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I think it’s really a wrong take on it. Bombard’s lesson is mostly one of hope: you can survive a very long time on a raft. He felt too many sailors died too ea

I think it’s really a wrong take on it. Bombard’s lesson is mostly one of hope: you can survive a very long time on a raft. He felt too many sailors died too early after being lost at sea, while he knew of very long survivals lost at sea in the whaling community. He suspected a lot of deaths were linked to hopelessness. He set his first travel as both an experiment and an inspiration. When he came back he established a list of things to put in a life raft for long term survival. As for the water, his lesson has always been to drink as much fresh water as you can, and mixed with a bit of seawater if you really have to. It’s really not about surviving on seawater, his life raft list includes fresh water.

Zanni 6y ago
There's a great quote from the Mamet film The Edge: Most people lost in the wilds die of shame. "What did I do wrong? How could I have gotten myself into this?" And so they sit there and they ... die.
- watwut 6y ago
  Afaik, in reality, most people who die lost in the wilds die from exhaustion, injury, cold, heat, lack of water and such. People dying because "shame" kills them are not a thing in reality.
  - Zanni 6y ago
    Of course. Mamet is suggesting that they could have survived the exhaustion, injury, cold, etc., if they hadn't given up. But their embarrassment at their predicament short-circuited their survival instinct. I'm reinforcing nraynaud's comment above about how too many sailors lost at sea die before they should because they give up hope.