catching it in a dirty receptacle. You can also use rags to collect dew and
condensation from your boat.
When you’re on the open sea, you can readily obtain drinking water
from salt water by using a storebought still or, provided you have the
materials, to make an aboveground solar still. To do so, follow the instruc
tions earlier in this chapter but use a large receptacle such as a bucket
instead of a hole.
Jungles
Procuring water usually is not an issue in the jungle, as these tend to be
extremely rainy places. Locating a primary water source should not be a
problem, and harvesting rainwater is also an option.
In the Amazon rain forest, I found that the feeder streams to the
rivers were better than the rivers themselves, which were subject to huge
variations in height, volume, and turbidity. Rivers in these areas can rise by
10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.5 m) not long after heavy rainfalls, and turn the color of
chocolate milk with all the mud and dirt they’re carrying. Feeder streams
are cleaner and less variable.
Plants, particularly water vines, and bamboo, banana, and plantain
trees, can also be an excellent source of water.
Coastal Regions
If you’re stuck on a beach and have no primary water source available, you
can get a good supply from the ground itself by digging a beach well. Walk
well back from the ocean’s edge. When you reach the base of the back of
the first dune, begin digging. The water you obtain here should be suf
ficiently filtered by the sand to desalinate it, especially the top few inches.
Should the water still be salty, you can desalinate it yourself, although
the process takes a lot of energy. Build a fire and place rocks in it to heat
them. Drop the hot rocks in the water still to create steam, and catch the
steam in a cloth held over the hole. The desalinated water can then be
wrung from the cloth.
Here’s an easier way to find fresh water on the coast: when the tide is
out, look for small rivulets making their way to the sea. These may indicate
a freshwater stream just above the lowtide line.
(^92) | Survive!