Surely it can only go wrong?

[Squalllionheart]

I'm on about living out at sea...on a ship...but its actually..a city?

http://www.freedomship.com/

I heard about this years ago and completely forgot about it until now, I was just wondering if anyone here had any thoughts about living on a floating city like this? Would you feel safe? Would you take your family there with you? Would you set up a shop?

I'm not afraid of the sea or being out at sea, I don't get sea sick and don't have any fear when on a ship, but I just think something that big is asking for trouble. I know the world is made up of around 70% ocean so there is plenty of room to move around but seriously I think having a city on water is a little crazy..

Thoughts/opinions please.

 

[Mermaid]

Hmm, well I for sure couldn't cope with that personally; I get sea sick and if I moved out there when a bit older I would feel kinda disconnected from the rest of the world, and other parts of my family. I can see why it may be interesting to some, but it just wouldn't be for me one bit. I like where I live too much, anyway.

I agree with you, it does sound a tad crazy, but that's my opinion; it probably isn't everyones xD Interesting concept, just not sure how the outcomes will be.

 

[Kalythe]

If I did live on it, I can fulfill my pirate dreams. But seriously I don't see this any different than someone living in an RV and traveling around, minus the actual control of your directions. I think that would be my number one worry. Basically stuck on a cruise that isn't one.

 

[Lirael]

Haha, this sort of happens in a recent game.

Spoiler

The Last Story.

Speaking idealistically, living on a floating island could be quite interesting. Assuming you have all your loved ones nearby, you can sail across the world quite happily, seeing a lot of different places and meeting a lot of people. You could also try a variety of foods!

Realistically, it would be very challenging. 1) it would probably be dangerous, 2) it would be difficult to get a sustainable job, 3) I can imagine feeling a little out of place... Your home wouldn't be set anywhere.

There is also the problem of not being able to control the island, which means you could quite easily land in a dangerous country or hit an area in the sea where survival is impossible due to temperature. Furthermore, a dangerous animal (e.g. a poisonous snake) could become a stowaway, and you'd have no cure nearby.

I'm letting my mind run away with me.

 

[Richard B Riddick]

I like the concept but don't like the design of it they have posted.

For one thing, if you're living on the ocean, you'll want to feel the sunshine, grow your own food and collect rainwater.

That makes putting a giant flattop combination landing field on the top level a potentially bad idea. It blocks the sunshine, and I think isn't likely to be a good design for rainwater collection.

Second thing that comes to mind. If you live near the ocean, you'll want a small boat to get around to go on joyrides or go fishing and visit areas nearby. The bottommost hull level I would guess is in excess of 50-100 feet tall. It would need to be really high to deal with storm conditions and large waves.

There doesn't look like a good means of tethering small boats or other auxiliary craft which would definitely be a major requirement in terms of worst case scenarios where the floating city might need to be abandoned.

Air freight is the least efficient and most costly method of transporting goods and supplies and relying solely on the top deck airfield wouldn't necessarily be good policy.

Also, living on the ocean with a lot of wind and sun means its often a good idea to have a design which incorporates solar panels, desalination plants, wind or wave farms and other apparatus.

There are other criticisms of it.

I think that's a horrible and lazy design that really does ruin the 'experience' of living at sea and fails to live up to its true potential.

It looks like a money making or population coping scheme devised to cram as many people as possible onto as small an area as possible...

 

[Squalllionheart]

Some interesting views, and I actually completely forgot about sunshine and rain water collection and the like, if you think about it, it would be a little bit like living inside a mall\shopping centre. If you look outside your window your unlikely to be near the outter edge of the ship\city so I wonder how people will deal with the lack of natural sunshine.

Also about the jobs to living quaters rato.. If there are 10,000 shops and 100,000 homes, where are most of those people going to work? I'm sure they'll take into consideration that a family will contain a dad, mum and child, but what happens when this child is old enough to get a job? Or someone that is able to work leaves or dies?

At the same time I suppose we get through it when we live in towns and city's on land anyway. I just don't think it can work, I don't see how something that big can be controled in the water without hitting everything along the way. What sort of law would apply on the ship/town when out in international waters? From what I understand you can commit a crime and get away with it.

 

[Tucker]

FF10.

Moonflow.

Sunken City.

I shall not stand for this.

 

[Richard B Riddick]

Some interesting views, and I actually completely forgot about sunshine and rain water collection and the like, if you think about it, it would be a little bit like living inside a mall\shopping centre. If you look outside your window your unlikely to be near the outter edge of the ship\city so I wonder how people will deal with the lack of natural sunshine.

Also about the jobs to living quaters rato.. If there are 10,000 shops and 100,000 homes, where are most of those people going to work? I'm sure they'll take into consideration that a family will contain a dad, mum and child, but what happens when this child is old enough to get a job? Or someone that is able to work leaves or dies?

At the same time I suppose we get through it when we live in towns and city's on land anyway. I just don't think it can work, I don't see how something that big can be controled in the water without hitting everything along the way. What sort of law would apply on the ship/town when out in international waters? From what I understand you can commit a crime and get away with it.

I think its a lame money making scheme.

They cram as many people as possible onto it, then make money off them on price mark ups on everything they eat and consume being shipped in via air freight.

If a bottle of water is 75 cents in a store, it could cost $1.50-$2.00 or more after shipping expenses were factored in. It would be cheaper & more affordable if their goods were shipped via barge or surface route. But, you can tell they don't intend to as there is no crane.

A propellar prop plane is about as fuel efficient as a passenger jet, only slower. The claim that it can be made affordable by using older technology is really a myth.

I would guess they'll cater to gays and lesbians, nudists, political and religious dissidents and other minority groups who might want to form their own communities.

I didn't realize its intended to cruise the oceans and travel around the world. I can't imagine how much oil it would burn.

I wish someone who knew what they were doing would design a concept art of it, so people could see what a good design looks like.. I really don't think that should be considered as anything decent.

Blahhh.