Canadian Couple Lives on Their Own Floating Island

When most of us say we’re "going off the grid," it usually means we won’t have cell service for a few hours. For artists Catherine King and Wayne Adams, it’s meant living on a homemade island near Tofino, British Columbia for the last 24 years.

The couple—he is a carver and she is a retired ballerina, writer, and painter—began building the fortress in 1992 and have since constructed a house, dance floor, lighthouse, four greenhouses, and more. It was all done with a hand saw and hammer; as Wayne told Great Big Story in the video below: "I know every board and nail by name." The island is tied to the shore and Wayne estimates that it weighs about 500 tons.

The couple has dubbed the area "Freedom Cove," and their subsistence living involves catching fish, growing produce, and generating electricity with solar energy or, occasionally, a generator. They collect drinking water from a nearby waterfall or through rainwater, and they raised their two kids there.

To get to Freedom Cove, one has to travel by water, but you’re welcome to make the trek: Wayne and Catherine offer tours for inquiring minds.

Wayne told Great Big Story that he never gets seasick and, in fact, "When I go to town I get land sick." After seeing the amazing structure, we can understand why.

[h/t Digg]

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