Letter Re: Equipping my My G.O.O.D. Boat

A couple of points bothered me about Doug W.’s plan to G.O.O.D. with his boat. First, his idea about using logs to keep out intruders in his retreat anchorage has one possible flaw. According to Murphy’s Laws of Combat, anyplace too difficult to get into will be too difficult to get out of! Next, I am no sailor, but I’ve been around the ocean and I’ve seen some horrific storms. I saw no plan for riding out bad weather, unless these bays are very sheltered. Next is that unless tied up close to shore, sitting at anchor in the middle of a bay puts you in sight of anyone who stumbles upon that same stretch of water, whether on land or by sea. Also, is that especially during calm water periods, water is a notorious reflector of sound, so sound discipline and light discipline is an absolute must. I saw no mention of camouflage or concealment.

The biggest drawback to his plan I see is that the limited number of people in his group would put a tremendous strain on all to keep watch, do necessary daily chores, plus any emergency is best handled with more eyes/hands available.

A couple of suggestions too – one would be to put some caches of food/ammo/fuel/medical supplies in these areas he plans to retreat to. If his bays are as remote as he thinks they are, then any cache should remain available and undisturbed. Another would be a small library on some of the natural resources that could be harvested to increase/supplement diet, such as kelp, shellfish, and land-based flora/fauna in that region. Plus the tools to harvest those resources.

All in all though, I am sure that Doug has a huge step up on most of the web fingered/toed northwesterners.

Sincerely, – Greg in Arizona