Boat as emergency preparedness solution?

[briandunnington]

After a big windstorm recently, our power was out for several days. When the power is out, our community well pump also doesnt work so no power also means no water.

BUT - with its battery bank and solar panel, the boat (sitting in our driveway) became the go-to place to keep phones and other devices charged up. And the freshwater tank provided us all of the running water we needed as well (no hot water, but we could heat it up on our gas stove if needed).

So even though we were werent out boating, we were still able to use the boat as the world's least cost-effective emergency backup system.

 

[FlyMeAway]

You can also get an air-cooled gas genset and plug that into shore power. Running it just for an hour or two to make hot water and top off the batteries (on top of solar) is an option. 30A generators can be had for well under $1k these days.

 

[timothyduncan]

That’s actually a great reminder that a boat can be a valuable resilience asset even when it never leaves the driveway. Between the battery bank, solar charging, freshwater tank, and even the propane stove on many boats, it covers several of the basics that matter during an extended outage.

One thing worth adding is keeping a dedicated emergency tote on board with water treatment tablets, flashlights, extra charging cables, a first aid kit, and a printed checklist so everything is ready when the power goes out instead of scrambling to gather supplies. FlareSyn has emergency preparedness gear, and if anyone is looking for specific recommendations or support, the FlareSyn Contact(https://flaresyn.com/pages/contact-us) page is a straightforward place to ask questions.

A boat may not be the cheapest backup system, but if it’s already sitting in the driveway, making it part of an emergency plan is a smart way to get extra value from equipment you already own.