Yesterday I was on top of the ship when I noticed a large light off to the South across the water. It was already night by then so I didn't have time to investigate it, but today I was ready and raring to go! Just after sun up, I collected up as much wood as I could carry and took it down to the beach, along with a few tools... and my bow and quiver. I decided to let Chiron come along this time; I get the feeling he's very bored when I go off on my own. In any case, as soon as I got there, I went straight on to the ship to look for a few things to keep him occupied. I came back with a few fish - which he seems to like - and a ball I had found in the recreation room. While he was running around like a blue-arsed fly, I got to work on making the small boat to get the shore on the Southern edge. I initially erected a small wooden stand to begin building the boat. It needed to be flat, and I needed to work conciously with different elements such as bouyancy to compensate for the mass of the boat. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I set myself into the task very enthusiastically! Within an hour, I had the base going quite well, but the harder bits were to come!
At this point, I was getting pretty tired; it wasn't just a case of nailing planks into place, they had to be bent! This meant using a supple wood which wasn't prone to rotting, and even then I would have to water-proof it, although I had that covered. I took the time out to have some fun with Chiron: it was merely throwing the ball to and fro, but he seemed to enjoy it immensely, and it gave me great satifaction, for some reason... After an hour or so of relaxing, I returned to work, leaving Chiron to snack on a rather large salted fish! By midday I had the whole boat finished and ready for water-proofing! It didn't look like much, but it only needed to get me about half a kilometre or so away, and back again!
After completing the boat, I went back through the gate to the forest. I took one of the tools I had brought with me from the crafting table, and pierced the bark of a tree several times, scoring lines down to the base. I then placed a small makeshift bowl underneath the tree and returned to the beach! I needed resin from the tree to water-proof the boat, but collecting the resin, painting the resin onto the boat and waiting for the resin to dry would take a very long time! I wouldn't be exploring the strange light today! Maybe I should've collected the resin yesterday... In any case, when I got back to the beach, I noticed a flaw in my plan; the pier Mk. 2 was far too high to accomodate the new boat. It was fine to access the ship, but the water level was far lower than the pier. So I had to make a new pier which was in line with the water! I had nothing better to do until I had collected enough resin to coat the boat anyway, so I set to work making the struts for the pier! I had to keeped diving into the water to secure the struts deep into the sand, and then secure each strut section atop the previous. Needless to say, Chiron took one look at me and decided to help! He spent the rest of the day running into the water, paddling around, getting out, shaking the water off and repeating it, long after I had finished with the struts!
I finished the pier by the late afternoon, and was comfortable with it's stability. With it being so close to the water's edge, I secured small steps to the edge of the pier to make getting into and out of the boat easier! Although that would depend on whether I had got my adjustments right. Tomorrow would be judgement day! I went back to the bowl of tree resin and found I had more than enough! Now that the tree was pretty much useless, I chopped it down and went back to the house to store the lumber. I then applied the resin quite generously to the underside of the boat to ensure that it would be water-proof. Obviously I didn't have any brushes - nor could I find anything suitable on the ship - so I applied it using strips of leather. It took quite a while because it had begun to harden already, but by nightfall, I had the boat fully coated - inside and out - with resin. All I needed to do was wait for it to dry and I could be on my way! Should be fine by tomorrow!
Before I returned to the house, I went back to the forge to make some iron rods! I took a few iron ingots, smelted them down and fashioned them into long, thick sticks! I was going to use this for the skeletal framework for the tent! I didn't know what I was likely to find, or how long I was likely to be, so I thought a tent would be best. On the way back, I called Chiron back from the beach - still frolicking in the sea! - and closed the gate! I then went back up to the house and dug out the wool and leather I had stored away!
The tent is finished! Took me longer than expected, but I've assembled it on the porch, and it fits the required need! I've managed to make a sleeping bag as well, and I'm trying to determine what else I'll need to take with me! Chiron seems to know something it going off because he won't sit still! Even the usual bone won't settle him, so I've left him to run around the house for a bit, whilst I busy myself with the oars on the porch! They're probably the simplest thing I've had to build for this expedition! I'm going to try and catch some shuteye, but at this rate, there won't be any point; it'll be early morning by the time the preparations are finished!
Syeonyx signing off
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