Many of us dream of casting off for distant horizons as smell of tropical drinks call.  Volumns of books have addressed the different requirements from the type of offshore sailboat, equipment and provisions you’d need.  Like most of my readers I’ve read the Pardey’s, Dashew’s and many lessor known who’ve managed to cast-off writers.  Currently, I’m a bit concerned over the financial state of not just myself but my country as well.

I’ve given some thought lately to the ‘what if’ senairo.  What if I never get to cast off?  What if our income drops more?  What if, like so many already, we lose our home?  What would we do.  I’ve read some about the Great Depression and remember first hand accounts of my grandparents.  It could be ugly…very ugly.  As you all know, we have a Newport 30.  We also have a 5th wheel RV and the concerns above have prompted me to start thinking outside my normal comfort zone.  To the ‘what if’ thought of being forced to live in either the RV or boat.

I’ve been looking for additional information in the event of push comes to shove.  I have one of those lovely little “not to be named but holds thousands of books”  items.  I love it but I know that without power to keep the battery charged up, I won’t be able to ready any of the books contained in its sleek little case.  Thus I found and bought two paper type books.

Dirt-Cheap Survival Retreat and 31 Days to Survival a Complete Plan for Emergency Preparedness both by M.D. Creekmore.

 Dirt-Cheap Survival Retreat is an interesting read.  While not all the topics would be of use in a sail away situation, I did find much that could assist in casting off.  Of particular interest to me was the section about Solar and Generator Systems.  These are systems I’d love to have aboard.  Hubby and I have talked about adding a small generator to power the fridge and other systems we enjoy while away from shore power.  We’re also considering solar panels…although in Oregon???  Gotta think hard there.

31 Days to Survival is a book I’d recomend to pretty much anyone.  FEMA has always maintained each person should have emergency provisions for at least 3 days.  Having grown up in a rural area I’ve always aimed for a month and I think hurricane Katrina showed all of us that we need to be better prepared to take care of ourselves and not depend on some mythical government agency to provide what we need.

I’ve been looking around my house for the past year or so and thinking about how little I really have for my family.  The thought of trying to figure it all out was so daunting that I found I didn’t really accomplish much.  Thus the 31 days to Survival gave me small steps to take to get it done.  While I’m not getting ready to castoff and need 3 months of food and drinks, I found the section “Let’s go shopping for your year’s food supply” quite eye opening!

The books are very reasonably priced and easy to read, you can see that here.  I think they’d make a good addition to any sailor’s library.  So, casting off and over the horizon, off for a week away or hunkering down at home pick up your copy today.