Imagine this: you’ve decided to set sail across the Atlantic Ocean. Only, you’ll
be taking a flimsy little inflatable boat and no water or food supplies. It’s hard
to visualize because who in their right mind would do such a thing? Well, one guy did it
way back in the ‘50s, and he did it for a very good reason!
Alain Bombard was a French doctor with a huge interest in survival techniques. In his medical
experience, he saw plenty of cases of how tragic outcomes of shipwrecks can be. One
thing bothered him most of all: at that time, lifeboats didn’t have any fishing equipment.
Plus, it was universally believed that people can’t survive stranded in the ocean for
more than a few days. So, no one would go and search for them after that! Bombard couldn’t
let such crucial misinformation continue.
He developed a theory that it’s possible to survive for much longer only by consuming
raw fish, plankton for vitamin C, and salty seawater if it were handled properly and at
a bare minimum. That’s a pretty key “only if” because even just one sip of seawater
can really hurt your health! Granted, Bombard’s solution wasn’t great by any means, but
it was a solution. He borrowed the fish idea from the Polynesians, who knew that every
single fish contains a certain fresh-water-like substance that you can drink in case of extreme
dehydration. Bombard even took it a step further and created a “fish squeezer” – yes,
it’s exactly what it sounds like: a device that “juices” a fish like a lemon. He
was sure that this fresh fish juice can be mixed with seawater and that it’ll save
anyone unfortunate enough to be stranded at sea.
This all probably sounds a bit odd and maybe even looney, and you wouldn’t be the only
one to see it that way. Lots of people who heard of Bombard’s ideas laughed at him.
But the thing is, he wasn’t the first who wanted to prove that people are much more
resilient ocean-survivors than previously thought. In fact, when he decided to prove
his daring theories, he was directly inspired by one famous journey: the 1947 Kon-Tiki expedition
of Thor Heyerdahl, who crossed the distance between Peru and Polynesia with his crew on
small primitive rafts called Kon-Tiki. The Norwegian ethnographer was trying to prove
that Polynesians may be originally from South America and left the continent by sailing
without any food supplies. But still, they had fresh water with them, so what Alain Bombard
was planning would be even riskier.
Anyway, the backstory now understood, let’s get to the actual journey. In 1952, the 28-year-old
decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean without any food or water supplies in a 15x6-foot
(~5x2 m) inflatable boat. He dubbed the vessel: the Heretic. (The guy did have a good sense
of humor and decided to make a joke of the fact that he was the butt of the joke around
town!) The Heretic was supposed to carry two people – Alain and his friend and navigator
Jack Palmer – across the ocean with basic fishing equipment, a compass, and a sail.
It also had a supply of food and water for an extreme emergency, but it was sealed and
never opened the whole time.
Their journey started on May 25, 1952. Bombard and Palmer set off from Monaco and headed
west toward the Americas. It didn’t take them long to realize how challenging their
goal was. In the first two weeks, the ocean gave them almost nothing, and they were starving.
They caught only one big fish. Of course, that wasn’t nearly enough, but this single
fish kept them alive. Palmer couldn’t drink seawater due to health problems, but foggy
weather allowed them to gather around 1 gallon (~4 L) of fresh water.
Still, it was clear that Alain’s friend wouldn’t be able to endure the whole trip.
The bad weather didn’t bring only fresh water. Being alone in the ocean surrounded
by fog with no clear vision is scary enough, but people familiar with the sea will tell
you: fog brings its own mysteries with it. One day, Alain and Jack clearly heard a ship
coming closer to them, and they even saw lights! The lights were getting closer and closer,
the engine roared louder and louder, and the two buddies tried to attract the crew’s
attention in case they didn’t noticed the little boat and would crash into it. But suddenly,
the wind blew the fog away, and Alain and Jack were shocked by what they saw (or, perhaps,
didn’t see): there were no vessels around them at all. The ship had vanished in thin
air! Maybe this was just a hallucination. They were exhausted at this point after all.
They’d both seen and heard it as clear as day, so who knows what secrets the ocean holds.
A few days later, they landed in Tangier, Morocco, where Palmer decided to tap out of
the whole experiment. For him, this trip was just too much, but for Alain, the experience
was only proving that his theory was true, and he can reach his goal! Imagine yourself
hungry like you never were in your whole life, and you finally see a city where you can get
food. I imagine the temptation to join his friend must’ve been unbearable for the survivalist!
But he continued – this time, all alone…
The Atlantic wasn’t very fond of his decision, though. A storm began almost immediately.
That’s when Alain realized that he wasn’t even close to being prepared for it. The waves
were huge, and he had absolutely no way to get the water out of his boat. Had it not
been inflatable, this could’ve been the bitter end of Alain’s epic journey and probably
even his life! He still had to come up with something as soon as possible. And he did
– he scooped the water out of the boat with his hat!
But the trouble had only just begun. The wind became so strong that it tore the sail apart!
It’s often said that a person can overcome their limits in extreme situations, and it
seemed like Alain did exactly that. When the storm was over, Bombard’s Heretic was still
afloat, and he soon repaired the sail too.
As if Alain Bombard had somehow passed a cruel examination by the Atlantic, the waters around
him went calm, and fish started showing up in swarms. From there on, he always had enough
opportunities to get food and water. But his diet still wasn’t healthy by any means.
Dr. Bombard found himself getting terrible rashes, and any scratch on his body refused
to heal. Chances are he was extremely malnourished…
Living on raw fish alone was bad enough, but one fish was just the worst and it wasn’t
even a shark – it was a swordfish. Remember, he was in an inflatable boat, and those things
aren’t called “sword” fish for nothing. His lunch did end up puncturing the boat badly.
Once again, Alain was forced to scoop water out of the boat relentlessly.
The main goal of his dangerous trip was to prove that people stranded at sea after shipwreck
could survive, but he didn’t stop himself from trying to attract the attention of nearby
ships. His experience proved that it was too hard though. He came across several ships
but was noticed only once by the crew of a British vessel called Arakaka. This encounter
was the second time Bombard was tempted to quit his treacherous experiment for good.
Imagine him seeing people, a good meal, and a soft warm bed to lie down in. But I’m
sure you know by now that the doc just kept floating on…
He did take a couple of eggs, an apple, and some vegetables. (Does that count as cheating?
Eh, I’ll let you decide.) Even after being told that he was about 620 miles (1,000 km)
away from his destination, he didn’t bat an eye.
The rest of his trip was hard, but not as terrible as it had been before. Even as the
sun scorched his skin, he lost 52 pounds (24 kg), and weathered a typhoon, none of that
could compare to the starvation and storms he’d already gone through. On December 23,
1952, he arrived in Barbados, West Indies, and his emergency food supplies were still
sealed. Dr. Alain Bombard needed serious medical attention and received hospital treatment.
After a 2,700-mile (4,350 km) trip on a little boat with no food and nothing but raw fish
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, that comes as no surprise at all!
With this act of pure bravery (and some would say stubborn foolishness, but, hey, it was
for a good cause!), he proved his point. It was soon acknowledged that shipwreck survivors
should be searched continuously, for a much longer period than just 10 days. It’s hard
to comprehend just how many lives have been saved thanks to Dr. Alain Bombard since 1952,
when he decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean in an inflatable boat and test just how strong
the human will to survive truly is!
And what people would you consider heroes that deserve more recognition? Let me know
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