Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

The speedboat left the islands and reefs surrounding Zhangzhou Port and sailed back into the open sea.

Gu Lang opened the electronic nautical chart and continued sailing close to the coastline of Fujian Province.

The bow of the boat points due south and slightly west, and the speed is stable at fourteen knots.

As time goes by and the latitude gradually decreases, the color of the seawater begins to change.

After traveling about several dozen nautical miles south, the seawater began to transition from light yellow to light green.

As Gu Lang looked out the porthole at the sea in the driver's seat, he recalled some knowledge he had learned in the past.

The color of seawater is mainly determined by the absorption and scattering of sunlight by water molecules, but the color of coastal waters depends more on suspended matter in the water.

Fujian is located near the sea, especially near the estuaries of rivers, where rivers send massive amounts of silt and dissolved organic matter into the sea every year.

Sediment particles scatter yellow and red light, while dissolved organic matter absorbs blue light. When these two factors are combined, the seawater appears yellowish-green.

In addition, the East China Sea continental shelf is wide, and the water depth is generally only a few tens of meters.

The mud and sand on the seabed are easily stirred up by wind and waves and suspended in the water, which further increases the turbidity of the seawater.

As the speedboat passed Nam O Island, the seawater turned a deep blue.

This is the natural boundary between Donghai and Nanhai. The continental shelf in the northern part of Nanhai is very narrow, and the water depth drops sharply from tens of meters to thousands of meters.

As the water gets deeper, the sediment on the seabed can no longer be stirred up.

In addition, since there are no large rivers flowing into the eastern coastal areas of Guangdong, the amount of sediment and organic matter input is much smaller than that of the coastal areas of Fujian.

With fewer suspended particles in the water, the absorption and scattering of water molecules themselves become the dominant processes.

Water molecules weakly absorb red light while scattering blue light, which is why seawater turns a clean blue color.

The further out to sea you go, the deeper the blue becomes.

However, Gulang is not in the mood to appreciate the beautiful scenery right now.

Since officially entering Nanhai, strong winds have picked up on the sea surface, and the sea conditions have become rough.

What started as a slight undulation of the sea soon turned into countless surging waves.

Waves, topped with white foam, crashed against the bow of the boat, one after another.

The bow of the 022 submarine plunged straight into the first wave wall, and seawater instantly flooded the foredeck, crashing against the windshield of the cockpit, turning the view into a deep blue.

Gu Lang instinctively gripped the handrail, and was pulled forward by inertia.

The curtain of water outside the windshield lasted for about three or four seconds before the bow emerged from the other side of the wave.

The seawater on the glass receded with a splash, revealing the hazy sky once more.

Before Gu Lang could even catch his breath, the bow of the boat plunged headfirst into the next wave.

This time it plunged even deeper, with the entire foredeck submerged below the waterline, and the front half of the cockpit completely engulfed by seawater.

He felt like he was piloting a submarine. The speedboat plunged into the water, remained submerged for more than ten seconds, and then slowly raised his head.

This condition is called bow burrowing in nautical terminology, and it is also the most typical problem of wave-piercing catamarans in high sea states.

The Type 022 submarine uses a wave-piercing catamaran design, with two long, narrow hulls separated on either side and a connecting bridge supporting the main hull in the middle.

This design is indeed rock-solid in calm waters and moderate sea conditions.

The two hulls provide great lateral stability, unlike ordinary monohull ships that tend to sway to the sides.

With a displacement of 220 tons, its lateral wave resistance is comparable to that of some 2000-ton frigates.

Even in rough seas, the loss of speed is much less than that of traditional monohull vessels.

However, catamarans have an inherent problem: when the wave height exceeds a certain limit, the connecting bridge between the two hulls will generate a torque that causes the hull to sink into the water.

Simply put, the waves were too big, and the bow of the boat couldn't be raised in time, so it plunged straight into the waves.

Once the bow is submerged, the ship's pitching period will shorten, acceleration will increase, and the rocking will become faster and more violent.

Sometimes it even rocks in strange ways that would never happen on a regular ship.

Gu Lang's stomach was the first victim, and it began to convulse incessantly.

Seasickness is essentially caused by a mismatch between the motion signals perceived by the inner ear's vestibular system and the visual signals seen by the eyes.

The ship swayed irregularly in three-dimensional space, and the vestibule was frantically reporting, "You are pitching up and down and swaying left and right," but the cockpit appeared relatively still to the naked eye.

This physiological mechanism was designed over a long evolutionary process to detect the intake of plant neurotoxins.

Once the brain detects a mismatch between vision and vestibular function, it determines that you have eaten something toxic.

Then immediately activate the vomiting reflex to expel everything from the stomach.

Unfortunately, the brain can't distinguish between plant toxins and seasickness. In any case, when the signals are mixed up, it just follows the procedures passed down from its ancestors.

Gu Lang pulled a plastic bag from under his seat and spat into it twice.

Then it happened a third time, until there was nothing left in my stomach except for acid.

He tied the bag tightly and threw it aside, tightened the seatbelt one notch, and gritted his teeth to continue steering.

The waves on the sea were still crashing, one after another, against the bow of the boat.

The bow of the 022 submarine plunged into the waves, then struggled to rise again, plunged into the waves, and rose again.

This state lasted for nearly an hour, and Gu Lang was so shaken in the driver's seat that his whole body ached.

Once the sea calmed down a bit, he immediately adjusted the course and steered the boat toward an uninhabited island off the coast of Shanwei.

The island is small and can be clearly seen on the nautical chart. There is a natural bay on the north side, which can be used as a temporary anchorage.

The 022 boat approached at a low speed of seven knots. Gu Lang manually lowered both anchors, then put the engine in idle gear and slumped in the driver's seat to catch his breath.

A few minutes later, he stood up and checked the condition of the boat.

All the materials that were not securely fastened overturned, but fortunately there was no damage or leakage.

The boat wasn't damaged, but the people were practically falling apart.

After nightfall, the sea finally calmed down.

The nights in the south are not as cold as before; the temperature is around ten degrees Celsius or higher.

The sea breeze felt cool on my face, but not biting, so there was no need to light a fire for warmth.

Gu Lang used the vomit he had just used to bait the spot, trying to catch some fish, but unsurprisingly, he came up empty-handed.

Back in his cabin, he picked up his phone and, as usual, opened the nuclear strike list.

找到广冬省那页，广粥50枚、佛杉2枚、惠粥2枚、汕投3枚、云服2枚，全省合计59枚。

Gu Lang took out a pen and drew several crosses on the map.

Although these data are declassified documents from 1959, they can only be used as a reference and are not up-to-date.

Even with reference data, a pattern can be observed.

The allocation of nuclear warheads is highly correlated with economic size and population density.

As one of the economic heartlands of China, the Yangtze River Delta would actually suffer more than this number from a nuclear attack.