Another technique is to place ice or packed snow on a rock over a fire.
Hold the ice in place with small stones or other heavy objects and tilt the rock
slightly to let the melted water run off. Collect the drippings in a receptacle.
It is also possible to spread snow out on a dark sheet (such as a tarp
or garbage bag), and let it melt in the sun and then drip into a container
or a depression made in the sheet. This requires the right air tempera
ture, however—not too far below freezing—and a spot protected from
chilling winds. You can also use a piece of coiled birch bark and small hot
stones to melt snow into liquid, or even warm it for drinking.
If you need to collect sea ice, it’s important to know the difference
between new sea ice, which is essentially frozen, salty sea water, and old
sea ice, which is a remnant of a glacier that has calved off and is therefore
fresh water. New ice is milky or gray in color, does not break easily, has
sharp edges, and tastes extremely salty. Old ice, on the other hand, is a
distinctive blue or black, shatters easily, has rounded corners, and tastes
relatively free of salt. You can lick the salty ice once a day, however, to
satisfy your body’s need for that nutrient.
On the Sea or Open Water
Having spent a week surviving in a life raft in the Caribbean Ocean, I
understand how difficult it can be to obtain fresh water. Yet for all that
I experienced during my week adrift, it was nothing compared to the 38
days that Dougal Robertson, his wife, Linda, and their children endured in
1972 when their boat sank after being rammed by a pod of killer whales
200 miles (322 km) from the Galápagos Islands.
The Robertsons used their ingenuity and intense will to live to sur
vive for five and a half weeks on the open sea. They caught rainwater in the
canopy of their dinghy. When the water became dirty and contaminated
from the paint peeling off their raft canopy, Linda resorted to administer
ing water enemas to her family with a plastic bottle, which allowed them
to absorb it without actually ingesting the contaminants.
Rainwater is an important source of water when you’re at sea. Maxi
mize the area in which you’re catching it, and ensure that your catchment
system is clean. Wipe off all encrusted salt with sea water just before it
rains. Rainwater is relatively clean and safe to drink (though not com
pletely free of pollutants), so it would be a shame to contaminate it by
Water (^) | 91