The Diaries
 
November 6th, 2006
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- Restoring the gun of the station -

The gun near the station
Credit : Max Guérout

In that morning the weather station was given a new look. At the end of the week, Patrick and Eugene, the two weather assistants, had come and asked us to build a mounting for the gun which had been lying in front of the station for years, surrounded by some old hawsers and buoys retrieved on the shore.   

We could use the wood we had brought to build a raft in case we needed an airlift.

We sent a mail to Robert Veccella in Polynesia and asked him to send us the assembling plan of a mounting, which we received in record time. We had to adapt it to the wood and to the tools we had at our disposal. On Sunday, Jacques Morin, Joë Guesnon and Arnaud Lafuma got down to work.

The gun on its mounting
Credit : Max Guérout

The mounting was ready by the end of the afternoon. We had to move and invert the gun since it was placed upside down. The “Manitou” machine of the weather station was very useful since it allowed us to handle the one-ton gun very easily. After some manoeuvres, as the night had already fallen, the gun was put in its place.
We got some information on that gun which seem far better preserved than the others. As the castaways were building a makeshift boat, the board writer put the following words in his diary: “August 17th, saved a 8 gun and put it on its mounting on the island.” This decision was taken after a ship had gone past without noticing them, although two powder barrels had been burnt to send a signal.  
This gun, with an 8-pound shot and a 11 cm calibre, had indeed been found on the beach. It hadn’t stayed in seawater therefore it was less corroded. When it was loaded, it was weighing 2,307 pounds i.e. 1,128 kg. It was bought at the Baïgorry’s Forge by Jean-Joseph Laborde and François Nogué, representatives of the India Company in Bayonne.

A booby accompanying us
Credit : Max Guérout

As planned, the morning was partly devoted to fill in again the northern probing area. When we used the metal detector for the last time, we uncovered a copper spoon without its handle.

Everyone checked the equipment lists as well as the packaging of the boxes. Meanwhile, we went to the South to examine an iron object seen on the coral reef flat the day before. It was an iron beam curb certainly belonging to the ship which winch could be seen at low tide.

The boobies which were nestling in that area flew over our heads on our way back. We managed to take photographs of some of them.

Rédacteur : M. Guérout

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