tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4849754070637910223.post8218483174280931060..comments2010-04-25T05:56:00.263-07:00Comments on aeldric: aeldrichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04018609083647378883noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4849754070637910223.post-69025706270526168262010-04-25T05:38:23.180-07:002010-04-25T05:38:23.180-07:00Hi Aeldric. It is some time since we exchanged a f...Hi Aeldric. It is some time since we exchanged a few emails. You seem to have gone off boats. We sailed from the Uk to Australia with 3 children, the youngest of whom was 2 when we left. Being careful and setting the boat up for kids was the key to a successful and safe trip.<br /><br />Having said that maintenance is definitely a much bigger issue. Setting your boat up as simply as possible is important. Diesel will probably be available for a long time, however managing energy usage is critical anyway. There are some great boats available. I believe you can pick decent boats up in the US just by paying the outstanding marina fees.Saildoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14642015470932289170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4849754070637910223.post-81315067599922683732010-04-22T18:58:00.297-07:002010-04-22T18:58:00.297-07:00You could also consider a gasifier as a fuel sourc...You could also consider a gasifier as a fuel source for your transport, then you can rely on the local landscape as a store of fuel. The blog http://nakedmechanic.blogspot.com/ is documenting his progress in building a woodgas ute which you might find useful.<br /><br />Selecting a site for your doomstead is the most critical part of the planning process in my opinion. I thought I'd made a fairly good analysis before we purchased a block of land, intending something similar, but we ended up being ruled by emotion in a lot of ways, as well as allowing the transient desire to be close to family to override the more sensible idea of actually moving somewhere that met certain critical criteria, such as climate. I guess sticking to the results of the analysis is as hard as making it.<br /><br />I'd also carefully consider the tradeoffs between buying an established site and starting from scratch, especially given the economic conditions, if you're at all contemplating starting from a bare site.<br /><br />For 200 - 300k you can often pick up a few acres that already has a lot of infrastructure in place: house, shedding, fences, power, water etc. To buy a blank block even for 100k or so, and then put all those things on there you would be looking to spend at least twice as much to arrive at the same effective end point, at least if you're following council regulations to do so. We didn't consider that carefully enough before jumping in. Thankfully we're not too proud to admit we made many mistakes and jump ship for a better plan, just so long as we can sell the current block.<br /><br />Best of luck with the planning and implementation, I look forward to following your adventures!Geoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15862419826845781150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4849754070637910223.post-12577532089904577612010-04-17T18:00:49.174-07:002010-04-17T18:00:49.174-07:00Yes, people throughout history have striven to hav...Yes, people throughout history have striven to have at least one year of food reserves, and idelly two. The fact that we have run down the worldwide food reserves to a little over a month (as at March 19 2009 - http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/03/19/food-shortage.html ) is a little worrying. It heightens the need to set aside a supply yourself. <br /><br />I have just finished moving our supply. It is heavy. I start with the assumption that my garden will supply fruit/vegetables (vitamins/minerals) but is not large enough to supply allof the needed calories. So I have 6 months of simple calories for a family of 4. (1,800 Calories/day for adults, 1,200 for children - I assume that the garden supplies the remaining needed calories). The store is mostly sugar (which does not go off and can turn the fruit in my garden into preserved jam) and white rice (which goes off very slowly, so only needs rotation once every 2 years), with a little flour (which has to be rotated regularly).aeldrichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04018609083647378883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4849754070637910223.post-76723988555918135842010-04-17T13:18:23.500-07:002010-04-17T13:18:23.500-07:00Nice analysis. There should, of course, be more di...Nice analysis. There should, of course, be more disaster preparation at a community level. Indeed at various different levels. At a world-wide level I reckon we should have at least 2 years supply of food for everyone. It doesn't have to be a wonderful eating experience. Indeed the idea would be to keep topping it up while feeding the expiring stuff to edible animals. <br />A crisis is a lever. We should all be using the impact of the small volcano in Iceland to convince people that bad stuff can happen and we should put much more money into preparation.rkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01183856757175002949noreply@blogger.com