Living off the land on Flat Holm for a week
Nick Gough, aged 48, from Clevedon, is leaving all his home comforts behind and heading off to the island with just the clothes he stands up in and a knife.
Nick, a father of three, has spent the last year training to become a bushcraft specialist, learning how to light fires using sticks and flint and survive on what he can catch and cook in the countryside.
And he will be putting all his new found skills to the test when he sails out from Penarth in South Wales for a week-long stay on the island this month.
He will have to hunt and catch his dinner and will rely on his skills in friction fire lighting to make a fire.
He is planning to find a natural water supply on the island and is also planning to capture and then purify rainwater to drink.
His home for the week will be a shelter that he plans to make out of driftwood and he will be snacking on crabs, limpets, seaweed and insects as well as plants.
This is the first time that Nick, a retained firefighter, has spent seven days living like a castaway.
Nick said: "I am a bit anxious about the trip but am eating lots of pies to ensure I put some weight on before I go. It will be a real personal test of all the skills I have learnt.
"By the end of it I may be a bit unshaven, skinny and smelly, but it will be worth it."
Nick set up his own business, called Woodlanders, earlier this year and trains others to live off the land and survive in the wilderness.
He trained with the Woodcraft School, based in East Sussex, and his main instructor was John Rider who worked as a chief instructor with survival specialist Ray Mears.
Over the past year, Nick has learned such skills as friction fire lighting, water sourcing and purifying, and shelter building.
He has also trained in remote first aid and map reading as well as game preparation to teach him how to capture wildlife, prepare it and cook it.
The course also included teaching students about plant identification so they know what plants and fungi are safe to eat while out in the wilderness.
Nick will be making a day trip to Flat Holm to assess the island before he returns for his seven day stay.
Nick said: "Obviously I will be taking some emergency safety gear with me, such as water and some high energy foods and a radio, just incase I run into trouble.
"It may be, like Tom Hanks in the film Castaway, that I find a ball and start talking to it, but who knows?
"I hope that by doing a week-long survival trip to the island it will encourage others to become interested in learning bushcraft skills."
Nick's love of being outdoors stemmed from his childhood in Dundry and spent much of his time roaming the countryside.
He joined the army and his love of the great outdoors continued when he served in the Mojave Desert in the Eighties and was also trained in arctic and jungle survival techniques, spending time in Borneo and Belieze.
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