i am interesting of how to develop this island
would they got a solar power grid?
My Friends and I Bought an Island
291–300 of 405 posts
Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#292Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There is no land on earth outside of the control of nation-states, except Antarctica Not quite. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil
Not quite. Bir_Tawil I found elsewhere: "this is pretty much just 2,000 km2 of sand and rocks", and "consisting mainly of sand and rocks ... 2069 sq km (795 sq mil) and is shaped like a trapezoid." , and checked it out on satellite. The nearest road appears to be 250km away. Definitely no chance of internet. But even this place I suppose could be made habitable with long term effort. Solar would be a good bet for pow…
It's still de facto Egyptian territory, although for the bizarre political reasons outlined in the Wikipedia article they just don't claim it as such. Flying in/out isn't going to work too well since it's fully surrounded by Egypt and Sudan.
Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#293Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you have more precise details on the costs involved with that Philippine island idea? What kind of numbers?
This was in ~2003... There were islands in Palawan fro sale at the time that were uttery perfect for ~$35,000 USD - large enough for a house, had a really nice beach etc... The problem was that in the northern part of Palawan, you either need to ship from Manilla, or fly stuff in. The islands were too small/rocky to be able to have a well, so water was an issue - as was power - you'd need to basically have solar/wind…
Also, buying an island in a 3rd world country is an entirely different proposition from doing it in a place like Canada. For example, keeping your stuff safe becomes a major concern, especially if you're planning to only visit every now and then; you pretty much need to hire a permanent caretaker.
Also, in the Phils (and most all Asian countries) foreigners can't buy land directly, so you need to use various workarounds of dubious legality like setting up a corporation with a local citizen as director and an undated, presigned letter of resignation, etc.
And you're still screwed if somebody in power doesn't like what you're doing. There was a bizarre case a while back with some Finnish guys setting up camp on a remote Indonesian island (with go-ahead from the locals, mind you) that eventually ended up with the army showing up to kick them out with lots of chest-thumping about Indonesian sovereignty, but my Google-fu is failing me right now...
Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#294Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well defined borders. You're either on the island, or not. Neither you nor your neighbors are likely to wander across the border without noticing.
Nope, that's not it. Proof: Would you get excited about a story of someone buying a five acre plot of land with a fence around it? Or a moat-like trench?
A moat would be kind of cool :)
Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#295Just for people new to who Tynan is, he's a pretty far out guy. Some things I recall (sorry haven't kept up over the years) 1) Ran a successful professional online poker playing business, actually hired employees and trained them to predictably win. 2) Was one of the main characters in the book The Game (yes, that PUA one). 3) Did polyphasic sleep experiments in earnest (was it a couple months or so?). 4) Had a giant…
Not common place before 2008? A lot of anti materialism propaganda started way before that: AdBusters, Culture Jam and lots of other films that were even main stream.
I think he means before stories like that started popping up on HN...
Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#296Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#297Why not just disclose the price?
Probably because it's none of your business. Seriously, what could you get from a firm figure that you couldn't get from the generalisation of between 10 - 100k?
Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#298Earlier quoted context omitted.
For people who are confused: A widowmaker is a dead tree that could fall, and kill somebody [in the namesake a probably-male logger]; thereby creating a widow.
Ah - living in the UK I thought that would be some kind of weird spider or snake or something. Thanks for that. We don't have weird dangerous stuff here except for the politicians and bankers.
In Australia, and I had the same thought, that 'widowmaker' referred to a spider.
Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#299Earlier quoted context omitted.
In lakes the rules are extremely strict, for an island in the ocean the rules are much more permissive. No matter what the rules you typically want to keep your impact as low as possible or your island feeling will soon be replaced by something more akin to living in a small polluted town. Legally all your island really is is a bit of land surrounded by shoreline and that shoreline is the interesting bit. It may auto…
Presumably the island is still part of Canada, right? I doubt you could get away with trying to start your own little sovereign country on it.
If you have the backing and historical roots of a large country you can find a loophole:
Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island
#300Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious about this, too. We've done a little research, and it seems like building non-permanent things like sheds and yurts will be fine, but docks, septic, permanent buildings that cost over $5k will need permits. Then again, there are some pretty janky home-made docks in the bay that seem to have been there for a while.
If it is anything like in the US, old stuff is grandfathered when things tighten up. This is why it is often advisable to look for property that already has a dock or other permanent structures on or near the shoreline. It is quite likely that none of that janky stuff could be built today.
This is exactly how it works in most of Canada. The new laws are strict to an extreme measure, in some cases you are not even allowed to add a window to a wall that is facing water (reflection and glare issues) or cut down any fauna within 60 feet of the waters edge. Docks usually have a permit but are limited to a specific size, and you cannot alter the general structure of grandfathered objects.