It was, of course, Barnacle Bill the barnacle goose!
The barncale geese seemed to have colonised one island, Goose Island, and Canada and greylag geese the other, Goose Island 2. We did not want to bother the birds too much so did not venture over to Goose Island 3, but pottered around on open water instead. The wind gusted and dropped and at times paddling and steering the boat was hard, but thankfully when the wind died down it was easy going across calm water.
The night before we had gone for walk around the Knott. Starting along the shore and carefully picking our way over the sands by the light of a thin crescent moon, then heading inland through the woods via the old mine, which we explored by the light of Kit's torch.
It is a long time since I walked for any distance in the dark and had forgotten how the night transforms the easiest walk into an adventure.