Yachts Morphing to Floating Islands, More

The design of the WALLY Yacht above hints at an evolution in yacht design away from traditional forms, and moving closer to the seastead floating island concept.  Such designs will allow a seastead to move out of the way of larger storms.

Meet the WHY 58X38 — a $160 million yacht that's basically an island unto itself.

"Everybody's dream is to live on an island, in complete freedom, without constraint, with the independence that only self-sufficiency can provide. A piece of land with a beautiful villa partly fulfills this aspiration because its static. A yacht offers the freedom to move, but does not have the space of a property. WHY has it all: space, stability, movement, independence, and peace," Wally Yachts President Luca Bassani Antivari wrote.

The WHY 58X38, which measures 58 meters by 38 meters (more than 35,000 square feet), offers three levels of space. The first level has living space with a beach, spa, dining room, music room and cinema. The second level has suites, a lounge and a library. The third level is the owner's space. _DailyNews

These floating islands are bound to be scaled up over time. They will also eventually incorporate heliports and enclosed, protected small boat harbours.   So, from land, you can reach your mobile floating island via small boat, helicopter, amphibious plane --- or jet pack!

The Martin Aircraft (New Zealand) jet pack uses premium gasoline for fuel, and can achieve up to 30 minutes of flight time.  It can fly you to your seastead as long as you do not roam too far away on land.

The Jetpack is constructed from carbon fiber composite, has a dry weight of 250 lbs (excluding safety equipment) and measures 5 ft high x 5.5 ft wide x 5 ft long. It's driven by a 2.0 L V4 2 stroke engine rated at 200 hp (150 kw), can reach 8000 ft (estimated) and each of the two 1.7 ft wide rotors is made from carbon / Kevlar composite.

There is always risk associated with flying so Martin Aircraft has been careful to equip the pack with redundant systems that will take over in the event that the main system goes down. If a crash-landing is required, a pilot-operated toggle will rapidly fire a small amount of propellant deploying a ballistic parachute (similar to a car airbag) which will allow the pilot and jetpack to descend together. It also has an impact-absorbing carriage, patented fan jet technology and 100 hours engine TBO (Time Between Overhaul). Small vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) are not subject to the same limitations as other helicopters and fixed wing aircrafts but Martin Aircraft have built it to comply with ultralight regulations and therefore suggest it as at least as safe to operate, and claim it is the safest of all jetpacks yet built. _Gizmag