David Cox has been writing to me for a while about his and his wife’s life off the grid on the Coast of BC. The couple moved there and did all this stuff after they were retired! David has recently self-published this book: I love the cover!
Although access is by boat or float plane, there seem to be a number of people on this island and there seems to be a lot more social interaction than I have. With some difficulty (and a special ariel) they can get cell phone reception, which I don’t have. Nonetheless, I could identify totally with the difficulties of getting building materials not only to the island but also up a steep, slippery rock to the building site. And the difficulties of dealing with city people who like to have everyone stuffed into neat little compartments. Interestingly, I was reading about his volunteers filling his woodshed at the exact moment my volunteers were filling mine!
Sometimes a neighbour would come and help build things, but Sally, David’s wife, accomplished the most extraordinary things. Check out this photo of her bolting together the windmill for power. Note that there is no ladder or safety harness! (The poor quality of the photo is mine.)
David has a bombastic personality which I first found a bit abrasive, but when I got into the book the rough edges were smoothed off and I liked the guy. I found the a very enjoyable read. It is available through Amazon, both in print and via Kindle. There is also a nice article on Off The Grid Homes.
Would you be available for an after movie talk, Q&A 30 min max at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster? We are screening the movie Leave no Trace on November 19th 7pm.
I was doing some browsing during a day in town with good Internet access and found this older post. My husband Wayne and I started living off the grid after retirement, but our location half and hour up Powell Lake by boat isn’t as remote as this, and we go to town about once a week for shopping and social activities. I just purchased the Kindle version and am excited to read about another couple’s experiences. Thanks for the review. – Margy
Margy recently posted…Windstorm Waterspouts
Bombastic? ME? BOMBASTIC!!!!!! KABLOOooooooooey!!!
Well, maybe I am a bit. Sometimes. On occasion. I am not shy, that is for sure. Probably should be more so for a lot of good reasons – all to do with all my other personal faults – but I am not. I kind of figure that we are all flawed in some way and I may as well wear mine on my sleeve. Simpler that way.
Thank you for the kind words about the book. And you are pretty much right in your observations – although Sal had a lifeline on the tower and it would have saved her had she slipped. Mind you, had she slipped, she still would been hurt so it was still very brave. And, yes, there are more people living near us than a truly remote person. Within an area of 350 sq. miles, we think there might even be as many as 200 in the summer, half that the rest of the year. Our remoteness is relative, really. No services, no stores, no access except by small boat, only a few of us can get cell phone coverage….that kind of thing. For us, remoteness is almost as much a voluntary lifestyle choice as it is a physical location. We simply choose to be alone, to add to our remoteness by BEING less engaged as well. Town trips are down to once a month now and they are still too frequent. We are working on it. If we are wilderness dwellers at all, we are WDs in spirit mostly but living physically on the edge between real wilderness and close-to-rural. We are feral Cusp dwellers.