In one of the most incredible adventures in the history of sailing, a young French doctor crossed the Atlantic without water or food. On October 19, 1952, on a small inflatable rubber boat “Heretic”, Alain Bombard left the port of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria and after 65 days reached the island of Barbados.
Even while studying at the Faculty of Medicine, Alain Bombard became interested in the problems of survival in extreme conditions. After studying the stories of people who survived shipwrecks, Bombar became convinced that very, very many survived, stepping over the medical and physiological norms determined by scientists. People incredibly survived with little water and food, in the cold and under the scorching sun, in a storm and calm, on rafts and in boats, on the fifth, tenth and even fiftieth day after the disaster.
Bombard went on a voyage to prove from his own experience that:
– a person will not drown using an inflatable raft;
– a person will not die of hunger and will not get sick with scurvy if he eats plankton and raw fish;
– a person will not die of thirst if he drinks juice squeezed from fish and sea water for 5-6 days.
He found out that you need to drink sea water in small portions, and then the kidneys cope, but you can only drink this way for 6 days – then you have to catch fish and squeeze out its juice. The skin of the fish is cut, and lymph is released from it, so they drink it. Or they chop the fish into small pieces, and then wrap it in a cloth and squeeze it out. They drink fish juice for a day, and then you can drink sea water again.
About half a liter of water can be collected in the morning – dew falls. It covers the entire boat and can be assembled with a sponge.
To reduce thirst, you need to moisten any rag and put it on your face. If you throw a sock on a leash overboard, then in an hour plankton will pick up in it. A tablespoon a day satisfies the need for vitamin C. No need to take off your clothes, even if they get wet. Clothing keeps you warm.
What only Bombar did not experience. Storms, and calm, and scorching heat fell to his lot. At times it was difficult to keep the psyche within the normal range. He was talking to the doll. A small doll was given to him by friends.
And Bomber won. After 65 days, he landed on the island of Barbados.
“To achieve victory, you must believe in it!” – he wrote in a note to his friend Jack, who abandoned him just before the start of this voyage. After that, Bombar and went across the ocean alone.
