Journal 42 February 9 Hull Island We arrived off Hull at 0700 and started loading the boats for a landing. At 0810 we pushed off in two boat loads and headed for the channel. The surf didn't look bad until we got close in to the island then it looked really bad. Waves were breaking across the channel - 8 to 10 footers - making it impossible. Big surf was crashing in along the entire length of the island. Around 9 a.m., after watching us more in and out hesitantly, the ship flew the recall flag and we had to return. We unloaded the rafts, hauled them aboard and [illegible] cruised around the island to the village. At 11 a.m. we threw a few items of gear into the raft and went into the village to make a survey of the area. Max and Paul went to the lagoon to look for coelenterates. Dick Merrill took the shotgun and went down the island to collect a few birds and I rounded around looking for insects to add to the collections already taken from here. We were entertaining the idea of hauling a raft and some gear to the lagoon and motoring down to the [illegible] colony on the far end of the island. Shortly after arriving however, there was a loud explosion as the entire side of the raft blew up. This effectively cancelled any plans we might have made. So we spent several hours on looking around looking for Coelenterates, insects and birds. Found more worth mentioning so left the island around 2 p.m.