Ft. George, Week One is Over

This is our survivor type shelter on Ft. George. Much like survivor, everyday we get fewer. We have gone from eight people in the field during the first week, down to four people this week. We have cut paths through the woods, uncovered a few foundation sites, and collected several diagnostic artifacts. This week, we need to document the extent of the fort that we have investigated.

I have been drawing foundations and elevations of the few features that are still a few stone courses high. Today, I uncovered what might be another foundation. Tomorrow I will sketch this in.

This is the first day since last Wednesday that I have not been doped up on Benadryl. My wrists have been covered with painful blisters, but these are now drying out. I put a long sleeve shirt on and got back into the bush this morning. Thank goodness the poison wood seems to be subsiding. I have tried to be a trooper, but it has really been stinky.

Everyday we get dropped off by boat on the beach and then we lug our gear up to our camp. A large part of the fort has eroded into the sea, so we have also been doing a lot of water work, both snorkeling around and with underwater metal detectors. We have located six of the seven cannons known to have been on the site. Some are visible under water, others are just under the sand. A couple days ago a very large Dolphin swam up next to us, about two feet away. It was attracted to the beeps of the metal detector underwater. I was facing the beach and had the headphones on. It about scared me to death.

OK, the work is very hot and wet. But the project is not all bad. We go over to Robert's house on Pine Cay every night for dinner. I have been out on his boat fishing a couple of times and snorkeling once in the late afternoons. He caught fish and then fixed some sushi dish as an appetiser almost every night last week. We have had yellow fin tuna sashimi, seared wahoo marinated in a soy onion sauce, skip jack sashimi, and then last night we had skip jack tar tar in a wasabi infused dashi sauce. Robert is quite the cook. This is very unfortunate, but I think I have actually gained weight this week.