History of Bouvet Island, a Lecture, The Secret of Bouvet Island. A History Deep beneath the South Atlantic, the Bouvet Island is described as one of the most isolated locations on the Earth and the nearest land mass is Antarctica. It is over 1,700 km further down south and no one has inhabited the island and as plant life does not seem to be sustainable there, it is unlikely of anyone ever going there. But a British expedition which arrived from South Africa in 1964 discovered an abandoned lifeboat in a lagoon on the island and not far from the boat were oars, wood, a drum and a copper tank. The boat did not seem to have any identification marks on it and so could not be traced to any nation or shipping company