Wayne Adams and Catherine King aren’t of this world.
That’s because they live in a world of their own creation.
Adams and King are from Freedom Cove, a 12-platform, handmade, off-grid floating home in Cypress Bay northeast of Tofino, B.C.
“One winter, a storm blew a whole bunch of trees down,” Adams told HuffPost. “We gathered all the wood up, took it to the fellow who owned it, but he said keep it. So we thought, time to start on the home.”
The couple decided to go off-grid after seeking a simpler life and built their home from salvaged materials they collected over the years.
“We have both done so many things in our lives and we’ve had hard times, so we were well prepared for how different the lifestyle would be out here,” Adams said. “It fits us.”
Their kingdom boasts five greenhouses, a dance floor, art gallery, a lighthouse tower guest house, a generator shed, and the main studio where King and Adams live.
The couple built their green and magenta floating compound in 1992.
The home was originally powered by 14 solar panels but now uses a small gas-powered Honda generator after the panels broke down. The 3,000-watt generator allows them to keep the lights on for 12 hours.
They don’t own a refrigerator and eat food from their half-acre garden and what they catch from the ocean.
They spend their days beachcombing, gardening, chopping wood, gathering seaweed for compost, and planting vegetables and herbs.
“It became apparent the first year of growing plants on the water that to give them a good start, they need to have the warmth and protection of a greenhouse. I tried to begin them all outside initially but the wind and dampness worked against them,” King explained
King, a trained dancer and energy healer, starts her mornings with yoga and dancing. Adams, a professional artist and sculptor, will start by checking up on the property to see if anything needs fixing or changing.
Construction on their home began in 1991 when used old fish-farm technology to float the million-pound structure, which is tied to shore with ropes that allow the home to move as one unit during stormy weather. It’s actually built to withstand hurricane-force winds.
“Our entire floating island is an installation art piece that transforms in some way every year – often inspired by winter storm damage,” Adams told National Geographic.
Adams and King, who have two children, live at Freedom Cove year-round ever since.
“Living in the wilderness is constant inspiration,” King said. “It’s so incredible to wake up every morning and see all of this.”
The couple also gives a tour of their floating home.
“This whole home is for the kids in our family to come and see what you can’t learn in school anymore,” Adams explains. “When I was young, this is what you learned in school: skills. To share this with the community and young minds, that is the teaching here on the west coast.”
Adams and King say they don’t plan on returning to life back on the grid any time soon.
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