by Ron Foster
The Waterseller of Seville is the title of three paintings by Spanish artist Diego Velázquez, dating from 1618–1622.
The subject of the painting is the waterseller, a common trade for the lower classes in Velázquez's Seville.
The seller hands a freshly poured glass of water to the boy. In it sits a fig, a perfumer intended to make the water taste fresher (something still done in Seville today).
Some people even specialize in flavoring it sweetly with fruit juice.
Delicious tamarind juice with rose water a traditional street drink
Folks still sell water on the streets in Miami.
What makes you think you won’t get as bad off as this guy trying to make a buck?
If Sam had too he would set up by the side of a road after a disaster and demonstrate his resourcefulness as well as the quality of water he could produce to get some much needed cash. Hell why not a Kool Aid stand on top of it now?
The value of water is subjective; the value of places near the water is subjective for many reasons. It all gets down to what can you do with what you have and can you in some way profit from it based on circumstances and demand in exchange for what you don’t have or have enough of. With the Survival Still in their possession and preps Lois and Sam could move into a house or abandoned condo right next to the ocean or for that matter a nasty swimming pool and produce clean water. Their choice of residence was dictated only by the availability of ANY water being present. They would certainly be water independent camping on an isolated beach as they were on the Miracle Mile commercial section of the beach. The ocean was there, life and clean water was there.
Sam also thought he had another ace up his sleeve regarding propelling his craft and barter with local fishermen who did not have access to a way of charging their batteries.
If you want to read another good book, check out“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba (2009) he built a windmill from scratch and made a living charging cell phones in a small village in Africa. He also made quite a splash in the literary community having his story published and becoming a bestseller.
Description from the books Amazon page.
“William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him.
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a remarkable true story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. It will inspire anyone who doubts the power of one individual's ability to change his community and better the lives of those around him.”
Now the applied relevance and lessons Sam and Lori learned from this autobiographical book were not lost to the world they found themselves now in to Sam’s way of thinking. This self taught young man who had brought technology to a primitive society and allowed modernization to be introduced into his tribe had a visionary outlook to changing his station in life as well as his world.
Sam could easily see that with just what compact but life changing technology he could transport with his Tetra Pod that he could easily reshape and remold his post apocalyptic society a few notches back up the chain in his favor from where most survivors would find themselves at today. He had what many others lacked and could not acquire (renewable energy) and he had the ability to create more just by possessing his Zamp solar panels and his Survival Still.
Not only was the technology well within his grasp to utilize but he had the visionary wisdom to use these and other items in his preparedness relocation kit wisely and expansively. Another attribute to his plans was he also had the unique capability of enlisting survivors who were engineers and tradesman to use his power tools and their talents and wisdom to create more devices and capabilities to raise themselves above 18th century technology. Electrical Power and tools that would be provided by Sam and Lori in exchange for whatever it was they were bartering for.
Sam could see that he would have influence or could control trade alliances based on the equipment and knowledge they possessed. For instance if he was charging the trolling motors and providing fresh drinking water to the fishing fleet with his Survival Still wouldn’t those survivors be more apt to listen to his suggestions or demands without many complaints? He would have a positive political influence on community decisions and be in a position to be a respected member of the community. A contributing member that could be taken in by those already influencing or controlling certain things and be welcomed by grateful citizens who would not dispute his claims of taking over an abandoned house to live in or having access to competitive resources that could be foraged or scavenged. If he found or created for himself this hopefully idyllic fishing village like community existence, the residents would likely do everything they could to assist him and protect him and his interest as well. Protecting their power source and resident survivalist tinker protected their own interests.
Take for example for example the question of what is everyone that doesn’t have solar charging capabilities going to do when they can’t access a grid operated battery charger? They are going to do without charging their batteries is what. They are going to be rowing and sailing if they can. Dead batteries everywhere. The trolling motors on the bass boats and saltwater flats boats for example are going to get all the juice used up in their batteries and that form or methodology of catching fish dies. People can’t go on the water as far to fish limiting their range or access to “Hot Spots”, the task to get just a meal becomes harder, the competition over close by fishing areas increases etc.
Now if Sam used that wonderful 200 watt set of solar panels correctly he had himself a definite advantage over many others. He could out fish them etc. because his boat can now go further and faster than someone without that capability. He can have lights, communication, the use of rechargeable power tools etc. to create new things that might be in demand. Or if he got real smart about it, people would soon regard him and Lori as the owners of the corner filling station. He could recharge their batteries for a fee or as barter for a share of the fish catch etc. Another approach to consider would be to organize his own fleet. He could outfit boats with good batteries, try to increase his trading capabilities and create markets. He could recruit the best fishermen to fish for him and his trading company because he had access to an all important very rare commodity these days, ICE. Try getting used to a society that has fish and crustaceans as a staple in their diet that lacks any form of refrigeration and you get the picture.
He already had ideas for a few things that he wanted to build that would make life easier but he needed batteries. When batteries sit for a long period of time they lose their charge and by sitting around sulfacation gets to them and damages them so badly oftentimes they can’t be recharged, well with a smart charger anyway. A trickle charger can sometimes bring them back after about ten days or so but it’s 50/50. These so called ruined batteries could probably now be found just about everywhere now as people ran them below the 50% charge level to nothing and just abandoned them and let them sit because there was no power to run their battery chargers. Sam’s Relion brand Lithium batteries he had on his boat could be run down to nothing and still comeback fine every time. They were built for that and would last many many years longer than any lead cell battery.
That particular fact was what Sam depended on for his “good” trolling battery supply business. The need was there, the product was available free or cheap in the form of both rechargeable and allegedly unchargeable lead or AGM batteries a
nd the market for trolling motors was basically his because they held no value without a viable battery to power them with. Sam had an old timers trick to revitalize the dead cells using Epsom salts. It didn’t bring them back to new but Sam could get another year or so of use out of a lot of them to power all sorts of stuff like food dehydrators. So now he was both the gas station with his solar charger and the power company all in one!
THE METHODOLGY FOR USING EPSOM SALT TO REVITALIZE BATTERIES IS AT THE END OF THIS BOOK> USE AT YOUR OWN RISK AND EMPLOY CAUTION AND COMMON SENSE
Having this capacity expanded his horizons in surviving and thriving in this post apocalyptic world exponentially. The high wattage of and quality of his Zamp solar panels insured that he had at least 25 years of fast charging capability.
Sam considered he might have some stiff competition for charging batteries in a coastal community but he still had that battery science hoodo voodoo thing as an ace up his sleeve. Big boats had built in battery chargers that run off alternators just like a car but that take fuel. How long would people be able to use inverters or gasoline generators to charge up trolling motors? Who knows, the big boats could stay in port and donate those huge tanks of gas they had in their tanks for running generators for the task.
That’s what Sam would do say if he were in the position of being the block captain or neighborhood watch on a canal housing community. Don’t forget a lot of those big fishing boats and in particular a whole lot of sailboats have solar panels in abundance so somebody is likely to be doing something about charging trolling motor batteries and keeping people fishing but there were more little boats stuck in port with dead batteries than big boats willing to help them most likely.
Many people don’t have this huge charter boat gas tank fueling capability at all let alone enough gas for their cars or trucks to even get to the water. Water taxis anyone? Sam might look into that business also. That’s an interesting paradox to look at also. If you have got gas in your truck and you’re sitting at home with the lights out, and an empty cupboard and nothing to do, tell me you’re not going to try to go fishing, someway somehow right? Even if you used up all the gas taken from the little red gas cans for your Party Barge’s outboard so you could run your roto tiller to put in a garden you and your fishing buddies are going to come up with some gas, somehow, some way and go on a fishing trip to try to feed your families.
So now when this disaster first occurred everybody is going fishing, they are going to be clogging up the boat ramps, they will be screwing up running out of gas at sea with no Coast Guard to rescue them, people will run out of gas on the way to just find a place to stand on a public fishing pier if that’s their last shot at getting something to eat, People will be pretty much running out of gas coming and going from here and there and everywhere. Of course while all that’s happening the trolling and starting motor batteries will be being depleted or abandoned on boats without gas.
The people who were out and about then are at first cooperative with one another but pissed off, watch out for road rage or boat rage or fishing pier scuffles and then one day there is no more gas at all anywhere to be had. The big boats will be getting swarmed and crowded for space by all the little boats. The big boats with some form of power generation on board if they haven’t already left the main ports consider that they are going to need to bug out to sea sooner than later for a number of reasons.
The captains of the charter boats etc. are adept at moving those boats around for hurricanes and storms anyway so they might logically have already cleared out for calmer deep waters inland. They know of tons of places to go park them. So you got lots of ship captains spreading out all over the place and kind of abandoning the marinas and little family fishing boats. Why would anyone stay, except the marina owners and boat dealers of course, if they can’t get their stock moved around to a safer location? Because they are a special community that’s why Sam expected many old salts and their boats to remain in proximity of them.
There is your cohesive bond for others to stay around the marinas also, it’s a societal thing. This boat oriented community of like minded people will stand together in adversity and they are creative at resolving problems. They have all done it collectively for years as a lifestyle. This group of water sport enthusiasts Sam considered as a whole is far better adjusted to dealing with and planning on calamities than most any other group you can imagine.
Generally speaking you might say these people make a regular habit out of being able to help their neighbors who own boats mostly and regardless of age or backgrounds is a vast knowledge base to draw from of resources, information and experience with everything nautical. Now for those who chose to live on boats as a lifestyle, charter fish them, private fish them, tourist sightseeing boat or whatever makes the basis for sharing docking space with a close knit community, most of which tends to find itself to be a far more like-minded bunch of people than your everyday day typical prepper/survivalists types, particularly the inland city living ones. Non boaters tend to not understand the pecking order of things on the waterfront.
Those captains who were adventurous and choose to go beyond the horizon and travel to distant islands and other countries on their boats as a lifestyle (called “cruisers”), have an even more close-knit community because they are the ones who dare it and embrace the hazards and rewards these type of trips involve. All different layers of sailors, fishermen and people in general for the local community as well as the dockside alliances and businesses supporting them to establish their own order and all will likely initially pull together.
How long this social order remains intact is a point of conjecture. The original advantages of the cruising community on down is barter and trade. It is quite normal for boat captains to engage regularly in barter/trade with locals as well as each other, both for services as well as for goods. You will find that most marinas or harbors will have an ongoing local radio net using the marine VHF radio, to give news, weather, who is coming and going, local deals, services, and items for sale. Local businesses will also sometimes engage the community with discounts, news, and various offerings of their own. If you need something, you go ask on the net. Depending on the request, you may get a public response over the radio shortly or could be you get a private knock on the hull later in the day.
The scenario of existing and operating marinas was a distinct possibility; these would be places of trade and revenue as well as news. They would exist because they have always existed. Sam and Lori wondered if their welcome as strangers and novice boaters with just a Jon boat to their name would be received well and be allowed a place as a newcomer in the community.
Would there be a place for them? A port in the storm as it were? Got to stay alive though first and foremost, find their own degree of level of survival in this new world and formulate a flexible plan that they could adapt to all kind of twists and turns if it wasn’t what they expected.
Doing their migrant covert nomadic camping thing under the stars mostly would allow them to learn the lay of the land better both mentally and physically as they wandered about from campsite to campsite observing the built up beaches from the safety of the water mostly. They could sit and fish, float along and use the binoculars to watch the beach, then just pull up anchor and slip on by passing along the beach as simple fishermen trying to catch their dinner.
Perhaps Sam’s idea of them finding a nice safe out of the way place for themselves to exist in peace all by their lonesome on a deserted beach was possible and they could maybe slowly and gradually acclimate themselves to these new societies they might encounter.
One person’s or community rule of law in these small enclave survival societies might be quite different than another’s. For example the level of destruction or impact by fire on areas from the solar storm effects on technology like transformers blowing up causing fires as well as personal societal blunders of boat fires, arson, cooking fires, fuel spills etc will indeed cause different feelings amongst
those claiming property rights by cleaning up the wreckage and keeping the port clear of debris for their boats to fish the waters from. It may be an invitation only thing to approach such camps.
Sam suspected Marina fires and abandoned vessels might cause some serious problems, so much so it seemed that when looking for them a blackened spot might be all you had as a clue if boats burned to the waterline or the whole thing went up in a blaze along with the surrounding area unchecked.
Yet people would still use them, the loss of a building and dock structures on land doesn’t change a water features usefulness to get ashore or seek shelter from a storm in more protected waters. People would still be drawn to these places and gather here or other likely spots but it might just be happenstance.
Sam knew those big expensive fishing charter boats and live-aboards were full of hi-tech pricy electronics, more so than any house or computerized vehicle that could be hacked or fried, what with the fish finders, sonar ,radios ,navigation systems etc, on board them. A major point to consider and it could be reasonable to assume all the marinas might have already burned to the ground. This was mainly because of the big radio antennas those things had on them that would concentrate a geomagnetic pulse which would likely fry the electronics and start some serious uncontrollable fires. Concentrating the EMP pulse is what anything that acted like an antennae does including millions of miles of power lines most likely.