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My Friends and I Bought an Island

tynan.com

311–320 of 405 posts

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can build anything you want. It's your property.

Actually, no you can't build anything you want, and no, it's not really your property.

Yes, this is what I though too. He just bought property rights. It's still part of whatever country it's located within and they can apply all of their legal code on you. I imaging digging deeper than a few feet would be illegal on that without proper authorization first. Having a really sovereign country is kind of difficult.

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#312
post #216

Just 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…

Glad I'm not the only one that wants to have an indoor inflatable pool that takes up an entire room. The wife does not approve.

Way back in the early days of Internet, there were pictures of some fellows who moved all the furniture out of their dorm room, got a sheet of heavy-duty waterproof plastic big enough to cover the floor and three feet up the walls, and ran a hose from the bathroom...

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're welcome. Basic engine repair skills, something to patch up your boat in case you spring a leak, a basic comms kit+genny so you can call up the coast guard or a passing boat if you should need them (assuming your island is out of cell phone reach), cache of freshwater, fuel, waterproofed matches and a couple of days worth of tin cans in case you ever get cut off. Halifax coast in winter can be, how to phrase th…

If their boat is more of a skiff, a couple paddles and a milk jug cut in half for bailing might be sufficient. In terms of winter storms, this is approximately as bad as it gets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Juan .

That's what I was thinking, about the paddles. Five minutes by motorboat in clear weather ought to be at least manageable even if the motor's out and the weather's terrible, so long as you've got paddles.

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#315
post #139
post #3

Lots of widowmakers there judging by the pictures, better be careful. One thing you learn quickly when you live remote is that the nearest hospital is very far away both in space and in time and stuff that is routine in a city can get serious (or even kill you) when you're living remote. Still, congratulations, I can really relate to how you guys feel. In case there are more island enthousiasts here: http://www.priva…

I would put "clearing a space or even making a concrete pad for a helicopter to land" and "checking cell phone coverage, if any" high on the list of first things to do.

This island for sale in Scotland appears to have a helipad next to the house (you can see it on one of the pics):

http://www.privateislandsonline.com/islands/eilean-righ

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can build anything you want. It's your property.

Actually, no you can't build anything you want, and no, it's not really your property.

It is your property, but it's not your sovereign country. You still need to obey the law of the country your property is part of, and that severely restricts what you can do with it.

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#317

Just 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…

> Sold all his belongings, including said house, and travelled the world for a year with almost nothing... probably in 2k8 or so before such an idea became more commonplace.

Has this really become more commonplace since 2008? People have always done this. Even before 2008. Maybe blogging about it is a fairly recent thing, though.

Ages ago, I also had this idea, including posting about it online. But it turns out I'm a dreamer rather than a do-er. Or maybe I'm just too addicted to comfort.

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#318
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. And suddenly fall they do (gust of wind, guy playing around with a chainsaw at the base, random chance).

it's a miracle humans managed to survive the first few million years...

That's a matter of numbers. Lots of people die in unfortunate ways. I'd just rather not be one of them.

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#319
post #37
post #28

What is it about islands that gives them their mystique? I don't think a post entitled, "My friends and I bought a five-acre plot of land near Halifax" would have garnered as much attention.

I would have never guessed that it would, either. I was pretty shocked to see it here when I loaded up HN on my phone. When I was inviting friends to be a part of this, there was a big divide... half of them LOVED the idea and felt like an island was something special (as I do), and others just saw it as some difficult-to-access land. I've had a tough time articulating exactly why an island seems special to me.

While I'd love owning some land, owning an island is definitely in a different league. I doubt I'll ever own one (because it is impractical), but it's definitely something to dream about.

Re: My Friends and I Bought an Island

#320
post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 :)

If you get a moat, I'd also want a drawbridge. And walls. And towers.
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