Canada: How one couple has lived for 29 years on an island they built themselves
Wayne fishes for food in nearby waters – and there’s even a hole in the floor of his home for easy access … while Catherine is a vegetarian and sources her meals from Freedom Cove’s gardens
By Trisha Gopal, Samantha Stamler and Andy Lampard
Great Big Story
CNN
July 24, 2020
Excerpt:
Ten miles north of Tofino, British Columbia, off the west coast of Vancouver Island, Catherine King and Wayne Adams live on a sustainable, floating compound. It’s called “Freedom Cove,” a labor of love, hand-built using recycled and salvaged materials. It’s been their home for the past 29 years.
Freedom Cove is a 25-minute boat ride away from the closest town, and don’t even think about hopping in a car. “The only option to get here is by water,” Adams says. “There are no road accesses. The water is our highway.”
The whole structure is the size of two city lots and weighs 1 million pounds, floating freely on the ocean.
While there are lines that tether the compound back to the shore, it is not anchored to the ocean floor.
When you arrive, you’re immediately greeted by bright magenta buildings with dark turquoise trim. An archway of whale bones welcomes you in.
The compound has everything you could possibly think of and more: a dance floor, an art gallery, a candle factory, four greenhouses, six solar panels, and access to a small waterfall that provides constant running water.
The couple has even figured out their own waste management system.
“It’s the most common question we’re asked,” Adams says.
They installed a floating tank to, in Adams’ words, “deal with the affluence.”
If they wanted to, King and Adams could completely self-sustain on Freedom Cove without ever needing to go into the city.
