Any smoker who has tried to quit will tell you that it can be a long, difficult and unpleasant process. Often they will say that being in familiar situations when they would normally light up – at the pub, after a meal – can be the worst temptation. Most will get some extra help through fairly standard routes – patches, gums, even the medication Champix that helps cut down cravings.
Not Geoff Spice, who so determined to give up that he has taken the rather extreme step of marooning himself on the tiny island of Sgarabhaigh, in the Outer Hebrides. Mr. Spice, a former merchant banker with NM Rothschild and Sons, will spend 4 weeks entirely alone with only some sheep and 120 books and an IPod to distract him from his cravings.
The owner of the island, Dave Hill, has wished him good luck and asked that people passing by the island give him a wave and sound their boat horns. He has also said that well-wishers wanting to give Geoff an extra push can get any single malt whisky of their choice delivered to The Cove, Sgarabhaigh, The Sound of Harris, The Western Isles (though I am not convinced that would be helpful – whisky always makes me feel like a degenerate poet, leading me to smoke 20 cigs in one sitting to “unlock my creativity”).
Mr Spice has said that he will have one last cigarette and then give the rest to his wife as they travel to the island by boat. Once there, he will have to cope with no electricity or water supply by lighting fires from driftwood, cooking on a camp stove and drinking bottled water.
He said the island marooning is his “last chance” to ensure “many years of extra life” to spend with his family.