Around the Lagoon

The trio decided to swim around the lagoon systematically, resting after they tired. They could gauge time by the sun's position in the sky, but their distance would difficult to track. Fred volunteered for the tedious job of keeping track of distance by counting his strokes, and Astra would note anything unusual.

They started at dawn. The sun rose in the east, so looking at its place in the sky, they could tell that the shore of what they took to be the mainland was oriented in approximately a northeast to southwest direction. If trio swam toward the southwest, away from the glare of the sun. Astra had a good memory, and she made the following notes in her mind.

1000 strokes - no change in the coastline or its orientation. No sign of the end of the shore.

2000 strokes - no change. No sign of the end of the shore.

2300 strokes - strong undertow tends to sweep swimmers out toward the center of the lagoon - a rivulet breaks the beach here. Had to stop to rest. Rocky coast.

3000 strokes - orientation of shore is somewhat more east-west than it was. Shore is white sand again, palm trees, etc. Good supply of tasty seaweed here. I suppose that merfolk have developed an appetite for this sort of thing.

4000 strokes - shore is almost fully east-west. A rocky outcropping now breaks the white sand. It appears to join up with the spit of sand that we saw in the distance.

5000 strokes - Very tired. Broke for lunch. Now back in a northeast- southwest direction on the spit, headed northeast now. Lots of little shellfish and sea animals here - crabs, clams, scallops, and sand dollars. Fred and I started a little fire, and roasted some crab. Very good. Not much else on the spit. There appears to be an active surf on the other side of the spit, with waves as tall as I am breaking against the shore. Wind is coming from the sea, but it is not violent. We do not think that we will circle the lagoon in a day; it is very big.

5400 strokes - Here is something new. This part of the spit peaks at a small hill, and is very rocky, with a strand of dwarf scrub oak growing here. We also found something that may be worth exploring, if we can get to it.

1. We have found the wreckage of a brig.
2. We have found a shack.

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