Alain bombard biography. Biography. French doctor's theories

But history also knows those who are ready to sacrifice their lives in the raging waves of a restless ocean for the benefit of humanity, for the sake of science. This is exactly what Alain Bombard was - a doctor, traveler, biologist and public figure. His circumnavigation of the world on an inflatable rubber boat showed that a shipwrecked person can survive without food or water in the open ocean, and Bombar's willpower demonstrated on the way to his goal amazed the whole world.

French doctor's theories

Alain Bombard was born on October 27, 1924 in Paris. While still a very young medical student, Alain often thought about why the statistics of shipwreck victims was so high. Already when he, having completed his studies, went to work in one of the seaside hospitals, he happened to encounter a terrible picture of a shipwreck: 43 bodies of unfortunate people who had become victims of the water element were brought to the hospital. This was imprinted in Bombard’s memory for the rest of his life; the young doctor was amazed why people die in the first days of a shipwreck, when there is a sufficient supply of water and food.

Alain Bombard delved into the problem of mortality due to maritime disasters and he managed to establish a terrible pattern - people who, by the will of fate, found themselves on the open sea on a lifeboat, died of despair, from fear of the inevitability. The doctor realized that the main reason for the numerous deaths was the lack of desire to fight for one’s life and the loss of faith in possible salvation. After studying the problem, Bombard developed survival techniques for those who were victims of a shipwreck.

Experiment idea

In the scientific world, Alain Bombard's theories were received with skepticism, and in 1952 he came up with the idea to prove by his own example that a person could survive on an inflatable boat in the open ocean, eating raw fish and drinking salty sea water from time to time. This desire caused general disapproval, and the desperate French doctor was considered crazy, because such an experiment was a real suicide.

Alain Bombard believed in himself and knew that the human body has enormous internal resources and, subject to certain rules, will be able to endure a long journey in difficult conditions. Filled with this faith, the young doctor begins preparations for a trip around the world. He begins theoretical preparation: he studies the types of fish that can be found in the ocean and determines that the fish’s body consists of 80% water, containing fats, salts and trace elements. Bombard admits that the juice squeezed out of fish can be used as a source of fresh water.

Alain Bombard planned to travel in the company of a companion. He advertised in the newspaper, and people began to respond to his offer. But among the large number of applicants, there was no suitable candidate: the responses were, as a rule, crazy and suicidal, people offering to eat them during the holiday, and those who tried to send relatives they did not like on a dangerous journey. A companion was finally found, he was the yachtsman Jack Palmer, who made a test trip with Alain from the island. Menorca, during which travelers ate raw fish they caught and drank its juice. But on the day of departure, the would-be yachtsman was frightened by the hardships of a trip around the world and disappeared without a trace.

Dangerous journey

On October 19, 1952, despite the birth of his daughter, Alain Bombard set off on a long journey. His boat, four and a half meters long, was named “Heretic” as a challenge to a society that did not believe in his success. Throughout the voyage, Bombar ate only raw fish and caught birds, drank sea water and fish juice. Despite the fact that there was a supply of food and water on board the boat, the traveler never touched it even in the most difficult moments of the ordeal - Bombard was ready to do anything to prove his theories.

The journey was difficult, as expected. Bombard more than once found himself on the brink of death, but thanks to his determination, thirst for life and superhuman efforts, the newcomer to sea voyages managed to do what many experienced yachtsmen feared - he crossed the globe, proved the correctness of his theories and remained alive despite all the dangers of the journey. Alain Bombard scooped water out of the boat for several hours in a row; during storms, falling from fatigue, he did not give up and fought, dispersed large fish that were trying to damage the boat and did not accept a single offer from passing ships to take him on board. The idea for the French was more important than comfort, plentiful food and...

Tragedy mars triumph

Returning to France after 65 days of wandering across the waters, Bombard became a celebrity: they took him into account, revered him and tried to inherit him. Since that time, he has held honorary positions, taken part in scientific and social work, and wrote the best-selling book “Overboard of his own free will.”

In 1958, Alain took part in the design of a raft with which it was planned to equip all ships. But the test of the raft ended tragically: nine crew and rescuers died, only Bombar managed to escape. This led to Alain's reputation being damaged, and it was he who was blamed by many for the tragedy.

Alain Bombard experienced severe depression, but despite this, he began his political career in 1975. He held high positions in various French parties and government agencies, and in 1981 became a member of the European Parliament. At the age of 80, the great traveler and public figure died in Toulon. His activities and life principles became an example for traveler-followers, and the motto “Be stubborner than the sea, and you will win!” helped many people who were victims of difficult circumstances.

On a single-seater rubber boat under sail in almost 65 days without food or fresh water supplies. The experiment ended successfully. His feat was one of the most outstanding achievements of mankind in the confrontation with the ocean.

« Victims of legendary shipwrecks who died prematurely, I know: it was not the sea that killed you, it was not hunger that killed you, it was not thirst that killed you! Swinging on the waves to the plaintive cries of seagulls, you died of fear».

(Alain Bombard)

Brief chronology

1952 Bombard set off alone on a rubber boat to sail the Atlantic Ocean. The voyage lasted 65 days, and was intended to prove that shipwrecked people could live for a long time at sea without food or water, eating only what they could get from the sea. The experiment was a success

1953 edition books "Overboard of your own free will"

1960 thanks to the Bombard experiment The London Maritime Safety Conference decided to equip ships with life rafts

Life story

This amazing man French doctor Alain Bombard, clearly and convincingly proved that to acquire a reputation as a great sea traveler, it is not at all necessary to be a sailor. Moreover, there is information that he did not even know how to swim. Working as a practicing physician in a seaside hospital, Dr. Bombard was literally shocked by statistics reporting terrible figures. Every year tens and hundreds of thousands of people die in the seas and oceans! Bombar was convinced that a significant part of them did not drown, did not die from cold or hunger. Being in boats and dinghies, kept on the water thanks to life belts and vests, most shipwrecked people die in the first three days. As a doctor, he knew that human the body can live without water10 days, and without food even up to 30. “Victims of legendary shipwrecks who died prematurely, I know: it was not the sea that killed you, it was not hunger that killed you, it was not thirst that killed you! Rocking on the waves to the plaintive cries of the seagulls, you died of fear,” Bombar firmly stated, deciding to prove from his own experience the power of courage and self-confidence.

Knowing well the reserves of the human body, Alain Bombard was sure that death from fear and despair overtook not only passengers of warships and comfortable liners, but also professional sailors. They are used to looking at the sea from the height of the ship's hull. A ship is not just a means of transportation on water, it is also a psychological factor that protects the human psyche from fear of alien elements. On a ship, a person has the confidence that he is insured against possible accidents provided for by the designers and shipbuilders, that a sufficient amount of all kinds of food and water has been stored in the holds of the ship for the entire period of the voyage and even beyond that...

But back in the days of the sailing fleet, they said that only whalers and fur seal hunters see the real sea. They attack whales and seals in the open ocean from small whaleboats and sometimes wander for a long time in the fog, blown away from their ships by storm winds. These people were prepared in advance for a long voyage at sea on a boat and therefore died much less often. Even after losing a ship in the open ocean, they covered enormous distances and still came to land. And if some died, it was only after many days of persistent struggle, having exhausted the last strength of their body.

French doctor Alain Bombard was sure that there is a lot of food in the sea and you just need to be able to get it in the form of fish or planktonic animals and plants. He knew that all rescue craft on ships have a set of fishing lines and even nets, and that, if necessary, they can be made from available materials. This means that it is possible to get food, since marine animals contain almost everything that our body needs, including fresh water. And even sea water, consumed in small quantities, can save the body from dehydration.

Alain Bombard knew well the power of suggestion and self-hypnosis. He knew that the Polynesians, who were sometimes carried far from land by hurricanes, could rush for weeks and months across the stormy ocean and still survive by catching fish, turtles, birds, using the juices of these animals - tasteless, even disgusting, but saving them from thirst and dehydration . The Polynesians did not see anything special in all this, since they were mentally prepared for such troubles. But the same islanders who survived in the ocean dutifully died on the shore with a complete abundance of food when they learned that someone had “bewitched” them. They believed in the power of magic and died from self-hypnosis.

In order to make potential victims of shipwrecks believe in themselves, in the real possibility of overcoming both the forces of the elements and their apparent weakness, Alain Bombard in 1952 conducted an experiment on himself - he went to sailing the Atlantic Ocean in a regular inflatable boat. To her equipment, Bombar added only a plankton net and a speargun. He called his rubber boat defiantly: “ Heretic».

Bombar chose a route for himself that ran far from sea routes, in a warm but deserted area of ​​the ocean. Previously, as a rehearsal, he and a friend spent two weeks in the Mediterranean Sea. For 14 days they made do with what the sea gave them. The first experience of a long journey dependent on the sea was a success. Of course, and it was difficult, very difficult! Swimming participant Jack Palmer said: “The sensations, already specifically negative, were aggravated by solar radiation, dehydrating thirst and an oppressive feeling of absolute insecurity from the waves and sky, in which we dissolved, gradually losing our own selves. Hundreds of miles covered, a few days of rushing to salvation, a monotonous menu from meat, juice, fat of caught fish, they were not allowed to act fully. There was only the opportunity to imitate life, to essentially survive on the sharply sharpened blade of the knife of uncertainty...”

Jack Palmer was an experienced sailor; he had previously crossed the Atlantic Ocean all alone on a small yacht equipped with everything necessary, but at the last moment he refused to participate in the ocean voyage with Bombard. He insisted that he believed in his friend’s idea, but did not want to eat raw fish again, swallow healing but nasty plankton and drink even more nasty fish juice, diluting it with sea water.

By the way, about fish juice. As a doctor, Bombard knew that water is much more important than food. Previously, he examined dozens of species of fish that he could get for lunch in the ocean, and proved that fresh water makes up from 50 to 80% of the weight of the fish, and the body of marine fish contains significantly less salt than the meat of mammals. Bombar also made sure that every 800 grams of sea water contains approximately the same amount of salts (not counting table salt) as a liter of various mineral waters. During his journey, Bombard became convinced that it was extremely important to avoid dehydration in the first days, and then reducing the water ration in the future would not be detrimental to the body.

Bombar had many friends, but there were also skeptics and ill-wishers, and people simply hostile to him. Not everyone understood the humanity of his idea. Newspapers were looking for a sensation, and since there was none, they made it up. But people well acquainted with the history of navigation and shipwrecks warmly supported Bombard's idea. Moreover, they were confident in the success of the experiment.

August 14, 1952 single Bombara expedition started from Monte Carlo. To be on the safe side, in case of the threat of imminent death, he still took an emergency supply - a small set of high-calorie canned foods. There was also a hermetically sealed shortwave radio station on board the Heretic. True, it quickly broke down. Bombar's last radio message was his firm promise: “I will certainly prove that life always wins!”

The sea elements constantly threw challenges at Bombara, one more serious than the other. A gusty wind tore the sail, making it difficult to maintain course. Frequent rains did not leave a dry thread and soaked it to the bones. And the boat was pursued by impudent sharks. They also prevented fishing and sifting of plankton. The navigator’s body was covered with non-healing ulcers, his fingers were difficult to bend, and his head was spinning from constant nervous tension and lack of sleep.

The water was depressing, sometimes looking like a bubbling cauldron, sometimes creating the illusion of stillness. Alain stubbornly pushed away despair. The one who called himself a heretic still felt that this was a great sin, and the doctor knew that the feeling of despair was harmful to health, and in his own conditions it was simply life-threatening. And the movement towards the goal continued - slow, winding, but movement.

65 days Alain Bombard sailed across the ocean. In the first days, he refuted the assurances of experts that there were no fish in the ocean. Yes, this is what many authoritative travelers who have plied the ocean many times claimed. This misconception was caused by the fact that it is difficult to notice life in the ocean from large ships. But Bombar then crossed the ocean on a boat, from the side of which to the surface of the water - some centimeters. And the doctor learned from his own experience that the ocean is often deserted for many weeks of travel, but there are always creatures in it that can be useful to humans.

“When my strength ran out and a defeatist mood crept into my soul,” Bombard recalls, “I was lifted aboard by the crew of the British ship "Arakoka". From the navigator, tormented by despair, I learned that I was 850 miles easterly than I had expected. What to do? Correct the error, that's all. The captain began to dissuade him, convincing him that life is a priceless gift. I replied that I was doing my job to save other lives. The Heretic was again accepted by the Atlantic. Again loneliness, harsh sun during the day, dank cold at night, again fish and plankton, giving strength in doses, now only sufficient to somehow cope with the sail of an awkward rubber boat.”

Bombard felt happy as never before, and penciled in the damp, moldy logbook the prophetic words: “You, my brother in distress, if you believe and hope, you will see that your wealth will begin to increase day by day, as on Robinson Crusoe's island, and you will have no reason not to believe in salvation."

When the traveler finally saw the shore, it turned out to be Barbados island. And again a test for the soul and will. Bombard was met by hungry fishermen, who were not at all surprised by the appearance of a half-dead man in a rubber boat, and began to beg Alain to give them the emergency food supply. What a test for a doctor! But Bombar, overcoming the natural impulse of his soul, resisted. He later recalled: “It was fortunate that they did not eat the emergency supply. How could I prove that during the 65 days of sailing I didn’t touch it?!”

Dr. Alain Bombard proved that a person can do a lot if he really wants and does not lose willpower, that he is able to survive in the most difficult conditions. Having described this unprecedented self-experiment in the sensational book “Overboard of His Own Will,” which sold millions of copies, Alain Bombard saved tens of thousands of lives of those people who found themselves alone with the hostile elements and were not afraid.

Returning from the voyage, Alain Bombard organized in St. Malo (France) laboratory for the study of marine problems. Now he firmly knew that studying them was vital. These studies are extremely important because they are aimed at developing optimal survival modes in extreme conditions. Practical results showed themselves very quickly. Those who followed the recommendations of Bombard and the staff of his research center survived even where it seemed impossible to survive.

The great traveler Alain Bombard died at an old age (80 years) in the southern French city of Toulon on July 19, 2005.

Alain Bombard went on a solo voyage, which lasted 65 days, from October 19 to December 23, 1952. His background is as follows. In the spring of 1951, Alain Bombard, a young intern doctor (A.B. was born on October 27, 1924), who had just begun his professional career in a hospital in the French port of Boulogne, was shocked by the number of dead sailors from a shipwreck near the shore of the trawler Notre Dame des -Peyrag.” At night, in the fog, the trawler collided with the stones of the coastal pier and crashed. 43 sailors were killed. In the morning, a few hours later, their bodies were pulled ashore and, most surprisingly, they were all wearing life jackets! It was this event that prompted the young doctor to take up the problem of saving the lives of people in distress at sea.

Bombar wondered why so many people become victims of shipwrecks? After all, many thousands of people die at sea every year. And as a rule, 90% of them die in the first three days. Why is this happening? After all, it would take much longer to die from hunger and thirst. Bombard made a conclusion, which he later wrote in the book “Overboard of His Own Will”: “Victims of legendary shipwrecks who died prematurely, I know: it was not the sea that killed you, it was not hunger that killed you, it was not thirst that killed you! Rocking on the waves to the plaintive cries of the seagulls, you died of fear!”

French doctor Alain Bombard. Photo: wikimedia.org

Alain Bombard became interested in the problems of survival in extreme conditions during his studies. Having studied many stories of people who survived shipwrecks, Bombard became convinced that many of them survived by stepping beyond the medical and physiological standards determined by scientists. Some remained alive on rafts and boats, in the cold and under the scorching sun, in a stormy ocean, with a tiny supply of water and food on the fifth, tenth and even fiftieth day after the disaster. As a doctor who knows well the reserves of the human body, Alain Bombard was sure that many people, forced to part with the comfort of the ship as a result of the tragedy and save themselves by any available means, died long before their physical strength left them. Despair killed them. And such death overtook not only random people at sea - passengers, but also professional sailors accustomed to the sea.

Therefore, Alain Bombard decided to go on a long sea voyage, putting himself in “man overboard” conditions in order to prove the following from his own experience: 1. A person will not drown if he uses an inflatable life raft as a life-saving device. 2. A person will not die of hunger or get scurvy if he eats plankton and raw fish. 3. A person will not die of thirst if he drinks juice squeezed from fish, and sea water for 5-6 days. In addition, he really wanted to destroy the tradition according to which the search for shipwrecked victims stopped after a week or, in extreme cases, after 10 days. Regarding the first two points, I can say that it was after Alain Bombard’s voyage that inflatable life rafts of various capacities began to be widely used on all ships, especially small and fishing ones, along with rescue boats and lifeboats - PSN-6, PSN-8, PSN-10 , (PSN is an inflatable life raft, the figure is the capacity of a person.) Regarding raw fish, the indigenous inhabitants of the far north - the Chukchi, Nenets, Eskimos, in order not to get scurvy, have always eaten and continue to eat not only raw fish, but also the meat of sea animals, thereby making up for the lack of vitamin C, which is known to be found in various vegetables and fruits.

Carrying out the planned experiment was not so easy. Bombard spent about a year preparing for the voyage, both theoretically and psychologically. To begin with, he studied a lot of materials about shipwrecks, their causes, life-saving equipment of different types of ships and their equipment. Then he began to conduct experiments on himself, eating what might be available to a shipwrecked person. Bombard spent six months, from October 1951, in the laboratories of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco, studying the chemical composition of sea water, types of plankton, and the structure of various fish that can be found in the ocean. These studies have shown that from 50 to 80% of the weight of fish is water, which is fresh, and the flesh of marine fish contains less various salts than the meat of land mammals. It is the juice squeezed from the body of fish that can satisfy the need for fresh water. Salty sea water, as his experiments showed, can be drunk in small quantities to prevent dehydration of the body for five days. Plankton, consisting of tiny microorganisms and algae, is known to be the only food for the largest marine mammals - whales, which proves its high nutritional value.

There were many friends who warmly supported Bombar’s idea and provided all kinds of assistance, but there were also skeptics and ill-wishers, and even simply hostile people. Not everyone understood the humanity of the idea; they even called it a heresy, and the author himself a heretic. The shipbuilders were outraged that the doctor was going to cross the ocean in an inflatable boat, which they believed could not be controlled. The sailors were surprised that a non-professional sailor, a person completely ignorant of the theory of navigation, wanted to make the voyage. The doctors were horrified when they learned that Alain was going to live on seafood and drink sea water. At first, the voyage was conceived not as a solo voyage, but as a group of three people. But as always happens, practice is very different from theory, the implementation of a plan from the original idea. When Bombar received a rubber boat designed for sailing, about the size of a passenger car, it became clear that three people simply could not fit there on a long voyage. The boat had a length of 4.65 meters and a width of 1.9 meters. It was a tightly inflated rubber sausage, bent in the shape of an elongated horseshoe, the ends of which were connected by a wooden stern. Light wooden sleds lay on the flat rubber bottom. The side floats consisted of 4 compartments, which were inflated and deflated independently of one another. The boat moved with the help of a quadrangular sail with an area of ​​about three square meters. Bombar called this “vessel” symbolically – “Heretic”! There was no additional equipment in it - only the extremely necessary compass, sextant, navigation books, first aid kit and photographic equipment.

Doctor Bombard aboard his Heretic. 1952 Photo: Getty Images

In the early morning of May 25, 1952, a speedboat towed the Heretic as far as possible from the port of Fontvieille so that the boat would be caught by the current and not thrown back onto the shore. And when the ships accompanying the boat left, and Bombar and Palmer were left alone among the alien elements, fear fell. Alain writes: “It suddenly fell upon us, as if the disappearance of the last ship beyond the horizon had cleared the way for it... Then we had to experience fear more than once, real fear, and not this instant anxiety caused by sailing. Real fear is the panic of the soul and body, maddened in a battle with the elements, when it seems that the whole universe is inexorably turning against you.” And overcoming fear is no less difficult a task than fighting hunger and thirst. Bombard and Palmer spent two weeks in the Mediterranean. During this time, they did not touch the emergency reserve, making do with what the sea gave them. Of course it was very difficult. But Bombar realized that his first experience was a success, and he could prepare for a long voyage. However, Jack Palmer, by the way, an experienced yachtsman, who had previously made a solo voyage across the Atlantic Ocean on a small yacht, but abundantly equipped with everything necessary, refused to tempt fate further. Two weeks was enough for him; he was frightened by the thought of eating raw fish again for a long time, swallowing nasty, although healthy plankton, drinking juice squeezed out of fish, diluting it with sea water.

Bombar firmly decided to continue the planned experiment. First, he had to overcome the path from the Mediterranean Sea to Casablanca, along the coast of Africa, then from Casablanca to the Canary Islands. And only then sail across the ocean along the route that all sailing ships, including Columbus’s caravels, went to America for many centuries. This route lies away from modern sea routes, so it is difficult to count on meeting any ships. But this is precisely what suited Bombard, so to speak, for the “purity” of the experience. Many dissuaded the doctor from continuing the voyage after he safely covered the route from Casablanca to the Canary Islands in 11 days on the Heretic. Moreover, in early September, Bombard’s wife Ginette gave birth to a daughter in Paris. But, having flown from Las Palmas to Paris for a few days and seen his relatives, the doctor continued the final preparations for the departure. On Sunday, October 19, 1952, a French yacht took the Heretic out of the port of Puerto de la Luz (this is the port of the capital of the Canary Islands, Las Palmas) into the ocean. The favorable northeastern trade wind carried the boat further and further from the Earth. How many incredible difficulties Bombar had to experience!

On one of the first nights, Bombar was caught in a severe storm. The boat was completely filled with water, only the mighty rubber floats were visible on the surface. It was necessary to bail out the water, but it turned out that there was no bailer, and it took two hours to bail out the water with a hat. He wrote in his diary: “To this day I myself cannot understand how I managed, cold with horror, to hold out in this way for two hours. Shipwrecked, always be more stubborn than the sea, and you will win! After this storm, Bombar believed that his “Heretic” could not capsize; it was like an aquaplane or a platform, as if it was sliding on the water surface. A few days later, the navigator suffered another misfortune - the sail burst due to a gust of wind. Bombar replaced it with a new, spare one, but half an hour later another squall tore it off and carried it into the ocean, like a light kite. I had to urgently repair the old one and continue to walk under it for the remaining 60 days.

On principle, Bombar did not take any fishing rods or nets, except for plankton ones, as befits a shipwrecked person. He made a harpoon by tying a knife with a curved tip to the end of an oar. With this harpoon I caught my first fish - a sea bream. And he made the first fishhooks from her bones. Although biologists frightened the doctor before sailing that he would not be able to catch anything far from the coast, it turned out that there were a lot of fish in the open ocean. She was fearless and literally accompanied the boat throughout the voyage. There were especially many flying fish, which at night bumped into the sail and fell into the boat, and every morning Bombar found from five to fifteen pieces. In addition to fish, Bombar also ate plankton, which, according to him, tastes a little like krill paste, but has an unsightly appearance. Occasionally he would catch a bird, which he would also eat raw, throwing away only the skin and fat. During the voyage, the doctor drank sea water for about a week, and the rest of the time, juice squeezed from the fish. Fresh water could be collected in small quantities in the form of condensation on the awning after cool nights. And only in November, after a heavy tropical rain, they managed to immediately collect about 15 liters of fresh water.

From constant exposure to a humid environment, from salt water and unusual food, acne began to appear on Bombar’s body, causing severe pain. The slightest wounds and scratches began to fester and did not heal for a long time. The fingernails had completely grown into the meat, and pustules also formed under them, which the doctor himself opened without anesthesia. To top it off, the skin on my legs began to peel off in shreds, and the nails on four of my fingers fell out. But the blood pressure remained normal all the time. Bombar kept observations of his condition throughout the voyage and wrote them down in a diary. When there was a tropical downpour for several days in a row, and there was water everywhere - above and below, everything in the boat was soaked with it, he wrote down: “The state of mind is cheerful, but due to the constant dampness, physical fatigue appeared.” However, the scorching sun and calmness that set in at the beginning of December were even more painful. It was then that Bombar wrote his will, because he lost confidence that he would reach Earth alive. During the voyage, he lost 25 kilograms, and the level of hemoglobin in his blood dropped to critical. And yet he swam! On December 23, 1952, the Heretic approached the coast of the island of Barbados. He had to spend about three hours to go around the island on the eastern side, where there was strong surf due to the reefs, and land on the calmer western shore.

A crowd of local fishermen and children was waiting for him on the shore, who immediately rushed not only to look at it, but also to take all the things from the boat. Bombard was most afraid that his emergency supply of food, sealed upon departure, would be stolen, which he needed to leave untouched for examination at the first police station. The nearest site, as it turned out, was at least three kilometers away, so Bombar had to find three witnesses who testified to the integrity of the packaging of this supply, and then distribute it to local residents, which they were very happy about. Bombard writes that he was later reproached for not immediately sealing his ship's log and his notes in order to prove their authenticity. Apparently, he says, these people have no idea “how a person feels when he steps ashore after 65 days spent completely alone and almost without movement.”

Thus ended this amazing feat in the name of saving the lives of those who find themselves overboard against their will. Sailing on the Heretic and publication of the book “Overboard of my own free will” were Bombar's finest hour. It was thanks to him that in 1960 the London Maritime Safety Conference decided to equip ships with life rafts. Subsequently, he made more than one voyage for a variety of purposes, studied seasickness and the bactericidal properties of water, and fought pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. But the main result of Bombar’s life (A.B. died on July 19, 2005) remains the ten thousand people who wrote to him: “If it weren’t for your example, we would have died!”

As a practicing doctor in a seaside hospital, Alain Bombar was literally shocked by the fact that tens and even hundreds of thousands of people die at sea every year! And at the same time, a significant part of them died not from drowning, cold or hunger, but from fear, they died only because they believed in the inevitability of their death.

They were killed by despair, lack of will, and seeming aimlessness to fight for their lives and the lives of their comrades in misfortune. “Victims of legendary shipwrecks who died prematurely, I know: it was not the sea that killed you, it was not hunger that killed you, it was not thirst that killed you! Rocking on the waves to the plaintive cries of the seagulls, you died of fear,” Bombar firmly stated, deciding to prove it with his own experience the power of courage and self-confidence.

Every year, up to fifty thousand people die in lifeboats and lifebelts, and 90% of them die in the first three days! It is quite understandable that during shipwrecks, for whatever reason they occur, people get confused and forget that the human body can live without water for ten days, and without food even up to thirty.

As a doctor who knows the reserves of the human body well, Alain Bombard was sure that many people who, for one reason or another, were forced to part with the comfort of the ship and escape on boats, rafts or other available means, died long before their They lost their physical strength: they were killed by despair. And such death overtook not only random people at sea - passengers, but also professional sailors accustomed to the sea. For them this habit was associated with the deck of the ship, reliable, although rocking on the swell. They are used to looking at the sea from the height of the ship's hull. A ship is not just a means of transportation on water, it is also a psychological factor that protects the human psyche from fear of alien elements. On a ship, a person has confidence, the conviction that he is insured against possible accidents, that all these accidents are foreseen by experienced designers and builders of ships, that a sufficient amount of all kinds of food and water is stored in the holds of the ship for the entire period of the voyage and even beyond that... .

It was not without reason that back in the days of the sailing fleet they said that only whalers and fur seal hunters see the real sea, since they attack whales and seals in the open ocean from small whaleboats and sometimes wander for a long time in the fog, carried away from their ship by sudden storm winds . These people rarely died: after all, they were prepared in advance to sail the sea on a boat for some time. They knew about this and were ready to overcome the elements on their fragile and yet reliable whaleboats.

Even if, for one reason or another, they lost a ship in the open ocean, they covered enormous distances and still came to land. True, not always either: if some died, it was only after many days of stubborn struggle, during which they did everything they could, having exhausted the last strength of their body. All these people were mentally prepared for the need to spend some time on the boat. These were the usual conditions of their work.

Wanting to make unprepared people believe in themselves, in the ability to overcome both the forces of the elements and their apparent weakness, Alain Bombard - not a St. John's wort or a sailor, but an ordinary doctor - set off on a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in an ordinary inflatable boat.

He was sure that there was a lot of food in the sea and you just needed to be able to get this food in the form of planktonic animals and plants or fish. He knew that all life-saving equipment on ships - boats, boats, rafts - have a set of fishing lines, sometimes nets, they have certain tools for catching sea life, and finally, they can be made from improvised means. With their help, you can get food, since marine animals contain almost everything that our body needs. Even fresh water.

Best of the day

However, sea water, consumed in small quantities, can help a person save the body from dehydration. Let us remember that the Polynesians, who were sometimes carried far from the land by hurricanes, knew how to fight for their lives and, perhaps most importantly, accustomed their bodies to consuming sea water. Sometimes the Polynesian boats rushed for weeks and months on the stormy ocean, and yet the islanders survived by catching fish, turtles, birds, using the juices of these animals. They did not see anything special in all this, since they were mentally prepared for such troubles. But the same islanders obediently died on the shore with a complete abundance of food when it became known to them that someone had “bewitched” them. They believed in the power of witchcraft and that is why they died. Because of fear!..

To the equipment of his rubber boat, Bombar added only a plankton net and a speargun.

Bombar chose an unusual route for himself - far from the sea routes of merchant ships. True, his "Heretic", as this boat was called, was supposed to sail in a warm zone of the ocean, but this is a deserted zone. To the north and south are the routes of commercial ships.

Previously, in preparation for this trip, he and a friend spent two weeks in the Mediterranean Sea. For fourteen days they made do with what the sea gave them. The first experience of a long journey dependent on the sea was a success. Of course, and it was difficult, very difficult!

However, his comrade, by the way, an experienced sailor, who crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a small yacht all alone, but equipped with everything necessary in abundance, got scared at the last moment and simply disappeared. Two weeks was enough for him to refuse to tempt fate further. He insisted that he believed in Bombard’s idea, but he was frightened by the thought of the upcoming need to again eat raw fish, swallow healing, but so nasty plankton and drink the juice squeezed from the body of the fish, diluting it with sea water. He may have been a brave sailor, but he was not a man of the same mold as Bombard: he did not have Bombard’s sense of purpose.

Bombard prepared for his voyage theoretically and mentally. As a doctor, he knew that water is much more important than food. And he explored dozens of species of fish that he could encounter in the ocean. These studies showed that from 50 to 80% of the weight of fish is water, and that it is fresh, and that the body of marine fish contains significantly less salt than the meat of mammals.

Having carefully checked the amount of different salts dissolved in ocean water, Bombard became convinced that, apart from table salt, every 800 grams of sea water contains approximately the same amount of other salts as a liter of various mineral waters. We drink these waters - often with great benefit. During his journey, Bombar became convinced that it is extremely important to prevent dehydration of the body in the first days, and then reducing the water ration in the future will not be detrimental to the body. Thus, he supported his idea with scientific data.

Bombar had many friends, but there were also skeptics and ill-wishers, and people simply hostile to him. Not everyone understood the humanity of his idea. Newspapers were looking for a sensation, and since there was none, they made it up. The specialists were unanimously indignant: the shipbuilders - that Bombard was going to cross the ocean on a boat that supposedly could not be controlled; sailors - because he is not a sailor, but come on... the doctors were horrified that Bombard was going to live on seafood and drink sea water.

As if challenging all his skeptics, Bombar named his boat "The Heretic"...

By the way, people who are well acquainted with the history of navigation and shipwrecks warmly supported Bombard’s idea. Moreover, they were confident in the success of the experiment.

Alain Bombard sailed across the ocean for sixty-five days. In the very first days, he refuted the assurances of “experts” that there were no fish in the ocean. Many books about the oceans are full of expressions such as “desert ocean”, “water desert”...

Bombar proved that this is far from true! It was just difficult to see life in the ocean from large ships. It's a different matter on a raft or boat! From here you can observe the diverse life of the sea - life, sometimes unfamiliar, incomprehensible, full of surprises. The ocean is often deserted for many weeks of travel, but it is inhabited both night and day by creatures that can be useful or harmful to man. The fauna of the ocean is rich, but we still know little about it.

Alain Bombard proved that a person can do a lot if he really wants to and does not lose willpower. He is able to survive in the most difficult conditions in which he may accidentally find himself. By describing this unprecedented self-experiment in the book “Overboard of His Own Will,” which sold millions of copies, Alain Bombard may have saved tens of thousands of lives of those people who found themselves alone with the hostile elements - and were not afraid.

Alain Bombard
jullzaporo 23.05.2009 12:06:57

I read his book as a child and my admiration for this man still remains. Despite the fact that his arguments were then disputed by the German doctor and yachtsman Hans Lindemann, who claimed that Bombar had or secretly received water and food along the way. Why then did he have to arrive in Barbados, weighing 25 kg (from English data), I don’t understand. This Lindemann is bad.

Faith and positive thinking helped him survive.
nik-rik 03.08.2010 07:54:51

It seems to me that he loved life and nature (in this case the ocean) so much that he was able to feel reciprocity - to be sure that Mother Nature would take care of him along the way.
Faith and positive thinking helped him survive.

In 1953, a French doctor Alain Bombard published his book " Overboard at will» which has become a huge contribution to science rescue at sea. (Download the book) It tells the story of the author's unprecedented voyage across the Atlantic Ocean alone in a rubber boat.

But this journey is not just an adventure or a reason to become famous for the author. The reason for it was Bombard’s desire to test and prove the possibility of survival and rescue at sea of ​​people who were shipwrecked and left on life-saving craft without water and food.

Rescue at sea. The background to the idea.

In 1951, a young doctor from Boulogne, Alain Bombard, takes part in the rescue of the crew of a fishing trawler that was wrecked near the port of Boulogne, located in northern France on the English Channel. The trawler's crew was all killed. Bombar was struck by the fact that all the dead managed to put on life jackets. However, this did not save them. And he wondered - what causes the death of people in shipwrecks?

Bombard began studying the history of shipwrecks and the problems of survival of shipwrecked people.

At the same time, he was literally shocked that, for some unknown reason, the search for shipwrecked people on the high seas lasted only ten days, after which it stopped. Although there were known facts about the survival of people on watercraft for fifty or more days. These people were abandoned to their fate and doomed to a painful death.

In addition, he came to the conclusion that, often, the cause of death of shipwrecked people was not hunger or thirst. People died long before they exhausted the physiological capabilities of their body. In some cases, they had supplies of water and food on board the life-saving craft. It was not hunger and thirst that killed them, but fear and despair. And Bombar set out to return hope of salvation to the hearts of these unfortunates.

Is it possible to drink sea water?

The author of the book faced the need to resolve once and for all the question of is it possible to drink sea water. After all, he was going to investigate a case where shipwrecked people on life-saving craft had neither water nor food.

It was believed, and not without reason, that one should not drink sea water. Due to its saturation with salts, an excess of them occurs in the body, which can cause death from nephritis. But on the other hand, if you don’t drink for about ten days, the body becomes dehydrated and irreversible pathological changes occur in it. Is it possible to drink sea water at least for a short time after a shipwreck to prevent dehydration until rescue or drinking water is obtained?

Having studied the composition of sea water, Bombar came to the conclusion that daily consumption of 800-900 grams of sea water will provide the daily intake of table salt. But this can be done for no more than 5 days, since at the same time a significant amount of other salts contained in sea water enters the body.

The author of the book came to this conclusion based on his own experience. Shortly before this, he, together with a friend, had to drift for two days in an uncontrollable rubber boat in the English Channel due to a breakdown of the outboard motor. There was no water in the boat. At the same time, Comrade Bombara did not drink any water, and the author himself drank sea water during these two days. After they were rescued by the fishermen, the comrade quenched his thirst for a long time, and Bombar, after drinking some water, suddenly realized that he was not thirsty.

Preparing for swimming.

In mid-October 1951, Alain Bombre travels to Monaco, where he studies the bibliography of the issue at the Oceanographic Museum. In the literature, he finds confirmation that shipwrecked people can survive without food supplies, but having the opportunity to obtain sea products.

In addition to the conditions for rescuing shipwrecked people at sea, he studied types of fish and their structure, methods of fishing, plankton, favorable winds and currents.

The conditions were as follows. The required period for autonomous navigation is from one to three months. The winds and currents should be favorable and would carry the boat to the shore. During the voyage it is advisable not to meet any ships.

Of the possible options, the paths of Columbus's two voyages seemed to be the best. First, Canary Islands-Cape Verde Islands-Antilles. And second, the Canary Islands-Cape Verde Islands-South America. Bombar chose the first option.

At the chosen latitude, the North Equatorial Current goes in the direction of the Antilles, and the Northeast Trade Wind blows in the same direction. The Sargasso Sea, destructive for navigation, remains to the north, and the equally destructive zone of storms passes to the south, closer to the equator.

While studying fish, Bombard wondered whether it was possible to get water from fish. After all, fish consists of 50-80% liquid, and it contains less salts than in the bodies of terrestrial animals. He managed to extract the liquid from the fish using a vegetable press. To obtain the daily norm of liquid, about three kilograms of fish were required.

Fish meat satisfies the human body's need for protein and the basic composition of vitamins. But vitamin C is found in plant foods, that is, in, for which it is necessary to catch

On May 15, 1952, Alain Bombard enters into an agreement to publish a book about the trip and reimburse expenses for the expedition. And on May 17, a rubber boat for sailing was purchased in Paris. It was 4.65 m long, 1.9 m wide, and was equipped with a mast and a sail with an area of ​​3 sq.m. and two additional rudders.

It became clear that the three of us would be cramped in the boat. It was decided to sail together. The team consisted of the author of the book and the Englishman Jack Palmer, a yachtsman who knew navigation.

The boat was named "Heretic" with a hint of the claims of some skeptics about the heretical ideas of Bombard.

There were some oddities too. After press reports about the upcoming voyage, Bombard began receiving letters offering his candidacies for the team. Someone offered to take his mother-in-law into the team, someone offered their services as a cook and, in difficult times, offered to eat him. The author of the most extravagant letter reported that he had already unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide three times and if he was accepted into the team, then, finally, luck would help him.

Near the coast.

First it was necessary to check the boat, the correctness of some conclusions and assumptions. To do this, it was decided to make a test voyage in the Mediterranean Sea, from Monaco along the coast in a westerly direction.

On May 25, the onboard emergency supply of food and water was sealed and the boat and crew were towed to sea.

The autonomous sailing period from Monaco to Mallorca was 14 days. For the first three days they drank sea water. At the same time, they did not feel thirsty, which made it possible to conclude that it is possible to drink sea water to prevent dehydration. For the next two days, the liquid was given by caught sea bass, and for the next 6 days they drank sea water and 2 days liquid from fish.

Thus, the question of whether it is possible to drink sea water could be answered positively. But this can be done for no more than 5 days.

Food was more difficult. Fishing was poor and the crew of the Heretic, after 14 days of sailing, asked the captain of a passing ship for food and water. This greatly damaged the prestige of the experiment, as the press declared it a failure.

It was also found that the transition from fasting to normal nutrition must be done gradually and that the constant shine of the sea surface can cause conjunctivitis.

After the end of the voyage, the expedition arrives by steamship in Tangier, located on the African coast of the Strait of Gibraltar.