# My Coastal Bug-Out Plan (Zombie)



## aard_rinn (Jun 21, 2012)

So, I just started college and I decided to write about my bug-out plan (Zombie).

I have lived and sailed on the coasts of CT my whole life. I know many people discuss bugging out to shops and other human areas, but I disagree, for one main reason - this is where all the zombies will be.

I have this plan in mind. If I am in the New Haven area with my family, my bug-out is the Harbor. The Sound School, the warf, and the CG station all have boats, and all I need to do is steal one with a life raft, get it away from shore, and move to and from shore via the rowboat. I can stay for a bit and get supplies, or leave after going to shore to get gas, which, fortunately, is pumped at the docks. I can even fill gas containers to trade with landlubber survivors, and if I take supplies and weapons from the armory and the kitchens, I will be all set. Plus, a boat on the water is virtually unassailable without another powerboat, and even then, it'd be almost impossible if I had a boat like, say, the Sound School Island Rover. And you can see anything on the water for miles.

The RV SSIsland Rover has a maximum person load of like 50 people + gear (18 tonnes), so she could carry a massive amount of supplies. She also had a pair of life boats + oars over the cabin. In addition, she has a large, flat stern, where I could grow some plants if I take agriculture supplies from the SS greenhouses; stuff like onions, sage, rosemary, and thyme, plus potatoes and lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and spring radishes: all things that can be moved into the cabin easily if frost hits. The bulk of my food would be fish; she has a 150 gallon plexiglass tank in which a few live fish could be stored for a few days, plus fishing equipment for 30 students. The hull is fiberglass,but a small fire could be built on the gunnel to cook fish.

In addition, full safety gear is aboard for 30 people. So, 35 life vests, blankets, 6 gumby cold water suits, a massive first aid kit, 40 current flares plus about 180 expired ones, smoke flares, a pack of water bottles, medicine, inhalers, anti-seasickness meds, radar, several hand-held radios plus a built in one, charts, maps, and navagational equipment + GPS, ect. and more could be taken from ashore, like a few back-up batteries. 

The main advantages of a boat are this:

Immediate food source - fish are easy to catch, reliable, can't be overhunted in an area by only a small group, and are fairly good food. They don't need a lot of cooking, so fuel cost is low, and can be eaten raw safely. They also can be kept alive for up to a week without a fancy set-up, and leftovers can be used to catch more fish. Also, serving-sized, unlike deer, and only one person needs to fish. You also can't run out of ammo.

Zombie-proof - even if zombies can swim, you can easily motor away a quarter-mile in like 3 minutes, and they probably can't climb aboard.

Human-proof - there's no way anyone without practice + a speedboat can board a medium+ vessel (30ft~). Even one person can probably ward off a few people with just a prod, or go inside and motor away. Or, weigh anchor far enough away from shore that people can't see you. It's impossible to even aproach, if you always have a sentry with a gun to shoot them out of the water if they seem hostile.

LARGE capacity - 18 tonnes. That's plenty for a smal group, and way more than a car or anything other than a truck. Any supplies gotten can be kept aboard, without worry about size. She also has a small crane to get things aboard. If you want to keep things in dryspace only, can carry ~2 tonnes.

Indoor/outdoor - has a cabin with a step that can be slept in, with padded benches for 8, and room for 4 below decks. Also has a toilet that can be made to dump outside the boat. Has ~50' of covered deck for fishing/daily life that could be sealed with tarps on the sides to make it rainproof and left open in back, and ~50 feet of uncovered deck for farming.If you have less than 8 people, supplies can be kept below decks.

Fuel efficient - For it's size, yes. Can go over a day straight without stopping to refuel, and fuel is right on the docks, so you don't need to explore on shore to get it. Has a huge gas tank, and can go long distances on one tank.
Not useless if broken - if she breaks, weigh anchor and use her as a floating fortress.

Scalability - Large boatyard around? Bring family/neighbors, and take more than one boat. There's safety in numbers, and you'll have more people to colonize with. Food on the water is an easy resource to get, and there's less external competition for fuel at harbors, since anyone driving would need to lug it out, not just drive up. Besides, most people wouldn't think of it. More boats also leaves more storage and more farming space, and you can take turns going ashore and staying watch. And on-board radios mean communicating is easy, even if you split up.

Settling - if you decide to settle down, a boat allows you to have a ready-made living space while you convert the area to livable. It makes island homes easier to supply, and means that you don't have to live in a tent while you start out. Also, housing materials can be taken from boatyards, like boards, nails, piping and generators, gas is easy to get, and fuel like firewood or coal can be stacked onboard in bulk, brought over, and unloaded on the island for ease of use. For example, you can have two people at a lumberyard or home depot loading 5 lifeboats a day each (250 lbs each) and putting it on the boat for four days (10,000 lbs total, or 5 tonnes, or ~2.5 cords) and sail back to the island, unloading it there, and you have all the wood you need for quite a while.

Onboard power - can get extra batteries from other ships if you have enough people, or can use the on-board generator. Comes with radar/sonar/radio/lights/gps/outlets.


Really, the best thing to do would be secure the ship, go to the coast guard station and take all their rice, beans, onions, potatoes and fresh water, plus any canned food you can (not a priority) plus the guns, flares, and knives, and a few changes of cloths if you can find them, and get out of the harbor. Choose a direction (North or South) and follow it out of the Sound, then head South along LI or the coast so you are in warmer areas like DC. Then, weigh anchor and farm a bit, or move on if you want. If you find people, go ashore to trade, or move on, and if you find an empty island to use for farming, use the boat as a home base until you have developed it, then travel to surrounding harbors to loot gas and supplies to store on the island until you have everything you need, and keep all the fuel you have on the island so you can move on if you want. The main point, though, is to be off shore and away from people for a year or two until things have settled down, and you can find a place that is still zombie-free and secluded, and also to be able to start producing your own food right away.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

Your whole plan is predicated on stealing a bunch of shit wherever you go. My guess is that you'll get shot as a looter before you even steal the boat.


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## aard_rinn (Jun 21, 2012)

This is a zombie plan, and it's predicated on being started after things are already pretty well along. Besides, all I need to steal to start is a boat. From a high school. Not exactly a grand caper, especially once people start evacuating, and then I can wait in the harbor a week or two before looting the CG. By that time, they'll have all been zombied or dead, and I can bring along any surviving CG. Plus, that's a useful step, but can always be skipped.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

I live aboard my 31' sailboat during summer and don't think the marinas or boat yards would have any fuel for long when the shtf. I do agree it would be secluded but you would need 24 hr. watch for intruders. Also you should aquire a fresh water maker, that would come in handy. I would also add solar pannels and a wind generator to keep batteries charged. 

Desperate people along the coast could watch your dingies coming in for supplies and kidnap the crew for ransom. Just a few thoughts, my boat is also set up for bugging out on.

I think there would be an increase in piracy, after all I was born a pirate 500 years to late.


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## hillobeans (May 17, 2012)

aard_rinn said:


> This is a zombie plan, and it's predicated on being started after things are already pretty well along. Besides, all I need to steal to start is a boat. From a high school. Not exactly a grand caper, especially once people start evacuating, and then I can wait in the harbor a week or two before looting the CG. By that time, they'll have all been zombied or dead, and I can bring along any surviving CG. Plus, that's a useful step, but can always be skipped.


Okeydoke.

I didn't realize you were going under the assumption that everybody was already dead. Carry on.


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## aard_rinn (Jun 21, 2012)

See, I was thinking that if you keep moving you'll never hit a marina more than once, and the IR is 51' powerboat so I thought that if she's far enough offshore (~1 mile) a watcher can see in all directions. She has a generator, so, while solar's nice, there are plugs for batteries. Maybe I could strip from abandoned boats if I find them, I have the know-how...

I really like that boat's're stocked with emergency stuff alreads, and a 50' powerboat is, no offence, a lot more space than a 30' sailboat. Here she is: http://www.soundschool.com/documents/IslandRover.pdf

I do think a water maker would be good. I was planing to use rain/streamwater. Perhaps, given enough time, one could be removed from the school and jury-rigged on the boat?

If I had more than ~4 people, I would also try to take the two 22' boston whalers, and the fuel canisters. They use less power than IR, move faster and hold a lot more than the rowboats, plus you can row them.

***edit: I'd also take a few 1 and 2 seater kayaks, if I could get them. If we did meet anyone else, they'd probably be willing to trade for one, at least in this area. Hunters esp.! You can strap 5 to the top of the cabin.***

I still think that the water is the best place to be once SHTF. Large capacity, fast, secluded, and food availability are big + in my book, since I have family.

I'd also take the chicks and mice from the school. Keep the chicks, and breed/eat the mice?

@hillobeans

Not everyone, but ~80% fairly quickly, nearly 100% in densely populated areas like New Haven where it spreads fast, down to maybe %95 mortality in the first month as things collapse and people flee the coasts for less populated areas.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

Did I ever tell you guys about my "zombie" plan? 

You see, I steal a hot air balloon, and........


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

arrd-rinn;

I see so many problems with this idea, or maybe I just don't understand what you are saying.

Here's a list on concerns;

1) If you thought of it then 100 other people have though of it. You may have to fight for it.

2) You say Zombie plan, to me that means very few people left alive. In that case why would you be so concerned about continually moving? Sale to a deserted Island and stay there.

3) To me you would be the pirate and would need to killed! What else would ship borne people be that come ashore to steal and blunder.

4) depending on the fuel type, you would be out of fuel within 6-12 months (fuel exhaustion or fuel goes bad) and would have to find a stationary port, which would leave you exposed.

5) The maintenance on a boat of that size would keep a crew of a dozen busy full time and that's assuming (bad idea) that your people know anything about maintaining a boat of that size. You don't learn these skills overnight.

6) There would be no weather forecasting and you could sale directly into a hurricane.

7) To keep people on watch 24/7 will work for only a limited time and then people will slack-off. At night gen 3 NVS will be required for at least 3 people. Will you keep moving at night? If GPS is down it's only a matter of time before you will hit something unless you stay why out at sea. Hope you know navigation by the stars. If you don't keep moving at night, prepare to be boarded. 

I'll stop here. I have more concerns but don't see the point in bringing it up right now.


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## aard_rinn (Jun 21, 2012)

Well, first off, I'm rather well aquainted with the IR, and have driven her many times before. She is sturdy, stable, and kept in running trim at the SS, and she is usually handled by a group of two or three. My father is a sailor for many years, and so am I, so we have the knowhow. And, no offense, a modern 50' fiberglass is not that big. Even the Quinny, a old wooden sailing boat, only has crew+maintainence of 8 people, and she's 90'.

The SS is secluded, remote, and coastal, and evacuees would go inland, hopefully. Any SS students... Well, we've worked together for years, and like I said, more people means we can take the Boston whalers, so if 4-5 of us meet up, it's better for us than being alone, honestly. Split the fishing/watch/driving.

Yeah, we'd probably loot a fair bit. The mobility'd help there, and so would having more people. And, we'd be raiding on the very coast, so we hopefully wouldn't overlap other groups. If we did, we move on.

At night, we'd set down and drift rig. A motor carries for miles over water, and one watcher wouldn't even need lights. However, she has a can-rig (think the bat signal) to 1000', plus all-rounds to 300', and nothing but a motorboat is tall enough to board her.

The thing is, even though there are issues with boats, and they aren't for new sailors in an emergency or alone, they probably are safer than staying on land. For one, if you are on land raiding towns for supplies, you have to go into a town. We would only need to stop for ~1 hr, staying on the dock (a narrow, defensable position) at all times, and we're done. Also, I live fairly far north, and would have an easier time of it by far if i could get to the less populated and therefore less zombie-filled south, where it is warmer and the growing season is longer. I couldn't do it overland, but on a boat I could even get to the gulf and inland towards texas and cattle country, round up someone dead's herd, or at least a few (something else I have experience with), and start a ranch with the other survivors who came with me, another situation where more people are better for you.


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

its good that you are at least thinking about being prepared, and beginning to make plans. please read very carefully some of the critiques of your plan here, and take notes. this one in particular should give you pause to completely re-evaluate the workability of your plan:
"1) If you thought of it then 100 other people have though of it. You may have to fight for it."
only id change the hundred to a thousand, at least. wether you are well armed and well trained, its a bad idea to start off in a fire fight.

unless of course you arent using the term 'zombie' in a metaphorical sense, but rather literally. then it seems like a fine plan...


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

My "zombie" plan is simple..go where people are not and hold up, come back when the temperature is below freezing and shatter those walking maggot farms with a hunk of steel pipe and load up on primo stuff.


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## aard_rinn (Jun 21, 2012)

When you guys say zombies... Don't you mean zombies? I meant zombies...

.

.

.


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## emilnon (May 8, 2012)

aard_rinn said:


> When you guys say zombies... Don't you mean zombies? I meant zombies...
> 
> .
> 
> ...


Preppers often refer to the hoards of non-preppers (or sheeple) as "zombies"... Mindless, starving, dangerous... So, not everyone means brain sucking walking dead when they reference zombies... Just fyi!
Also, do you have a plan where there are no real zombies and stealing isn't a viable option? Just curious.


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

Magus said:


> My "zombie" plan is simple..go where people are not and hold up, come back when the temperature is below freezing and shatter those walking maggot farms with a hunk of steel pipe and load up on primo stuff.


good point, since zombies dont get high, there will be plenty of primo stuff around...


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

Magus said:


> My "zombie" plan is simple..go where people are not and hold up, come back when the temperature is below freezing and shatter those walking maggot farms with a hunk of steel pipe and load up on primo stuff.


I think it's best to keep it simple, ya know? . Too many details can get one bogged down....

Aard rinn ... You don't happen to be an engineering student do you? Just curious. And what is your definition of zombie?


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