Oceanic 1984 or Waterworld

[lindsay]

Have just been musing on possible post Colvid 19 futures for freedom seeking cruising yachtie liveaboards. Could be anything ranging from an authoritarian style 1984 situation that would certainly kill it for me, to a case of ultimate freedom a la Kevin Costner's Waterworld in the case of major worldwide breakdown.

We live in interesting times

 

[Kukri]

I think that many, maybe most, of us dream of the latter but we actually have the former at the moment.

The thought occurs that long distance sailing was politically much easier under the Pax Britannica!

 

[lindsay]

To continue the wildly exciting response to this thread, how about this illustration of nautical freedom a couple of hundred years before even pax britannica?

Letter from British expat executive to repeated entreaties by head office to reestablish contact

From: Somewhere in Asia
To: the East India Company, London

Date: 1596

Sirs,

I cannot tell you where you should find me because I live at the devotion of the winds and the seas.

Signed: James Lancaster

Want to try out such an an approach nowadays with a government department, or a pestering person or entity??

 

[Kukri]

A pedant writes:

Sorry, that has to be wrong; the Honourable Company of Merchants Trading to the East Indies was formed on the 31st December 1600.?

 

[lindsay]

Pedant can be good. I will not dispute your clearly superior history background.

That well known established source of trusty, reliable info, Wikepedia, says that Sir James Lancaster captained the first East India fleet to India in 1600. Yet it also confirms what you said that the company was formed in 1600, but on December 31,.....
which does not leave a great deal of time even by todays standards.

Think we had better let this lie. Noone else seems to be interested.

Chders and good sailing

 

[Kukri]

Pedant can be good. I will not dispute your clearly superior history background.

That well known established source of trusty, reliable info, Wikepedia, says that Sir James Lancaster captained the first East India fleet to India in 1600. Yet it also confirms what you said that the company was formed in 1600, but on December 31,.....
which does not leave a great deal of time even by todays standards.

Think we had better let this lie. Noone else seems to be interested.

Chders and good sailing

On the contrary, I think this is going to be a very interesting thread. Seriously.

Joshua Slocum, Eric Hiscock, and the other founding fathers (mostly British and American, but let us note Alain Gerbault and Erling Tambs) of long distance cruising benefitted from the Pax Britannica.

There are places that they went to ( the Red Sea, etc) that we wouldn’t go to now.

James Lancaster had guns. But the squabble with the VOC turned bloody very fast.
I

 

[Kukri]

Bit of fun here:

Red Dragon (1595) - Wikipedia

 

[cherod]

On the contrary, I think this is going to be a very interesting thread. Seriously.

Joshua Slocum, Eric Hiscock, and the other founding fathers (mostly British and American, but let us note Alain Gerbault and Erling Tambs) of long distance cruising benefitted from the Pax Britannica.

There are places that they went to ( the Red Sea, etc) that we wouldn’t go to now.

James Lancaster had guns. But the squabble with the VOC turned bloody very fast.
I

see youtube " sailing messenger " , currently on leisurely transit thro Red Sea