Isolation Considerations

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) Preparation Forum : One Thread

Living on the island of Kaua'i, we are in a small community with major supply links that can easily be disrupted. This means that some considerations of mainland addresses don't exist, but others are more extreme...

Perceived to be less of a problem... . Rioting . Martial law . severe winter weather . electric net down (we have only one company...so others won't bring us down) (initial) . short term food (9 day supply on island...) . coffee (Kauai grows it) . sugar (Kauai grows it) . getting people to prepare (after TWO major hurricanes 10 years apart, people believe it can happen here...) Half the households have generators...

Perceived to be bigger problems: . telecommunications (2000+ mile link)[looking into ham radio] . GPS . Shipping . long term petroleum, electricity (30 day supply of fuel on island) . long term food (only 9 day supply on island). Most of Hawaii's fish is imported...[personal storage, fishing gear, hopefully a sailboat] . Purchasing some storage items (no SAM's or COSTCO, for example.) Rice is easy to find; beans or oatmeal are another matter. . Not having electricity to run dehumidifier...electronics go down in a couple of months. [generator, gas storage] . Potential of 20,000 tourists stuck here (base population 40-50,000). [LOTS of extra stuff, long term garden...] . Critical care medical facilities are mostly on another island...100 miles away. . Restrictive gun laws. [alternative defensive preparations] . Chicken feed is brought in thousands of miles...[raising chickens requires maximum utilization and supplementing with coconuts].

Is anyone else in a similarly isolated position? What considerations do you have?

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), July 11, 1999

Answers

Dear Mad Monk,

Before year end,I hope to be saying Hi to you from St Kitts in the Caribbee.We are due to emmigrate there in October. Electricity is provided by Gov.owned diesel generators so continuing fuel supplies a problem as is food,paper products,medicines & critical health care about 800 miles away or further.Some commercial long boat fishing.Plenty sugar cane but only a few coffee trees growing wild.Telecommunications very modern but linked into AT & T ,I believe.Chickens & goats kept by local farmers is are the odd cow. On our plot we have mature mango trees,guava,grapefruit,shaddocks, cinnamon & bread fruit.

Dairy products are a major problem as they are all imported & I have no knowledge of goats.Still we do not eat cereal & do not drink too much coffee & tea.Will be using dried milk & packet sauces for cooking.Also going to buy soya as back up for "milky" drinks & added protein. We are going to try to be self-sufficient with vegetables but wild monkeys are the main pest.Husband experienced shore fisherman so will be taking rods etc.Preparing to cook by solar & propane gas.Heat water by solar.Dig a "dry cess pit" & do without TV or telephone.We shall have oil lamps & pure beeswax candles reckoning on using them a max of three hours a day.ie rise at 6am & go to bed at 9pm.Sunset 6.30 pm ish.Working on long term family principle...if you don't hear from us,we are OK.House at 350 ft on mountain slope so some cooling breezes.We shall just have to adapt to no air conditioning.Takes about a year we have heard.Battery operated radio to listen to BBC World Service.

We are NOT going to try to maintain our present lifestyle.Just go back to basics. Hard work but satisfying & time ain't so critical.No worries.Stocking up on coffee,tea & meds & information.Just had permission to take out shotgun.Machetes are the normal choice of weapon out there. 2 books just published on Island's medicinal plants.That's a definite buy.We figure we are going to be so shattered by the heat initially that we shall just collapse at night anyway.

Buying a smallish generator to run a fridge/ freezer & lights.Will also be making a Koolgardie Cool Safe in case we run out of fuel

Going for about a six month prep although I can see that small island nations may be last in the queue for restocking esp.from the good old USA.

Islanders have a fatalistic attitude to life & death.Not much choice really.Dying doesn't bother us just the manner of it !

As newcomers living in a rural area not much time to build community links.However we hope to be able to share horticultural knowledge of pests & diseases & generally be perceived as not worth attacking.No flash cars,clothes or possessions.By doing so we may be perceived as "poor whites"(Hyacinth Bucket speaks again) but so what if we keep safe & live to fight another day.

A major concern is the lack of plastic containers for food/fuel storage PS>Any tips on growing coffee trees?I hear they take about 4 years to fruit.

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), July 12, 1999.


Chris:

To answer some of your questions...

(1) We were able to establish community links fairly quickly by joining a local church and particpating in local activities. (But we've been on the island over 5 years, now).

(2) Plastic containers. If you want 5 gal. storage containers, you may have difficulty. We have them available, but only at a couple of US chains (WalMart, ACE/TrueValue). But, you will want to have some small containers for cereal, flour, sugar, etc. I recommend Tupperware or similar. I believe that Tupperware is going to be selling over the internet (so I've heard).

(3) Lifestyle. I definitely recommend living on the local economy, and living relatively simply. It's a LOT cheaper! And more fun. There may be some dietary adaptations...

(4) Coffee. I also understand that it takes about 4 years to get to production. You may get a few beans the year before. We were lucky and were able to buy some plants that were already started. So we shortcut a couple of years... You might want to check with a local nursery. You might also get more than one variety...

Best of luck with your new home!

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), July 12, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ