Well fella's... I'll step away from reality for a few and take a swig of whatever it is you guy's are drinkin'. I will concede that maybe they found some still potable water after what? 8 years? Now granted, I don't have a Phd in nuclear engineering, Biometrics, or anything as lofty as you kind gentlemen but I do have some hands on experience in the water field.... in fact some 20 years worth. Do we know how the emergency water was treated back in the 20's? when the treating of water was in it's infancy? I submit, (with no documentation) that the water, if it was still there at all would not be fit to drink. I'd be willing to bet a Coke that if you sealed a glass of water right out of your tap at home, it would be unfit to drink within a week. The fresh water was supposed to be stored in wooden casks was it not? For those who have been to Niku, how long does wood survive unattended and unmaintained in that environment? I would hazzard a guess and say that the casks may very well have deteriorated to the point where they couldnt use them. They may have held some water, but not what we might think. As for using the plane to pull a lifeboat, we are talking about the Electra right? So we figured that there was a smaller boat missing, How small? and if I had gas enough in the plane to taxi around the island like a taxi, why not take it off and fly it to Never-Never land, the whole idea is ridiculous. On average it takes about 3 times the weight to pull something free thats resting on the ground. In other words, If I had a something that weighs 10 pounds in a static condition, it takes something like 30 pounds of pull to get it to move on wet sand. Use the airplane? I doubt that very seriously. As stated before, I think they may have tried to tie off on something in hopes of saving the plane, they salvaged what the could before the plane submerged and then took up residence on the island. I think the reason we haven't heard of anything Fred is because he just hasn't been found yet, Or he got mixed up with the bones of the Norwich City victims. COULD he have left Amelia and sailed off alone? Of course he could have, I just don't believe they did. I believe that they landed hard, they both were injured in the landing, they did what they could to bring help to themselves and failed. I believe the plane was damaged enough that it took them some time to recover enough to figure out that they could run the engine enough to cry for help. As for why the sextant wasn't found by a european, it may have been found by an islander, it may still be in the plane, along with a dry place for his charts, and maybe went with the plane. I don't know. And by the way, I really don't mean to sound like a smart alec, So I'll beg your pardon and leave it at that.
Brad