How about bugout boats?

[Mick]

I pulled this pic off the net because it has a serene, tranquil spiritual quality to it (sorry was i rambling), but in a SHTF world it might not be a bad idea to anchor in some quiet backwater like this.
Mind you if that was mine I'd paint it in stripey green camo paint.
There'd be plenty of water and from the river, and we could hunt game birds and rabbits etc around the area, and get a small veg plot going in a nearby secluded field.
Paraffin lamps would provide light, and a small propane cooker for cooking, what more would we need?



PS- Many years ago I actually seriously thought of buying my own boat like that one but ran up against a wall of red tape from the Brit Waterways board, so I never bothered.
Apparently they don't allow you to live permanently on little boats like that, you have to buy a proper expensive houseboat or canal boat, and on top of that the licence fee is very steep.

[Mortblanc]

You should see the state of some of the canals since the Covid hit and they can not be maintained. That is all done by the Canal and River Trust now and people live on small boats on the canal system everywhere.

You do have a canal use fee of about 150 pounds, but that is offset by not having to pay council taxes and you definitely see where it is going if you are moving along the canals constantly. Lots of dredging, trimming and lock repairs going on.

The boat you have pictured is a GRP river cruiser and you can live on one as a "continuous cruiser" if you meet the regulations, which include moving every 24 hours to two weeks, depending on the place and season. There are thousands of people living in them and posting on you-tube, pretty good entertainment watching them do repairs and maintenance during COVID mumbling "lefty loosey" with plasters all over their fingers!

Since you don't drive you would fit right in. Most of them float about smashing into one another, shouting and throwing things about and then showing film of their abuse on-line like it was Russian dash cam footage.

However, using one as an escape mechanism is risky. You are restricted to usable waterways, often too narrow to turn about and leave. And you will find that almost every inch of that shore line is privately owned by folk that do not really like the "ditch people".

[Mick]

Thanks Mortblanc, it seems river/canal things have changed since I looked at them 30 odd years ago.
I'd fancy living on rivers (Norfolk Broads perhaps) rather than canals, but I'm a city-bred thing and probably too soft anyway to do without the internet, TV, and a chip shop round the corner,but in a hardcore SHTF situation I think I could put up with the loss of amenities rather than chance my luck staying in the city..-

[Skean Dhude]

Boats are OK. Just not on the canals. Keep one in an estuary and then run for the open water when it starts. Keep static with your head down for as long as you can.

[bigpaul]

trouble with canals is you can be attacked from both banks even if you are in the middle of the canal, then there is the locks.
no where or very limited space to grow any food and I doubt the canal water is safe to drink.

[Mick]

Yeah, that's why my first location choice for a bugout boat would be on an open river system like the Norfolk Broads where we could find a secluded backwater..

[bigpaul]

African Queen I dont think so.

[CharlesHarris]

[Mick]

[bigpaul]

staying put in a marina may not be an option post SHTF, moving about on a boat needs some marine skills and navigation. knowing currents and channels too., maybe obtain some marine charts?