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Renting seastead prototype off Anguilla
Tue, 08/26/2008 - 03:03 — vincecate
I made some links to google maps to show what I think would be a good location for an early seastead about 3 miles off Anguilla. This location is somewhat protected so the seastead would not have to handle real open ocean conditions, so it could be a bit smaller. It is pretty with clear water and a reef nearby.
http://wiki.seasteading.org/index.php/User:Vincecate/FloatingVilla
In terms of independence it
In terms of independence it is unfortunate to make oneself dependent on a geographical feature like a reef, but i agree it would make for a good testing ground. A location like that would be very nice to try out designs and busines models.
Baby steps on path to the goal
This is not the end goal, just a baby step in that direction. The smaller the initial investment and the sooner a business plan gets to profitability, the better. This lets us make money off of prototypes we build and get experience in the ocean. As we get some experience we could locate further and further out. Could also move them back inside the reef if a storm was coming. At some point we can do free floating. By that time we could have a customer base and a reputation. So it seems like a good starting place for an incremental plan.
You have to take life as it happens, but you should try to make it happen the way you want to take it. - German Proverb
Yes, i agree, this seems
Yes, i agree, this seems like a very viable way of getting things going.
Geography seems excellent.
Geography seems excellent. Politics undetermined. If licenses and certificates are required they will have to be aquired in advance of any construction, as I see it. What are the standards you have to adhere to in order to get certified?
Seastead certification
The person I spoke with seemed to think it would be ok to build it and play with it myself but that for customers to go on it would have to be certified. So I think we don't need the certification in advance of construction, just in advance of making any money from it.
There are a number of certification agencies that would be acceptable to Anguilla. It seems the standard for certification is that it is a reasonably safe vessel. I am really not sure how hard this will be for a totally new design. I am sure these guys are used to seeing one boat after another. But the normal costs don't seem too bad. I think if we had a naval architect working with us that this certification would be manageable.
But it is kind of an unknown amount of trouble.
The question is how do you
The question is how do you prove that a completely new design is "reasonably safe"... It´s impossible. That´s the whole purpose of building it.
Personally I think it will be difficult to get any authorities to agree to having paying guests on what is in fact an experiment, certified or not.
Great idea!
I like the incrementalist approach, as well as having others support development efforts. I especially like the less-costly version - first of all, someone paying $100/night is not likely to complain as much about conditions as someone paying $500/night, and they would probably be more willing to let you know exactly what they like/don't like about it, which will help w/ future versions. Also, less capital is required to get started. Good thoughts!
Great Plan
I like this basic plan.
I have some questions:
I need to write up the coral reef resort business plan and post it to the wiki to get some feedback. Not tonight tho'.
More on potential Anguilla location
The dark blue area just inside the reef is about 20 meters deep. See chart at http://cate.com/anguilla/chart.gif
The current is under 1 mph. Winds are normal tradewinds, 15 to 20 mph most of the time I think. People sitting outside might want to be on the downwind side of the building much of the time.
Anguilla waters go out 200 miles. Most commercial fishing is probably less than 30 miles out, but the total area actively used is probably over 500 square miles. If there is a tourist seastead staying in one location, the fishermen are not going to care about the small number of fish it will catch. Tourism is the main industry here. Fishing really makes money selling to restaurants that tourist eat at. If the seastead is making money for some Anguillians (taxi drivers, water taxi, restaurants, and me) I don't think there will be trouble. Fishermen like tourists, since they eat at restaurants that buy their fish.
Closer to the island there is a main route that boats travel. You can actually see a big boat in one of the google pictures. It would not be good to locate there. But up closer to the reef is out of the way of traffic. This is the ship http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=18.242471,-63.094102&spn=0.002328...