France is looking for people willing to live on the island. Otherwise it will become uninhabitable. Desert island: how to survive and not panic

So, in fact, the day came when all the work was completed and we went to. Tual Island is located in the Moluccas archipelago. That's all - tickets have been purchased and departure is today. On March 19, 2012, I set off with my two partners towards South-East Asia. Tickets were purchased online. In total, before Jakarta it came out to 14,700 rubles for my brother. We also printed out forms for fake return tickets from Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur and downloaded editable Air Asia forms. These printouts were asked once in Kuala Lumpur on the way to Jakarta. Departure was from my hometown Ekaterinburg, Koltsovo airport.

Andrey, Oleg, Max

We first flew in transit to Beijing, Beijing Capital Airport, by S7 airline. The airport is quite huge and very interesting in its architecture and structure. We hung out there for 5 and a half hours before boarding a flight to Hong Kong. I was carrying an acoustic guitar with me and on the first flight I was allowed to take it on board. hand luggage, but the Chinese banned it and put it in luggage, putting a sticker with a picture of a glass on it. As a result, the guitar was not damaged at all.

We flew around China already with Cathay Pacific. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, a girl met us and took us to the waiting room in front of another plane to Kuala Lumpur. Literally 30-40 minutes later, boarding had already begun, and we set off from Malaysia, taking another step on the way to the coveted uninhabited island - our childhood dream!

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 16:45 local time, and we only had a flight to Jakarta tomorrow, so we had to hang out for almost a day in this very cozy and comfortable capital airport.

China and Malaysia stamps

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Frankly speaking, of all the airports, I liked KLIA the most, even though at night, when I was sleeping on a bench, I was bitten by bedbugs, such things! He personally killed two of them. The main thing is only me, and the guys weren’t bitten! It's a shame, damn it! I don’t understand where they came from, but oh well, let’s leave this topic...

Indonesia visa, Malaysia return stamps

We flew to Soekarno Hatta in Jakarta by KLM airline. The flight is 2 hours. Upon arrival, Russian citizens must purchase a visa. No documents are required for this, you just go to a special window, give 25 bucks there and they will give you this visa. Then half is torn off and pasted into the passport, and the other half is simply given away. Having received our luggage, without thinking twice, we began to look for the LionAir ticket office in order to buy tickets to the Maluku Islands ( eastern Indonesia). But the Lyon ticket offices were closed, but the ticket offices of the largest Indonesian company "Garuda Indonesia" were open at full capacity, where we bought tickets Jakarta - Ambon for 188 American rubles. A little expensive, but what can you do?!

The plane arrived at one in the morning, we flew with a stop in Makassar (south Sulawesi), taking into account time zones, we arrived in Ambon at dawn, around 7 o’clock in the morning. We immediately found a ticket office and bought tickets to our final destination - Tual Island, and specifically to its capital, the city of Langgur. The ticket cost 880 thousand rupees + surcharge for excess luggage (up to 15 kg is allowed free of charge), but we didn’t pay it, no one cares about a few kg of excess.

Soekarno Hatta International Airport, bus ticket offices

Second half of the visa

We walked from the airport, put on sandals without socks, shorts and went to see Ambon. We approached the shore: coconut palms grew there, young, but already with fruits. We picked it, somehow, and tried coconut water for the first time. The sea stank very much and coastline It was dirty, which was very off-putting, and we continued walking on the asphalt road, making the huge mistake of getting our feet wet. As a result, we got calluses literally after 20 minutes of walking like this.

Every 10-20 meters, local residents (every second house) shouted to us “Halo, Mister”, at first we were very pleased and strange, but then we got pretty tired of it. We walked around Ambon, looked at the people, smelled the sea and the smell of ripe durians (we were just in season). Having thoroughly roasted in the equatorial sun, we were tired of this walk, we caught a minibus and went back to the airport, looking forward to air conditioning.

We got to the airport. Everything seemed to be fine until the airport workers politely asked us to leave because they were closing for the night, saying there were no more flights today, so we were closing. We went out and sat down with our luggage on benches near the airport. But then the local security guards, after checking our tickets, allowed us into the Mosque, i.e. room for prayer (Muslim prayer or mosque). We settled in nicely and went to buy ourselves something to eat. Out of curiosity, we bought durian, it cost 12,000 rupees. They cut it, I ate two slices, Andrei ate a little more, and Max could not overcome himself. Its smell is very unusual for us, although the locals gobble it up on both cheeks.

At 6 o'clock in the morning we boarded a plane to the Kei Kecil islands, also called Tual - this is a more common name. We were already flying in anticipation of our uninhabited island, which, by the way, Andrey and I had the pleasure of observing through the right window (while Max was dozing). We arrived on a small plane at Langgur airport, it was raining a little and it wasn’t hot.

What we saw (these photos were taken at a different time)

View from our hut

And finally we arrived at our treasured island having come this way. But as soon as the boat turned the corner, we saw that our uninhabited island was not so uninhabited after all. We saw the huts on the shore and the smile on our faces disappeared. What to do? go back, look for another island, or swim to this one? Without thinking twice, the taxi drivers took us to the shore, where we immediately saw local resident. I immediately asked: “Hello, we want to live to here one day.” The man said "ok" smiling. Then, before I had time to look back, we had already been allocated a hut and were being escorted to it. We paid the guys and began to sort out our things, meanwhile looking at the surprised crowds of locals gathered next to us. Then, a little later, the man who met us asked us again how long we wanted to stay. I replied: "Maybe one month, ok?" “Ok,” he replied, “My name is Lawrence,” he said. So we became guests of these wonderful people and saw the Moluccas, and specifically, the island of Tual.

In total, to get to our island we had 6 flights, 2 taxis and one motor boat. We're terribly tired. Until we got on the boat, I even wanted to go back, but then my thoughts changed.

Chance helped. A New Zealand captain I know was ferrying a small fishing schooner from Vero Beach to Honduras. When I approached him and began to complain that I could still buy something in the twentieth century, but in the twenty-first I can no longer afford it - it turned out to be an expensive century - the captain looked at me like I was a child and literally helped me in two weeks to find the ground under your feet.

We left Vero Beach and headed for Costa Rica. There are a bunch of uninhabited islands in the Southwest Gulf of Mexico. The captain is very experienced - he has been walking around this region all his life. He didn't pick it for me big Island, which according to some maps belongs to Costa Rica, according to others - to Venezuela, and according to others - to Holland. That is, no one can still really say who exactly. And if you think what it is unique phenomenon- you are mistaken, the world is full of islands, which, even if they belong to someone, are empty. Come to them and live - in English they even invented a special term for people like me - “ islandsquatters “- in Russian I would probably say “squatters” - a lot of people already live like this - if you don’t believe me, then google “ islandsquatters "and see for yourself. While you are there saving money for your apartment, people are seizing the islands with all their might.

Well, he unloaded me onto the island, and in a couple of days I adjusted my entire life. Before leaving, I bought a used modular house for the tropics from a German for literally pennies (I gave three Baku pieces). It consists of panels that are screwed together and placed on steel pipes - the house is half a meter from the ground. This is to prevent any tropical living creatures from crawling into it. We dug eight holes, stuck support pipes in there and filled them with cement. The water nearby - a small waterfall a hundred meters from my home - flows constantly.

After that I unpacked, took out the kitchen utensils, assembled the bed and connected the toilet to the portable tank on the roof. The toilet is right in the house, you don’t need to go outside, otherwise you’ll go to relieve yourself at night and some other creature will bite you on the leg - it’s safer in the house.

After that, he dug another pillar and placed a satellite dish on it - double-sided Internet from “ Directnet "- it works anywhere in North and South America. Now I have a phone via Skype and the stream is decent - one and a half megabytes per second. It works like a charm and costs a penny - eighty dollars a month without traffic restrictions. Now I can work on the Internet, download videos and chat with friends for free.

The island turned out to be decent; along the shore it was full of pow-pow, coconuts and guavas. You can safely eat them without fear of any chemicals or herbicides. I bought a nice dive kit and spear (cost 48 bucks). I’ll say right away that you definitely need to have on hand the edition of the atlas “Fishes of the Atlantic” (30 bucks at the Barnes and Noble store) - everything is described in detail there, what you can eat and what you can’t - otherwise you can get poisoned out of habit.

I installed a solar oven for cooking. The thing is awesome - google it “ solaroven » at your leisure - it does not require any fuel, it is powered by the sun. It costs one and a half hundred. I bake fish with pineapple in it - both are free. However, you quickly get tired of pineapples - I alternate pineapple with pow-pow.

After settling in, I walked around the entire island - took small plastic tags and took inventory of all the coconut trees - there must be order in order to know exactly where and what is growing. Coconuts are a cool thing, you can make coconut oil from them - I fry fish with it.

Well, in case one of the officials suddenly comes to me, I have developed a legend - for the Costa Ricans I say that I am a caretaker from Venezuela, for the Venezuelans - that I am a representative of the Dutch government. In the most extreme case, I have a special corruption fund in my locker - you know, officials are all people, in our time you can corrupt anyone, if you have the desire.

This is how you can solve your housing problem. It’s not difficult to find a list of islands suitable for housing, and modern technologies allow you to even inspect your future possessions without leaving your home - go to Google, turn on the view from space and in the evening with the whole family plan where to put the house and where the cattle pen - from space everything is fine it is seen. If possible, ask an architect to develop a custom plan based on the terrain. Please make sure that the island you choose has fresh water - a stream or lake. Just in case, take a portable solar watermaker with you - it won't hurt.

If the Caribbean doesn't suit you, go to the Pacific Ocean, say, Apia or Nuku'alofa - and look around - there are a lot of opportunities there. Micronesia is simply untouched virgin land, but what is Micronesia - just hang around Tahiti and pick up something for yourself.

Well, if you really want adventure, head to distant Murray.

The most important thing, when you move, do not overload the ship with things - try to adhere to the principle that if this or that item does not fit there, then it is most likely not needed. Don’t get carried away with complex household appliances - if, say, your dishwasher breaks down, there will be no one on the island to fix it. Get used to doing as much as possible with your own hands.

The only thing is, don’t hesitate, otherwise you will be left, in computer parlance, with a Google hole - if everyone rushes in, there may not be enough islands for everyone.

Postscript: Yesterday I attacked a native woman. She sat on a vine in the jungle wearing a loincloth made of reeds and ate pow-pow. I lured her from the tree with a can of Coca-Cola and dragged her home - whatever you want, savages are savages - they react to cans instantly. The native looks strange - all pitch black, her eyes are narrow and narrow, and her hair is white. All covered in some kind of native hieroglyphs, apparently that’s the custom here. Now I’m writing these lines to you, and she’s sitting in my corner and looking pitifully at the computer. He babbles something in his native language and reaches out to him. “Ai shi teru” constantly repeats, she tries to kiss, and she looks at the computer. But I constantly hit her on the hands and drive her away from the computer - you know, the technology is in the hands of a savage - a piece of metal, let him go out and collect coconuts so that I have something to fry mahi-mahi on in the evening.

Almost everyone knows the story about a man named Robinson Crusoe. This is a fictional story, but is based on a completely real incident that happened to Alexander Selkirk. In fact, history knows many examples when people ended up on uninhabited islands; this could have happened as a result of a shipwreck; some were taken out on purpose, while others decided to take such a step deliberately.

Islands of the world

Modern researchers claim that there are approximately 500 thousand islands on our planet, but only 2% of them are inhabited. Most of the islands of land among the “big” water are located off the coast of Japan, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Philippines, Indonesia and Greece.

The largest island in the world is Greenland. Its area is more than 2 million km 2. It is located between two oceans: the Atlantic and the Arctic, in the area of the Canadian archipelago. Greenland is part of Denmark and has very broad powers. Only 57.6 thousand people live on the island, mostly Greenlandic Eskimos (90%), since 80% of the territory is covered with ice.

Alexander Selkirk

There are many legends about life on a desert island, but there are also real stories. In 1703 he took part in an expedition that set off from the British coast to South America. This man was famous for his very scandalous character, and during the 1-year journey the whole team was quite tired of him. When Alexander announced his desire to go out on any island, the team breathed a sigh of relief.

It is clear that Selkirk regretted his decision, but no one wanted to listen to him, and he ended up on a desert island, where he lived for 4 years and 4 months. Alexander was lucky; before him, settlers lived on this piece of land, after whom there were goats and even a cat. He also found edible berries and turnip thickets.

In 1709, a British ship landed on the island, whose crew saved Selkirk. Upon returning to Britain, this case was written about for a very long time. It was the story about this man’s life on a desert island that formed the basis of the book “Robinson Crusoe.”

Islands of Russia

Some Russian citizens also have stories to tell about life on the island. The largest pieces of land are in the Arctic Ocean, and the smallest are in the Black and Azov Seas.

Most of the Russian islands are very sparsely populated, and some can only be reached with special passes or with an expedition.

Some of the islands on the territory of the Russian Federation:

Name	Area, km 2	a brief description of
Karaginsky		Located in the waters Bering Sea. It is of volcanic origin and no people live here. Winter lasts about 7 months.
		Located beyond the Arctic Circle, where only bears, hares, walruses and deer live. In summer, the air temperature does not rise above +12 ˚С.
		Located beyond the Arctic Circle. The climate is characterized by strong fluctuations in atmospheric temperature. 450 people living on this land in two villages can tell about life on the island.
Wrangel		Located in the region of the East Siberian and Chukchi seas. There are no people here, but there are many animals, from polar bears to birds, of which, by the way, there are about 40 species on the island.
		Located in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk, it is the most populated island in Russia. It is almost always cool here, and the vegetation is represented by 1.5 thousand species. Animals are represented by brown bears, mink, wolverines and other representatives of the fauna.

Kuril Islands

These are the islands with mountainous terrain(56 pieces), where there are about 160 volcanoes (40 active). Located in the area Pacific Ocean And Sea of Okhotsk. Earthquakes and strong storms often occur here. However, the climate can be described as mild, with cloudy summers and long winters. In general, there is either snow or dense fog with rain on the islands. Most of the islands are inhabited by people.

Life on Kuril Islands not as simple as it might seem at first. The most populated islands: Iturup and Kunashir. You can get to them only by helicopter or plane and by boat (travel time is about 18-24 hours, departure from the city of Korsakov). However, daily communication is not established, and in order to get here, tourists will have to purchase tickets several months before the planned date of travel. Another problem may arise: due to unfavorable weather, ships operating only 2 times a week may not depart at all. In addition, an outsider will have to obtain a special permit, because this is a border zone.

According to reviews of life on the island, it is very easy to meet a brown bear on your way or find bottles made in Japan. There are many remains of old Japanese factories and cemeteries on the island. On the other hand, practically every inhabitant of the islands has his own vehicle, and these are mostly Japanese jeeps, although there is not a single gas station. According to reviews, in principle, there are no problems with fuel; it is delivered in barrels.

Due to the high seismic hazard, houses higher than three floors are not built. But the vacation for the local population is 62 days. And the residents southern islands they even have visa-free regime with Japan.

Canaries

About life on Canary Islands is the dream of almost every resident of the northern regions. They are located in Atlantic Ocean, near Western Sahara and Morocco. total area of all islands 7,447 km 2. They all belong to Spain.

It has a tropical climate and the islands are mostly mountainous. But from August to October is hurricane season. It may seem like life on an island Caribbean- paradise, but is it really so?

First of all, you need to understand that there is unbearable heat and high humidity almost all year round. Secondly, on the islands great amount insects, and most of them bite. Thirdly, on the islands the change of seasons is practically not noticeable; they are too similar to each other.

This is not to say that everything is good on the islands with infrastructure, okay, there are potholes on the roads, but very often the electricity disappears, the Internet is not only expensive, but also very slow. You shouldn’t expect to be able to live in a tent and eat fruit from trees. You will still have to resolve issues with personal hygiene, washing clothes, and in order for fruit to grow on a tree, it needs to be looked after.

Happens often on the islands a natural phenomenon called "Kalima". This is fine sand dust that flies with the wind from the African Sahara. At such moments it is most difficult for asthmatics.

Uninhabited islands of the planet

Perhaps you should think about living on a desert island? After all, there are still about 490 thousand of them left on the planet.

If we exclude the options with islands where water supplies are scarce, then there is an opportunity to realize your dream without leaving the European continent.

Last year, information appeared in the press that the French government was inviting a family to live on a desert island. The authorities propose to settle on small island Kemenes (near the coast of Brittany), where the family previously lived (10 years), but decided to move to the mainland.

This is a piece of land with sand, grass and stones. There are many seals here, dwarf sheep and seabirds live here.

According to some reports, people lived on the island for 1 thousand years, but 25 years ago everyone finally moved to the mainland. Only in 2007 did they find a man who agreed to live here with his family and look after the island. Back then, David and Suazik dreamed of dreams, but, as they say, they would never do that now. The family raised sheep, potatoes and received tourists. The main condition of the contract is to earn your own living. The family somehow managed to cope with this, but there were many other problems.

First of all, electricity could only be obtained from solar panels and a windmill. Water had to be collected from rain. Although the family did not completely deny themselves modern gadgets, they even had electric buggies in which they explored the island. But the main reason for leaving was that the children still needed to study.

World-famous stories: Pavel Vavilov

Pavel Vavilov once spoke about survival on the island in real life. He was a fireman for the crew of the icebreaker "Alexander Sibiryakov". On August 25, 1942, the icebreaker entered into battle with a German cruiser. The battle took place in the area of Domashny Island (Kara Sea). As a result, all team members died, except Pavel. He managed to climb onto a rescue whaleboat and get to Belukha Island.

However, the fireman did not have to rejoice; only polar bears lived here. He stretched the remaining supply of food on the whaleboat as best he could. Vavilov settled at the lighthouse, where it was relatively safe. He extracted water from melted snow. After 34 days on the island, the fireman managed to transmit a distress signal to a passing ship, which saved him.

Ada Blackjack

It's not just men who find themselves stranded on uninhabited islands; an Inuit girl named Ada is also unlucky. Her life was not successful, her children and young husband died, and her youngest son had to be sent to an orphanage; there was no money to support herself. But one day she received an offer to go on an expedition to Wrangel Island. The team set off on a trip in 1921, but everything immediately went wrong, food quickly ran out, and hunting made it impossible to eat normally. In January, part of the team decided to leave the wintering place for the mainland. Ada and the wounded Knight remained on the island, who soon died.

The polar explorers who went back were never found, but Ada managed to live on the island for 2 years and learn to hunt. As a result, she was rescued in 1923. Upon returning home, she took her son from the orphanage and moved to Seattle, where she began new life with the money you earn.

Conscious choice

But not all people have to find themselves on a desert island by chance. Some people make conscious choices. In the early 80s of the last century, a journalist from Great Britain decided to conduct a social experiment and continue his life on the island. However, none of his acquaintances wanted to support his aspirations, and he advertised in the newspaper. After some time, a young girl responded - Lucy Irwin. To simplify the moving process, they got married.

In 1982, young people went to Tain Island, located between Australia and New Guinea. It was an uninhabited island suitable for life. But upon arrival in Tain, the couple realized that they had absolutely nothing in common, so, in addition to solving everyday problems, they also had to learn to get along together. According to the couple, it was ignorance and misunderstanding of each other that became the main problem of staying on the island.

In 1983, the island experienced a terrible drought and people ran out of fresh water. However, they were lucky and were rescued by the aborigines from Badu Island. Returning home, the couple divorced, and each of them wrote their own book.

How to survive on a desert island?

Most people crave romance; they think that life on the island is paradise. But is this really so, especially if there was no one there except you? It’s one thing when you go on vacation, you don’t need to think about finding food and building housing, everything is ready for vacation. It’s a completely different matter when you don’t even have a knife or matches in your hands. And when the understanding sets in that a tragedy has occurred, panic immediately begins, it’s no longer happy blue water and snow-white sand.

Water extraction

If it so happens that you find yourself on a desert island, then you should immediately start looking for water. If you can somehow live without food for a certain time, then without water you cannot.

You should look to see if there are old wells on the island. If there is rock, there is a good chance that there is rainwater in the crevices. Look for coconut fruits, they contain milk inside. Take a good look around, collect any container that will allow you to collect water.

Asylum

If you at least somehow managed to solve the water issue, start building a shelter. If this tropical island, then the main thing is to make a canopy that will save you from the sun and rain. Coconut leaves are ideal.

Try to make the bed a little higher than ground level so that insects disturb you less.

Don't build a shelter in the jungle, there are more insects and there may be animals there. In addition, from the beach you can quickly spot the ship.

Food and fire

Almost everyone can eat in the tropics. These can be coconuts, bananas and larvae, mollusks and snails. Build something like a spear and catch fish; a stingray, which often swims in shallow water, will do. The main thing is that the process of obtaining food is not too complicated, so as not to waste a lot of calories.

In the tropics, despite the heat, it is quite difficult to get a fire because the humidity is very high, so you have to try. If you manage to light a fire, do everything to keep it from going out.

Life for people on islands - both inhabited and uninhabited - is very difficult. After all, this is isolation from the world, the inability to call for help as quickly as possible and other problems. Therefore, not every modern resident of a metropolis is able to survive on an island, especially when it comes to the conditions of the Far North.

Image caption The chosen ones will “inherit” a working farm

Would you like to live on a desert island?

French authorities are looking for a married couple willing to settle on the tiny uninhabited island of Kemenes off the coast of Brittany. The family, who had lived there for 10 years, decided that it was time to move to the mainland.

The French Coast Guard Agency (Conservatoire du Littoral) announced that it is looking for a replacement for this family and is hoping for volunteers willing to take part in this unusual experiment.

To a desert island all alone, but with your favorite music

Loneliness in modern society: searching for oneself or a disease?

Kemenes is a one and a half kilometer long islet covered with sand, stones and grass in the Molun archipelago at the western tip of Brittany. It is home to seals, seabirds, rabbits and a herd of black dwarf Ouessan sheep.

The only thing the island lacks is inhabitants.

Image caption Local dwarf sheep live on the island

It all started a long time ago. The island was inhabited for at least 1,000 years, but 25 years ago the last inhabitants of Quemenes decided to leave.

The Conservatoire du Littoral immediately bought this island.

Many thought that the agency would simply create another reserve here, but it acted differently. Agency specialists decided that the remaining farm on the island should continue to operate, and began looking for volunteers who were ready to settle there and take care of the farm.

And so, in 2007, David and Soisic Cuisnier got an unusually romantic job: living alone on an island and looking after him.

10 years later, the Cuisnier family, now complete with children Cloe and Jules, is preparing to leave the island.

They began to have disputes with the Conservatoire du Littoral over the issue of rent. And besides, they believe that it would be better for children to live closer to school.

The deadline for applications from applicants for their place has already passed, and now the authorities are considering a list of 20, as it was said, “serious” candidates who are ready to move into the house that will be vacated by the Cuisnier family.

The chosen ones will learn their fate within the next few weeks and will move to the island in early 2018.

If the words of David and Suazik are to be believed, something amazing is in store for them.

“If we had listened to the advice of our acquaintances 10 years ago, we would never have done this,” said David.

Image caption During the 10 years of living on the island, the Cuisniers had two children.

"Moving here was an act of unparalleled recklessness. But it turned out to be an amazing adventure. The farm became a real successful business. Our children grew up. It's unforgettable," he says.

The main condition of the contract with the Conservatoire du Littoral was that the family must earn its own living.

As time passed, the family began to expand their farm. They began growing Mona Lisa potatoes and selling them online. They sent it to customers by mail from the neighboring (inhabited) island of Molen.

They hosted tourists six months a year; They also raised a flock of sheep and collected edible seaweed.

Speaking of algae, the Cuisnier family sees great prospects and plans to grow this algae on a commercial basis.

Back to nature

Another problem was that they could only use the resources that could be obtained on the island itself.

Accordingly, electricity comes only from a windmill and solar panels, and they took water from a well, replenished with rainwater. A dry toilet is installed in the house: instead of water, waste falls into a layer of sawdust, which is then raked out.

Image caption The islanders are not cut off from the world - they have both a telephone and the Internet

“We have demonstrated that it is possible to lead a normal, modern lifestyle using only the gifts of nature. We have all the gadgets we need, even an electric buggy in which we travel around the island,” says David Cuisnier.

The only problem they encountered and could not resolve was French laws. The water on the island is officially considered "buvable", not "potable". Both words mean that the water is potable, but without the "potable" classification it cannot be used for food preparation.

As a result, their idea to set up a small factory to produce seaweed-based products never came to fruition.

10 years of adventure

If you spend an evening with the Cuisnier family, you will hear an endless stream of stories about the island, its history, and their adventures here. It’s hard to imagine a more idyllic childhood for seven-year-old Chloe and five-year-old Jules.

Image caption

For example, one day they found four skeletons on the seashore.

The surf washed away their burial place. At first, the experts called in thought that these were the remains of French soldiers who died in a clash with the British.

These waters were once well known to the Royal Navy, which regularly launched attacks on the French Atlantic fleet and its base at Brest. Neighbor Island The English called Ouessan Ushant.

“But in the end they [the experts] decided that these were the remains of sailors who had long died at sea,” says David.

Image caption The Cuisnier family became seaweed experts

There are many shipwrecks in these places, for example, Drummond Castle, passenger airliner coming from South Africa to Great Britain and sank in the area of this archipelago in 1896. There were 350 people on board the liner.

Cuisniers also remember a balloon from Ireland. Once Suazik and her children were walking around the island and found a large balloon. Attached to it was a letter from a couple in Dublin who had lost a child to congenital disease.

The couple decided to mourn their lost child by releasing a balloon with his story into the sky. David wrote to them in Dublin and they still keep in touch.

Image caption Idyllic childhood of Cuisnier children

The storms of 2014 dragged on for weeks. One evening, David was returning home through a force 10 gale and noticed a cloud hanging low above the surface of the water approaching him.

“It seemed out of place in stormy weather because it moved very slowly. Only after it hit me did I understand what it was. It was “salt fog” - a cloud of salt squeezed out of sea water by the force of the wind.” , he says.

Difficulties

“Of course, we had serious problems from time to time,” Cuisnier continues. “Once the rabbits ate the entire potato crop. But then we were lucky - myxomatosis started on the island, and out of 2,000 rabbits, only about 100 remained here.”

Image caption Cuisnier even has a pig

“One day Suazik cut off the tip of her finger. The most amazing thing was how quickly the ambulance helicopter arrived. Within 20 minutes she was already being examined by a doctor - which is faster than it would have been on the mainland,” he says.

The Cuisnier family also insists that they are not some kind of Robinson Crusoe. They are not cut off from the rest of the world.

"We live in modern world. From our farm we can see the mainland and other islands where people live. We have the Internet, guests come to us all the time. We were never lonely!” says David.

God forbid someone ends up on a desert island. However, if this happens, you need to learn to survive and be prepared in advance. An unprepared or weak person will die.

First you need to calm down, collect your thoughts and look around. You need to come to terms with this situation and not expect help from anyone.
A person can go two weeks without food, but without water he will not live more than 3-4 days. The first step is to look for sources of fresh water, not food. If you are on the seashore, then this should be done as quickly as possible. Under no circumstances should you drink sea water. This is a slow and painful death. Most people die in the first days precisely because they cannot find water. This is the main mistake.

What to do first

Now find safe place for housing as close as possible to fresh water. You shouldn't panic. You need to think clearly. Panic and loss of control in such a situation will immediately lead to your death.

It might sound stupid, but you can make yourself a fictional buddy to talk to. This will help you calm down.
Evaluate your resources. Do you have a source of fresh water? Do you have a telephone, radio, walkie-talkie or other means of communication? Are there other people? People are always good. It will be easier this way. If there are people, then everyone must work together. There should be one goal for each person. A close-knit team will get out of any difficult situation.

Fire. This may seem like a trivial thing on a desert island, but fire is always necessary. He can even just support people morally. Fire is used to distill water, to cook food, to scare away wild animals, etc. If you can't start a fire, don't worry, you can do it if necessary. Life will teach you. For now, read on.

Build housing. Housing should be in a safe, warm, shady area for sleeping, resting, storing resources, and hiding from animals. Try to make housing above ground so that no insects, snakes, etc. I couldn't crawl in there.

Look at the water. Any water source is good as long as it is available and you can purify and desalinate it.
If you find sources of fresh water, it is recommended to boil it initially to ensure it is safe. If you have a special filter, that's great.

If there is no fresh water on the island, you need to distill and desalinate sea water. To do this, you need to find a container and fill it with sea water or even urine in case of emergency. In the center of the container you need to place a smaller container and make something like a funnel. Now you need to cover the whole thing with a lid and keep it on fire. The water will evaporate (steam is clean, drinkable water), hit the lid, condense, and end up in a smaller container. Here you can drink this water and not be afraid of the consequences. This is the purest water.

You can also do this in the sun, but then you will need the widest, flat and not deep surface possible, from which the water will quickly evaporate. However, in this case you will have to wait a very long time.

What to eat on the island

Find a constant power source. There are many edible roots and berries, but be careful! Some of them are poisonous. Eat only if you are confident that the food is safe. Eat little by little and find the right food through trial and error.

Observe what the animals eat. It's most likely safe. Create traps and catch animals. All animals can be eaten. Be sure to catch fish. You can always find a stick, a fishing line can be made from clothing, and a hook can be carved from wood.

Try to make contact. Build a large, unnaturally shaped element using bright colors and shiny objects. Using a walkie-talkie or telephone, if available, contact everyone you can. Even if you don’t find rescuers, people will definitely report you. Make a sign out of stones or dig a sign on the ground, visible from afar and from above. These distress signals will help you escape if they are noticed by others. If you can make a bright flash or explosion, do it all the time when you see planes, helicopters or ships. Use mirrors, fire high altitude, flashlights, fireworks and anything else that might attract attention.

If you know you will be rescued, just relax. You've done everything. Support yourself and rest while waiting for help. Try to relax and make the best of this scary time. If you have someone to have fun and play with, then good. If there is someone to bury, bury it. There are all sorts of situations in life.

Never give up. Desperate actions can be fatal to you and others with you. There are no mistakes or weaknesses to be made here. Willpower is what allows people to survive without food for several weeks. Without the will to live, you won't last even three days.

Undoubtedly, each situation is unique and requires an individual approach. Take time to think about what you have, who is with you, what you need, what you can do, and so on.

Warnings

Never drink salt water as a last resort. Salt dehydrates you and makes it worse. It's better not to drink at all. Relief can only come for a while. As a last resort, drink urine. However, do not store urine in a bottle. Only fresh urine is sterile. Later it can no longer be used. In addition, you can only drink the first passage of urine. You should not drink your own urine a second time, as this can lead to kidney failure. You need to make a desalination plant. You should get pure water, leaving behind the salts and impurities. Otherwise, the effect will be even worse than when drinking salty sea water.

Do not eat jellyfish or fish that are inflated, have spines, beaks, etc.
Avoid eating snakes and other brightly colored animals, as they may be poisonous.
Rub the leaves and taste their juice. If it burns your hands or tongue, it is most likely poison.

Things you'll need to survive on a desert island.

Knife. The knife is the most versatile tool ever invented. You can do almost anything with a knife. Also find stones to sharpen it.
Toothbrush or floss. Don't forget to take care of yourself and brush your teeth. Toothache is one of the worst. You can flatten wood to make a toothbrush.
Cloth. Find warm clothes or make your own from animal or tree skins.
Water and food respectively.

Now you know what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation. Let's hope this doesn't happen!

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