In the scenario of an EMP event, my plan was & remains to get home from where ever this boat is.

The "back in the canal" plan remains; to backpack home.

Here on the Lower & Upper Miss, & the Ohio, & Illinois Rivers, I would pack the crew & supplies into the small boat. Drift, paddle as needed, & (if the engine still works) use the engine to avoid hazards while the gas lasts.

We would have to portage the boat & supplies around the Locks & Dams but would make 20-30 miles per day, allowing for stopping @ night. There would be opportunities to forage & scrounge along the way, as well.

At some points, crew members w/supplies would disembark to hike inland to their homes. I would disembark at Baton Rouge & have a mere 100 miles to hike home.

I have already taken notice that this boat packs plenty of bottled water, canned foods (c-rats), & many other goodies that would be extremely useful (tarps, line, 55gal trashbags, etc.)

Isn't your large boat/ship diesel powered? What critical parts would cause it to fail following an EMP? Can you stock spares for those critical parts?

Good question Russ, but I wonder if it is possible that the locks won't function. Wildman800 would know a lot more about this than I would, but I know that there is no way a crew is going to be able to portage the boat he works on.

One thought would be to remember to check the handheld radios or take any handhelds that were not in use. They might work.

This is the "StarShip Enterprise" of towboats. All of the "Latest & Greatest" gadgetry that technology has to offer (except for phasers & shields).

Computors control the engines, throttles, steering, generators, & comms. If EMP wipes out the computors, we can't even flush the toilets (>once), & would be living in a steel "Hot Box"!

Our options would be to set up a camp on shore, or head for home with the available supplies that we can fit into the small boat, along with the crew.

A camp on shore would make us subject to local raiders more than if we remained onboard.

Okay, but a lot of the computers inside a steel box won't be taken out by an EMP if they are given just a little help. I'd really be looking at a way to maintain that steel box as Plan A and shift plans to abandon it to a Plan B. A steel towboat could be a very good place to ride out rough times.

Wlidman800
Is your dinghy inboard or outboard powered? The reason I ask is that most outboards use a magneto for spark, and I don't think a EMP would wipe it out.
Or you could get a small kicker as a spare and make sure it is powered by a magneto and not a generator, if I remember right if it has a starter it has a generator.

So you DO have photon torpedoes!

Kind of a stupid question, but is there any way to "jump start" engines on boats? I never really thought about it before, but just curious. Answer when you're done laughing, I've got all day.

I never thought much about it before, but just what are the computers that run these ships? Are they proprietary or are they standard PC dressed up with sensors and i/o systems? Could they be replaced with PC's or would that break somebody's rice bowl?

There's no problem starting the engines as long as we have compressed air. We can't keep them running or control their output speeds, or control the redgear (transmissions) without the computors.

We don't talk about the Photon Torpedoes or the Modified Transporter Delivery System (MTDS) since they are CLASSIFIED and no one knows that they even exist,,,,,oops!!!!!

This O/B is a 25hp & I believe that it will still work after an EMP event, as long as the gas holds out. We rarely keep more than 15gals onboard because of the flammability issue.

I think gasoline might be something a wily boatman could scrounge as he made his way down the river. If things are so serious that your boat cannot get anywhere, woudln't there have to be some stranded barges, some of which might have a little fuel in them? I know the whole industry is better at pumping out and draining barges, but it cannot be possible to really get it all out.

All red flag barges have pump engines that run on diesel.

Checking cargoes of barges we might encounter would be very time consuming and deadly dangerous. Not really worth the risk.

Wildman, this may not be feasable, but have you considered storing a bicycle somewhere along your return route? Once you were on land it could cut your return time in half or more.

That's been considered from many angles and it is feasible from only one source/possibility. That possibility is the "scrounging" part of every plan.

Be careful, in some places they shoot "scroungers"...

Diesel outboard a option?

I wish it were. Red Flag barges carry from 125 - 7,125 gals of DFM#2. Those with heater units carry the larger amount.

More & more of the newer Red Flag barges also have 2 good sized solar panels on them to power the alarm system.