ABANDONED. University students plane crash by an island and progressively build almost modern technology before building an iron boat and attempting to sail back to civilization

[Andrew]

Looking for a book I read in the early 1990s, I think, about three university students that had a plane crash (or shipwreck? I am pretty certain it was a plane crash) and ended up marooned on an island. I know that there was a journalist major (who kept their journal I think) and a physics major. Character names - Peter (the journalist major, I think) and Susan (Peter's sister, I think, she was definitely the sister of one of the males).

In the book they land on the island, can't find fresh water at first, so they set up a desalinization still, and then begin exploring the island little by little, building shelter, eventually mining iron ore, making gunpowder, smelting their ore, they eventually build muskets using sand to cast barrels for their steel, they build a submarine and gather pearls, they fight wild boars (with their guns eventually), and I know it ends with them building a boat (partially using their iron ore) and attempting to sail back to civilization.

I'm not sure of the reading level it's aimed at, probably YA

I've searched for this book on google many times using keywords from it, but I just can't seem to find it.

[Ayshe]

September Storm maybe?
I can find anything on it except: "Three young people stranded in a severe storm on an island draw upon all their resources to survive."

[Tab]

Do you remember the cover?
Part of a series?
Time period and location (besides the island) that the story takes place?
How soon into the story does the crash occur? Were there other people on the plane/boat?

[Andrew]

Apologies, I gave up checking back on this - but I don't think it's September Storm, that's only 59 pages, nowhere near enough.

I don't remember the cover, unfortunately. At least well enough to describe it. It was not part of a series that I'm aware of. The time period would have been probably 1950 or later, it seemed contemporary to the 80s, but nothing that I remember specifically would require that level of modern technology.

Finally, the crash took place at the beginning of the book, and I don't think there were a lot of other people on the plane or boat (I think it was a plane).

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Andrew, are you still looking for this or did you find it?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Lobstergirl wrote: "Andrew, are you still looking for this or did you find it?"

No response in 2 years. Moving to Abandoned.