
What is more humane than motivating people to not only violate their own publicly stated beliefs, but to choose to trust a noble/son of man?
The vast majority WANTED the kill shot.
Caveat emptor.
They sold you the religion.
Then they got you to violate it.
After that?
Killing you is completely legal.
“The one who sins is the one who will die”
Y’all were warned.
If you claim christianity as your faith, and choose to ignore your faith and listen to nobles/men, took the vax, and suffered consequences?
That’s on you.
You all have had the bible for centuries.
You have no excuse for failing this test.
_____
Caveat:
The children/adults who were killed/injured who had no voice/choice?
They were all murdered/assaulted.
Coof19 WAS an iq test-it ALSO segregated US as a target singularly.
Choose wisely.
The “elites”, who have been around since Christ was a cowboy, want only to do good, for the world, for everyone, for the earth, and especially for themselves, because after all, being an elite and taking responsibility to give all sorts of directions to the common people is quite taxing.
The problems are always the same, trying to change a complex, even chaotic thing like a human society requires far more information and knowledge that is ever possible to collect, and even when it gets collected, nobody really knows what to do with the information, or can actually understand what the data might be telling them. So they make shit up and bluster and pose and invariably make things worse.
You are correct though that (some) people “at the bottom” pursue horrible lifestyles and engage in crime, but so to people “at the top”, and even some people “in the middle”.
“People at the bottom pursue horrible lifestyles. Alcoholism, drug addiction.
Gambling. Porn. Rape.Robbery. Theft. Murder. Molestation.”
And people at the top think they are God and despise Freedom. I’ll deal with the vice people anyday. Murderers and Rapists can go to jail (hopefully) and won’t rule.
Ray, Matt Bracken’s (former Navy Seal) latest book “Doomsday Reef” will be out in a few months. Like you, he is an avid sailor and, this book is set 10 years after the collapse of CONUS. It is life aboard his sailboat and all that goes with it in a dystopian reality.
Hey B55,
Yes, I have listened to quite a few interviews with Matt and we are muy simpatico. Do you know him? If so, please pass this essay along and ask him to contact me at the email address at my Blog. For all I know he is only a few anchorages away from me.
Michael Yon is frequently nearby and I’d surely like to buy him a few rums in thanks for all of his dangerous efforts.
Ray
We’ve traded some communication off and on over the years. He lives in Florida on the east coast.
His GAB profile:
https://gab.com/Matt_Bracken
He posts frequently on X & GAB.
Thanks. I am a Social Media virgin or purist or idiot. Most friends think the latter. I’ve never even owned a Smartphone. But I don’t malign those who do and I understand who important it can be for most folks.
Good for you. I co authored this piece about Big Tech a long while back you may like, also published here.https://worldyturnings.wordpress.com/2022/01/15/here-i-come-to-save-the-day-2/
Thanks Tr4,
I’ll check that out tonight. Sunny breezy days are for boat upgrades.
Ray
I thought Matt might read this. He lurks here more than we know, I’m betting. He comments on rare occasions.
Michael Yon will be in Florida in a few days, not sure of his itinerary yet. I keep my escape pod in NE Florida. I don’t know how viable it will be to have 10-15 boats ready to go on a freedom flotilla, but it’s an interesting idea. Maybe more realistic is to share a list of desirable anchorages out of CONUS where freedomistas can rendezvous. SSB call signs and frequencies, when available will also be a big help.
Sharing HF SSB “Cruising Net” frequencies is also a good idea. Even folks who don’t have an SSB transmitter can often listen. Critical information about port safety, govt changes for better or worse etc can be gleaned from the airwaves. While the internet still works, websites like cruisersforum.com are also valuable sources of information on boats, gear, and potential escape destination ports.
I wrote this about a decade ago and I highly recommend anybody going down this path read it:
“Get Yourself a 30-Footer and Go!”
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3095240/posts
“Matt’s Escape Pod”
https://www.enemiesforeignanddomestic.com/escape.html
You might need a small warship.
Yeah, me and a bunch of bikers I hang with are getting up a plan to steal a ship and arm it for piracy. Most of us are technical/mechanical guys as well as deepwater sailors, but the talent runs to experts in armaments, communications and electronic countermeasures. The ship we have in mind is a sweet sailor, and we’re going to upgrade the auxiliary engines so it will do 40 knots under power.
Every one of us dreamed of being a pirate! Now we will get a chance at it.
W,
You reveal a lot when you state that you will get 40 knots out of a sailboat hull. Good luck with that.
R
Little concept called ‘hull speed.’
It’s not a sailboat hull, but small powered ship with sails. It has a large retractable center board.
Yeah not in a displacement hull he isn’t…lol
BIG salute from Amelia Island!! ANOTHER Florida brother!!!
BTW, as Brewer mentioned, my new novel (should be out in about 2 months max) takes place on a sailboat during a post SHTF escape from South Carolina, beginning in Beaufort.
Hey Matt,
Thanks for chiming in. Your steel schooner looks sweet to me. Do I detect bilge keels? If so, nice choice for thin water circumstances.
I helped restore a friend’s Pearson 424 at Green Cove Springs boatyard and marina in NE FL a while back. It’s one of the last un-gentrified yards in the US.
My concept can apply to sailors still located in the First World, but is more designed for those who have already had enough and left. 15 vessels is too “issue prone” in my estimation. 6-9 seems like the sweet spot. Six in my Tribe including men with some similar skills and background to yours.
Here is my general email address. If you contact me there, I’ll share my personal edress. [email protected] Please tell Michael that I am in Panama and if he needs a break from the Darien, for some R and R get in touch with me and perhaps I can hook him up.
Looking forward to your new book. I note the Windward Passage on the cover. Been through there a few times myself and had my share of suffering as a result.
Onward>
Ray
I see it has a keel. I’d be surprised if it didn’t, but the keel I see is not enough to carry much sail at all…I assume there will be a centerboard, of that the keel will be greatly enlarged?
It has twin fin keels with bulbs, 5,000# of lead in each bulb.
Photo from many haulouts ago.
After 30 years, more minuses than pluses.
But great on the ocean. Very balanced, steers great with the prop and rudder in clean water all the time.
But when you go aground on a super high tide (like after a T/S) you are screwed.
Thanks, this isn’t the picture I thought was being referred to…
Where are you in Panama? Which side? I have boating pals down there to meet.
I love Green Cove Springs Marina. Hauled out and did much other work there.
“Windward Passage” and “Abraham’s Bay” (Mayaguana) were also in the running for titles.
I’ll email you.
Good judgement – DOOMSDAY REEF is better. IMHO
I don’t know if I’m valuable in any way, but I have about 500 schematics for radio memorized, just a heads up….since my first ham rig in 1968.
People don’t know but Panama was in a mini Revolution over a now closed copper mine Nov 2023. Total chaos esp in Western Provinces. I was there for a portion of it – no food, medicine or gas due to road pirates.
I was in the Western Provinces during those strikes and roadblocks. There was NOT TOTAL CHAOS. Things were definitely less convenient. One had to ration gasoline and diesel. The grocery stores were not out of food, but some items were difficult to find such as eggs. We are less fragile here since we don’t use the “on-time delivery system.” The Chinese grocers have warehouses full of food.
There was no screaming, fighting or threats. Life was slightly more difficult, but manageable.
Talk with Michael if you ever get the chance. He is super tuned in. Matt is awesome…..but to be a Sea Gypsy…..well you have to be a Sea Gypsy…..building those skills and assets takes a long long time…..Start today!
Hijack the starship?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w05jgQmSDGY
I was just going to post that. I’m hope to get a signed copy after it’s released. Any how are you doing, Brewer? I’ve been wondering…
I’m doing well, thanks for asking. I’ve dropped almost 10lbs., the blood pressure is down, and I see the cardiologist in about 3 weeks to assess the aneurism. I don’t believe it will need any surgery — just monitoring.
While replying, I highly recommend the beet supplements (I have the chews) and a nitric oxide supplement (OTC) for heart & artery health. I believe that and some reduction in weight has dropped my BP by about 15 pts on the systolic and ~5 pts on the diastolic.
Now, to make this an ongoing lifestyle change!
Glad you are doing better! I need to drop 10 lbs and I will be a happy camper
Good for you Brewer Buddy!
Thanks, my friend!
He’s a FANTASTIC writer, even Clancy sounds like a high school essay in comparison….
A ship on the sea won’t save any anybody from the seal, trumpet and bowl judgements of God or the separation of the sheep and the goats.
Food and fresh water is needed, the things found on land other than fish.
VOWG,
Many of the Arctic Indigenous people rely solely on fish, seals and water. They are exceedingly healthy. Arctic explorers who got stranded up there claim that this diet made them feel healthier than at any other time in their lives.
Plus, sailors can go ashore and find bounty as well. I can literally walk 5 minutes from where my boat is now and pick fresh mangoes off an enormous wild tree.
And don’t forget the millions of seafood restaurants all over the world.
Ray
How ’bout aquaculture/hydroponics onboard for greens ‘n’ stuff?
Many offshore sailors out here use simple sprouting kits. I have been doing so for over 30 years. I have a fresh jar of alfalfa sprouts non-stop with another one sprouting. Takes about 3 days.
Many larger boats can have hydroponics and herb gardens. Not that herb…….
The broccoli sprouts are awsum, too, and radish.
https://www.trueleafmarket.com/collections/wholesale-sprouting-seed
Very storable. Cheaper in bulk.
Being a pirate ship, we’ll have plenty of rye to sprout and turn into whiskey.
I though pirates drink rum.
We are modern pirates.
Have our bodies changed too much to make that diet healthy?
I love your articles ray.
I think you are descended from the sea people.
Hey PR,
When I used to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge I would always look out towards The Sea rather than towards The City. And SF was actually a wondrous place back then. It is a slime pit and great tragedy now.
Ray
30+ years ago, when I was in the Navy and stationed at Treasure Island, SF was just starting to decline (and even back then, Oakland was a shithole). I did have some good times there, but again, you could feel the entropy that was about to pull all that was good out of SF. Liberal “ex” hippies finally took control.
I got to drive the ship (as a qualified QM) under Golden Gate many times, and it’s true, it’s quite soul-stirring when it’s just you and the Sea. My ship (MSO-439) mainly patrolled along the West Coast, from SD all the way up to British Columbia, but we did hit the high seas, though not for very long, as minesweepers aren’t meant to be too far from the shores (for obvious reasons). A full complement of ship’s crew was only 73, and that was when the Weekend Warriors had to come onboard for their once-a-month jams.
But it’s that feeling, the one you get when you realize just how small you really are in proportion to the Earth, that gives you honest humility; it also helps you experience Nature as God intended, a Force so powerful that no man will ever achieve that level. No, when it’s just you and the stars and the Sea, there’s no finer spirituality. Water is Life; Life is Water. The Zen creeps in!
Anyway, I do miss sailing, and hope to hit the water again someday. And it’s beyond tragedy, what’s happened to SF (along with the entire state); the fact is, there is no more SF, it’s gone. At least we got to see it when it was at its finest, or as close as it gets.
Hey C O,
Nicely articulated. I was a QM as well and my GQ station was the helm. On an AE ammo ship in Vietnam. Pretty dicey duty. Was discharged at T I.
Imagine how depressed I get visiting SF. As a pioneer street performer there during our mini Golden Age it was quite magical. So to witness its horrific deterioration and to know that it is a direct result of pathologically altruistic lunacy just wrecks me. Have not yet done an essay on this topic, but it is stirring.
Get yourself a boat. The enchantment is still out there. Humans can’t destroy that.
Ray
AE ammo ship, huh? Geez — I thought MSO duty was bad (and the one I was on was a Vietnam-era refit, too). You know what it’s like to be on GQ constantly, losing stomach lining the whole time, and just praying to God that He had other plans for you than dying horribly in some backwater country, I see.
“WOODEN SHIPS; IRON MEN,” we all said, as we floated in jeopardy.
You will be hunted down, looted, raped, pillaged, and thrown dead into the sea.
It happens, in fact not very long ago.
Thanks for the input and the ray of hope in your message! /smh
I understand the desire to escape. There are so many people on the planet there is nowhere to escape to. Long term survival in other than a hand-to-mouth manner requires agriculture, with enough excess production to fund a suitable security force.
This requires permanence. Permanence means you will eventually be found, scouted, and overwhelmed, unless you are a state-sized or larger cooperative.
We need to focus on recovering and keeping control of the current political structures. Anything less is puerile fantasy and diversion of effort.
Our enemies are powerful, known, and few.
Good points, thanks. Unless you have someplace to escape to, (like HardscrabbleFarmers place, you are better off staying in an area you know well where there are people you know well.
I’m too old to give much consideration to the long term. My hope is to be able to keep barbarians out of our neighborhood.
Anyway, I see Congress as the key, but they will need help from the Courts and the executives, like State Governors and State Courts. And all of them will need the help of the People.
As a friend noted today when we talked, the people who created and carried through the American Revolution were not a large majority, in fact not even a majority, but, the call of Liberty can be very seductive, especially when you see injustice and tyranny growing rapidly.
Sadly mostly correct. See my earlier comment.
It is getting dangerous out there. Even heavily armed on a small sailboat would be dangerous.
VOWG,
Untrue! There were 2 recent piracy episodes in the Caribbean. In both cases the crews were relying on the benevolence of humanity. Had those pirates approached me, I would have introduced them to Mr. Glock and Mr. Samick Sage (my bow.)
I track this carefully, and it is FAR MORE dangerous ashore than at sea.
Ray:
The problem is you rely on the benevolence of mother nature.
I spent 20 years working as a shipwright in Long Beach Ca. and used to bring sail boats back north to So. Cal. for rich people who would sail their boats south to all the major marinas on the Mexican Pacific. Instead of sailing back north they would fly home so there wives wouldn’t have to tack all the way back up against the wind and get sick and blasted with salt water spray . I raced in two Trans-Pacs, 85′ and 87′ Class B on a 50′ Santa Cruz “Allure”.
I also crewed many times on Roy Disney’s “Pyewacket”.
Sailing the seas is not romantic and being a live aboard takes an extremely unique individual. Upkeep on a vessel floating in saltwater is constant and expensive and pulling out to dry dock for repairs is many times not an option when traveling not to mention getting engine and rigging parts, sail repair etc… , does the vessel have a reverse osmosis desalinator? Those things need CONSTANT attention.
I admire your spirit but when collapse does happen your advice to take to the seas (especially for people with no boating experience) could end up get people killed.
The Sea always wants to kill you and it’s nothing personal and if the need arises to protect yourself with firearms, you are most likely in a situation that you are going to die anyway. Bullet holes below waterline? No thanks.
Be careful out there and good luck, I’ll take my chances on land.
Hey Form Anon,
Damn. Diff strokes for diff folks, I guess. I have done a bunch of deliveries myself. They are tough but manageable and a hell of a sense of accomplishment afterwards. I did the Transpac as well, but I did it single-handed. As for the ordeal of living aboard. There are about 150 boats full of happy live-aboards within 5 miles o me.
I’m sorry that your experiences were so negative.
Ray
Most of those live aboards are people that can’t afford rent or a mortgage and their boats are not seaworthy and the hulls are covered in barnacles and kelp. Most marinas only allow a certain percentage of live aboards because marinas would be overrun with these types if they didn’t.
I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything or my respect for nature because of them, like I said, good luck.
That is mostly a US situation. When you have to sail across an ocean to get here, that eliminates all the deadbeat “boats.”
People used to live on houseboats anchored in the inter-coastal waterway around Ft. Lauderdale. They’d be easy pickins for my crew of pirates.
Heed the formerly anonymous poster’s advice.
I’ve mentioned this before. There are two types of seas. One of water and one of lands. Both are hazardous and fraught with unforgiving dangers and peril but both can hide you, provide for you either in solo or as a small grouping.
I too have personally dreamed of, and nearly bought a motorsailer, dreaming of sunsets, anchors in tropical locales, fishing, diving… I luv the water. But…. As much as I long to do this my skills are better suited to the seas on land. In a SHTF scenario I’ll gather the grands and a few friends and we’ll set out into the sea of the deep forests. Here in british communista there are forests where you will find no other people, buildings or civilization in 200 miles in any one direction.
Bush craft, like sea craft, are invaluable tools and knowledge that are best when shared. There are no shortcuts to survival in either seas but both have their rewards.
You have survival skills like the aborigines who once lived in those same type of forests?
Your reward for the first year will be to have not too many of your party die
If you can hide out on the ocean for 3 months…..most of the land based folks will be dead. Communities/villages will form for self protection so I see the Sea Gypsy’s connecting with a coastal community and getting on with rebuilding. This is the time period Matt is exploring…..what does 10 years post collapse look like……can’t wait. I think if you have the skills the sea is much safer in the initial period but your points on the corrosiveness of salt water are well stated.
Hi M H,
My vision is that my Tribe stays offshore or in a bay somewhere that is uninhabited until the Large Lunacy has sorted itself out. You can find this scenario in a fictional series that I did at my blog that begins with the essay titled THE STRANGER ARRIVES. It was 2 or 3 years ago. Easy to scroll and find. I think I’ll do so myself this evening to see how it holds up.
My boat is 48 years old and is in sensational shape. Fiberglass is astonishingly good in salt water. I’d rather have Matt’s steel vessel, but as T Roosevelt wisely put it, “Do the best you can with what you have where you are.” Matt and I have begun a pleasant email conversation. So much in common.
“…it is FAR MORE dangerous ashore than at sea.”
That might be true now.
My pirate ship will be able to dis-mast you and damage your rudder while sweeping the deck with .50cal fire, all long before your friend Glock and Sage are even nearly in range. We’ll be hoping you have lots of food on board, maybe some doubloons and pieces of eight!
It’s De-mast.
Some pirate you are.
Actually it’s dismast.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dismast
…and women
Happy voyaging! At least I hope it will be happier than us land lubbers.
Hey M C,
Thanks. I hope all the TBPers survive and flourish.
Ray
The very best to you Ray…we all have our different situations, skill sets, attitudes, yada, yada, yada.
I bought my last stand land at 62 in 2012 and it has been a joy working it while turning it into a double gated farm/compound.
My wife got to build her dream home and I got to build/create my dreams on my last stand land.
I’m also a legacy planner for my family.
I did learn one 100k+ lesson…never, ever leave your wife alone with an architect…but happy wife…happy life…so there is always that.
Sail on Brother! Sail On!
Hi Mark,
Thanks. Sounds like you have done very well. You might want to add an IED garden.
You are not Hardscrabble Farmer, correct? I believe his name is spelled with a C.
I hope we all make it. Those who do will definitely have The Right Stuff.
Onward>
Ray
there is no escape fool! they will find you at sea as well. drones will easily do the job. And YES the upper echelon of elitists are 99.9% evil as demonstrated by their past and current deeds. How can that be refuted? It can be by fools I imagine.
you will be allowed to survive only under their conditions. stay and fight the good fight. it must be done sooner rather than later and for our species to survive. your choice is to die running from them, or to die challenging them head first. Only in the latter situation can you win.
good ruck
Crossing the ocean on a small boat one is struck by the immensity of the sea. My Tribe would not be a high value target. Do you think they will grid the whole Pacific with drone launching platforms.
As I said near the beginning of this thread – some will Stand and Fight and some will Get Out of Dodge. Cynics might describe it as Glorious Defeat vs. Sensible Survival. I begrudge no one their choice.
satellites?? starlink?? spy whales?
AI controlled, solar powered blimps.
“My Tribe would not be a high value target”
Prob not at first. Who are you trying to convince? But if shit really hits the fan, will there be weather reports? Will you stay in blue water in a small boat with no weather info? Will you use your radio and be found directionally (either when you broadcast, or when the radio is just receiving and someone else is using IF detection)? Where, when and how will you come ashore to reliably replenish food, water, medicines? Are there any doctors in your “tribe”? How long can you live on the supplies you can carry?
There are enough big holes in the idea to render it…silly.
Big Holes. Really??? I have sailed successfully and happily over 50,000 miles alone and I NEVER had offshore weather intel. When I leave on a passage I gather reports that are good for perhaps 3 days. After that you sail the wind you’ve got. Ever hear of Columbus, Magellan and Captain Cook? They knew how to read the natural signs, as do I.
VHF radios which sailors use have a range of about 10-15 miles. You going to construct listening stations in a 10 mile grid across the ocean to apprehend a group of 6 boats filled with maybe 25 people who just want to be left alone?
You come ashore where there is no sign of locals or where you judge the locals to be friendly. If you are uncertain you take prudent precautions. No different than the techniques used by the explorers that I mentioned above. Plus, we bring value ashore as well.
You are surrounded by doctors in your world. Take a look around at how healthy the people are. Then take a look at how healthy my self-reliant Tribe is. We all have advanced First-Aid manuals onboard. We judge the risks and take our chances.
And finally, I have 3 words for you: RUBY RIDGE and WACO.
Best of luck to you
All the modern stuff is not that old. Sea faring has been going on just fine for thousands of years without motors, electricity, or any of the things that would be missed by the modern soul. Just having charts and a good sextant and the tables, a good watch, and a keen eye will get you there. Been there done that with great success. It’s amazing how little you need. Water is the big deal. Takes some discipline to use as little as possible… just in case. I had 90 gals and did 20K ocean miles and never ran out. Left sF with 60 gals of diesel for my hand crank motor and had half that left after three years. The world was definitely different back then. Now you can e-mail ahead for port clearance. Back then we were lucky to get mail, ever.
Excellent piece! I am approaching 70 end of year (my own catastrophe!) but I am in good shape for old fart and, of course, never lost my critical thinking skills so never vaxxed and knew the MSM driven charade in early 2020. That said, instead of fleeing and living in a state of possible desperation for my remaining years, why don’t we or our defenders just start identifying and taking down the snakes head before the snakes kill us? I suspect it may be like the finale in Wizard of Oz. That’s an entirely defensive and just war proposition. Then, sailing can be just fun again and not a last chance for survival?
Nuclear powered vessels will negate all of that….and they’re NOT for sale.
I’m living aboard a self-sufficient circumnavigation capable 47′ sailboat currently anchored in Miami where I run a major building demolition project. How can I network with like minded people living on boats?
Hi R R,
Go to my Sea Gypsy Philosopher blog and contact me via the email address that is there.
Sounds like “Go to San Francisco and ask for Paladin” or “Go to Chinatown and ask for Caine.” 🙂
Ray
My white privilege. Paying taxes to support murderers and rapists being let into this nation, illegally.
land-locked lubber here. I’ll just protect my family, home and neighborhood the best I can and trust Jesus.
Outfitted blue water cruising sailboats in the 40 to 50 foot range mono hulls and catamarans many were high end registered yachts .
I wish you and your tribe well and best of luck .
Just remember in a shit hit the fan moment catastrophic trouble at sea is compounded and deadly
Your tribe is dependent on weather reports and ability to call a MAYDAY
If things go that bad overall probably nobody’s listening .
The probability of no Mayday response is no different from no police coming to help on land if things go sideways. My Tribe knows the risks and is willing to take the chances. We believe the isolation is an ally and not an enemy.
May this piece of music fill your sails when you need it to, Ray..Pay attention to “Nimrod.” Smooth sailing, my friend…
#9 (Adagi0) Nimrod
Hey Nkit,
Am fond of that variation. Also love Slavic orchestras. First violin and first cello in particular.
Thanks,
Ray
Sounds great. If you sail. And want to be eaten by sharks when your boat sinks in a storm. And have no problem not bathing regularly. And enjoy immense sunshine (and skin cancer). Oh yeah, and can afford a sail boat and the time to learn to use it. These “brilliant” ideas to save humanity (or it’s freedom, or however you want to gloss it up) come from people ALREADY comfortable with money and ALREADY into the lifestyle (ie sailing). Sailing and kayaking and mountain trekking, etc. are activities enjoyed by upper middle and upper classes. By nature they are a privileged classes’ leisure activity – gussied up into a “survival mechanism” by the elites in that activity. Hilarious and disturbing they act as if they are put upon by other evil elites. I think most of us would rather pay rent and buy food with the money you spent on the boat, lessons, gear, time to learn to sail, and on and on. Call us slaves and “sheeple” all you want, sailor elites, we are more 21st century survivors than you are, swabbie.
Your comment reveals a lot.
Most of the Regulars here at TBP know that I earned the money to buy this sailboat by working my butt off as a Street Juggler for 25 years. That means I was giving my skill away to those who wanted to watch and not put anything in the hat. The full value of my 48 year old Upper Class Yacht would not amount to the down payment on a Nebraska suburban home. My Social Security income is puny.
If you want to indict someone for being a “sailor elite” you have the wrong suspect.