"On The Beach" blacksmith survival game.

[Frosty]

We've discussed what it takes to start blacksmithing more than once. It came up in another thread, I got carried away and offered a challenge. It's based on something I did when challenged by a report writer office geologist who was visiting the job site. It's a story I won't waste your time with. The job site was to drill test holes for the air strip for the New Village of Chenega. We were camped on the shingle beach off the S. end of the strip that wasn't there at the time.

Here's the game if anyone wants to play. Google Earth: "Evans Island Alaska" The Village of Chenega is pinned as is the Airport. In the game there is no air strip and we sunk close enough to swim to the shingle beach off the end of the air strip. Water in Prince Williams Sound is surprisingly warm, the Japanese current flows into it it's almost too warm to be refreshing swimming. Tides are really REALLY big so we have maybe 50' of beach at high tide and the woods aren't really suitable for camping. It's mostly Alder and Willow scrub. . We did a lot of drilling for the new village of Chenega and were camped on that beach for close to two months with a couple town side breaks.

That's the background

Here's the scenario. Our boat sunk, we're camped on Evans Island a shingle beach on the east side of Crab bay with plenty of '64 earthquake debris to scrounge and we need some tools to survive. It's been pretty thoroughly picked over already. You don't have tools, even lost our fishing and camping gear. "You pick a smooth 100+/-lb. boulder (It was an ultra mafic, probably a hornblend) and a couple larger than fist size smooth cobbles.

That's the scenario, live or die. Want to play? What's the first tool you'd make?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Steve2md]

First tool is a blade. Simple mild steel from debris is fine in a survival situation. If steel isn't available, break a few rocks until you get a sharp shard. With a blade, you can cut/make cordage for snares and other stuffs. You can dress game captured in said snares.  Laying rocks into small 3' diametter x 6-12" deep circular walls when the tide is out will trap tidal critters like small crabs/fish/mollusks/etc for food. Those traps are tools too.   A shovel would be handy, could be made from just about anything. Need to bury your waste for health reasons, might need to dig at the head of a spring or stream to get clean water.  If you could find some wire (springs from mattresses/etc) you can use your rocks to cold form fishing hooks and fishing spears. Fire from friction is relatively easy with practice, and now you have all the time in the world to practice...  Willow is excellent for fire by friction. The flowered Catkins of male alders are edible and relatively high in protein. The inner bark of willows and their catkins can be ground into a flour and mixed with water to make a quasi "bread". But consumption of willow should be limited, as it thins the blood (like aspirin) and too much can drop your blood pressure enough to cause a problem. 

[JHCC]

Left-handed turnip twaddler. No question about it.

[RLG]

Make a fire plow with the willow to make a fire to turn into a forge some how and find some rebar in the concrete to make a knife and spear/fishing spear to get food and make corsage with the knife

[Glenn]

Review the old Gilligan's Island TV programs. The Professor could make anything except a patch for the hole in the boat.

[Prevenge]

No zombies? Well then. Seeing as how food would not be the most pressing concern, given that you would be able to construct the aforementioned tidal traps and forage various seaweeds, then my focus would shift to shelter and fresh water. I probably wouldnt spend much time or energy on the first tool ....a good hand sized slab of hard rock with one side chipped down into a chopper edge. I dont know what type of debris that period tsunami would yield but a simple hand chopper would do well enough for the first day gathering of any type of lashing material and firestarter ...I would also be very inclined to find/fabricate any sort of metal water containers for use in desalination of sea water via evaporation and condensation if there isnt a creek or something near by.

The tool could be upgraded/replaced later depending on what I was able to salvage.

[Frosty]

Not a bad start. Yo have survival training or experience don't you Steve. Willow is a natural source of acetylsalicylic acid Good to know fore medicinal reasons +&-.

Seeing as you're ashore and starting to think about making it through your first night and exploring you find: #1 it's a shingle beach and almost all the grology visible is sedimentary, mostly shale with a little glacial erratic. Hence the hornblend boulder and cobbles I found while playing this game. Native Alaskan almost never flaked stone.

Tide traps are a good option however once you see the tides you reevaluate your plans. Think 20'+ tides.

Kelp isn't really plentiful and is typically quite a ways out from shore and in thin bands, the bottom drops off very steeply. As fishermen you know about the bottom. Steep isn't universal though.

If you Google earthed your location you'll see there two streams, the larger is a little West of you near the "airport" road. The other is on the other side.

How are you going to carry water? There is no birch to make bark buckets.

Explore more. You'll discover rebar is pretty rare most structures were destroyed in this area in the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake and the entire Island was lifted nearly 30'. What steel and other metal you find was dropped in the bay off boats back before or washed ashore since. commercial fishing was BIG before the quake.

The tides make for lots of driftwood and debris so you can find dry wood to start fires. Otherwise it's pretty rainy country, not quite rain forest wet. The geology is so recent since the last time ice scoured the islands there is almost no top soil so no big trees to speak of. Big spruce might run 25-30', tag alder 20' and Willow 10-15'. There is a LOT of bear grass, chest deep or so.

Who's going to try what technique to start a fire? Lay out your method or I'll just flip a coin on the #of hours chart.

Remember this is only a couple hours into day #1.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[odblacksmith]

Okay lets give this a try...if we are now on to shelter and fire as well as water,i would look for natural rock formations to build off.For building materials you mention all the trees are fairly small so i would go and grab "sickly" alder saplings(i havent done alot with alder but would assume a dying sapling can be yanked up by most adults).After getting a lean to set up i would gather tinder/twigs to dry for the first fire...as for starting the fire i would guess alder drill on a spruce plank would work(bow drill).then i would look into lining my shelter,the first night or so i would collect rainwater anyway possible and be on the lookout for anything to hold it and sterilize it in (scavenged or made).I dont have a ton of survival experience but was always taught seek/make shelter then make fire and fire and water should both be number 2 on the list because its no good to you if you can drink it. 

Great topic Frosty!

[Frosty]

17 minutes ago, odblacksmith said:

Okay lets give this a try...if we are now on to shelter and fire as well as water,i would look for natural rock formations to build off.For building materials you mention all the trees are fairly small so i would go and grab "sickly" alder saplings(i havent done alot with alder but would assume a dying sapling can be yanked up by most adults).After getting a lean to set up i would gather tinder/twigs to dry for the first fire...as for starting the fire i would guess alder drill on a spruce plank would work(bow drill).then i would look into lining my shelter,the first night or so i would collect rainwater anyway possible and be on the lookout for anything to hold it and sterilize it in (scavenged or made).I dont have a ton of survival experience but was always taught seek/make shelter then make fire and fire and water should both be number 2 on the list because its no good to you if you can drink it. 

Great topic Frosty!

While there are caves on the islands in Prince William Sound I'm not aware of any even close to this bay. It's mostly meadow and stand "forest" and not too hard to get around through though visibility isn't great it isn't bad. You have done a little exploring up the beaches and the stream to your East. There's plenty of driftwood so fire wood isn't a problem.

You have zero trouble breaking both Alder and Willow saplings and discover willow bark strips in very long fibers. so you not only have springy wood you have cordage IF someone in the group knows how to twist cordage. Still you can bind withes and make your bow with it straight off the limb. You can start making a fire when you wish.

In the beach margins you discover the 2' tall Salt grass is tough as nails and sharp enough to slice your fingers.

This IS fun, it's bringing back some good memories.

Who's looking where?

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[Prevenge]

Well , with the two creeks in a relatively close proximity I don't know that I would worry about carrying water on the first day. Instead I would seek to find a favorable place to set up shelter near one of them. Perhaps the one on the east side of the bay since I am already there. I would do pretty much the same as odblacksmith ...seek a natural formation as a foundation for a shelter but I would look for something that is up the creekbed inland a bit more for shelter from the ocean winds.

  Assuming i have some twine/string I would also use bow drill. Having a good starter supply of tinder and wood I would use the drill on a piece of dry spruce bark with a dry wooden piece beneath it as a backing. I would gather some clumps of dry beargrass and old man's beard moss to use as the initial nest for the embers.

The bear grass, salt grass and thin willows can also be woven into crude basketry. Perhaps even sealed with spruce pitch to hold water if needed later.

If i was to explore it would not be very far from my camp...perhaps the beach and cove south of the creek I am near?

 

 

[Frosty]

ARGHHH! My reply to Odblacksmith disappeared!

The geology is mostly sedimentary, mostly shale here and it's recently been scoured to bedrock by glaciers so there is very little soil. Trees and such are pretty small However there are odd stones dropped by melting glaciers. That's where the hornblend boulder and cobbles I used came from, there ain't none from around there.

There are caves on the islands of Prince William Sound but I don't know of any on Evans Island, certainly not within several miles of Crab Bay.

Okay, seeing as Prevenge and Odblacksmith are working close to the same area you can share what you find how fibrous willow bark is a given. A person would have to be an idiot to not notice the first time s/he broke a stick.

Camping near the larger stream eh? IIRC a little ways off the beach there are some benches on the left side that are reasonably flat, the road's built on it. The right side is cut more into the hill side but the alder and willow is denser.

Without a way to carry water you're going to be drinking out of the creek and unable to boil water to sterilize it. Will I have to find my dice to roll to save against disease? Oh wait, I will anyway to save against infection, poison, etc. Ooh this is going to be fun.

Od has found plenty of drift wood and broken lumber drift though not large pieces of either. Bigger than a 2' x 4" x 4" size piece is uncommon drifted pallets aren't rare. However there are points on some of the islands it's not uncommon to find a 200' Sitka Spruce aground but don't hold your breath.

It's typically almost rain forest rainy so you aren't likely to find moss that'll work for tinder. However you can try crushing rotted drift wood for punk. Ain't I helpful?

As the two of you made your ways up the stream mouth you notice some pretty deep piles of old moldering wreckage where the '64 tsunami drove things like canaries, docks, etc. It is just piles of rotting wood and such but . . .

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[notownkid]

First thing is get McGyver you know the Geeky kid on the crew set him to work building shelter and getting supper ready, he does it real easy out of nothing on TV.  Hopefully "Mr T" is on the crew as well.

Then take my I-Phone the salesman told me would work anywhere on earth and call the shop steward and file an unsafe working  & Living complaint.

Using the same I-Phone call the Coast Guard, the guys who are always just around the corner and always willing to rescue anyone and get them up there with a new boat and crew and pick us up as we are now suffering from PTSS.

Before the power gets low call the Associated Press and report a Gold Strike exactly in the bay you are on, you know gold nuggets the size of softballs all over the beach, you will have all the reporters and prospectors you  can shake a stick at.

If all else fails you are far enough north just call Russia and tell you are about to invade their territory looking for more gold, I'll bet they will be right over.

This sounds about right as I just "grautated" from HS and I was taught it is someone else's fault and it's their job to fix it for me.  Tools? What are tools and what do you do with them?

[Frosty]

JHCC, still searching for turnip twaddlers, has made his way a few miles south on the East side of Crab Bay and stumbles across Notownkid on the beach. Seems he was so engrossed trying to get a drowned out I phone to work he forgot to swim.

Frosty The Lucky.

[SLAG]

Search the beach for floating trash. Plastic or rubber containers. There may even be some bottles. plastic film shoes (several container loads fell off a container ship several years ago and shoes have turned up along the coast of the U.S. and Canada. on the beach stranded on the beach. Fishing gear are plentiful. They fall off of fishing trawlers, from fisher fleets form all manner of pacific countries. Intact fishing nets can also frequently found and used to catch fish or used for drop net traps, or animal traps or snares. Damaged nets can still be a source of fiber, or string for fishing. or sewing things together Grass fiber can be woven to make a container for storing water. Line the "vessel" with clay to make it water tight.  Use sticks to spell out messages on the beach. Like "HELP".  Search the beach for the remains of ship wrecks or small boats int& use all the contents they may contain or parts or materials from them. Other material may be on or in the beech sand or cobblestones. You never know you might run into an Inuit, Aleut, or Alaskan citizen or friendly beachcomber. Said individual(s) may be induced to contact the authorities to effect a rescue or they may even be helpful enough to pass on survival tips. The ground may be drenched but you can still start a fire. Use a large rock (bolder) to crush wood. The inside fibers or wood will still be dry. (using a knife would be easier if one has been fashioned by someone in the party.) There are numerous ways to start a fire. Bow drill. rubbing sticks (which doesn't work all that well), or the concave bottom of a soda can which makes a good light gathering lens, or "magnifier".  Do not forget smoke signals. forest fires. (the latter may attract serious attention, if there are people or fire rangers close by. The weather may even co-operate for such observation. Burn some green vegetation to make smoke to keep the mosquitoes away or the party may require future blood transfusions. (if the Alaska insects as ferocious as their counterparts nearby in the Yukon, North West Territories, or Nunavut.) Medicare cards would help mightily to pay for the said transfusions. Surely the members of the party would carry belt knives, bear repellent spray, survival pouches. (but that would spoil the narrative of the puzzle, so the "victims left home without them.   SLAG.

[notownkid]

That salesman told me it couldn't be damaged, built like a tank, water proof, batteries last for day, reception everywhere no dead spots.  He wouldn't lie he is an adult.  What's a turnip twaddler?  Don't remember that in the Cafeteria at school or Mickey D's.  Darn do you mean I don't know everything about everything?  I'm 18 yrs old.  Dumb School

[ThomasPowers]

Did my copy of "Alferd Packer's cookin' in the wild" survive the wetting?  What about weirs in the creeks?  Any good shellfish on the beach?

Not being familiar with the area I'd want to figure a way to keep the rain off me when I wasn't working outside

 

[Frosty]

So, does Slag recognize the tsunami debris high above the high tide mark? Lots of wreckage to hunt through. He can put good stuff in one of the plastic buckets he picked up. Most metal buckets, pots, etc. sink. Glacial silt is about as close to clay as you're likely to find and it won't hold water or fire.

Looks like Thomas was able to help get Notownkid revived by talking JHCC through how to perform mouth to mouth. The I phone is shot, it took a hard knock when the boat capsized. Sorry your wild lands cook book didn't make it, you don't REALLY carry it in your pocket on party fishing boats do you? I might have to add a modifier to your to "save" rolls. Regardless having read it you ARE searching for shell fish and stranded crustaceans along the beach.

Only boat crew were allowed to carry blades on the boat, too many accidents when land folk try cutting things on a moving deck. There actually ARE skippers who don't let anybody but crew carry blades. Darned if the whole crew drowned trying to save the boat. The captain went down with the ship and his crew had a bottle of the good stuff stashed under a bunk below decks.

Oh and Thomas clues JHCC in that turnips aren't island crops so he stops looking for a twadler. Thomas puts the two to work looking in tide traps and amongst beach rocks for crabs and shell fish. While he picks up some containers to carry stuff in.

Does anyone know if it's safe to eat shell fish this time of year?

Glenn is still wandering in circles looking for the Professor.

Frosty The Lucky.

[notownkid]

9 minutes ago, Frosty said:

talking JHCC through how to perform mouth to mouth

Oh Mannnnn, I got kissed by JHCC, on  the lips???????  First you  smash my I-Phone then get a guy to kiss me,  hate to see what's next I 'm headed off to find Glenn looking for the Professor got to be safer.  You Had your shots JHCC? 

 

14 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Only boat crew were allowed to carry blades on the boat

Huh, the Army didn't care when we were practicing for a boat invasion, they gave us knives, guns and ammo and c-rations  more junk than we could carry and we hardly ever sunk a boat.  Frosty's bunch were unprepared to invade the cove I can see that.   

[Frosty]

11 minutes ago, notownkid said:

Oh Mannnnn, I got kissed by JHCC, on  the lips???????  First you  smash my I-Phone then get a guy to kiss me,  hate to see what's next I 'm headed off to find Glenn looking for the Professor got to be safer.  You Had your shots JHCC? 

 

Huh, the Army didn't care when we were practicing for a boat invasion, they gave us knives, guns and ammo and c-rations  more junk than we could carry and we hardly ever sunk a boat.  Frosty's bunch were unprepared to invade the cove I can see that.   

Not messing with the DM is pretty standard for roll playing gamers. I figure you and JHCC are new to RPGs and thought I'd drop a hint without just killing you off. Killing off trouble makers who aren't suitably entertaining is accepted practice.

 

This wasn't THAT kind of party boat, you weren't out there looking to invade, you were hoping to hook some halibut or maybe salmon, cod, rockfish, etc. and maybe grill some at the Montegue Island campgrounds. Unfortunately Gilligan was supposed to file the float plan and nobody but NOBODY is looking for you.

I'm going to have to slow my roll here I'm having a heck of a time keeping up on this. I AM having fun though.

Oh Thomas found some "Gumboots". They're sort of tide pool sea slugs and good food if not tasty without getting used to them. Not shoes.

Frosty The Lucky.

[notownkid]

7 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Killing off trouble makers who aren't suitably entertaining is accepted practice

I've had guys try that for real a couple times didn't work all that well for either of them so I'll let you enjoy  gaming and I'll read Anvils in  America.  Night Frosty!

[SLAG]

Surely you don't need a tsunami to freight flotsam, jetsam, & gubbets to the shore line. It just shows up naturally due to the tides, wind, air, and force majeure. The detritus shows up whether we want it or not. It just keeps showing up regardless. Every day, every evening without fail. Oh sometimes a storm blows offshore and the day's usual deposit shows up later.

Regards to all.    SLAG.

[Steve2md]

3 hours ago, Frosty said:

Not a bad start. Yo have survival training or experience don't you Steve.

Might've been through SERE school while enlisted, plus growing up in the woods and taking some civilian courses after getting out don't hurt. Water and body temp regulation are key. Food is secondary, but still important. If you're not running from someone/something, you should be a "lazy survivalist". Minimum effort for maximum results. You have limited calories and water, so traps over hunting, natural shelter with a few modifications are preferred overcreating a shelter from scratch. Springs are better than streams (usually springs have clean water).  Tidal traps are just insurance. Cordage can be found washed up on about every beach in the world, as can the ever present plastic bottle. Luck will get you a pot/lid/can/etc for boiling, but water can be boiled in a plastic water bottle if you are careful. If not, a hot coal can be placed on a chunk of wood and the charcoal scraped out to make a dish/bowl. Rocks heated in the fire can be placed in a bowl of water to bring it to a boil...

[Prevenge]

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

Glenn is still wandering in circles looking for the Professor.

 

If i was wandering around in circles I would be looking for Mary Ann or Ginger in that order. Body temp regulation ect.

[ThomasPowers]

So did anyone recognize "Alferd Packer" without googling?  Another name to be aware of:  My scoutmaster back in New Jersey was Tom Brown, Jr (and his brother Jim) S'truth world renowned survival instructor used to be our scoutmaster in his misspent youth....

Any pieces of plywood washed up that I can make an imbricated roof out of?  If I can get out of the rain, get a fire going and start having a seafood bake then this becomes more like fun...till the bears come...

(and as mentioned a lot of stuff that washes up can hold water and rain water is pretty pure if you can clean the container out first...(I recall Gavin Maxwell used to take glass or Aluminum net floats and cut them in two and use them for cereal bowls "Ring of Bright Water"....)

So did a copy of "Lord of the Flies" wash up?

Frosty what kind of roll are you giving me for my insulin running out...? Starvation diet will prolong my life a bit.

[Frosty]

Just now, SLAG said:

Surely you don't need a tsunami to freight flotsam, jetsam, & gubbets to the shore line. It just shows up naturally due to the tides, wind, air, and force majeure. The detritus shows up whether we want it or not. It just keeps showing up regardless. Every day, every evening without fail. Oh sometimes a storm blows offshore and the day's usual deposit shows up later.

Regards to all.    SLAG.

The largest single loss of life in the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake was a tsunami nearly wiping the old village of Chenega off Evans Island. Taking into account Evans Island was raised around 30' in the quake the tsunami was better than 40' higher when it hit and carried to better than 75' elevation. You find tsunami debris at 100'+ elevation above the beach we're playing on and probably more than 1/4 mile up the larger stream.

There were a couple places we weren't allowed to go, they were grave sites where homes and people were washed into flood traps, stacked, crushed and buried under tsunami debris. Most of the loss of life came because the water emptied out of the bay before the tsunami and the village children ran down to pick up the fish flopping on the exposed bottom.  We were there in the '80s, lots of folk who lived through it to listen to. Pretty heart breaking stories.

Crab Bay isn't a great spot for finding flotsam and jetsam, the currents and winds are wrong, there was barely a sheen at the outside during the Exxon Valdez oil spill and nothing in the bay. It's pretty sheltered if open looking unless you have a 9.2 earthquake. The quake was centered not far from there either though I don't recall the island it wasn't far, 20 crow miles?

Tell me which way you're exploring the beaches and I'll let you know when you get to good beach combing. I tossed out some plastic containers cause I'm nicer than most DMs. But Crab Bay is lousy beach combing.

Replies are backing up on me here. Teach me to feed Falki and have dinner.

Steve, it shows. Budgets weren't invented by economists were they? There are plenty of springs on the East side of the creek, just follow a rivulet till you find one. The food's easier beach combing but it's everywhere if you're good and lucky. It's not berry season but there is other green food. did they cover how to determine plant edibility? There is some darned good eats that look a LOT like some pretty fatal eats, looks like stuff in the produce section of the market too. Net fishing in Prince William Sound is largely purse seiners and they rarely lose nets and nobody would drift net here. Crab Bay just isn't good beach combing though it's not unheard of. You're pretty covered when you get a fire lit. What kind of shelter are you making?

I guess Prevenge is teaming up with Glenn once he gets back with the pail of gumboots Thomas collected. . . Okey dokey.

Thomas: Ah no unrotted plywood but there is some old roofing tin that isn't too bent up in the tsunami debris it's visible from the beach so you don't have to search. Once you get up the hill to the tin you see something white and cubelike bobbing a little ways off shore, not far from where you think the Minnow sank. Water's warm want to check it out? The tide's always flowing in the sound you know.

I think between you and Steve you'll be the company bards disseminating useful info in no time, maybe trading useful info if this game lasts long enough. I'll have to google the names.

Frosty The Lucky.