Arranmore Island invites Americans to move there...

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/remote-irish-island-arranmore-invites-america-to-connect-300859933.html

It's a beautiful island in all the photos, which are undoubtedly in summertime.  Notably, however, there are no visible trees so this island is very likely inside the Arctic circle.  If a trained builder of rocket mass heaters were to move there, and a suitable fuel source is actually available in this region of Ireland, that builder would have access to a large portion of Ireland in order to offer his/her professional services; as the island is only 3 miles from the Irish "mainland", 5 miles from an airport and connected by a daily ferry.

Since it's only 3 miles from shore, why did it take so long for the island to get a broadband internet service?

Creighton Samuels wrote:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/remote-irish-island-arranmore-invites-america-to-connect-300859933.html

It's a beautiful island in all the photos, which are undoubtedly in summertime.  Notably, however, there are no visible trees so this island is very likely inside the Arctic circle.  If a trained builder of rocket mass heaters were to move there, and a suitable fuel source is actually available in this region of Ireland, that builder would have access to a large portion of Ireland in order to offer his/her professional services; as the island is only 3 miles from the Irish "mainland", 5 miles from an airport and connected by a daily ferry.

Since it's only 3 miles from shore, why did it take so long for the island to get a broadband internet service?

None of Ireland is in the arctic circle. They probably just cut all the trees down long long ago to graze more and never planted new ones. As to why they don't have highspeed internet, I could probably go about 10 miles here on the US mainland to find a lack of highspeed internet, so I'm guessing it's just a rural place that hasn't had a need to justify the investment.

Yes, I noticed my error almost immediately.  Apparently the Irish nearly denuded their islands of native forests in the 16th & 17th century in the rush to build ships.  The island of Arranmore has roughly the same latitude as Nova Scotia, and since it's right on the ocean in the direct flow of the North Atlantic Circulation, it should have a marginally better winter climate.  I'd bet that seeing the sunshine between November and April is pretty rare, however.  So a permie that moved there could start their own deciduous forest, and be harvesting fuelwood in about 6 years.  This is just about the ideal region for a trained RMH builder.  If cut during wintertime, a lot of deciduous species will immediately start to regrow from the stump in spring, and faster than the original seedling because the new sprout will be able to draw upon the reserves in the root that the old tree no longer requires. And this island is not small, so it's probably got some good land available; for a permie's forest, not ag.  As the Duke has pointed out many times, land that can support modern mechanized agriculture is always going to be too expensive for permies to do well.

It looks great, but I wonder how it will be affected by rising sea levels

James Landreth wrote:It looks great, but I wonder how it will be affected by rising sea levels

Mostly high coastal cliffs and a peak at over 400 feet above sea level, putting it on par with my home state of Kentucky.  So while the current sandy beaches might cease to exist within a century, the vast majority of the island's landmass will be unaffected.

stephen lowe wrote:

Creighton Samuels wrote:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/remote-irish-island-arranmore-invites-america-to-connect-300859933.html

It's a beautiful island in all the photos, which are undoubtedly in summertime.  Notably, however, there are no visible trees so this island is very likely inside the Arctic circle.  If a trained builder of rocket mass heaters were to move there, and a suitable fuel source is actually available in this region of Ireland, that builder would have access to a large portion of Ireland in order to offer his/her professional services; as the island is only 3 miles from the Irish "mainland", 5 miles from an airport and connected by a daily ferry.

Since it's only 3 miles from shore, why did it take so long for the island to get a broadband internet service?

None of Ireland is in the arctic circle. They probably just cut all the trees down long long ago to graze more and never planted new ones. As to why they don't have highspeed internet, I could probably go about 10 miles here on the US mainland to find a lack of highspeed internet, so I'm guessing it's just a rural place that hasn't had a need to justify the investment.

Haha. We don't have broadband internet here in Wyoming. LOL

It's a USDA zone 8 I would guess with a heatzone 1-2 WET and very windy, it probably never did have trees at least not on the west of the island looking at the satellite it's mainly rock on the west coast Not somewhere I would want to try to grow much to be honest, not much seasonal variation and cool cloudy summers coupled with high winds.

North West Montana either, No internet without a hard line or satellite and no cell service, except at certain spots on the highway.  

I like it this way just fine :)

Skandi Rogers wrote:It's a USDA zone 8 I would guess with a heatzone 1-2 WET and very windy, it probably never did have trees at least not on the west of the island looking at the satellite it's mainly rock on the west coast Not somewhere I would want to try to grow much to be honest, not much seasonal variation and cool cloudy summers coupled with high winds.

Great place for a small wind turbine, it sounds like.

Ahh ... a Tiny Home on ... Hulls (THoH)!

Sorry to dredge up this thread, but after seeing this oldie, got to wondering what it would take (cost & effort) to up and move to some place like Árainn Mhór, Ireland. I'd do it if the kids were grown, the wife gone (having left me after reading this post), and I just wanted to get even more mobile (living on a boat).

The one in the picture seems available, and I've worked with worse piles of rust.

Overall, it seems that one would need to:

1. learn Irish (Gaeilge, or Irish Gaelic ... any others?), lest I can't gain entrance to pubs ...
2. investigate some form of dual-citizenship ... some effort, possibly money, to sort this out ... in case they kick me back out
3. buy/build a boat (house boat, or THoH) of some kind ... no immediate land, building code issues ... have to get used to the "tilt" of the boat in the pic
4. off-grid stuff (solar, etc.), coal-burner, solar distiller
5. fish off the boat for food, greenhouse (window) for the rest ...

The bilge area just calls out for use of all that wasted space ... separate worm bins for various composting.

The deck area calls out for permaculture ... garden boxes, keyhole shapes at the bow ...

The masts would support nice tarp roofing and nifty shapes ...

With internet now there, everything else seems possible! Níl Sé Deacair ar Chor ar Bith ...

If the ocean rises too much, just go "waterworld" ...

This post made me smile....

Jt Lamb wrote:Ahh ... a Tiny Home on ... Hulls (THoH)!

Sorry to dredge up this thread, but after seeing this oldie, got to wondering what it would take (cost & effort) to up and move to some place like Árainn Mhór, Ireland. I'd do it if the kids were grown, the wife gone (having left me after reading this post), and I just wanted to get even more mobile (living on a boat).

Living on a boat is one of the classic lifestyle hacks, but it works better the more time you can spend *away* from a marina or dock.  I was very interested in an open source-ish boat project by Dmitri Orlov called "Quidnon", but he fled to Russia about 3 years ago and doesn't need the boat project anymore.   http://quidnon.blogspot.com/?m=1

Which is a pity that the project wasn't taken over by anyone else, because it would have been ideal for the salt-life lifestyle.  The legacy website is still very useful for the detailed discussions on the particular needs of living on the water long term and all-seasons.

The one in the picture seems available, and I've worked with worse piles of rust.

I think you'd be better off starting over.

Overall, it seems that one would need to:

1. learn Irish (Gaeilge, or Irish Gaelic ... any others?), lest I can't gain entrance to pubs ...

I'm pretty sure that you'd get along fine with English.

2. investigate some form of dual-citizenship ... some effort, possibly money, to sort this out ... in case they kick me back out
3. buy/build a boat (house boat, or THoH) of some kind ... no immediate land, building code issues ... have to get used to the "tilt" of the boat in the pic
4. off-grid stuff (solar, etc.), coal-burner, solar distiller

Um, a coal burner? On a boat? Why?  If it's for cabin heat, a small woodstove would be better, because you can pick up more fuel in many places.  Yes, they do make tiny woodstove for boats.

5. fish off the boat for food, greenhouse (window) for the rest ...

The bilge area just calls out for use of all that wasted space ... separate worm bins for various composting.

Interesting idea, but you'd have to be certain saltwater can't get into the bins.  Also, the bilge isn't usually unused space in a live-in boat.  It's often storage space for canned goods.

The deck area calls out for permaculture ... garden boxes, keyhole shapes at the bow ...

The masts would support nice tarp roofing and nifty shapes ...

Excellent for catching sky-water too.

QUIDNON (Q) is a great resource ... more inspiration for my sea-faring dreams. Many of the techniques being discussed solve problems I was facing with my own boating designs. A shame they cancelled Q ...

Yes, I live in the mountains ... but am working on finding a spot of land near a beach or a canal, with the hope of building/launching a sea-faring boat one day. Summer in the mountains, winter on the coast ... Tiny Homes (on *something*) at each end.

Thank goodness wood doesn't rust ... rust-orange was the prevalent color most seen on our coast land-scouting trips (aka beach excursions).

Onward to Q 2.0 ...

Jt Lamb wrote:but am working on finding a spot of land near a beach or a canal, with the hope of building/launching a sea-faring boat one day.

Onward to Q 2.0 ...

Don't limit yourself to these locations, as they are both very expensive choices, and not the only forms of waterfront property with greater water access.  Take a look at a marine highway map... https://www.maritime.dot.gov/grants/marine-highways/marine-highway

Practically anywhere along that network, plus the smaller rivers and bays that connect to it (for shoal draft boats especially, less than 2 feet to the bottom, as Quidnon was supposed to be) are much more affordable properties. I'm actually looking at valley-bottom (flood plain) land in Kentucky directly on the Kentucky River, north of Lexington; because the locks on this river are still in operation (up to lock #4) and a boat the size of Quidnon could travel from Lock #4 in Lexington, north to the Ohio River, east to the Mississippi River, and south to the Gulf of Mexico; without any special infrastructure.

In short, it's neither landlocked (too big to put on a trailer) nor waterlocked.

Agreed ... I'm already cheap enough to stay away from over-priced "waterfront" properties, and will focus on something on or near "access to the water", like access to the intra-coastal waterway. Property suitable for camping/tiny-home and boat-building.

My first excursion would be training wheels (US intra-coastal, TX to FL segment), next would be the Gulf of Mexico & islands, last would be blue waters (open ocean). My wife *might* hang with me on the former ... not sure about the two latter. Will need massive bribes with seafood and such ...

Should be able to move back and forth from TX to FL on the intra-coastal, and the chance of dying (due to initial boating/sailing errors) should be a whole lot less on the intra-coastal than the others.

While aware of the intra-coastal, and numerous sites dedicated to traveling this thing from TX to the Great Lakes, I was not aware of the "marine highway" ... Thanks!

Jt Lamb wrote:

While aware of the intra-coastal, and numerous sites dedicated to traveling this thing from TX to the Great Lakes, I was not aware of the "marine highway" ... Thanks!

You should look up the Great Loop, it's on my bucket list...

https://greatloop.org/

https://greatloop.org/page/Map

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Loop