Reef fishes Credit: Max Guérout

In that end of afternoon, the smell of woodfire was filling the weather station. The cookers were preparing a barbecue supplied with deadwood from the veloutier, the bush covering most of the island. We had planned to go fishing for a long time, we tried that morning but got nothing. Indeed, putting lines in the open sea was very difficult, and the fishermen were furious to see inaccessible big fish jumping 200 metres off the shore. These difficulties, although we had modern equipment, showed how hard it was for the castaways to get fish too.  

While the Utile’s crew was still there, the castaways built a small catamaran, and when the sea was quite still, they went fishing off the breakers. In the diary of the board writer, Hilarion de Keraudic, we could read:

Another attempt to get into the water Credit: Max Guérout

« 31 août - mit un petit cati-maron a la mer (pieces de bois amarées ensemble sur lesquelle on va à la mer) portant 3 hommes et nous avons pris 2 grandes sardes (poisson)
Le 1er 7bre. Belle mer, sauvé une hache, la moitié de la pierre à meule. Le cati-maron a été dehors et pris du poisson. »

« 31 August – launched a small catamaron (pieces of wood attached together, used to put out to sea) with three men and got two big nordcapers.
1 September: Still sea, found an axe and the half of a whetstone. The catamaron has gone and got fish. »

They may have used a trick, a bit like the Vietnamese fishermen who use cormorants. There is a ring in the neck of the cormorants preventing them from swallowing the fish, so what the fisherman has to do is to retrieve it.
The meteorologists noticed that the gannets going to the sea in search of food for their offspring regurgitated the fish if they felt threatened. All we had to do was to retrieve the fish in question.

Probing the top of the beach – Thomas Romon Credit: Max Guérout

On the wreck, reef fish were numerous whereas open sea fish were just passing through. The divers were busy with the swell but took some time to observe the wildlife surrounding them.

In the Utile’s remains area, four furrows were dug in the coral. They ended up in a trough with an irregular shape and abrupt edges. On that day, a team started to make a topographical plan of this complex area.

On dry land, we went on probing above the wrecking site hoping to find gravestones. Since at least 50 people died just after the Utile wrecked, there had to be gravestones on the island.  The top of the beach was disturbed by the turtles, but some 30 metres above, the soil was flat and the sand was thick enough as to dig a grave.