SDMB Deserted Island Challenge!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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The Set-Up: We, the members of the SDMB, have just embarked on the first global dopefest on a huge cruise liner. We’re all having a great time, swapping witty remarks and sipping on Mai Tai’s in the Pacific, when all of a sudden our ship begins to sink! Luckily, we’re nearby a small deserted island and we’re all able to make it ashore in the life boats. Sadly, the captain and crew go down with the ship. :frowning:

Stumbling out of the waves and onto the sun-drenched beach, we find ourselves on your typical, tropical, deserted island. We’ve got white sand beaches, a lush jungle, some harrowing cliffs, and even a massive volcano jutting out of the heart of the island. We have no idea where we are, only that we were cruising around for hours before we sunk, and we’re not sure whether any rescue messages were sent.

The Challenge: So for now, we’ve got to survive using our infamous Doper intellects and whatever we can find on the island! Post what you would do to help the collective effort for survival and rescue, particularly any special skills or talents you possess which might be helpful. Also, you can also post things or situations you discover on the island that might pose specific challenges to us. Feel free to play of each other’s actions and discoveries; that’s the idea!

Oh, one more thing. The only objects you can have from out in the world are those that you might realistically have on your person at the time of the ship’s sinking. (No inflatable rafts, radio transmitters, mini-bars, etc. conveniently tucked in your backpack!)

**I’ll start! **I’m going to walk inland into the jungle to try to find some fresh water, although I’m not exactly sure where to go. Maybe a couple people could accompany me.

Discovery: Oh cool! I noticed some palm trees laden with coconuts where the jungle meets the beach. They’re pretty high up though, not sure how we’ll get them down.

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I panic!

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Special skills: pretty good knowledge of plants and animals useful for food or for providing other survival needs. Decades of experience in wilderness camping in remote areas.

The first thing I would do would be to check out the shoreline for edible shellfish, seaweed, or other foods, and look for places where fish might be trapped easily. (I’d also ask the others if they had pins or other items that could be used for fish hooks.) Then inland, to look for any signs of game animals, edible fruits, trees or other plants with good wood for firewood or tinder, fibers, etc.

I have a pretty good recipe for rat fricassee, too.

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Can I be Ginger?

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I gots survival skills up the wazoo. I can build a shelter easily enough, know where to look for fresh water, and, failing that, can rig up a real primative, but hopefully effective, distillation system to get fresh water from sea water. It would be a sloooowwww process, though, so I might have to kill the less useful ones of you for food, since there won’t be enough water to go around.

I also know a lot of first aid and, while not an EMT, doctor, or nurse, I would rate myself about one notch down from EMT in terms of knowledge. I know how to splint a fracture, ways to disinfect wounds, etc…

Oh, and those coconuts? Palm trees are actually crazy-easy to climb if you know how. It just so happens that I…do not. Well…I know how (I’ve seen it done many a time on TV and such,) and am a good climber in general, but I’ve never attempted to climb a palm tree, so I’m not guarenteing anything.

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Well, it’s extremely unlikely I would go anywhere without a few books, so we will have some reading material/tender for fires. I’m a smoker, so I will have something to produce flame. I’m good at following instructions.

Right now I’m heading toward the volcano with the intention of looking for fresh water or edible items on the way there and back, looking for shelter, and looking for volcanic glass which can be shaped into crude knives if everyone’s pocketknives were taken away at airport security on the way to the cruise.

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I’m ranking the survivors in order of apparent edibility.

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I can contribute my excellent sand castle building skills.

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I wanna walk around totally naked.

Knowing me, my personal possessions would be a book or two. So I can read naked as well. Cool!

Oh, those trees won’t be a problem. We have palm trees here. Like bouv said, they’re easy to climb. The traditional, popular method is to use a trained monkey to climb the tree instead. Am I allowed to train a monkey? Does the island even have monkeys?

Never mind, I’ll climb the trees myself…naked, of course.

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As a night owl who is very, very pale and burns easily, I volunteer to stay up overnight and keep an eye out for dangerousness, any nocturnal creatures that are possibly edible, and cruise ships and such that might provide rescue. I will sleep in the shade during the day to prevent the extreme sunburns I am prone to recieving when I go outside.

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I’m also a smoker, so I’ll have fire, and maybe a pocket knife. Reckon I’ll start spelling out “HELP” in brush, suitable for lighting if a search plane is in the area.

If the water-searching folks happen to find a dead animal of any type, we can use it for crab bait…

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So will I. Although I just mainly smoke my pipe now (which I hope I didn’t lose in the shipwreck), I continue to carry my Zippo in a pouch on my belt. So we have a windproof source of flame.

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Well, if we take the total membership of the SDMB and have everyone form a chain (keep it clean!), how long would that chain be? I’m thinking maybe we can just walk home on the backs of our friends.

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This would have been my exact suggestions; can I join you on your forage?

But before we set off; the group should take an inventory of all potentially useful items; we need tools and water containers.
I 'll start by contributing the polythene sandwich bags I always have in my wallet.

Also, If I still have my glasses, and the sun is shining, I can make fire (actually, I can make fire in a number of other ways too). I’m not bad at making shelters, making cord out of natural fibres and fashioning tools from whatever is available.

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I can also make baskets, so crab/lobster pots wouldn’t be all that hard.

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I’ll direct an impromptu musical version of Hamlet and then we’ll all open up Fed Ex packages. Bonus points if there are polar bears on the island.

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Well, it’s a good thing I always carry a waterproof, solar-powered satellite phone…

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And a sheep… :smiley:

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Since we have Richard Hatch on our island, all we have to do is wait for the IRS to show up and we’ll all be rescued.