Will to Live: Dispatches from the Edge of Survival (14 page)

For example, near the end of their second week adrift, Dougal tugged on the rope that secured the raft to the dinghy and found that it came slack in his hand. The pin that held the rope to the dinghy had worked itself loose with time, and nobody had bothered to check it. I would guess that Dougal assumed the rope was safe enough, but he really should have devised a backup method of securing the dinghy to the raft. He’s lucky they didn’t come apart in rough water, or they would have lost the dinghy completely and come to a very different end.

Similarly, they seemed content to use the roof of the raft as their primary method of collecting rain. Given the infrequency of rain and the critical importance of water to their survival, they would have been wise to use the extra sailcloth as a secondary catch. Again, though, they had one answer to a problem, and it was good enough. The Robertsons didn’t investigate other possibilities, even if it would have meant more water for them. Had I been in their situation, I would have at least considered the possibility of a solar still, a device that makes seawater drinkable and could have made their lives a heck of a lot easier.

Although the days were long and monotonous, there was the occasional spate of excitement. One morning, Dougal entertained the idea of catching a dorado by hand, and held his hand just under the surface of the water, hoping to grab one by the tail as it swam by. When the raft shuddered from a collision with what seemed like a particularly large fish, he slid his hand into the water, waiting. He was surprised to find the fish swimming perfectly between his arm and the raft, and he instantly hauled it out of the water. To his surprise, he held in his arms a five-foot mako shark, which could sink the fragile craft with one slash of its razor-sharp teeth. Dougal hurriedly threw the shark back into the water, relieved that it hadn’t done any damage.

Photographic Insert

One of the first
Survivorman
film expeditions I ever did was based upon being stranded with a downed airplane. While the scenario was a bit morbid, the point was clear: the things salvaged from the aircraft could save a life. I used some of the plane’s wires to make a snare, in which I caught a rabbit. I roasted it over the fire you see here, which I started using the battery, some wires, and a tiny bit of gasoline from the airplane.

Surviving beneath the waves is another world altogether. I learned a lot from shooting films with sharks, and though I received a few scars from some small bites, I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Sharks are big, powerful, and beautiful creatures. It’s just that if they take a “test nibble” to see if you are food, you can lose an arm in the deal.

I am always asked which is harder: surviving in the extreme heat or the extreme cold. Even after coming close to succumbing to heat stroke and possibly dying in the Kalahari Desert, I still feel that the cold is the toughest. In the heat, at least you can sit under some shade and wait out the day. In the cold, you have no choice—you must keep moving and effecting your survival, so it takes much more out of you.

While filming for
Survivorman
, I spent four days in a raft floating on the ocean. It’s the one survival challenge I hope to never face again. I had to be rescued when a massive storm came in, or I would have been blown to Honduras and likely never seen again.