Post by jeff on Sept 20, 2017 23:23:48 GMT
Imagine a sleepy community on the Gulf Coast, 2-lane highway runs down the peninsula, all the way to the marina. On one side of the highway, there's an open bay with a few piers, houses on stilts and such on the other. Somewhere along the way, you turn off onto this wide concrete road that looks more like an oversized driveway, but, hey, it has a sign, so...
Turns out, that concrete road goes in behind a couple of houses and turns down another, smaller peninsula, sticking out into a smaller, protected bay. Sleepy little place where people come to fish and kayak, that sort of thing. There are a few more of those houses on stilts and then there's this obviously artificial hill, something like a Quonset Hut, buried, there, vaguely like the old military bunkers and bomb-shelters of a bygone era, but, somehow 'new'... Past that is a homestead type setup, somewhat odd. but recognizable, typical homestead livestock, cows with calves, goats, sheep, chickens, geese, even pigs, and a small field on one side of the road, a rather large garden on the other. At the end of the road is another of the buried Quonset Hut structures and the rest of the protected bay, maybe a pier with a few boats, some cars parked in a small fenced parking area, maybe some boat trailers, even a few boats on trailers, along with a very wide loading ramp, across the road from one end of that second buried Quonset Hut.
If you watch long enough, you might notice that the Postal Carrier comes down and spends a bit more time there, than one would expect, especially at that last Quonset Hut, for that few houses. FedEx and UPS make more deliveries down there a good bit more regularly than anywhere else, even box trucks full of stuff show up from time to time. Various people come and go, but when they go out on their boats, they seem to be gone an inordinately long time... Weeks, even months... One boat seems to load up with a lot of stuff, about once a week, and head out, but might come back the next day, or maybe two. It all has a kind of rhythm that's easy to overlook, but still a bit odd, or offbeat.
What you might not spot is that one, or even several of those houses on stilts are built sturdier than the others. Designed to withstand a hurricane, it/they even have decks that winch up to cover the ends of the house. That first buried Quonset Hut is the barn, complete with a milking parlor, and all sorts of storage and processing equipment. The second buried Quonset hut is a sort of combination supply base, school, laboratory and manufacturing structure.
The small farm is run on an intensive rotation, producing far more that something that small seems capable of. All of those trees are varieties of fruits and nuts that are fairly salt tolerant, so they don't need a lot of extra work. That oversized garden is run using Intensive Vegetable Gardening techniques developed by the Peace Corps, so it produces market quantities of food.
That second buried Quonset Hut? In there, they make these huge boats. Every now and then, one of those huge boats comes out, and goes out to sea. Those boats are actually floating homes that go out and get permanently moored, somewhere offshore. Only moving as their owners choose to go somewhere else, or to avoid massive storms. As part of the process, there is a wave-tank, to test new ideas and modifications. It can also be rented-out for additional income, to boat and ship manufacturers, as well as universities. On one side of the building is an unusual setup that takes glass fiber rope, runs it through a pipe, filling it and coating it with a special enamel, then it comes out the end and is cured, spooled and stored. It's a special kind of composite rebar, for making the boats.
Those boats are made of a special cement mix. The rebar is first bent into shape, then heated to take on the new shape, layers of additional glass fiber mesh are added, then the cement is sprayed into place and plasterers smooth the surface. Once cured and painted, the hull gets fitted out, all within the same workshop. They can also be brought back in for routine maintenance, upgrades and so on.
Somewhere, over the horizon, in the Gulf of Mexico, there are large circular fields of Kelp. Some of those huge boats are moored at each one. Inside those Kelp beds are cages of fish, crabs, Abalone, and so on. Each Kelp bed supplies the Kelp to feed certain 'feeder fish' species, which are then fed to marketable fish. Part of the function of the Kelp is to also filter and reuse the wastes of those fish, to prevent pollution of the local habitat and areas downstream.
Surrounding those Kelp beds, are rings of artificial reef. Not continuous, but mounds, regularly spaced, in several rings. The waters within those rings are really very calm, especially compared to the waves around them.
People come out of those large boats, get into smaller barge like boats, harvest Kelp and feed it to the Abalone and feeder-fish. Once the feeder-fish reach a certain size, they are fed into cages containing the market fish. When the marketable fish are the right size, they stop feeding them, then, a week later, a large boat comes out, drops of more market fish spawn, and hauls the ready market fish to port, for processing, distribution and sale.
That over-productive homestead? Well, it provides fresh food, mail and parcel delivery to those oversized boats. Excess food is sold to the local stores and at the farmers market. That parking lot? Those cars, boats and trailers belong to various people ON those boats, so they can come and go as they need, be it for medical reasons, vacations, or just a date-night on the town...
Most of the boats are intended to be homes, not just some floating bunkhouse for workers. Each one is designed to be permanent, not disposable. They might cost the equivalent of a similar sized home in a very ritzy neighborhood, including land, or a high-priced condo, but they are an investment. Once paid for, they belong to whoever bought them.
The whole arrangement is a sort of co-op. Workers earn wages, pay bills, etc. They use a portion of those wages to rent, or make a purchase plan to buy one of those floating homes.
Turns out, that concrete road goes in behind a couple of houses and turns down another, smaller peninsula, sticking out into a smaller, protected bay. Sleepy little place where people come to fish and kayak, that sort of thing. There are a few more of those houses on stilts and then there's this obviously artificial hill, something like a Quonset Hut, buried, there, vaguely like the old military bunkers and bomb-shelters of a bygone era, but, somehow 'new'... Past that is a homestead type setup, somewhat odd. but recognizable, typical homestead livestock, cows with calves, goats, sheep, chickens, geese, even pigs, and a small field on one side of the road, a rather large garden on the other. At the end of the road is another of the buried Quonset Hut structures and the rest of the protected bay, maybe a pier with a few boats, some cars parked in a small fenced parking area, maybe some boat trailers, even a few boats on trailers, along with a very wide loading ramp, across the road from one end of that second buried Quonset Hut.
If you watch long enough, you might notice that the Postal Carrier comes down and spends a bit more time there, than one would expect, especially at that last Quonset Hut, for that few houses. FedEx and UPS make more deliveries down there a good bit more regularly than anywhere else, even box trucks full of stuff show up from time to time. Various people come and go, but when they go out on their boats, they seem to be gone an inordinately long time... Weeks, even months... One boat seems to load up with a lot of stuff, about once a week, and head out, but might come back the next day, or maybe two. It all has a kind of rhythm that's easy to overlook, but still a bit odd, or offbeat.
What you might not spot is that one, or even several of those houses on stilts are built sturdier than the others. Designed to withstand a hurricane, it/they even have decks that winch up to cover the ends of the house. That first buried Quonset Hut is the barn, complete with a milking parlor, and all sorts of storage and processing equipment. The second buried Quonset hut is a sort of combination supply base, school, laboratory and manufacturing structure.
The small farm is run on an intensive rotation, producing far more that something that small seems capable of. All of those trees are varieties of fruits and nuts that are fairly salt tolerant, so they don't need a lot of extra work. That oversized garden is run using Intensive Vegetable Gardening techniques developed by the Peace Corps, so it produces market quantities of food.
That second buried Quonset Hut? In there, they make these huge boats. Every now and then, one of those huge boats comes out, and goes out to sea. Those boats are actually floating homes that go out and get permanently moored, somewhere offshore. Only moving as their owners choose to go somewhere else, or to avoid massive storms. As part of the process, there is a wave-tank, to test new ideas and modifications. It can also be rented-out for additional income, to boat and ship manufacturers, as well as universities. On one side of the building is an unusual setup that takes glass fiber rope, runs it through a pipe, filling it and coating it with a special enamel, then it comes out the end and is cured, spooled and stored. It's a special kind of composite rebar, for making the boats.
Those boats are made of a special cement mix. The rebar is first bent into shape, then heated to take on the new shape, layers of additional glass fiber mesh are added, then the cement is sprayed into place and plasterers smooth the surface. Once cured and painted, the hull gets fitted out, all within the same workshop. They can also be brought back in for routine maintenance, upgrades and so on.
Somewhere, over the horizon, in the Gulf of Mexico, there are large circular fields of Kelp. Some of those huge boats are moored at each one. Inside those Kelp beds are cages of fish, crabs, Abalone, and so on. Each Kelp bed supplies the Kelp to feed certain 'feeder fish' species, which are then fed to marketable fish. Part of the function of the Kelp is to also filter and reuse the wastes of those fish, to prevent pollution of the local habitat and areas downstream.
Surrounding those Kelp beds, are rings of artificial reef. Not continuous, but mounds, regularly spaced, in several rings. The waters within those rings are really very calm, especially compared to the waves around them.
People come out of those large boats, get into smaller barge like boats, harvest Kelp and feed it to the Abalone and feeder-fish. Once the feeder-fish reach a certain size, they are fed into cages containing the market fish. When the marketable fish are the right size, they stop feeding them, then, a week later, a large boat comes out, drops of more market fish spawn, and hauls the ready market fish to port, for processing, distribution and sale.
That over-productive homestead? Well, it provides fresh food, mail and parcel delivery to those oversized boats. Excess food is sold to the local stores and at the farmers market. That parking lot? Those cars, boats and trailers belong to various people ON those boats, so they can come and go as they need, be it for medical reasons, vacations, or just a date-night on the town...
Most of the boats are intended to be homes, not just some floating bunkhouse for workers. Each one is designed to be permanent, not disposable. They might cost the equivalent of a similar sized home in a very ritzy neighborhood, including land, or a high-priced condo, but they are an investment. Once paid for, they belong to whoever bought them.
The whole arrangement is a sort of co-op. Workers earn wages, pay bills, etc. They use a portion of those wages to rent, or make a purchase plan to buy one of those floating homes.