Post Oil Age of Sail Reboot

It is important to remember that just because cheap energy is expensive, that doesn't mean all the things we learned when it was cheap are suddenly gone. We have libraries (and librarians) to keep track of these things. Someday I may be running a library that still works when the power goes out.

In the post oil world, SUVs won't be moving around, much less supercars. And with the lights off, charging up your $110K electric car isn't going to happen either, unless you own expensive solar panels and don't mind walking home from where you got car-jacked by someone who objected to you having an electric car when everyone else is on bicycles. Just keep that in mind.

Four masted schooner. 

In the post oil world, coal powered steam engines will mean something again. As will coal powered ships, come to think of it. And nuclear powered ships, too. Those still work post oil. But the most majestic and interesting will be clipper ships, 2-4 masts, plying the ocean but built of modern materials and hauling shipping containers or nets and ice makers in the insulated hold. We'll also have electric winches and computer controls so you can haul more cargo with fewer men to do the work. Higher profits. More efficient. Throw in radios, GPS, and cellular buoys and our coasts can be very productive fisheries after the oil is mostly gone.

While tempting to go the retro-route of Steampunk, we won't be seeing lots of airships, and brass goggles are probably not coming back into style. The types of bicycles we ride now, with multiple gears and upright seating and both wheels the same size... those are staying. They exist for good reason, and their parts are cheap. Penny Farthings flip forward for horrific injuries, which is why the kind we ride now were originally known as the "safety bicycle". Hilarious, but true.

Salmon in Lake Tahoe during Spawning at Taylor Creek.

I have long held that the answer to economic instability is strength in depth. That means filling your lakes with fish, your forests with deer, and your parks with fruit trees (though the bird crap means you don't want a table in the shade!), and improving the soil of your marginal lands and filling every pantry with a couple months of food. This is something California used to do back in the 1970's, but after the "homeless" were invented by President Reagan via shutting down the mental hospitals and releasing the patients onto the streets, many of them dying, some of them committing crimes against innocent people (and kids), the money to maintain fish stocks in lakes and campgrounds worth visiting, with a veteran in an Airstream Trailer to manage it and keep the peace (complete with 1911 for when the drunks need putting down), all that ended and the parks closed and its become the crap it is today. Less than 1/3 of the campgrounds I knew as a kid exist anymore. And that sucks. Those were nice. In the old days you could stop all sorts of places along 395 or 89 and find a campground every 10 miles. Now? Not so much.

Also, and on a side topic, Hobie 16 catamaran, which is famous for flipping over, obviously needs a smaller sail. 26 feet of mast is kinda ridiculous. The person above is using a cable attached to the mast to counterbalance the energy, called a trapeze. This generally means you need a second person to steer but this one has an extension on the tiller, which you can see. A flexible carbon fiber mast to spill wind gusts like the Butterfly (sailboat) does would help the design too, though a 22 foot mast and a sail that's got a lower center of energy (midpoint of the sail in vectors) and a furling sail would help a lot. From what I've seen a Butterfly is like a Laser with most of the flaws removed. And a blunt scow nose, too.

Advantages of the Butterfly (above) are the sail furls, the mast moves, more comfy for two people. Reasonably simple setup.

There's also the Classic Moth, which I like because its beautiful. That has a stayed mast (lines attach the mast to more points on the boat) so the sail goes up and down and is adjustable. This is important because the adjustments shape the sail and help it deal with gusts and odd wind directions. These boats are used on the ocean and bays by people wearing wet suits. I am not interested in wearing a wet suit. I am way more interested in staying dry while sailing. And I'll sacrifice some of the speed for that. And also haul a trailer, since if I join the local yacht club I'll be parking it up there anyway. This avoids the great expense of paying for storage elsewhere. That's quite important, financially. I'm still looking at around 18 months before I finish my Masters degree and can get a serious paying job. Probably down in Sacramento. I really like the look of the Moth, though. Its very pretty.

Boats that don't soak you or flip over are heavier, and have higher sides, with bench seating. I have read they are called Day Sailers. That is probably the kind to have. This Stevenson Project day sailer is a 500 pound keelboat with a pivoting mast. And this trailer has a flat tire so won't be moving very fast. I think I'd see about making it with a kick-up rudder, and possibly replace the heavy keel with dual keel-boards like a shark's fins. Possibly. Maybe not. This is a pretty good design, after all. Something for after I get the job. Plenty of time to consider.