While it might sound good in theory, a bug out boat is not practical and not something we would recommend to you if you’re a prepper. For a large percentage of the people in the United States, Canada and beyond it isn’t even an option for those who live inland. For those who live on the coast, or the Great Lakes perhaps, it is an option, but not one we would advise.
Owning a boat is definitely not cheap. Buying the boat is one thing, but the maintenance, ownership cost, marina docking fees, etc. are nothing short of financially oppressive. There’s an acronym for the word boat that I’ve always found amusing. Boat stands for “break out another thousand”. The first time I heard this clever play on words 20 years ago, $1,000 meant a lot more than it does today. If you already own a boat and love being out on the water in general, the strategy still really doesn’t make sense. For those who don’t own a boat and say “I’m gonna buy a boat and bug out on it”, it is a really bad idea and something we totally advise against.
I always thought the term cabin fever was a reference to going crazy from living in a cabin out in the woods. I’m starting to rethink that and now I’m assuming the phrase comes from being stuck in the cabin of a boat for long, extended periods of time. I honestly can’t think of much worse. The claustrophobia of being stuck on a boat for 2 weeks or 2 months sounds pretty awful to me. Especially when you consider that said boat will probably be around an 18 to 20 footer, unless you are quite wealthy. Even being on a yacht for that long without the ability to get off and have your feet touch land doesn’t sound so great to me.
I’m friends with a gentleman who is an avid boater, and he has decided this is what he is going to do and I can’t convince him otherwise. His plan is to take his boat out approximately 9 miles from shore to a small island that is only a little bigger than your backyard.
Yes you could get lots of supplies on your boat, and yes you could theoretically do a lot of fishing. That’s great, but those positives don’t outweigh the potential negatives in this situation.
Boats are notorious for having little things go wrong with them, with much more frequency than on the road vehicles. I’ll agree that this isn’t a super likely scenario, but what if things pop off and there’s pandemonium in the streets and you make it to the marina and your boat won’t start. It could happen.
How will you know when things have returned to some sense of normalcy? When you’re out on the water and miles away from shore there’s a chance you won’t know. It’s a pretty safe assumption that in a SHTF scenario the Coast Guard will not be operating in a normal fashion, so what would you do if you encounter trouble out on the water. If you’re bugging out on land in a wilderness type of environment you can adapt and take measures to get yourself out of a difficult predicament. When you’re out on the water, your options to adapt are quite limited.
What if it is winter time and the water is ice cold? What if the boat starts going down and you have to swim to shore. Not only would you lose all of your supplies, you would run a real risk of hypothermia and physical shock. What if you’re so far out and your ( ) equipment isn’t working and you don’t know which way shore is when you are trying to swim to safety?
There is so much that could potentially go wrong in this scenario. If you already own a boat, think long and hard if this is the best course of action for you. If you don’t own a boat and you’re planning on buying one for this purpose, we highly advise you to not do it.