Orlov's engine

Recently Dimitry Orlov posted a plea for donations so he can replace the engine on his sailboat. Long story short: Last fall, not far out of Boston his sailboat's engine failed. He said it was too late in the season to deal with it. When he inspected in the spring he discovered salt water had mixed with the oil. The repairs cost more than it would be worth.

First of all I'd like to make it clear that I like Orlov. His Club Orlov blog site is one of my regular stops. Many of his ideas resonate with my own, certainly not all, but many. In spite of my general admiration for the man, his engine problems sent up a few red flags for me.

He didn't try to find out what the problem with the engine was right away. Instead, it sat all winter, getting worse by the day. Now stuff happens. I don't know his personal life. Sometimes we should tackle an unpleasant job but put it off. What I don't buy is the “too late in the season” bit. Too late to work on it comfortably I understand, but discomfort doesn't mean impossible. He's smart, an engineer, so he could have found a way.

So now he's pretty much stuck in Boston. That would freak me out if I'd written books about collapse. He's also promoted the Seasteading idea where people survive by heading out to sea in boats. Engine problems should not have sidelined him so badly. The whole idea of living on a sailboat is that it's possible to cast off your lines and leave civilization's problems behind you. Pretty hard to do if you can't even motor out of the harbor.

There are low cost alternatives to replacing his diesel engine. One quick and dirty solution is to slap a cheap outboard on the back. It's not elegant, but it will get you out of the harbor. It is a sailboat, after all. Plenty of people travel the world in sailboats without engines.

Of course, maybe the United States is in no immediate danger of collapsing. That would allow plenty of time to spend on engine trouble. Only god is perfect so maybe we should cut him some slack and send a few pennies his way.

-Sixbears