Budget Estimates for Single Family Seastead

[vincecateSubscriber]

I started a page with some estimates for some of the things I would want on a single family seastead.

http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/User:Vincecate/Budget

[Wayne-GramlichSubscriber]

Obviously, solar powered station keeping is expensive. In the open ocean, it can probably be dispense with. Why not take a hybrid approach of using diesel for occasional station keeping and use solar for everything else?

[vincecateSubscriber]

For the migration I am planning, I think I want 1 to 2 MPH anytime I am not in port, which is probably about half the time. Because power requirements go up with the cube of the speed, a slow and steady speed is what I want to do. So I don’t see it as occasional station keeping, but slow and steady migration.

http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/User:Vincecate/Migration

If your plan is to be off of California part of the year and off Mexico part of the year, then diesel for moving and solar for station keeping and electricity for living could be reasonable. Check the fuel costs though. If you are moving fast they could be huge.

[ThorizanSubscriber]

I get really excited when I see specifics like this. If I hadn’t just lost my life savings in the market, I’d be placing a down payment.

[PatriKey Master]

I’d love to see you & Wayne working together to flesh out the SFS concept. TSI can probably provide some funding.

[ThorizanSubscriber]

I am far more interested in SFS than one large 1000+ unit structure. The concepts of voting with your home, or the ease of picking up and leaving are far more evident in a SFS, in my opinion. If there is anything I can do to aid in this endeavor, please let me know.

[xiagosSubscriber]

I like the fact that Vincecate has actually put some cost figures down. However, these mean little because you haven’t offered a design. Of course, your figures are only partical owing to your lack of structual costs, waste resource recovery systems, etc. Since you have included a drop-stylelife boat, I am assuming that you are planning on a spar-type habitat that keeps you far above the water.

The one thing I have difficulties with is your planned 1 to 2 knots (at sea we use knot/hour). You had better not be planning on navigating. If you come into a 5 knot head wind, you will be progressing at -3 or -4 knots along your course — that is you will be moving backwards. In order to navigate at a cruising speed of 2 knots, you had better design for a top speed of 20 knots. On the other hand, if you plan to rely on wind and currents for your main propulsion, then your specs might work for modifying your direction of travel. However, that leaves you at the mercy of weather anomallies that could put you into shoals, or on the beach.

[GentrySubscriber]

I noticed that you’re severely under-budgeting for food. (Not that it’s a great concern since it only makes for a small part of the total expense)

Also you’re limiting your self to

-1080 calories per day

-40 grams of protein per day

If you have any concern for the long term health of your family you won’t be eating as little as that,

[vincecateSubscriber]

Gentry wrote:

I noticed that you’re severely under-budgeting for food. (Not that it’s a great concern since it only makes for a small part of the total expense)

I agree. I updated the $800/person to $2500 per person and changed the link.

http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/User:Vincecate/Budget

In the early days when there are few other seasteads, I expect to make frequent stops at ports and also to be fishing all the time. So the food storage is for some survival mode really. Fishermen, even here in Anguilla, put floating things into the ocean to attract fish. A slow moving seastead should do this very well. So I think fishing will be rather easy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_aggregating_device

— Vince

[vincecateSubscriber]

xiagos wrote:

I like the fact that Vincecate has actually put some cost figures down. However, these mean little because you haven’t offered a design.

I have published a number of designs on the wiki. My current favorite can be seen at:

http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/User:Vincecate/FloatingVilla

Others can be seen at:

http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/User:Vincecate

xiagos wrote:

The one thing I have difficulties with is your planned 1 to 2 knots (at sea we use knot/hour). You had better not be planning on navigating. If you come into a 5 knot head wind, you will be progressing at -3 or -4 knots along your course — that is you will be moving backwards. In order to navigate at a cruising speed of 2 knots, you had better design for a top speed of 20 knots.

You can buy an 8 foot propeller with a 3 or 6 hp electric motor on it. The low hp thrusters make it realistic to have the seastead run on solar power. These can give 530 lbs or 760 lbs of thrust. But they turn slowly and would only move you at slow speeds. If you had 4 of these then you would be able to make progress as long as the wind drag was less than 2000 lbs.

http://www.flygtus.com/116191.asp

http://www.flygtus.com/724490.pdf

http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/PropellerEfficiency

http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/Thrusters

That said, I do expect to be heading downwind most of the time. And I will do a migration route with mostly good weather.

http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/User:Vincecate/Migration

But I agree that you should have a design that can make headway even going into a 20 mph wind. That is almost a normal wind around where I live.

— Vince

[ThorizanSubscriber]

I agree with Vince about the fishing. I think seasteads could be a boon to fish populations in the world as they become more popular, partly due to when there are more places to hide out when one is young, then there are more fish in the oceans when they are older.

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