Devan took his time eating his lunch, getting rested for the next part. His back, shoulders, and arms were now hurting more than he could believe. But he had his mast and now he figured that it was as secure as he could make it.
Now that the mast was in there and the weight of the sand. He knew that it was going to take the rest of the day to load everything. Then it was going to take more time to get all the freshwater that he wanted to take. He knew that if he was going to be at sea for a while the thing that he would need most was water. He had already loaded all the food that was left, but he wanted to gather the fresh food that he could find. He would take anything that he could find that would not need to be cooked.
Devan knew that he wanted 3 crates of water. Two that were just empty now but knew it was going to take a lot of trips to get them both about half full. He did not want them to become too heavy so that the raft wouldn't float. Third, he figured that he would fill every bottle with water that he had just in case the others got contaminated with salt water. That would give him 5 left one was for things other than food leaving him 4 and out of that he was going to leave one empty so he could put the tarp in it when it was not being used as a sail. That would leave 3 for food he had used up one with the food that he had left and that would leave 2 for fresh stuff. It was not going to take that much time to gather the food but he knew that it was going to take a lot of trips to carry all the water that he wanted.
Devan knew that the water was not going to bring itself and he knew that it was not like he had to collect it all, it was just how much he wanted in case it would take a long time for someone to go past and see him. With each trip he took to get the water he found that he wished that he had a couple of buckets that would make carrying it so much easier. Using cloth was working but was very ineffective he was only getting about half of the water that he started with back to empty into the crates. Thinking back to the hard rain that had drenched him so badly Devan was now praying for it to start again. He could just open the tops and make a funnel to catch it and put it in the crates.
Devan knew that it was a hopeless cause to just pray for it, it would come when it wanted to, and with his luck that would be when he was at sea after he had loaded all the water that he wanted. Deven hated every trip that he made. The only benefit that he had was that the water was wearing down the sand and making a better path. He was packing down the sand making it easier for him to walk. He hated it was his hard work that was accidentally making things easier but at least it was not making it harder.
Deven made trip after trip till he finally got tired of it. Then decided that he would go looking for food before it got too late. Figuring that he had more or less made a great path that he could follow even if it got dark. It didn't take him long to fill the first crate half full and he figured that was about all he wanted to keep the weight down. Seeing that it didn't take long at all to fill the first one he decided to go get the last of the food that was around before returning to hauling the water.
Devan felt a lot better as he came back with the last armload of food thinking that he should have about two weeks' worth of fresh stuff as long as it didn't start to rot. That was definitely a sorrowful subject first the work that he went through being wasted and second part being out to sea so long without being rescued. Devan knew he could be out there a lot longer but at the same time he might be picked up the same day or in the morning there was just no way to tell how long he would be at sea before he was found.
Devan put it all in the raft and was sure that he had enough and if it got bad enough he could always try and land on a different island and restock everything there. Now it was down to getting the rest of the water he hated just using cloth to carry it because so much of it leaked out getting him and everything else wet.
He looked at the canvas that he was using to keep the rain off of him. His plan was he was going to use it as a sail. Devan thought that it was too big to use to carry the water, but if he cut some off of it he could use that. He hated the thought of using the thing that he was going to be depending on as a sail to cut it up. He had never faced such a hard decision, but he knew that it was just taking too long and way too many trips to carry all that water. He looked at the raft knowing that it more or less rained every day and thought that he could risk not carrying that much water. Even if it didn't rain that much he should still have enough with what he was taking.
He looked longingly at the canvas and thought that he was not going to risk damaging it since it was going to be the only way he was going to get the raft moving. Leaving the canvas just where it was, he made an attempt to add another layer to the cloth that he was using to try and carry the water.
Walking to the little pond Devan saw that he had really started wearing a path to it and it was not hard at all to get there now. Devan held his breath as he submerged the cloth then sealed it shut lifting it out of the water. He could tell that it was still letting the water drip out but was a lot better than before. Devan knew it would cut down the trips in half at least and wished that he had tried that as soon as he saw how much water was leaking through it the other way.
Devan made two trips to the pool before he thought that it was getting late, and he was getting hungry. He took his time to eat slowly knowing that it was not taking all that much energy to carry the water, but he knew that he was going to need every bit of energy that he could get his hands on tomorrow as he tried to launch the raft.
As Devan sat there eating, he tried to think of the best way to launch the raft. There was no way that he would ever be able to simply push it. He knew that he still had the rope in the tree if he could tie it to one of the logs that was under the raft, he should be able to get the end of the log to come up. As he thought about it, he knew that would work lifting one end of it would make it slide. It would make it so that it would at least get closer to the water's edge. At high tide, it would even put part of it into the water. Then he could use a log prying under it to give it the last push that he would need. Then it would just be a matter of getting on it.
Devan knew that was a matter for tomorrow but at least he had a plan in his mind now for how he was going to attempt it.
Devan rested a little and finished his meal. Then went back to the task of toting back the water to fill what he wanted before he left. He takes his time he realizes that if he doesn't get quite that much water it is not going to be the end of the world and he wants to save most of his energy for the morning. Making a few more trips he knew that it was going to take him late in the night to get all that he wanted as soon as it started to get dark he called it quits. It just was not worth it to him to push it to the point that he could get hurt. Figuring that it was going to rain anyway. If it didn't, he would have to pass an island sooner or later to resupply.
Devan looked out into the ocean as he had done so many times lately but this time, he was not looking for a sail. If this place had more things to offer, he might have thought about settling down here.
Devan tended the fire for the last time letting it burn brighter in the night as he relaxed. The thoughts of leaving were a mixture of joy, excitement, and even some sadness. Knowing that there was danger, and uncertainty ahead for him and then the hunt would begin.
Devan closed his eyes with thoughts of the things that he needed to complete in the morning. He did not want to forget anything, but more the thoughts of the brutal task were weighing on his mind. He pushed it away so he could sleep.