How About Living Off The Grid On A Ship? Your Own Little Off Grid Island!

Here’s a crazy idea! How about living on your own Off Grid Island? That moves! That’s what a cruise ship is, basically. Almost any ship with many cabins and lots of deck space can be converted into an off grid island of sorts. Imagine traveling the world stopping in countries around the globe, visiting exotic locations, seeing the wonder of the world, all from a mobile off grid island. That’s what a ship is. An island. And it’s possible to make it 100% self sufficient. Ships and technology exist today that produce their own water, power, and with a little creative thought and some hard work, (and money) a cruise ship is the perfect platform to create your own off grid community at sea. You could also survive the zombie apocalypse on board your own little off grid island. Just saying. 100% SELF SUFFICIENT OFF GRID ISLAND! All completely powered by renewable solar and wind energy. The motors can be electric and the battery energy storage system can hold enough energy to power the motors, galley, suites, cabins, radar and electronic systems, and all the LED lighting on board. The ship would have to be converted and retrofitted with millions of dollars worth of equipment but it’s possible.  So how do you fund something like this? How much would it cost? Well, that depends on how much modification would need to be done to convert the ship. It would not be “cheap”. That’s for sure. But it’s doable if you can raise the funding for the project. See, that’s the problem. It’s always about the funding. This is why most great ideas never get off the ground. Money! The millions of dollars it would take to retrofit a cruise ship to be a 100% self sufficient off grid island is out of the reach of the individual. But when you factor in the power of crowd funding, it becomes much easier. Not “EASY”, but “easier”. More likely. Better odds. There is power in numbers. Let’s say you need $10 million to purchase a used cruise ship. Then you have the cost of crew salaries, plus yearly maintenance, plus fuel, insurance, permits, licensing, equipment, labor, materials, port fees, etc. The list of expenses goes on and on and on. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Look at a ship like this as its own country (more about maritime law in a bit; just keep reading).  Now think about military bases and more specifically, aircraft carriers. Now that your mind is primed to think in these terms, think about what the term “off grid” means. What does off grid mean? Well, it’s simple. Off grid means being disconnected from the power grid. More broadly it means being self sufficient, sustainable, independent, completely autonomous.  See where I’m going with that line of thought and logic? Now, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier is 100% self sufficient right? Kind of… It’s not. It needs food for the crew. Without food the crew of thousands