Devan awoke as the sunlight broke the horizon and started shining in his eyes. He thought that he should know by now that he needed to sleep on his other side, or at the other end of the hammock. But then again, he did want an early start to the day today. So, he thought that it was just as well that he slept like that. Most of the stiffness had dissipated, but he was still feeling on the weak side as he tried to move. He knew while he was doing it that he was overworking his body, but he was not thinking that it was going to take this long to recover.
The rain had ended some time as he slept. It had left a chill in the air, and he was finding that being nude without a fire was leaving him cold. As he felt his clothes, they had mostly dried but were still damp and cold to the touch. He thought that he could just put them on, and it wouldn't take that long for his body heat to finish drying them. But he really didn't like the thought of putting on clothes that were going to make him feel even colder.
He knew that he needed a fire then the fire would dry his clothes, and warm him up at the same time. He would just have to stay wrapped up in his blanket until he could get his clothes dried out. It was not like he was freezing or anything, but he was feeling a lot colder than normal.
Devan almost worked up a sweat from trying to get the fire to start again. Everything had gotten soaked except for a little bit of stuff that he had kept in one of the unused crates. He was glad that they had used so much packing material in the crates that they had dropped off with him. It was just one more reason that was making him glad that he was getting out of there because it too was almost gone. The rain had been so heavy that even though he was using the dry papers he was not getting anything else to catch. The dry paper would burn off leaving the rest of it just barely smoldering.
After the third time failed, he threw off the blanket all it was doing at this point was slowing him down and making him too hot. Devan gathered the last of the wood shavings that he had from making his crude tools. He really wanted it to take off this time. If it died again then he was going to have to try and find some dry twigs somewhere and as he looked, he didn't think that was going to be that easy now. Normally he had gathered them throughout the day but lately, he had been putting all his energy toward getting the raft ready and trying to get the mast. He more or less ignored the fact that his supplies were getting low. The fact that he knew that he was not going to be here all that much longer. Meant that he didn't need to be all that concerned about gathering little things like fire supplies.
Normally the rain was not so intense, and he would have the fire burning hard enough that it wouldn't go all the way out. It would only take a little care to get it going again. Sometimes he would have to use some leaves to protect it a little just to keep part of the rain from falling directly into it, but this time it was raining way too hard to even try to protect it enough that it wouldn't go out. All he wanted at that time was to get his wet things off. Now he was paying for that decision, but as he looked at all the food that he had gathered he thought that it was worth it. He thought that maybe he should have pushed a little harder to get back faster where he could have built the fire up more or at least through some more supplies in a crate keeping them dry.
As he worked once again to set everything up to try and get the fire going, he thought about how much he hated these daily rainstorms. There was nothing that he could do about them except to be prepared for the next one. Devan knew that he would be doing some trimming on the log that was to be the mast, and the scraps that he was cutting off would have to do as the kindling for now.
He knew that if it failed to light this time it was not going to be worth messing with it anymore until later. The time had passed, and the sun was rising higher putting out more heat. He was no longer cold at all and soon he would need his clothes back on just to keep the light off of the burns that he had. At that point, it would not matter if they were still damp or not, they would dry the rest of the way as he wore them. Devan knew that if he was going to use the water as part of the way to move the log then he would be taking them back off anyway.
Devan steadied his hand and cleared his thoughts. He looked down at the paper knowing that this was his last chance now. He got the paper to catch, and it took off. Devan thought that he must have either dried it out enough with his previous attempts or he had just not been using enough of the kindling to get it going.
Now that the fire had started. Putting on some damp clothes was not an issue in fact if he had not gotten such a bad sunburn. He would have left most of them off. He knew that it was not going to be too long before he was going to be too hot and wanted to strip most of them back off.
He was glad to get the sun off of the burns and now he could concentrate on getting something to eat. He knew that this was going to be a long day of heavy lifting and moving the log around. The fresh fruit that he had brought back he knew would not last long, so he ate most of that first, making sure to eat his fill. Without eating so much that was going to be hard to work.
Devan looked over in the direction that the log was in and just thinking about what he was going to have to do to get it back started wearing on his mind. He knew that he was the only driving force but unless he wanted to spend the rest of his life here, he had to get it done.
Devan focused on the task at hand and started for the log. He was only hoping with the downpour of the storm that it was still sitting there. He grabbed a short length of rope to have with him just in case he was going to need it. Figuring that it was going to be easier to pull the log with the rope than by having to lift it by hand and then drag it. He didn't take any food with him knowing that it shouldn't take that long to get it into the water and then moved in front of him by the raft. If it did take too long, then at least it would just be a short walk back.
As he walked, he started thinking the log was farther than he remembered it being, and at first, that started to freak him out a little. It made him wonder if the storm had washed it into the water and then out to sea. It was not long after he had started racking his brain that he caught sight of it. It was sitting just where he had left it. He found himself wishing that the rain would have at least washed it to the water's edge. He knew that he had most of the hard dragging part over with and once it was turned, he should be able to easily roll it into the water. He was just glad that there were no large boulders in the way that he would have to force it to go around.
Devan drew in close and was hoping that he was going to be able to use his foot to push it making it roll into the surf, but it was too heavy to move that way. Maybe if it had been on a steep incline, it might have worked but there was no way that this was steep enough for that.
Devan bent over and pushed on it and his feet slipped on a pile of wet leaves making him almost do a face-plant into the log. He pulled out of it catching himself before he hit the log. The next time he was more careful about where he stood, but the act of trying to bend so far and using that much force. All it did was move a little and hurt his back. Which was still sore from moving the log here the other day.
It came down to doing the thing that he didn't want to do. He was going to have to get on his hands and knees in order to get it to roll. Or he was going to have to forget about rolling it all together. He would have to go back to picking one end of it up and dragging it. He knew that if he tied the rope to the end with the branches the trunk end would drag a lot easier, but was still going to take a lot of strength to lift it. Then even more to hold onto the rope as he pulled it to the shore. Not to mention that he was going to have to lift it high enough to get the rope around it in the first place.
Devan thought that he might as well try to get down and roll it because it would take a lot less energy for him to move it that way. Then to pulled it to the shore with the rope knowing that he was going to have to use the rope to help pull the log to the raft once he got it close.
Devan hated having to get down on his knees. They would hurt for days if he got any kind of damage to them. In fact, they would hurt just from being on them. As he looked and saw just how far it was, he knew that they would probably hurt for days anyway. Once he is on the raft it would not matter anymore how bad they hurt, it was not like he would be walking anywhere.
To Devan's surprise once he got it unstuck from being turned the log rolled fairly easily. Not that it continued to roll without help, but didn't take all that much energy to keep it going. He saw that it wasn't as bad as he thought even if he had to stay on his knees the whole time. Devan thought that if he could just get to his feet while it was rolling, he might be able to keep it rolling with just his legs. But he knew that as soon as he stopped pushing it with his hands it would stop where it was. Then he wouldn't be able to get it moving again with just his legs.
Devan had to admit as long as he kept it moving it was not that hard. Even if it didn't roll all that straight. It was good enough since it was going into the water to be pulled over where he wanted it.
When he got it in the wet firm sand it rolled easier, but he stopped pushing it, he didn't want it going into the water before he was ready. He first wanted to keep his clothes dry so he went back to his camp, grabbed a bite to eat, and drank a little water. Then he stripped down, putting his clothes where they would be safe and dry, and back to the log he went. This time with the sand solid he was able to just push the log with his foot. The log rolled into the water easily and then started to float a little. Just like he knew it would. It made it easy to push it out deeper. The water was a lot shallower on this side of the island. He had to take it out a lot farther than he thought that he was going to have to. Just to keep it from touching the bottom.
Devan made a slip knot and slid it over the end of the log then started pulling it. It was nothing to pull as it floated. He began to wonder why he was so worried about getting his clothes wet since the water was just over his knees. But then he thought that it was better to be safe than to be sorry.
Devan noticed how clear the water was now that he was away from the beach, but he knew that there was a major drop-off close to where they had set him up. They must have known about this island in order to keep from beaching the boat in the sand. Unless they just happened to get lucky, but he didn't think that was it they seemed to steer straight for that part of the beach when they brought him.
Devan knew that it was a good thing for him if they knew the island that they put him on. It would have a name and be charted. Even if he didn't know what it was. It meant that it was more likely that he would be picked up faster coming from somewhere that was known about. Instead of someplace in the middle of nowhere, and not even the island being charted on a map.
Devan had a bad thought at this point he was getting this huge raft ready, and he was not sure he was going to be able to get it into the water. He had built it near the water's edge so that he would not have to move it that far, but he saw how big it was. As he thought about how heavy just this one log was, he started thinking of all the crates, not to mention all the things he was putting in them.
Devan thought that there was no need to worry about it until he was trying to do it. He already knew that he was going to need it to be high tide in order to launch it. Just as he was thinking about it. He was not concentrating on where he was going and walked off the drop-off sinking over his head. Then came popping back up to the surface.
As soon as his head broke through the surface, he gasped for air he had not expected and was not prepared to get that kind of a dip so fast. He had been moving closer to the beach just keeping the log floating but now he was over his head not knowing how deep the water was below his feet.
Devan grabbed ahold of the log and now he was using it as a raft to help him tread the water. At least it was easy to move it as he kicked with his legs. He drove it back into the shallows and didn't stop till he was back in knee-deep water.
Once Devan stood back up with the water pouring off of him. He thought that he guessed that he did make the right move in leaving his clothes off and keeping them dry, but he wouldn't have gotten as many scrapes from the log if he had been dressed.
He knew that this was not the time to worry about the little cuts except that the salt water did sting on them. From here it was nothing to pull the log up on the beach next to the raft. Once Devan had the log secured it couldn't go back in the surf. He went over and took a break near the fire to warm and dry.
It hit Devan hard that he was getting old getting the log here didn't take all that long but he had to admit that he needed a break after all that. Now all his planning was going to pay off he had assembled the raft close to the tree knowing that he was going to want to use it to help put the mast in place. It didn't have many branches, but he was going to be able to use the rope to help lift it.
Devan dressed as soon as he felt he was dry enough. As he dressed, he looked at the rope and hoped that the rope that he had was going to be long enough for everything he wanted it for. He tied one end to the log securely then took a stone and tied the other end to it so that he could get it over the branch. It took several throws for Devan to be able to get the rope over the branch that he wanted.
He was thinking that he was going to try and find a bigger rock before it made it. With a smile on his face, he grabbed the rope and gave it a hard pull. Pulling out all the extra slack he got a good feel of the weight on the rope, and it was a lot better than trying to lift the thing by hand.
Devan looked at the rope and the nearby tree and just hoped that once the log was lifted. He was going to be able to tie it to it so that he could get it pushed to the right place. Devan was really wishing that he had someone else there so that they could help. He knew that this part was going to be a bitch without someone helping but there was no one there to help him so he just had to get through it.
Pulling as hard as he could, he finally was able to get the log off the ground completely, but it was taking most of his strength to keep it up. Pulling it around a tree helped a little but getting it to tie and stay there was a task and a half.
Devan struggled with trying to figure out a way to tie a rope that was taking most of his strength just to keep it off the ground. He finally pulled it around the tree a couple of times and that took off enough weight that he was able to tie it. When Devan finally got the rope to tie on the tree holding the log in place. He had a feeling of accomplishment that he had never really had before. It made him feel proud, but he felt it was like his arms were made of jelly and like they were ready to fall off. Devan knew that he had time now and the worst of it was over for now, at least he was hoping that the worst was over.
Once he had it where he wanted it all he had to do was lower it down into position where it was touching the bottom of the crate. He re-tied it to keep it standing straight up. He knew that the hard part was that he was going to need it to stand straight up and not tip or shift no matter which direction it was pulled or pushed in.
Devan knew that he was going to use the lid of it to help brace it on top. Once he had the bottom he braced it. He was planning on filling the whole crate with sand. To help hold it in place, he knew that it would be adding a lot of weight to the raft. He was hoping that adding all that weight to it would not hurt him all that much while he was at sea.
Devan went to work bracing the mast knowing that if there was a rough storm and he didn't get it secure then he could lose it or worse would have it break the raft apart as it fell. He braced it from every direction and then pushed and pulled on it to make sure that it was not going to move at all. Devan figured that he could untie it at this point, but he figured once he filled the crate with sand, he would be better off.
It was a little after noon by the time that Devan had figured out a way to move all the sand that he wanted into the crate. He wound up filling his shirt to carry the sand. Once it was filled it was more than time to eat and relax.