They had their dry bags, quite a bit of sail and rigging... I gotta think they could have built something with a still in mind and fashioned a container. In fact, I remember seeing the matches in a nice little clear plastic bowl. Not sure if that was TV vs. Reality.

They could have at least chopped up the cactus, mashed it and then filtered it through clothing to remove most of the nastiness.

It is a condition called Hyponatremia. Here are some web sites for additional information:

Hyponatremia
Hyponatremia
Hyponatremia
Hyponatremia

Pete

So they essentially whack their Na concentrations to be too thinned out (drinking pure water vs. something like Gatorade or Lactated Ringers). Thanks for the links paramedicpete. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I think I remember that they had no firewood, so I assumed they were burning their clothing or catamaran material. The cactus could have been better utilized, but it may also have been a species that would have made them sick with diarea which would have killed them. They had no clear plastic sheeting, so all that salt water was useless in terms of solar still. They could boil the fresh water vapor out and soak it into a cloth lid, although I am not certain how well that would work. Discarding their water instead of tying it to the boat was perhaps their biggest mistake, other than not preparing for the climate and geography. But, then again, maybe they had everything they needed, only it was not on their person, so was lost in the storm. That episode shows the importance of a geography specific survival kit small enough to be kept attached to the life-vest or belt (preferably). Those guys survived out of sheer luck that someone happened to come by. One more day and they were dead.

Yes, it would work well there, but also in a jungle, where there is a lot of ground moisture.

I think I read it in an Army survival manual or something like that. It's been a long time! I don't know if the SAS guide refers to it or not.

Sue

No problem, glad they were of interest. Every year we run a number of medic calls for “sick person with disorientation”. I would say a significant number of these are for construction/landscape workers, who were working all day in the heat and drinking only water. A good portion of these, we are able to fix on scene with some electrolyte replacement.

Pete