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To Forge An Island

DeletedUser2339

Greetings!

I'm SirPadre and I'm looking for discussion on a different parameter.

First let me state that I have a background in conventional home construction as well as Earthships and concrete domes. I've been looking at floating homes and "sea-steading" and, though fascinated by the subject, find most groups of similar interests either looking at millions of dollars for a "City on the Sea" or, like Richard Sowa, a small (inexpensive) project that, while eco-friendly and fun, blew apart in a hurricane and had to be redone.

So something practical, expandable, and capable of being done by "regular" guys. Concrete seems to be the best construction material [going to sea in a concrete canoe], but, past a point, the cost of forms gets up there.

So here's the idea: use steel cargo containers for the form. 8' x 8' x 40', marine welded shut and then welded to each other 5 side by side and 1 across each end. Spot weld wire to the exterior and gunnite a 3" inch coating of cement. This would give a platform of 40' x 56' for a base unit. Cargo containers sell for $600 to $1,600 (used) each. It takes 79 tons to sink an enclosed container.

So I want to build one and I'm not looking for money but ideas and people who find the idea worth pursuing. I think I can build it out of Rocky Point in Mexico (certification is easier in Mexico) and park it in the Sea of Cortez.

Any comments?
 

DeletedUser

I've read a bit about this lately. If I recall correctly, your floating city cannot be within 200 miles of land. The Gulf of California (aka Sea of Cortez) is only 150 miles at the widest point.

It's an intriguing idea and obviously has appeal to those who, in another time, would have ventured to a new land to begin a new life.
 

DeletedUser2339

That would be for an autonomous community: empire building, so to speak. This would be more of an ex-patriot enclave of a semi-autonomous nature. If a sufficient size were realized and the owners opted for same, it could be moved to open ocean. Also, floating platforms autonomy would be enhanced depending upon the Flag of Convenience it would be registered under.

You're right about the nature of the people who would be attracted by the idea; the pioneering spirit is alive, well, and looking for outlets. I'm one of those who also understand that another definition of a "pioneer" is a guy with an arrow in his back. So for now, baby steps. lol
 

DeletedUser

And here I thought maybe you just wanted to get away from your wife...:p... no but seriously, that is quite an interesting idea. Ive never went as far as to say I wanted my own island, however, if it weren't for the freezing 8 month out of the year bit I would love to live in Alaska... the last frontier... Currently I'm in rural west TN, and while this is almost about as country as it gets I would like to get more so "independent."
 

DeletedUser2339

Rural west Tn? I moved down here from Memphis in "03 to take care of my folks who retired to Florida. They both passed last year so I'm looking toward other horizens: hence the cargo container idea.

I've been considering the container as a "base" unit: with high density foam, chicken wire and gunnite you can create any number of shapes. Pontoons, boat hulls, support pylons; there are alot more choices than a giant raft. How about a giant trimaran power boat? Shaping for outrigger hulls would put them in a sixty foot lenght; weld 3 into an offset triangle (top two forward of the bottom one) three times for a central hull of say 140 feet. Now that's a live aboard ship. Or use multiple ones turned up on end for pylons like oil rigs use. Four of these would put a hundred ton home twenty feet above the waves.

I just think there's a major resource here thats not being exploited. Any ideas you might come up with are very welcome and I appreciate your time spent in consideration.

Padre
 

DeletedUser2339

ai1.jpg
aj1.jpg

Just to show this is not only feasable, its being done.
 

DeletedUser

how is it they keep the islands from being tossed about in the see during storms? I'm very curious... Btw you live in lakeland as your location says.. i was bown and raised, went to highschool in Bartow. still have family in polk county...
 

DeletedUser34

Who cares about you dang floridians....Nothing but birds comes from there.....I imagine the depth and width would have something to do with that, displacing the movement of the ocean around it etc etc.
 

DeletedUser

the island would have to be large enough to withstand rouge waves.... so you have to look at height as a factor or else your island will not last.
 

DeletedUser2339

Not true: we got gators too. You're right about the depth of the base, that's why its useful that cargo containers can be stacked and locked together.
 

DeletedUser2339

Mass stabilizes the structure as well as the breakwater attached to it, plus the outskirts of the island should be rigged for submersion and backwash.
If everyone based their living space by safety, California should be mostly empty and multiple major cities worldwide wouldn't be built next door to volcanoes. Gambling is gambling: doesn't mean there's no difference between poker and the lottery.
 
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