Bug Out Boat Survival: The Post Apocalyptic Survival Trailer Pod (Aftermath Survival Book 3)
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“I can’t assure you it will totally work out but I will leave another legacy behind rest assured and that one will get them if the first one doesn’t. I am just being silly cause of the whiskey; I might not end up doing anything at all. I am being kind of silly aren’t I? Hey baby, how are you doing on breaking down the camping packs? You staying within in weight limits or going heavy since we got the boat to carry it? Sam said expressing their constant confusion of what to leave behind and what to carry.
“I know that you have told me many times to prepare to lose everything but my mind but I can’t help but adding to the damn things once I have reduced them. I am starting to feel like a packrat, take something from the bag only to replace it with another treasure in trade for it from another bag. I think that final bag organizing is something you are going to have to do Sam.” Lori objected
“I don’t know that I will be a whole lot better at it Lori. I think it will help both of us if I explained a bit more about what fully loaded actually means for this Tetra Pod in relation to how we are going to power it and what essentials have to go on it. I got a list I have been referring too, hang on and I will get it.
Make preparations in advance...You never have trouble if you are prepared for it.
Theodore Roosevelt
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I GOT THE POWER AND THE POUNDAGE TO LOAD
“By the time we load us in the boat (305 lbs) then we according to the Tetra Pod’s manufacturer or Coast Guard specifications we can now load a maximum of 461 lbs of gear but I don’t want us to be at its top limit even though I know we have some leeway over that. (Maximum 766 lb. payload)” Sam said before reaching over to the table and handing Lori a list he had been creating and revising incessantly.
Tentative Boat Load Out List
Emergency Essentials® FOOD
(2) SuperPail White Rice - 40 lbs each 80 lbs total
(1) SuperPail Quick Rolled Oats - 19 lbs
(1) SuperPail Pinto Beans - 41 lbs
(1) SuperPail Black Beans - 41 lbs
Total 181lbs food
PROPULSION SOURCE (1) Electric Trolling Motor
2 12v batteries totaling 110 amp hrs each weigh approximately 90 lbs
Newport Trolling 55 lb thrust motor 24 lbs So the two of them together as a system weigh 114lbs more if you add an 110v charger
200 Watt ZAMP Portable Solar Charging System – ZS-200-P
200 Watt Zamp Folding solar panel 47 lbs
This is the largest portable solar charging system Zamp makes. On the Tetra Pod using only one battery it is over size, but Sam was running two batteries at once for distance travel as well as other applications. This set up is great for heavy energy users with medium to large RV’s and dual battery or multi-battery systems. If you’re a really heavy user you can use more than one portable solar charging system on the same battery or combine it with a permanent roof top mounted system, generator or other power generator. The 200 watt portable solar charging system was designed for heavy users but they can also be used on smaller 12 volt batteries without any damage or fear of damage. The solar charge controller protects the battery from over charging or any spikes in power.
A large digital display shows the user battery voltage, an instant view of amps from the solar panel and how many amps charged the battery over the period of time. 3 indicator lights show – Faults (any errors) | Charging (solar is charging the battery) | Full (battery is full and solar is maintaining).
.Typically we use an average of 6 or 7 hours for the summer and 4 to 5 hours for the winter. Estimated daily amperage – 68 to 91 amps (summer), or 45 to 57 amps (winter). Average RV’er who do extended weekend dry camping sessions use roughly 30 to 40 amps a day.
A solar enabled trolling motor system weighs 148 lbs with a 160 watt more with a 200 watt
PROPULSION SOURCE (2) Gasoline Outboard
Honda 2.3 hp Four Stroke Outboard 30 lbs Best little engine around!
Honda’s BF2.3, one of the world’s lightest four-stroke outboards. Pack it for anywhere and it’s ready to take you everywhere.
World's lightest in class
15% more power
12% larger fuel tank
World record fuel economy
Useful Features Of that particular motor: Here are some other features that caught my attention and I made sure to highlight them because they shouldn't be overlooked by anyone looking to buy the Honda BF2.3 outboard.
Centrifugal Clutch: The centrifugal clutch maintains a smooth idle and when advanced, automatically engages the prop above idle speed. It's like having a neutral position. A must have feature that makes boating much safer. What the centrifugal clutch does is maintain a quiet and smooth idle when the throttle is all the way down. Once you turn the throttle to go the clutch automatically engages the gears and the propeller begins to spin. This handy feature allows you to take the outboard out of gear while you are fishing or when you first start the motor. Say you want to start it up but your buddy is still standing up fishing and not paying attention to what's going to happen next. In outboards without this centrifugal clutch, starting the motor means the boat will be in motion once it's on. Your buddy can take a nasty fall onto the boat or even worse into the water from the sudden forward movement.
Sheer and cotter pin keeper
The self-contained keeper stores two extra sets of cotter and sheer pins close at hand, so you'll be prepared if and when you need them. Sam also had an extra prop in his preps.
Shallow Water Drive
An innovative shallow water drive feature lets you tilt the motor up, allowing you to easily operate in shallow areas. Shallow water drive greatly reduces the risk of engine damage from overheating or prop breakage.
WEIGHTY ADDITIONS
5 gallon military surplus Jerry can plus gas.
A gallon of gasoline, also known as petrol, weighs approximately 6 pounds that’s 30 lbs plus weight of the can around 10 lbs equals 40 lbs of fuel .
2 liter gas collection and foraging can plus gas 6lbs
Total 76 lbs
TOTAL< FOOD
SuperPail White Rice - 40 lbs
(1) SuperPail Pinto Beans - 41 lbs
That’s equivalent to two sort of lightweight long-term bug out bags! Oh no! Sam and Lori had been packing and repacking the hell out of those things regardless of weight because they had a Bug Out Boat right?
WHY I WANT A TORQEEDO TRAVEL 1003 FOR MY TETRA POD BOAT AS THE ULTIMATE OUTBOARD ENGINE
Torqueedo Travel Electric Outboard only weighs 24.8 lbs
Total Motor weight without battery
19.6 lbs
Weight of integrated battery
9.9 lbs solar panel 5.29lbs
With its integrated lithium battery and its outstanding efficiency, the Travel is the alternative to a small petrol outboard. The Travel can do everything that a 3 HP outboard motor can. But it's lighter, cleaner, quieter and more convenient.
The Travel easily propels tenders, dinghies and daysailers up to 1.5 tons and – when it's needed – over long distances, too.
It's also serves as something of an expert when it comes to communication, too. It discloses its most important information to you, connects with your smartphone and can be charged from a standard power outlet, form a 12 V connection or
from a solar charger.
New in 2015: the Travel can now charge other electrical devices for you, as well. The batteries are now equipped with a USB adapter, allowing your mobile phone, laptops and other equipment to share the Travel's abundant battery capacity.
Travel 1003 with Integrated Battery (29.6 V / 18 Ah)
Speed in knots (km/h)*
Range in sm (km)*
Running time in hours:
Slow
2.0 (3.7)
20.0 (37.0)
10:30
Half throttle
3.0 (5.5)
10.5 (19.4)
03:30
Full throttle
5.0 (9.2)
2.8 (5.2)
00:35
So some the additional weight that needed to be added to a lead acid battery running Standard boat was
Ammo can 25 lbs
Boat anchor 3.5 lbs
Smith and Wesson AR
Mossberg 500
Miscellaneous that just kept adding up
Weight on the boat and taking weight off the boat in adjustments had Sam overwhelmed by the differences in using lead acid batteries and running something like a Torqeedo outboard system that was such a game changer and weight reducer.
In his quest for solutions he began to study lithium batteries that he was introduced to by their use in that technological marvel of an electric outboard he had his eye on. He knew Torqeedo had built into some amazing technology to insure their safety but was skeptical of other manufacturer’s batteries. The news at this time was filled with stories of some catching fire. How do you compare other companies products and what do you look for in a good battery and why are some safer than others?
After extensive web research and talking to a few other companies Sam finally talked to a RELiON Certified PowerPro and boy was that an eye opener. There is a ton to know about Lithium batteries and why they are better choice than lead acid ones but they are NOT created equal.
The company first addressed Sam’s concerns with safety. Every RELiON lithium battery utilizes safeguards including high temp thermal fuse, flame retardant additive and pressure relief valves. Sam was very impressed with this news, a battery that sort of has its own built in fire extinguisher? How outstanding!
A RELiON lithium battery lasts 10x longer than a lead acid battery. The life span of a battery is typically measured in cycles. A RELiON lithium battery cycles 5,000 times at 100% DOD compared to a typical lead acid battery that cycles 500 times at 80% DOD
Choosing a battery offering 10 times the life span at a fraction of lead acid batteries’ weight was soon to be a no brainer for Sam and his Bug out Boat. Choosing a Lithium marine battery that often outlasts the boat they’re installed on was quite intriguing.
RELiON Lithium marine batteries are one-third of the weight of lead acid alternatives. This makes a major difference in your boat’s top speed and fuel efficiency. In Sam’s case it allowed him to take 124 lbs of batteries off and put 34 lbs on and that to him felt like a miracle.
Charging your marine battery is much simpler when you choose lithium. Lead acid marine deep-cycle batteries have three stages of charging. In the first stage, the battery is flooded with current. The next stage is absorption, and finally comes trickle charging.
In practice, a lead acid battery’s lead plates aren’t able to absorb energy quickly enough after the battery has been flooded. This makes it difficult for the battery to handle the incoming current. In fact, more than half of the current is burned off, so it takes several hours for the battery to charge to full capacity.
Lithium marine batteries have two charging stages: flood and trickle. With the capacity to charge at a higher efficiency, lithium batteries take a fraction of the time to charge. This meant Sam’s Solar Panels could operate more effectively.
Lead acid batteries lose usable capacity with every discharge cycle. After one year of use, a lead acid battery offers much less power than it originally provided. When you use lithium, your battery operates at a high capacity for several years. When Sam figured this into his cost basis he was pleased but also because this was a survival situation he needed that long life as well as performance even more. No resupply in the apocalypse, you got to depend on best solutions.
Last but not least - on foot with a backpack Remember that not only do you have to consider how you will get to your bug-out location, but how you will get around once there. Sam and Lori had their two NyceWheels scooters.
“Before going with RELiON Batteries Sam explained his conundrum with Lori.
“Hell it gives me fits to think about all that stuff on the list also Lori. I want all our crap reduced to about a 700 lb boat load but I can’t seem to do it Now before you come up with a different 700 lbs of stuff let me explain that includes us, so I weigh about 175lbs and your somewhere around 130 lbs before the clock starts ticking.
That boat is rated for 2 persons, 3HP, 766lb. payload which is very substantial for its size but when you start adding us, the engine, the oars, the anchor, the batteries, fishing gear etc. we don’t have lots of wiggle room. Let’s see, combined we got over 300 lbs for us to start with, plus web gear. Plus two bug out packs that’s at least another 120lbs and that’s over sizing them a might but at least we won’t be trying to hike any distance with them.
A 50 lb pack is just way too much for you to carry you know sweetie, but that’s the most stuff you’re allowed on or off the boat. Think about it like If we are actually going to have to abandon ship I like to see that pack weight down to around 35lbs for you at least and I will be lightening mine some if we are planning on doing lots of walking. We got the two kick scooters that are about 18 lbs total, one ammo can, hell a full one I guess I will call it about 20 lbs. Wow that’s more than our boat anchor! ” Sam said beginning his ever ongoing calculations what he had loaded in that great cracker jack of an idea parked in his driveway.
“What in the world are we going to do with all that ammo you got stockpiled around here? You got about 10 ammo cans full for all the guns, that’s another thing, what about the extra guns?” Lori said thinking of the gun safe and the various ammo stashes they had.
“Well we have been pondering on what to carry and what to do with the extra fire power for days now and I am still pondering on it. The two Henry survival rifles in the bug out packs are going with us no matter what that’s a given. Can’t get by without those, they will be pretty much the only way to collect small game besides trapping which we won’t have much time to do in the beginning. Why if we could only have two guns in this apocalypse that would be the ones I would choose as the most practical pair, especially since they will be being transported on a boat daily. They compact down nicely into their stocks for transport, have a tuff rust resistant Teflon finish and they float! Don’t get any better than that for a boat or wet woods gun. Besides, I imagine we won’t need anything but a .22 caliber for most of our daily living needs of collecting game for the pot. Course I don’t care to try that alligator shooting thing one handed like you see folks doing on the Swamp People program anytime soon but at least I know how to do it in theory!” Sam declared and mentally chastised himself for not going through all the ammo boxes previously and putting all the .22 ammo together in one lot.
He guessed that he had about 1200 rounds in total consisting of various loadings but he wasn’t sure. Twenty Two caliber was soon to be their life’s blood and stock in trade so he needed to figure out his inventory as well as how to pack and distribute it the most effectively.
The bug out bags each held their usual 200 rounds each of .22 ammo consisting of 100 rounds of CCI Mini Mag and 100 rounds of Hyper velocity CCI Stingers. Maybe he had a lot more twenty two bullets stashed around here than he thought visualizing mentally where some might be at. He had been collecting regular .22 high velocity long rifle rounds of various brands for quite some time when he thought about it or it was available when he was in a store. Where he had put it all or how much he had left was anoth
er matter though. He and Lori shot a lot up practicing and plinking targets and some of it got used up hunting critters during season for the pot.
However he was sure he had some small cardboard boxes of it tucked away he had forgotten when he started considering places like his dresser drawers that he intended to go look in the first chance he got some more. That caliber of ammunition got very hard to find and was beyond scarce often times in stores and online as supplies seemed to just get bought out and disappear from the market. POOF it just wasn’t there to be had at all as well as other calibers got scarce when he had a little money to spend it seemed.
Figure 1 Henry Repeating Arms .22 Survival Rifle
“Damn that drink was good, Been awhile since we had one and because of that portable ice maker we can have a couple of cold ones with those last two cans of coke we been saving if you want. You want to save them or can I fix you another with water?” Sam asked Lori who was already dreading the day after tomorrow when it would be no portable icemaker for the drinks in the foreseeable future. Their Solar generator called a SUNRNR had powered theirs faithfully as well as lights and a fan for months after the grid went down.