Shipwrecked sailor ate lichen to survive

Interesting story. This man did a few right things to survive and with some luck, his life was saved.

VICTORIA — A shipwrecked American sailor was plucked off the rugged shores of the west coast of Vancouver Island Wednesday ending a five-day wilderness ordeal eating nothing but lichen.

Keith Carver, 56, of Tucson, Ariz., said he doesn’t think he would have lasted much more than one more day had he not been spotted waving his arms to attract the attention of “this beautiful helicopter.”

Google map of the area.

Nice to have an account where things ended well.

bravo. We may look sideways at the expiration date of food in our fridge, but when the expiration date might be our own, we'll eat anything.

It ended well, which is great. But it sounds like he was a hair's breadth from the opposite outcome.

He set off alone in violent weather, he wasn't able to send off an SOS, he lost his backpack of survival gear, and he was rescued only by the good fortune of catching the eye of an attentive pilot.

The winter storms up there, at the top of the Island, are impressively fierce. There's actually a tourist industry where people go (by land) to watch them. Personally, I wouldn't want to be on the water out there, but I'm no sailor.

P.S., a cement hull? Really?

Perfectly fine boats can be fabricated from cement. I believe it came into vogue during WW I because of steel shortages, among other times.

An outer coating of cement is also a last ditch measure for wooden boats that are on their last legs (or keels).

Doug, that sounds like fun, watching storms. If you have any info on it, can you post it? I put together a quick annotated, editable, google map of Carver's trip at www.gettingprepared.info

The only problem with concrete hulls is the collision insurance and how hard it is to find marinas that will allow them.
Concrete hulls tend to be heavy, lots of momentum, hard to stop, hard on docks and other boats.

I am glad he was found instead of lost.
I like them mentioning the wet suit. To bad he had been unable to shelter effectively or make a fire.
There is a reason it is called the wet coast.
They get a lot of rain.
That coast is a forager's paradise too.
Especially if you like mussels.

My understanding was most cement hulled boats went out of style many years ago due to issues with quality. Also, cruisers usually watch the weather and try to avoid passage in such weather when at all possible. He seemed to go out repeatedly in weather that his skills and his craft could not handle. Not to mention the rule that you never leave your boat until its underwater. Sounds like he got very lucky.

Seems there is bit more to this story since I posted it early today.

A shipwrecked American sailor who was rescued from the rugged, remote coastline on the West Coast of Vancouver Island Wednesday has been arrested and detained for being in Canada illegally, RCMP say.

He didn't exactly enter Canada voluntarily. There must be more to this than we know.

You are thinking the same as I am as evidenced by these newest relevations

Lagan (RCMP Cpl.) also expressed suspicions about Carver’s story that storms blew him north until his sailboat sank off the northwest coast of Vancouver Island.

“He knew he was in Canadian waters,” said Lagan. “This was not an accident that he blew up all the way from the U.S.-Canada border all the way to the northern tip of Vancouver Island.

Mark Proulx, maritime co-ordinator at the Victoria Rescue Centre, casts doubt on Carver’s story of stormy weather, however.

Proulx said between Feb. 18, when Carver dropped off his friend in Tahsis, and Feb. 26, when he said he was shipwrecked, the wind conditions were often almost too light for sailing, blowing as little as three knots on Feb. 19.

Yeah, something's fishy. Usually an American in trouble and pursuing honest business would get a smooth ride.

There are too many instances where crates of illegal firearms are swapped for a load of "herbs and spices." Both giving aid to urban gang-bangers, who shoot first and often without giving a rat about citizens on the street. We're getting tired of it.

(This is just broad speculation, and may not apply in this case; time will tell.)

Did somebody mention concrete ships? The U.S. actually built them during WW1 & WW2 and they were generally successful. One is still afloat.

http://www.concreteships.org/

Hi Herb, we are a bit off topic, but just a couple more pages about concrete boats.
http://www.hartley-boats.com/ferro.html


Also
http://www.ferroboats.com/

Now if you look around the sailing blogs you soon get an idea of the insurance and survey issues.
When concrete is good it is very very good but when it is bad it is deadly.

Now back on topic:
The story is getting more interesting. I do wonder if the guy was doing a dope run, now that the cops have involved themselves.

he must have been pretty desperate. And also not well versed in edibles. There are certainly many more things on Vancouver Island much more palatable that rock lichens. But this story is beginning to sound like a fish story.

My theory? The Canadian cops think Carver was drug-running, hauling BC Bud from Vancouver island down to the U.S. and he ran into trouble and so scuttled his boat. My guess is they’re looking for it. I’m not saying he did it, I’m saying that’s what they think.

I created an editable google map (feel free to join in) which you can find at www.gettingprepared.info that shows his key stopping points.

Carver now back in the U.S.
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local...BritishColumbia