Freedom Cove is an artificial island built by two artists, Catherine King and Wayne Adams, off the coast of Tofino, British Columbia. The construction of the island began in 1992, and the two artists did most of the work by collecting salvaged materials over the years. They built four greenhouses, an art gallery, a dance floor, and a lighthouse. Additionally, the Canadian couple maintains a highly self-sustaining life. They meet their food and water needs from the river and the waterfall nearby and use solar power for energy.
The construction process of Freedom Cove started when King and Adams gathered a pile of wood blown by a storm.
The story of building a self-sufficient island actually started in 1991. The couple was staying in one of their friend’s cabin in Tofino when a storm blew piles of wood. King and Adams knew the pile must have belonged to a man living six miles away. So, they gathered the woods and took them to their owner. Nevertheless, the man did not accept the woods as the couple gathered and thus deserved them. King and Adams already had dreams of living in the wild one day. So, they set to work and built a house near their friend’s cabin. In 28 years, they kept collecting recycled materials and built themselves an island.
Catherine King is a dancer, painter, wood carver, and writer while Wayne is a sculptor working with wood, ivory, and mammoth tusks. They earn money by selling their artworks and greenhouse harvests. Although they live an off-grid life 45 minutes of boat ride from the nearest town, they can still interact with people through the internet since 2013, and by writing letters before that. There are also people from all around the world visiting them.
The variety of fauna in the region also makes life rather enjoyable and interesting for these artists. They often come across animals like bears, otters, mink, martins, seals, and several waterbird species. Moreover, otters and seals even stick their heads up in the plexiglass square on the floor of the couple’s living room.
