Necker Island (British Virgin Islands) would survive their castaway adventure for at least three weeks, but as McCullin later recounted, "because of our gathering weakness ... out of temper, and out of water, we hoisted the red flag and were taken off in the early hours of the fifteenth day". According to McCullin, there was nothing idyllic about the desert island: "The mosquitos and other insects were more venomous and persistent than any I had encountered in Vietnam or the Congo." Richard Branson's "Extreme Tech Challenge" has been hosted annually at Necker Island since 2015. Described as one of the largest technology competitions in the
Mosquito Island located on the west side of Gorda Sound adjacent to Virgin Gorda and near Necker Island, which is also owned by Branson. Barack Obama visited the island in February 2017, and learned how to kiteboard there, shortly after his retirement as President of the United States. On old nautical charts of the British Virgin Islands, the island's name is often spelled "Moskito" (possibly as an older spelling of "mosquito" - older versions of the English language did make greater use of etymological spelling). Although modern charts usually spell the island "Mosquito" Island, and the Land Registry of the British Virgin