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Smallest individual structure that can survive in the deep ocean
Wed, 06/11/2008 - 21:20 — nx2059
Suppose we want to build the smallest possible safe individual platform to stay in the deep ocean. What kind of design would it be? If the platform is to survive 100ft rouge waves, it's got to be
- "Bigger than the waves" in some respect.
- Be moored to the ocean floor firmly enough so that the wave goes over it.
Does anybody think that something as small as a 50x50x50 sized TLP could survive a 100ft wave? I would imagine that if it's very firmly moored to the botom of the ocean, and had some give it may be able to stand it.
This is the big question
The sucess or failure of the seasteading idea hinges on affordability. And I think single family seasteads are also key to the sucess but that is debatable. How affordable a single family seastead is depends on how small you can make something that is safe and comfortable on the open ocean. We don't have a lot of expamples so far. The closest thing to a real example of a single family seastead is FLIP. http://www.sio.ucsd.edu/voyager/flip/ With the robots cutting and welding in shipyards these days, this might be affordable but we have not gotten prices yet.
But FLIP does not need to be moored to be safe. A wave can go over while free floating and it will be fine.
There are a number of proposals but we don't really know which ones are buildable and safe, or how much they would cost.
Having a TLP in 3 mile deep water is probably going to cost more than a free floating design (my guess). Since cost is so important I don't expect that TLP will be the way we go. A TLP of 50 feet has trouble with a 100 foot wave. Waves make the water go down as well as up. If the water goes down 50 feet your 50 foot TLP is going down. This kind of violates the intent of a TLP and might be a problem.
Tieing steads together
You may not be able to moor to the oceanic bottom efficiently when it is 3 miles underwater, but then you might be able to moor a small TLP to... another bigger, deeper-reaching seastead.
FLIP looks nice, but the
FLIP looks nice, but the problem is that there isn't much surface area on it. I wouldn't want to live on a seastead unless I was somewhat self sufficient. If you take a reasonably sized platform and cover it with greenhouses and hydrophonics, you would have at least something. I kind of like the idea of bunkering down for big storms. In the TLP you could fill the ballasts, and sink underwater for big storms. This would add costs to the platform, but it's mass wouldn't be significantly increased. Every time i see a spar platform, I can't help but think that thoes massive spars must cost millions of dollars :-(. www.offshore-technology.com/projects/genesis/images/genesis8.jpg
Message in a Bottle
A message in a bottle is able to survive severe waves.
I suspect that a small upright spar without any cantilever on top will survive just about anything. The reason for no cantilever is because big waves will crash over it.
More minimalism
By the same token, then, a minimalist spar seastead could be built as not being more than a few meters high above water, with comparably lower submerged height (and similarly lower cost and mass). The sun deck on the top would be cleared of anything not bolted-down and seawater-resistant during rough weather so that the waves would simply pass over it without damage and with hardly any bobbing or tilting effect.
But then people would be confined inside for the duration of big wave weather, unless there is a seawater-proof hatch on the top or side for getting outside in the tempest (add lifelines and assorted equipment), bridges or zip-lines or whatever means of connecting seasteads together, so they can move from one place to the other even while waves rage on. Underwater connections could be considered, too: I don't mean just sealed tunnels (impractical and dangerous IMO) but below-waterline hatches and guidelines for transfering from one seastead to the other well beneath the roller-coaster heaving of the waves. Even a diving bell attached to a cable could prove efficient for the purpose of moving things and people back and forth underwater, away from nature's fury. I would go as far as suggest a submerged network of such cable-driven bells as an interesting form of "underground transit" system for continued operation during bad weather days.
Think of it as the "bunker" approach to surviving oceanic wrath. If building tall enough proves too costly initially, maybe building short and low enough can work out instead.
Cost of FLIP
In 1962 dollars FLIP's total cost was under $600,000. This might have included things scientists would need that we would not need.
http://www.mpl.ucsd.edu/resources/flip.history.html
Using http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ to adjust to 2007 dollars I get $4.1 million. With CAD software today and robots cutting and welding the real inflated price could well be less. In particular if they were produced in any quantity. And there could be other designs that are cheaper. So I think there is hope for the $1 to $2 million seastead.
If your TLP can go underwater then either it is built like a submarine or you have to take off all the wires, lights, switches, pumps, winches, and electronics each time. This is costly or painful. And the family has to be able to get off and go someplace else also.
I think self sufficiency of energy using solar power is reasonable. I don't expect to do much farming. Can buy and store food easy enough. Fishing seems reasonable.
Some amount of preparation for hurricanes is reasonable. In Anguilla and other hurricane places we could well spend 2 days putting up hurricane shutters on all the windows, cutting trees back from houses or wires, etc etc. You have lots of lead time and so a design that needs a bit of prep before it is ready for a hurricane is reasonable. So taking solar panels inside. Bringing hydroponics inside, covering windows, etc are reasonable.
$2M
The FLIP is tiny though. Sure it can withstand a lot, but there isn't a lot of room to build an economy on. How are you going to get your $2M investment back living in what is basically a small house hundreds if not thousands of miles away from anything? I would much rather purchase something like this www.maritimesales.com/JLS10.htm for $250,000, where I can...
This option is still viable to me as an individual if I save up my money for a long time. $2M is out of my price range and not having the ability for self sufficiency (which is kind of necessary IMHO to escape the overarching hand of governements) breaks the deal.
Boats have some advantages and might be cheaper
>for $250,000, where I can...
When I read it I see $275,000 and "Because she requires her dry-docking owner has put her at a low price.". This means you have to put a lot more money into it before it is "ship shape". You could be closer to $1 mil than even $500,000 by the time it is really ready.
But ships have their advantages. People living on a drifting or moored seastead will have to pay ships to bring them supplies. As Wayne said, there will probably be different types of seasteading.
And what is acceptable
And what is acceptable operating condition varies. Particularly if you intend to live aboard. That might mean it costs more to refit. It might mean it costs less. It might mean you do much of yourself over a couple years, longer if you have to learn the skills.
Some of the things you replace may be significantly cheaper to operate than commercial, perhaps at a penalty in total capacity, maybe you come up with something innovative. Maybe you can trade space on your seastead for labour or expertise. Maybe you can "go condo". Think about the size of it in comparison to a regular home.
The footprint of that vessel is roughly 4500 sq feet- well over 4 times that of my house, roughly a third of my entire lot where my house is located- and I have a large lot at .3 acre. That footprint is the equivalent of one deck, but in actuallity, there are several partial or full decks, lots of room to create structures that could be additional housing or processing space for whatever industry you engage in. Granted, some of that space is already "spoken for", but other parts are not, and even some of the space that is necessary to a bottom-line-profit, squeeze-the-last-dime business may not be to someone who is willing to compromise some operating margin for living space, particularly because they don't have the overhead of a land-based dwelling any more. It's also of a convenient size to handle and come into port, but probably large enough that only people who really want to be miserable will be seasick in normal weather.
Two or three families liquidating their home on land could buy this vessel, and provided they had an operating/business plan that makes sense, outfit her and live aboard. Even if that plan was to stay in port for two years and fix her up while they keep their day jobs, then move out on the ocean when they are confident in their abilities and plans.
Of course, a seasteading movement that picks up used ships on the market will probably drive prices up a bit for used vessels, or quickly take up those that are priced on the lower end.
However, the point is, that if you want to live on the ocean under a flag of convenience, there are options, ranging from fairly cheap for non-commercial vessels, to very expensive in terms of a home, but at the same time not so expensive in terms of a small business. A couple million is not that much for a small business, and it's nothing for a condominium.
Look at this one, (It's a LASH barge) for an alternative to the spiral island concept (although this picture of the same thing built over seems excessive, and a bit tacky). Or a car ferry. For those who are considering drifting or mooring, you don't even have to have a working engine (not that I personally think that is a good idea).
Stability
Stability and isolation from wave action is not the highest goal. People have spent long periods of time aboard ships for centuries. The highest goals are safety, comfort, and economic viability. Safety has a range of acceptable levels, and comfort is relative. Economic viability is the key, and the most easily measured. How much does it cost, how much does it make?
If you're prone to seasickness, then seasteading is probably not for you anyway, no matter what the platform.
Living aboard a ship at least has solid business models for success. You'd be trading in your terrestrial home for a floating home, and you'd need to have a job you can do wherever you take it.