HI Aeldric

Great article. I have been reading TOD, EB and LATOC since 2005; and was sufficiently motivated to complete a Master of Sustainability Sciences degree last year, so that I could round out my knowledge with some specifics such as resource economics, climate science, ecology etc. I am also a chartered accountant and so straddle the sustainability and financial worlds. I concur with everything you say. I though find myself very uncertain. The variables are too big and changes are big and seemingly random in both their form and effect.

I am also a sailor. I sailed to Oz from the UK a few years ago with my family so I know what it is like to live on a boat (and manage energy, water and maintenance). One thing I can say is that a trailer sailer is too little. Our boat was 44' and as a family of 5 we felt quite cramped. We did meet another family of 5 who were on a 38' boat (2/3 the volume?) so maybe we were a little spoilt. Nevertheless the bigger the boat the better they can do things at sea. They are usually more sea kindly (generally), they can manage heavy weather better, they are faster etc etc. One thing you definitely will not do on a trailer sailer is carry cargo. Fishing in a sailboat is also problematic (as a profession). We caught a lot of fish, but to do it professionally the boat would need to be set up accordingly.

If you want some advice on sailing and boats etc reply and we can go off line on the topic