Waterworld

In a world of environmental disaster, political turmoil, economic crisis, social upheaval and public health emergency, is the logical next step for humanity the construction of floating maritime communities? Or is so-called seasteading just an extravagant passion project for paranoid tech bros and alt-utopian dreamers?

- Max Olesker

Chad Elwartowski and Nadia Summergirl were a couple with a dream of living out on the ocean. They would make their home on a purpose-built floating structure, far from any shore, and create a life of total freedom—unencumbered by the trappings of society or the edicts of any government. They could spend their days snorkelling, scuba diving, sailing, kayaking, playing strategy games, reading, eating spicy Thai papaya salad (Summergirl), and tacos and chilli chicken wings (Elwartowski), and drinking the occasional piña colada. Eventually, perhaps, others would join them, in neighbouring structures, and a community would form.

It’s a movement known as seasteading, and the concept had captivated Elwartowski since he first stumbled across it online in 2008. For years, seasteading had been discussed on forums and talked about at conferences, but it had never been fully achieved and, in 2019, Elwartowski and Summergirl became determined to be the first to make it into a long-term reality.

They formed a company, Ocean Builders, along with a couple of likeminded individuals, and they built the world’s first modern seastead. It was a homely looking, octagonal shack they christened XLII (pronounced Ixly) which floated atop a steel Genesis spar (a vertically moored buoy used in oil rigs). The couple placed XLII 12 nautical miles off the coast of Thailand, moved in, hosted a week-long Certification Course for a small group of curious would-be seasteaders, and were heralded as the first couple of the seasteading movement. Just over a week later, the government of Thailand accused the pair of treason—a crime which carries the death penalty locally—and mounted the largest manhunt in the country’s history.