Escape The Island

The group sat down with the bottles of beer, one each to devise a plan to get back to main land. They laid the two palm trees side by side with enough of a gap at the front to insert the Star wars beach ball. Using half of the duct to wrap the ball securely between the two palm tree trunks. Repeating the process using the inflatable swimming toy at the back.

In the middle of the newly built structure they used the two croquet sticks equally spaced apart, using the string to secure to each trunk, then winding the string along the length between each stick so that the beach towel can lay on top, thus producing a make shift table. All of the food, bananas, coconuts and water can then sit on this table.

The group then push the trunks with the flotation aids front and back into the water, all 4 is then equally spaced along the trunks taking it in turns to paddle to the shore.

Job done, they hit a bar to celebrate.

Kori Bustard, COM5 - Cylinder Express

Rocky Mountains.

Tools to use:-

Lighter
Palm Tree with Coconuts
Palm Tree with Bananas
One Wooden Paddle
A Ball Of Sturdy String
A Flask With Strong Alcohol
Big Bucket Of Water

The Plan:

Use some of the Alcohol and pour it on the leaves and branches of the two palm trees, use the lighter to burn away the branches and leaves and then use the bucket of water to put out the fire, then using what is left of the palm trees and the sturdy string make a raft, then using the wooden paddle use the raft to paddle back to the main land using the bananas and coconuts as food and drink on the journey.

Drop the coconuts from the palm tree and empty the milk in to the plastic cups.
Duct tape the coconuts together to make a floating disk.
Professor and Mechanic hold on to edges of plastic disk.
Inflate beach ball for Lucy to hold on to.
William puts on inflatable flamingo toy.
Tie every one together with string.
Drink coconut milk for energy and courage.
William takes paddle and starts paddling in direction on mainland.
Paddle can be passed around so each can take a break as needed.
Everyone is tied together, so nobody gets left behind.
Everyone is floating, so nobody actually needs to swim.
Everyone will arrive at mainland, together and safe, so no one needs to call for help.

Cylinder Head (Express)

Take the Flamingo Swim Toy and, using the duct tape, tape the flask of strong alcohol (top pointing rearwards) to the back of the toy. Wrap the railway themed towel over the Flamingo (ensuring it cannot slip off) and, using the string, make four 'grab handles' (one at each corner). Take the lighter and move everyone (including the Flamingo) into the water. With everyone holding onto the grab handles, undo the top of the flask and light the alcohol - This will propel the Flamingo (and those attached) through the water like a rocket, taking them to safety!

Either that or just set fire to everything to produce a smoke signal while you drink the beer awaiting rescue!

PythonSteel

Samisu wrote:

A ball of sturdy string

Samisu wrote:

one wooden paddle

Samisu wrote:

one wooden paddle

children's inflatable flamingo swimming toy

duct tape

Samisu wrote:

cool and huge railway themed towel

empty Star Wars themed beach ball

1 palm tree with coconuts and 1 palm tree with bananas

big bucket of water

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Samisu wrote:

bag of potato chips

bath duck

Given that Professor and Mr. Mechanic never learned to swim, but it doesn’t say that they can’t swim, just implies that they simply were never taught to swim, and that alcohol makes you feel like you can take on the world. I would get Professor to drink 2 bottles of beer, and I would get Mr. Mechanic to drink two bottles of water, so that if they end up in the water then they have the confidence to swim! I would use some of the ball of sturdy string to tie the big water bucket to the inflatable flamingo swimming toy but I would also then wrap duct tape around the string to attempt to make it stronger. I would get Lucy to originally be inside the Flamingo, and eat a banana for energy. Then inside the water bucket would be Mr. Mechanic, Professor, and William. I would allow Lucy to swim a quarter of the way – using the Flamingo as a float, whilst Mr Mechanic uses the oar to paddle the bucket along. When they reach one quarter of the way, I would get Lucy to get in the bucket whilst William gets in the flamingo and eats a banana for a boost in energy and allow Lucy to rest, while Professor uses the oar to paddle the bucket and William swims in the Flamingo. When they have reached half way, I would get Mechanic to drink a small amount from the flask for dutch courage, eat a banana for energy, and ask that he switches place with William. I would then get Lucy to paddle with the oar as we don’t want the professor to get too tired! Mechanic can tread water if he is unable to swim, whilst Lucy paddles the boat along. And then when they finally reach 3/4’s of the way I would get Mechanic to swap with Professor, and let William Paddle and Professor can tread water after he has eaten a banana for energy until they have arrived on mainland. When each person gets into the bucket out of the Flamingo I would make sure they dry off with the Railway Themed towel so they don’t get too cold!

TheWoozle, us101

Immediately, William will delegate the efforts to escape the tropical paradise.

He will have Mr. Mechanic inflate the beach ball and flamingo, and have the Professor figure out the best way to
use the metal loops from the croquet set to climb the bandanna tree to harvest some ripe, delicious fruit.

William will also set Lucy to creating a log of their experience with the camera and notebook, for eventual movie rights.

After inflating the inflatables, since Mr. Professor still isn't back with the bananas, the crew will create a small fire
with the lighter, paddle, remains of the croquet set, and enjoy a sparse dinner of chips.

Finally, when Mr. Professor returns with some bananas, he gets the last beer and they plan on the best way to create banana daiquiris
with the strong alcohol but no ice and settle for a kind of strong pudding.

Having spent a snug night on the sand, they rise early in the morning and prepare to set off to the mainland. Unfortunately, Mr. Professor
has a horrid hangover and can't bear Lucy's constant chattering about the book she's going to write about all this.

Lucy politely asks Mr. Mechanic to stop calling her 'Gilligan'

Thirsty, Mr. Professor stalks off to the coconut tree to look for something to throw at Mr. Mechanic, who used their water to soak his socks in.

William, ever the pillar of inspiration, uses the string to tie the floaties together into a collective flotation device (you know, in case of a water landing).
He also ties the pointer stick to the flamingo's neck and uses it as a flag pole for the towel, as their flag.

While Mr. Professor is gone, Lucy gives Mr. Mechanic basic swimming lessons, firmly encouraging him to leave his wrench on the beach.

Sighing with resignation, William UNTIES the floaties, since somebody isn't in a sharing mood and this is why we can't have nice things.

collecting the group back at the beach and leads them into the water, giving a floaty each, to Mr. Professor and Mr. Mechanic. As they wade out into the water, William instructs
Gilligan... I mean Lucy, to aid Mr. Mechanic in kicking towards the mainland.

Always careful of his passengers, William ensures that Mr.Professor and Mr. Mechanic are out of arm's reach of eachother.
William and Mr. Professor gamely kick together, using their beach ball floaty, trying to out-pace Lucy and Mr. Mechanic, but due to Mr. Professor's hangover,
they lose to the more energetic team and in the evening, it's Lucy and Mr. Mechanic that reach the mainland first.

William, after assuring that his crew all make it safely out of the water, blows on his whistle as loud and as long as he can. to call for an uber to their hotel.
Not having any money on him and being an expert at taking fares, William smartly trades his collectible engine-themed pendant and uber-strong chain to the driver for their fare.

Ever unflappable, William takes them out to dinner to celebrate their adventure, calmly dealing with the maitre-de over their lack of proper attire.

Hearing their story, the maitr-de laughs. Lucy laughs, Mr. Mechanic laughs. Mr. Professor nurses a martini while rolling a coconut around on the bar.

drink the beer

Well... they will build a raft!
Theywill tie 2 coconut palms and banana with the sturdystring
Onthe raft will go up Professon and Mr. Mechanic who do not know how toswim and paddles will use the badminton'srackets after wrapping them with ducttape and thesticks of croquetset!
Withthe coconutς and sturdystring they will make a belt thatWilliam will wear and he also willhold the volley ball andwill be belted with the towel with the craft!
Luckywill sit comfortably on the flamingo that will be chainedin the raft with the chain from the pendant.

Thatwas so !!
Soon,very soon all four will be in mainland!

FrogTheRailWoman GR01

Trebbie (COM1 Steam Boiler) if I am lucky enough to win! Many thanks.

So let's try to find a use for most of the stuff here...

Anything buoyant should be used to create a kind of raft. So that includes:

• empty Star Wars themed beach ball
• children's inflatable flamingo swimming toy
• 1 palm tree with coconuts (just the coconuts obviously)
• bath duck

All of these should be held together with the

• ball of sturdy string

And if they are subject to puncture (the inflatables) they should be wrapped in the

• duct tape

The coconuts can be held together with the

• cool and huge railway themed towel

They propel themselves through the water with these (spares included, just in case)

• wooden paddle
• mallets of the croquet set (which depending on the type of wood may provide extra buoyancy)
• 2 badminton rackets with the heads covered in duct tape
• picnic set for 4 people with plates

Take with them the following in order to attract attention when they see anyone

• a flask with strong alcohol
• and 1 palm tree with bananas (palm leaves)
• one notebook
• lighter
• a whistle

They would soak the flammables in the alcohol and light them with the lighter and wave it in the air from their raft. Use the whistle as well in case they aren't noticed through sight. If possible before they leave they should set the trees alight as people on the mainland would potentially come and investigate (drawing them towards the travelling foursome). This can be used as a small amount of kindling with some of the palm leaves:

• a pointer stick

Unfortunately the contents of the bottles would have to be emptied as alcohol is dehydrating.

• four bottles of beer
• big bucket of water
• plastic cups

Then fill them and the cups with the water (which I presume to be pure) and top them off with duct tape to keep the water in. Drink these rations on the way over to the mainland to reduce dehydration. Take food with them as well to keep their energy levels up:

• bananas

The following should be left behind as they would be a liability on the trip over

• wrench (too heavy)
• engine themed neck pendant with super strong chain (too heavy)
• forks (puncture risk)

A mini celebration can be held once they reach the mainland with the

• bag of potato chips (which will produce a little extra buoyancy on the way)

Big smiles all round to record their achievement

• camera

Smiling ear-to-ear while they watch the

• birdie!

Step one: Gather resources and take stock. Assign one person to measure high tide. Divide all of the items on the list into the following categories; food, combustibles, floatables, cord, working tools and other. Strip the two trees of bananas, coconuts, leaves, bark, sticks and twigs. Well, at least get as much of it as they can. Scour the island for sticks, twigs, drift wood, rocks, and even leaves and blades of grass. Plan A assumes the island is at least the size of a sports field, and has some of the things I just sent people to look for. (Anything involving such materials will be in parenthasis, and considered helpful to my plan, but not vital.) Plan B assumes the island is maybe ten feet across, and has only the two trees mentioned and a whole lot of sand. The person measuring high tide will also be double checking to make sure everything designated floatable will, in fact, float. Note, some types of hardwood do not float.

Plan A. At high tide, they dig three trenches in the sand, from high tide up to the vegetation or edge of the beach. These trenches form three giant letters as big as they can get them, spelling "SOS". These letters are placed facing civilization. As dusk approaches, they fill the trenches with combustibles, including banana peels, unripe bananas, bark, chips (save the bag), clothing scraps that anyone is willing to give up (especially if the mechanics clothes are heavily stained with grease) and any wood from the list of floatables that will not float. (This would also include the leaves, grass, and twigs, if they found any. Also, if they start with a weekend of food, they could use packaging from the food and even a little of the food.) As night falls, the four people take turns staying awake, watching for planes, boats and ships. If the camera has a zoom in lense, it can function is a crude telescope. At the right moment, someone will set fire to all three trench letters, using the strong alcohol from the flask and the lighter. Note; the alcohol from the beer is too diluted to burn, and will hinder the fire starting process. Beer does have enough alcohol to increase thirst, so it is dumped out. Save the bottles and caps. If need be, I'll promise to buy each of them a beer when they get home.

Plan B. This is a dangerous one, so I would only do this if I knew I could keep everyone safely away from the fire. If there was enough room on the island, but not enough room for the SOS idea from plan A, then I would have them set fire to the trees to act as a flare.

Plan A or B, part two. In a survival situation, you are supposed to stay with the crashed vehicle, or where rescuers can find you. But, this is a contest to get off the island. So, here is the next part of the plan. Gather up the floatables. These include the inflatable flamingo, beach ball, the empty flask and bottles (sealed tightly), bath duck, pointer stick, croquet set, wooden paddle, empty bucket sealed with duct tape, the empty bag from the chips after it has been inflated and sealed with duct tape, rackets and birdie, picnic set, and all of the coconuts. Yes, coconuts float, and without something like an axe, you will not be openning them and eating them, anyway. Remember, we tested everything to see if it would float. (This plan also includes any sticks and drift wood they found, if there was any. They could even use any packaging from the weekend of food, again, if there was any.) Using the "cord", that is, the ball of string, remaining duct tape and even the chain from the pendant, all the floatables are tied and taped together to make a floatation device. Use all of the tape. If a person can't swim, they can with a floatation device. If a person can swim almost half way, they can go the whole distance with a floatation device. (Then again, maybe we found enough wood to make a raft?) Early on the last day, leave everything behind, wearing minimal clothing, everyone grabs the floaty (or some/all get in it) and swim back to civilization.

Other notes. Having tested everything before building the floatation device or even the signal fire, they know right away what floats and what does not. If the rackets are metal and not wood, then they will be used as working tools and not built into the floaty. The wrench is obviously used as a working tool. It would be crude, but one could use it and the rackets to dig the trench letters and knock coconuts and bananas out of the trees. If the pendant is shiny, it could be used to signal SOS during the day by reflecting sunlight. The whistle will probably only help as a signal if rescuers are in range to hear it. Team members shouldn't split up, if the island is big, but if a group of two got into trouble, they could use it to signal the other two. If it gets cold at night, the towel could be used as a blanket. The blanket and paper could be used as combustibles, or as filling for a duct tape pillow, in turn used as part of the floaty. Again, test it before building it into the floaty. The wrench (and any rocks) could be put near the fire, and removed when heated. The idea is to keep the hot wrench (and/or rocks) next to you when you sleep to keep you warm at night. This should only be done of the island gets as cold as it does in the desert at night. The chips will only make people thirsty, so they will be burned and not eaten. The water from the bucket will only be used for drinking if we know it's safe to do so. It could also be used to keep a fire from getting out of hand. Either way, the remaining water will be dumped out when it is time to make the floaty.

Hopefully, my ideas will save these people, and not get anyone killed. It would mean a lot to me to know if I have truly helped desperate people in need. Of course, it never hurts to get goodies for a game, either.
Clyde_Milano
US01 Crankshaft

The Escape Artists
(by an unknown crazy author, who does not want a prize, so he forgot his game world)

"Why don't we just take the next train back home?" Professor Brian asked. "I never travel by anything but a train, remember, I get free tickets. There must be a station here, even if this looks like an island."

"Professor!" Lucy sighed. "This is REAL life! That railroad stuff is a game, if's fantasy! We now are in REAL life, stranded on a REAL island, and we have to get away from here ... over there, to the mainland." Lucy looked over the sea, where the mainland was covered in mist, but still visible ... too far to swim, even for her, who had taken a special training week together with William about how to rescue passengers when a bridge broke and the train landed in the water. So ... the two could swim, quite good even, but not that long distance.

"I can't sim." Hugo, the mechanic instantly shouted, full of fear.

"Neither can I" Brian said. "And I am thirsty, so let's all have a beer and see, what we can do."

Before the others could react, Brian hat fetched the wrench, opened all four bottles and passed three of them to the others. What could they do? You cannot wait long, beer will go stale soon, so they all drunk their share.

"Maybe a little alcohol will help to think about a plan." William said. "Professor, we need to build a raft. It's your part to tell us the construction plan."

Well, Brian (the Professor, maybe you want to read his name like brain) was not very experienced in drinking beer. Honestly, this was his first one. However, the weather was very hot, so his bottle was empty already ... he smiled happily, when he tried to tell: "Maybe ... maybe I better take a nap in the sh.. sh... shadow ... "

"Brian!" William shouted. "Professor! We have to get away from here, NOW! Start thinking about a raft!"

After his beer, the professor was not very good at making plans, but somehow he managed to give some hints now and then, while the other three did all the work.

First, the two palms would make the base of the raft, two strong trunks that would carry all of them. But they soon realized, they had to build the raft in the water, Hugo and William together were just able to drag one palm into the water, but not both, when they were connected..

"We will put the bananas and coconuts into the bucket." Lucy decided, and all the other food too, like those potato chips.

"But the bucket is full of water! And we will need water, we got nothing else to drink!" Hugo said.

"We got 4 empty bottles." William suggested.

OK, they talked a lot, it took hours and hours. Let me shorten it up and tell what they did:

The sturdy string connected the two palm tree trunks several times..
That construction soon drifted away, so the wrench was used as an anchor and the super strong chain of the neck pendant made the anchor chain.
With the criquet and badmington rackets and the duct tape they made a frame above the two trunks to sit more comfortably on them.

At this point, Brian had noticed the flask with alcohol. After his first beer in his life, he wanted more ... so William had to run to catch that flask, however Brian had gulped down half of the alcohol ... and almost instantly became funnier, and not really able to help the others any more.

OK, there was a paddle, ready to be used for steering the raft. The pointing stick made a mast ("Not my stick, not my stick!" Brian shouted, but was ignored) and the big towel made the main sail.
The bucket full of bananas, coconuts and potato chips was put on the raft, the picnic set too, and all the other stuff they still had.

Now ... at the end, the raft swam in the water, Lucy and William, the swimmers, had put everything on it, it was time to leave the island.

The beach ball and the inflatable swimming toy were meant to help Brian and Hugo to the raft. Brian blew up the ball, Hugo blew up the toy ... then Hugo was brave enough to ... well let's say "swim" to the raft. Brian hesitated. All the alcohol had not taken his fear of swimming, even that very few meters. And in his drunken mind he played with the lighter ... near the ball, he had just blown up with his alcoholic breath!

William did the jump of his life, to catch the lighter. No explosion happened (sorry guys), and Lucy waved from the raft, showing that flask with still some alcohol in it. This is, how Lucy helped Brian to the raft ... and made him howl, when she threw the flask into the sea.

William blew the whistle. "Hoist the anchor!" he commanded and Hugo immediately obeyed, to get back his so much loved big wrench.

The wind blew them towards the mainland. However, the sturdy string was strong ... but during journey it weakened. Some of the slinngs and knots broke.

"We need to lose some of the load!"

The picnic set went over board, followed by the camera and even the bath duck had to take a bath .... then ...

"Not the notebook! Not the notebook! We cannot play RN without it! Not the notebook!"

What do you think?
Did they sacrifice the notebook (and RN) to save their lives?

Lori Keet
COM-203 Tower Bridge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mr. Mechanic uses the pendant's chain to cut down both palm trees and lay them on the ground, leaving about 4 feet between them, then works to make them about the same length. Professor and Lucy collect all of the coconuts and bananas, setting them aside with their supplies. William collects all of the palm fronds and puts them in a pile near the supplies.

Lucy strips the palm fronds and weaves the strands into braided ropes. She removes the heads from the croquet mallets, then weaves the ropes together to create a flexible mat that uses two of the shafts to give structure at the edges. This mat is about 4 feet square (the shafts are about 3 feet long, and 6 inches is left on either side of that support) and has frond ropes coming off each corner where she's left them longer than the mat.

Mr. Mechanic breaks the pointer stick and uses the pieces as nails to attach the frond mat to the coconut logs (he "hammers" them in with the end of his wrench). He covers these "nails" with duct tape to help prevent them from coming loose. He also wraps duct tape around the corners of the frond mat, to help keep the weave together there.

William wraps duct tape around the badminton rackets to create make-shift paddles, in case they are needed for extra paddle power or to help steer. Then, he connects the towel to the other two shafts (croquet mallets) using duct tape.

Professor blows up the beach ball and makes sure there's plenty of air in the flamingo. These are placed between the sides of the frond mat and the coconut logs, then connected to each using the string. These can be used later for additional floatation or in case Professor or Mr. Mechanic have need of them (since they cannot swim if they fall off the mat).

When ready to leave, they push the raft into the shallows, where William and Professor hold it steady while the others make final preparations. Lucy puts the bananas in the middle of the frond mat, and Mr. Mechanic ties yellow coconuts to the logs using string (then makes sure he's got his wrench so the coconuts can be cracked later!). Lucy brings the towel contraption that William made, and Mr. Mechanic grabs the paddle and the taped-over rackets.

Just before pushing the raft out toward deeper water, they take a group selfie on the camera.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How they don't die of starvation, dehydration, or sun exposure:
Two people hold the mallet shafts to stretch the towel across as a sun-shade (being careful to not catch the wind else one or more of them might go overboard). The coconuts are a source of water (which happens to be very rich in electrolytes) and food, and they also have bananas. They've also avoided the beer, alcohol, and potato chips because all of those lead to faster dehydration. They may be hungry by the end, but they should survive.

True, Samisu, some real great stories and a lot of fun.

So many nice ideas and reading them ... wow, a flamingo rocket, parties at the end, and so much creativity on both, items and persons.

And I see ... I need to learn about correct use of past tense ... or present perfect when trying to tell a story in English.
I will not edit any more, hopefully some creative people will understand ...

HOWEVER .... This is another amazing idea for a challenge, Samisu.
Thank you so much for your ideas to challenge the brians ... no the brains of the forum users.
This enables the forum to be fun, active, living.
You do a great job. Thank you so much.

Woohoo!