Authors' Note: I added a clause in the previous section establishing Walt's current hair thickness at twenty-five centimeters for continuity purposes in the chapters following this one.

Michael and his canoe-mates explore the north shore of the island.

At long last, Michael's canoe was ready. The obvious question was who would be going on the mission. The vessel would seat four comfortably, plus their supplies, but there was enough room besides to bring Walt back. Sayid was a natural choice thanks to all his military experience. He also wanted to find whatever information he could for Danielle's sake. Sawyer was now apparently fully recovered, and had a score to settle. Despite assurances from everybody that the kidnapping was in no way his fault, he still had feelings that it could have turned out differently if he hadn't been so obvious in drawing the gun on the raft, or was a faster shot. In his own way he wanted to help set things right.

Then there was Jin, who by now had forged a strong friendship with Michael and was determined to go along. His background as an "employee" for Sun's father could be useful. However, Sun was reluctant to be separated from her husband for what might be a long trip. They found a compromise. Sun could walk along the beach up to the point where the shore became too rocky to travel, while the men were paddling the canoe. It would be useful to have someone with some medical experience relatively nearby. Jack wouldn't leave Claire and her baby, now more than three months old, for a long period to time, and he wanted to hang around in case Locke had complications in his recovery from the broken legs. Charlie also wanted to stay near Claire. Also, Shannon had a couple of recent minor asthma attacks, and would be near the caves most of the time, with Vincent. Michael considered bringing Vincent along, but not having found Walt on the previous land trip around the island, and worried about what Vincent would do in a canoe, agreed that the Labrador should be left behind this time.

However, it wouldn't do for Sun to be hiking alone; they would have to find another person. They were able to find a volunteer: Hurley. Always wanting to be helpful, Hurley decided that with Locke improving and Jack around anyway, he might be more useful accompanying the rescue squad part of the way. And he could always use the exercise.

Regarding weapons, the group took along two guns, to be carried by Sayid and Sawyer. The castaways not going on the rescue mission should have some guns in case the Others attacked them over land. Locke provided half a dozen knives to the effort, and Jack gave the group two of the grenades that were left over from those that Danielle had provided. Sayid gave detailed instructions on their use.

The group set out the morning one hundred one days after the departure of the raft. Paddling to the east around the south end of the island, where the beach camp was located, was not too difficult, but as they turned more and more to the north, the current came against them. It got to the point where they came ashore and tried carrying the craft on land, but that proved not to be any faster and even more tiring. They returned to straightforward paddling, and by the end of the day were only a little ways past that cable that so mysteriously led into the ocean. It took two more days to reach the point by the northeast corner where the beach ended in a jumble of rocks.

The next morning Michael, Sawyer, Jin, and Sayid pushed off in the canoe into the waters that were annoyingly turbulent. They had to paddle hard to avoid crashing into rocks right off the bat. Then they followed a course more distant from the northern shore. There was a question as to how far out they should row. Too close, and they risked crashing into jagged rocks along the shore. Too far, and they might not see the entrance which logically had to be there. The Others' boat had to have made port somewhere along the stretch. A consensus was reached to keep well away from the rocks on the first pass. Crashing would be disastrous, and there was a chance they could find the entrance from a distance.

It turned out that the conservative route did not pay off. The quartet paddled clear across the north edge of the island, and reached the beach at the northwest corner that Michael, Jin, and Sayid had seen three months before. As the sun would set within the hour, there was nothing to do but make camp for the night.

The next morning they reversed course, crossing the north edge of the island from west to east. This time they risked paddling closer to the shore. On a couple occasions the canoe scraped the rocks, and they had to retreat some distance. Then near noon, Sayid spotted what they were looking for. There was a definite opening in the rock face, which was temporarily exposed when overhanging tree branches were pushed aside by the wind. Unfortunately, that same wind combined with the current around the cave mouth combined to propel the canoe forward at a substantial speed. The oarsmen tried to reverse course again, but it took all of the rowers' efforts to keep the canoe from being pushed back to the east. It was a task they couldn't keep up indefinitely. Buffeted by the wind and current, the canoe scraped more rocks, sustaining more damage. The canoeists had to attend to the damage, stuffing supply bags and extra clothes into cracks to keep the vessel from taking on water, but in the process the canoe sped with little control away from the cave entrance. By the time everything was under control, it was mid-afternoon. Despite Michael's overpowering desires to try to return to the opening, they limped back to the northeast corner of the island shortly before sunset. Sun and Hurley were waiting with high hopes, but it was quickly apparent to them that the expedition had not met with success yet.

The next day the group repaired the canoe, and made a couple of new paddles. However, by the time they were ready to push off again, the current was dead against them. They were pushed out to sea, northeast of the island, and had to row around and to the south before the waters calmed down enough for them to reach the beach once more by paddling to the west. This time they had to carry the vessel back north to the corner where Sun and Hurley had been maintaining vigil.

Another day, and the current was much more favorable. The canoe crew took off just past dawn, and reached the cave opening within two hours. They tied the canoe to some tree branches and rocks, with Jin indicating how it should be tied to prevent it from being dashed upon the rocks. Armed with the knives and guns and carrying some ammo and provisions in backpacks, they crept cautiously into the cave opening, careful not to make a sound.

Back at the northeast corner, Hurley suddenly trembled. He stated in an ominous voice only Sun could hear, "Something big is going to happen today. Whatever it, it will be today. It's been a hundred and eight days since the raft set sail."