Swiss Family Robinson - no it's Barrie and they're Australian

by Sail-World Cruising on 6 Apr 2010 ...but they are shipwrecked on one of the most isolated islands in the world, and it's not as romantic as the original.

Jennie and Andrew Barrie and their two children Diana, 12, and Shannon, 10, were on an idyllic two year family cruise last month when the forecast low category typhoon turned out to be a Category 10 typhoon.

After their anchors gave way, they were washed onto the shore of tiny Mog Mog Atoll in Micronesia.

The amazing thing about the story is that, while most families would be looking for the fastest way home, the Barries want to remain on the island, repair the boat and sail it home. Their catamaran, Windrider, has lost its mast, rudder and keel, and one of its hulls was pierced by the remains of a World War II jetty as it crashed ashore.

With just a satellite phone which must be run from the island's generator when it is turned on, even communication is difficult. The Mog Mog islanders, 200 of them, who helped the Barrie family get to shore during the typhoon, are themselves devastated by the storm, which has flattened their crops, reducing them to living on turtle meat.

While Windrider remains wrecked on the shore, the family is sleeping in a concreted floored hut normally used by the visiting priest, and gladly given over to the Barries by the islanders, and drinking rainwater collected from the roof.

Mog Mog, with a population of just 200, is one of four inhabitied islands on Ulithi Atoll which is actually the partially submerged rim of a huge volcano. The atoll surrounds a lagoon 22 miles long and 15 miles wide and lies in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. The main island of Falalop has a runway suitable in fair weather for small planes, and, if the family wishes to come home, this is their only avenue.

When the catamaran's anchors gave way and the yacht hit the reef, they contacted the local people, who selflessly arrived en masse to help the family ashore. In spite of their own problems, the villagers have been very welcoming.

There is no electricity, no running water and the basic necessities of life such as medicines, heating oil and tinned foods are brought by occasional freighters. Once they assess the damage, and the difficulty of bringing parts to the island, the family will know more about how long they may have to stay on the island. However, in true Swiss Family Robinson style, they are determined to stay and repair her. The girls were already receiving home schooling from their mother during the voyage, and this will continue.

While conditions are basic, rats, sandflys and mosquitoes are a problem and their diet is mainly turtle-meat, the there are benefits. Evenings are spent with the island chief who insists that the rare visitors who drop by spend evenings with him drinking a powerful brew called tuba, made from the sap of a coconut tree, while locals sing to the music of their guitars.

Sail-World will be following their story, so keep watching for updates.