MARMU-2014: MARitime MeetUp
DAY TWO It rained periodically through the evening. About 5mm, according to the puddle under my tent.
While drinking some
horrid instant coffee, we struggled with a fire. The wet wood resisted all our attempts to make it burn, even when we covered it with fuel from my camp stove.
Lucky for us,
Symph is excellent at starting fires, and before long we had a full fire blazing.
We were even able to appease the Rain Gods with a sacrifice.
AndyTrew95 is also excellent at starting fires, and taught us a valuable lesson about starting an indoor fire near a window.
After packing up and hiding our gear away, we set out to explore the rest of McNab's Island with wet feet but un-dampened spirits. Our first stop was Fort Hugonin (1900-1940, four guns).
Hugonin Battery has four gun emplacements, and each has an underground magazine. Unfortunately, the entrances have been sealed tight, and the main building has every window and door covered with thick sheet metal. No entry whatsoever.
However, all was not lost. Nearby was a small derelict cabin, which was quite interesting. You step in the door and look around....
GAAHH! WHAT THE FRIG!?!? Out in the yard was this thing. Does anyone know what it was for?
We traveled onward to Fort Ives (1865-1943, changing gun count, barracks, submarine net), located at the northern end of the Island. This Fort is old and had seen many changes and upgrades through it's 80 year life span.
Of particular note are two 10-inch RML (Rifled Muzzle Loading) guns from the 1860s, still in their original locations and casements.
Here they are in the top part of the picture, above the blocked-off magazines.
BUT WAIT! What's happening down in the bottom right? Let's look closer:
It appears that some hoodlums have broken into the magazine! Although
WE DO NOT APPROVE of such behaviour, we wasted no time in examining the opening.
(Note: I'm hoping the others will have pictures that will describe this area better than I can) Inside was a standard magazine. A one level, flat, empty room with a curved roof to keep the weight of the earth from collapsing it.
However, in the far right corner was an opening, about a meter high by a half-meter wide. We looked in...
There is a long hallway with head-high openings looking into a series of rooms. At the far end was another small opening, an empty room and a blocked exit. Some sort of ventilation system, maybe?
We hauled ourselves through an opening (small, cramped) into the connected rooms. These were joined by a central passage running parallel to where we entered:
This area had several small rooms, a blocked exit, and a half-meter square shaft which went straight up to another passage that we couldn't access. A mystery for another day!
Further down Fort Ives: Another entry point! This was certainly our lucky day!
Most of this area was walled with fire-retardant bricks, and had floor mountings which suggest some sort of fuel storage or power supply. Maybe generators for the searchlights?
After a quick look around, it was time to go. We were running out of time, and we were all tired worn down after a long day of walking.
On our way back to our gear, we passed two unused houses, once inhabited by notable Island residents A.J Davis and William Lynch.
After that was a straight march back to the beach, and a quick boat ride to the mainland!
This was a great trip. I was happy to be part of it, and I hope everyone enjoyed hearing about it.
Big thanks to
symph, TriBeachPunk, AndyTrew95, Nootz, and
c260t for coming out! I hope all of you can fill in any gaps I left.
I encourage everyone to visit the MARMU-2014
forum thread, which contains the discussion that led to this trip, and give your input on what we should do for MARMU-2015!
Next year: Bigger and Better!