Mayan apocalypse: Dutch man prepares 'ark' for second Noah's flood Mr van der Meer has bought a former lifeboat, at a cost of £11,000, to become an ark for his family when, as he believes, the Netherlands, much of which is below sea level, is swallowed in a deluge. But the van der Meer family, which has suffered bullying and ridicule after its plans became known, admits that Friday may not be the final day. It may be another 10 years. The Scripture says that the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. You need to be ready every day," Mrs van der Meer told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper. But as far as tomorrow is concerned, we have to see whether we see the end. If so, we're done. We wait in confidence. The end of time is bad, but what comes next is beautiful. The van der Meers are not alone. Fears that the end of the world is nigh have spread across the world with one day to go until the end of the Mayan calendar, the moment that doom-mongers predict will trigger a cataclysmic end to the history of Earth. Panic buying of candles and essentials has been reported in China and Russia, along with an explosion in sales of survival shelters in America. In France believers are tonight converging on the Pic de Bugarach mountain where they believe aliens will rescue them.