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Clipperton Journal: The Daily Record of Life on a Pacific Atoll, Part 2 |
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Lance Milbrand |
| August 29, 2003 |
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View a 'castaway' Photo Gallery by Lance Milbrand: Go>> April 13, Sunday, Day 5: Erin left the atoll yesterday and I am all alone. At about 1:00 a.m. I was awoken by two crashes of echoing thunder. All the birds around my camp started screaming and it was followed by high winds and pounding rain. A few frightened birds flew and crashed onto the side of my tent. It was the second challenge for me, maybe the third. The first was driving my skiff in and out through the channel, ; the second was yesterday's 100-plus-degree heat, and the third, last night's storm. That was my first real storm. I am sure many will follow, or so I hope. I caught about a quart (about a liter) of water in buckets. I will try out my tarp during the next big storm. I am slightly concerned about the stability of my tent and I need to add guide lines inside and out. The wind that ripped through camp certainly got my attention. Holding the tarp to catch water in high winds is also a concern. I purified the quart of water with a commercial distiller and it tasted good. I shot a roll of still film for National Geographic. The surf seemed to grow huge; probably six-to-eight-foot (1.8-to-2.4-meter) swells. The early afternoon provided a good scare. A huge Mexican tuna seiner came up and around the atoll and then stopped at the grove, my campsite! They flew a Mexican flag. I video taped the event and I must admit it felt eerie being alone. The tuna seiner has a right to fish the atoll; I just found it strange they showed up right after the Royal Polaris departed. I made two skiff trips to pick up supplies. It certainly is easier to move gear in the skiff. Those skiff trips would have taken me five cart trips by land. The only drawback is getting the lagoon weeds caught in the outboard motor intake. I have to paddle my way in when I get in close to shore so the motor does not get clogged or damaged by weeds. I called and talked to Maya for ten minutes but missed talking to Jeanne. Tonight I saw rats playing around my campsite. They are fat and furry. If they start to crawl over my things, I brought a few traps to discourage them. Why do frigate birds soar at night? The moon is almost full and the birds were in the air hours after the sunset. April 15, Tuesday, Day 7: After laying five traps, I only killed one big rat last night. Had a good slow start this morning because it was only 85 degrees by 9:00 a.m., but then it got hotter. I set up the Canon camera after several tries and had some audio problems, but I trouble-shot the problem and figured it out. I used the camera on a booby close near camp and the big surf. I like the lens but it has a narrow depth of field in what I would consider normal light. I cleaned the tents and gear then went out for a beach survey with two cameras. My chest broke out with a rash in the area where I have a fold in my skin. The rash looks as if it would be more uncomfortable than it is. I am glad that I brought medication for heat-related stress. My throat was a bit sore today, but feels better tonight. I have got to remain physically and mentally healthy. I recovered lots of junk in an area 100 feet long by 50 feet wide. This spot was above the high tide line. Tomorrow I will sort the junk and come up with a tally. This is the tally of the junk I found. Glass Floats: 49 Shoes: 27 Caps & Misc. Plastic: 82 Metal: 1 Nylon: 2 Interesting Stuff: Back part of a big wheel, doll's leg, scrub brush Fishing: 6 April 17, Thursday, Day 9: It feels like any other night—warm, breezy, smelly, and noisy with bird calls. I hear clunk, clunk in the night as the rats rummage across my cases just outside my tent. I did not start my day well. Took the skiff and scouted the egg islands with my camera. I was surprised to see golf course birds, "coots" and their hatchlings, on those islands. Normally approachable, these coots avoided my every move with a counter move. Some of the coot nests had as many as 12 eggs. Coot prefer to live in grassy, almost estuary settings. Grass growing on the biggest of the three islands was ten inches high. Islands closer to camp had sooty tern and adolescent booby, no noticeable sooty eggs. I came back and made pancakes. At noon I looked up and saw four men walking near my camp. Two huge tuna seiners were at bay and two big dories were fishing for reef fish right in front of my house. It felt like they would be there for hours. I decided to walk over and talk to the men. One had a speargun and was almost hiding, leaning against a palm tree. I brought over my still camera and asked to take a picture; they posed. The tallest guy spoke a little English and his first question was, do I "have any pot?" I told him "no." His second question was if I was alone. I told him "no." I think I covered my fear well during a video diary. The second big boat finally pulled hook at 5:30 and disappeared as quickly as it had shown. I reviewed tapes in the afternoon, mostly because I did not want to have my camp vacant. I need to vastly improve my audio. I had planned to sleep across the atoll tonight but my plans went awry in the afternoon. I miss my wife and regular life. It is hotter than anyone could ever describe. April 19, Saturday, Day 11: I drove the skiff over this morning and I plan to sleep at the rock tonight. Its hot, real hot with a light breeze. I was able to put up the sunshade! It feels good to have a little camping success. I went exploring around the rock and decided to grab my climbing helmet, still camera, PD 120 camera and GPS, and go to the top of the lighthouse for the Expeditions Council. My elevation reading was off by quite a bit—134 feet, and it should be 70 feet? It was a bit scary of a climb because the white guano is slick, but I had great views. I would not want to climb to the top in the rain. I saw the old 1906 mount for the lighthouse and took pictures. I am glad I recorded the event on the small PD 120 camera. I also saw what appears to be the lighthouse itself at the bottom of a crack in the rocks. It must be the lighthouse casting because the metal is green "copper" and what else would be brought so high at such trouble? The crabs really came out in the afternoon light. They are surrounding my camp now, trying to climb and taste everything they can. The bird noises are a lot different here because terns also sleep on the beach and above in the rock. They rage out a lot of consecutive "clerk, clerk, clerk, clerk, clerk" sounds. There are many insects along the edge of the lagoon. The birds are flying around now, possibly eating those bugs? I am going to try to sleep in my repaired cot tonight. I jammed some rebar along its sides to keep it from collapsing. Even though Erin is gone, the cot I use back at base camp is too valuable to bring across the lagoon, and besides, I have a lot of days to go. If my repaired cot does not work I can always sleep in the boat. I've got six or eight big crabs trying to eat my shoes right now, with my feet still in them! April 20, Sunday, Day 12, Easter Sunday: I slept OK at the rock but only OK. The booby and the noddy tern were having territorial battles all night. I had pretty strong winds but my tent held up OK. The crabs tried to crawl from one box onto my cot but were unsuccessful. I walked around the rock in morning light and shot some beautiful scenics. I returned and brought the PD 120 camera into the rock, stating that I would not go down into the "basement" to see the lighthouse without a rope and a homemade ladder. I found one ladder piece and I am looking for another. I cleaned the rubber sides on the skiff and then returned to the main grove and made pancakes for lunch. Had a well-deserved lazy Sunday after being up late last night shooting crabs until 10:30 p.m. I called my mom to wish her a happy Easter and spoke with Jeanne, my brother Grant and my dad, Bob. Dad told me how proud he was of me and it made me feel like I did something good. All is well on the home front; 37 more days to go! Part 3: Meet Frank, the bird who lived next door to me >> Read Lance Milbrand's island journal. Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part One >> Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part Two >> Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part Three >> Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part Four >> Lance Milbrand's Journal: Part Five >> |
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