Uninhabited Islands,Any explorers ? :)

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Ben Dockrell 22

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With so many very experinced sailors i just had to ask this one.

Have you found and explored uninhabited islands out of the terrortorial waters of any country ?

Anyone paid a visit to an abandoned oil rig ?

Or old sea forts ?

Any photos would be most interesting too :)
 
as a Cadet, I landed a whaler on Gruinard Island one dark and stormy evening. Then some heavy uniformed long-service types advised us to return PDQ, or spend three weeks being decontaminated somewhere in Hampshire.
 
sarabande said:
as a Cadet, I landed a whaler on Gruinard Island one dark and stormy evening. Then some heavy uniformed long-service types advised us to return PDQ, or spend three weeks being decontaminated somewhere in Hampshire.
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Hello sarabande :)

Yes i had thought the forces had made public a number of records about islands used for placing waste,even radioactive waste so i did think if its happened in a few places chances are there are more than a few places due to the same thing being done by other countries. As sad as it is it may well be important that people who choose to go exploring uninhabited islands have a guiger counter and other equipment. Unless of course there are websites to get such information from to avoid such hazards.
 
sarabande said:
as a Cadet, I landed a whaler on Gruinard Island one dark and stormy evening. Then some heavy uniformed long-service types advised us to return PDQ, or spend three weeks being decontaminated somewhere in Hampshire.
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Wish I hadn't just read up on that... as if I needed to dislike governments any more than before!


Is there some sort of list of islands you'd really be better off not visiting for reasons of staying alive and well?

I've just marked Gruinard Island on Google Earth as a reminder never to go there when I end up sailing around that part of the world... I wouldn't want to stumble across some other die-if-you-go-there place though.

Interestingly - Gruinard Island is blurred out on Google Earth. The mainland by it is in sharp focus, but not the island. All other nearby islands (including the more remote and smaller ones) are in much higher resolution.
 
prv said:
Didn't they declare Gruinard as decontaminated a few years ago?

Pete
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I just asked the oracle and it (Wikipedia) said the warning signs came down in 1990 and that there's been no sign of anthrax in the flock of sheep since then.
Still - I'd be nervous.

I wonder where they put all the contaminated topsoil they removed from the island.
As "there's no such place as 'away' to throw things" it must be out there somewhere.
 
yes, it was sprayed with acetic acid. Porton Down used to place a dozen sheep on the island each spring in the old days, and see how many were left alive by mid-summer. To start with, there were not many. (An old stamping ground for me in the 1960s)


There are many farms with 'anthrax pits' where carcases from casualties were buried deeply (anthrax wasa fairly common animal disease not so long ago.) MAFF used to have maps, but I think they were discontinued and lost in Defra.

Only a few very old farmers can remember where some of the pits are; and the bacillus is understood to last for forty years....
 
WilliamUK said:
I just asked the oracle and it (Wikipedia) said the warning signs came down in 1990 and that there's been no sign of anthrax in the flock of sheep since then.
Still - I'd be nervous.

I wonder where they put all the contaminated topsoil they removed from the island.
As "there's no such place as 'away' to throw things" it must be out there somewhere.
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Its extrordinary you should say this as i had heard a certain company that will remain nameless used topsoil in thier meat pies to make them more filling.

I just sitting on the floor now somewhat astounded!
 
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