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Instruction manual
This quest has a quick guide found here.
It briefly summarises the steps needed to complete the quest.

Details[]

Start point Talk to Curator Haig Halen in the Varrock Museum. Talk to Curator Haig Halen in the Varrock Museum.
Official difficulty Intermediate
Description Curator Haig Halen needs your help to finish the construction of a barge fit to take the Varrock museum crew to an unexplored landmass to the east. There have been many attempts to reach the island, but none were successful.

This quest will have you venturing across Gielinor, aiding the Varrock museum and making the success of the voyage a possibility.

Length Short-Medium
Requirements
Items required

Recommended:

or

Post-quest recommended:

Enemies to defeat None

Walkthrough[]

Starting out[]

Curator Haig Halen chathead

Talk to Curator Haig Halen at the Varrock Museum. Ask if he has any interesting news. He will tell you that they have found an interesting island north of Morytania, and that they believe it may be of archaeological significance. They are in the process of making the final preparations for the voyage, and he has recommended you to the barge foreman, who requested the aid of a qualified and experienced adventurer. Agree to help, and make your way to the Digsite.

The finishing touches[]

Head to the canal barge north of the Digsite. There, speak to the barge foreman in front of the barge. They are in the final stages of preparation, but there are a few minor adjustments he'd like to make to the barge before getting the crew ready. He requires a sturdier type of wood to keep the barge afloat; magic logs will not do, since they had peculiar side effects (which you will learn later). He will require a high-grade wood found only in the distant Western lands - redwood.

The barge foreman will instruct the player to talk to the Sawmill operator at the Sawmill north-west from the barge.

Travel to the Lumber Yard and speak to the Sawmill operator. In order to obtain redwood planks, he has arranged a fairly generous deal between himself and the sawmill in Great Kourend's Woodcutting Guild. He will give you a sawmill proposal, which you will have to deliver to the Woodcutting Guild.

Now, travel to the Woodcutting Guild in the Hosidius House using your skills necklace, and hand the proposal to the Woodcutting Guild Sawmill operator. If you don't have the requirements to enter the Woodcutting Guild, try to open the eastern gate to the guild to complete this step; Berry will sign it on behalf of the guild's sawmill operator.

Return to the Varrock Sawmill operator, and give him the sawmill agreement.

The cursed voyage[]

Bone Voyage

The completed barge.

Go back to the barge foreman, who will ask you to board the barge. Speak to the barge guard, and he will let you board the barge. On the barge, speak to the Lead Navigator. He will ask you if you are aware of the previous attempts at the expedition. Pick the first option if you wish to know what happened. Otherwise, pick the second to skip the dialogue.

  • The first barge had some serious design flaws... it didn't float.
  • The second barge suffered from 'feature creep'. Senior museum staff stuck their oar in and added unnecessary features: 'go-faster stripes', a portable fossil centrifuge and a walk-on mini-museum. Needless to say, it had... buoyancy issues.
  • The third barge made it out to sea, but a special sealant was used that attracted sea monsters. They didn't make it very far.
  • The fourth also used a special sealant, this one attracted icebergs.
  • The fifth barge crashed into the sixth.
  • We lost the seventh one.
  • The eighth barge is still here, we think. An accident involving a magical explosion and some talking anchovies means that it is now believed to reside 12 seconds out of phase.
  • The ninth version was built with magic logs. The barge gained some form of rudimentary sentience. It developed serious depression and ran itself aground near Crandor.

Thus, he will believe the voyage is cursed, and will refuse to sail unless you can ensure the safety of the crew from this curse. He asks you to talk to some experienced sailors in the Rusty Anchor Inn in Port Sarim.

Talk to Jack Seagull in the Rusty Anchor Inn, and ask him if he has ever made any cursed voyages. He will claim that you need a lucky bone charm, and that you should speak to the Odd Old Man in Silvarea to get one. Ahab will interrupt, claiming that a 'potion of sealegs' will have you sail the voyage unscathed. You decide that you'll ask the navigators which one they'll prefer to have.

Return to the Lead Navigator. He will want the potion of sealegs, but the Junior Navigator wants the bone charm instead.

Speak to the Apothecary in Varrock. He will require a marrentill potion (unf) and two bottles of vodka. Speak to him again to receive the potion of sealegs.

Visit the Odd Old Man by the Silvarea mine, north of the Digsite, and ask for a lucky charm. Tell him that you're making a cursed voyage to receive the bone charm. You can head south and east of Tolna's rift to quickly return to the barge.

The "cursed" voyage[]

Bone Voyage - sailing the ocean blue

Sailing the treacherous waters to Fossil Island.

Return to the barge, and give the Junior Navigator the bone charm and the Lead Navigator the potion of sealegs.

Barge controls

The barge controls.

Unsurprisingly, the potion has made everyone except the Junior Navigator pass out. As he has never navigated open waters, you will now have to steer the barge. You will have to steer left or right using the controls on the interface. The progress bar will indicate how far you have to go to reach the island.

  • When the top arrow tilts to the left, click on the right arrow.
  • When the top arrow tilts to the right, click on the left arrow.
  • Changing the height of the sails will alter how drastically the boat shifts from side to side. Having the boat's sails as large as possible when going in a straight line will allow for a more consistent travel route.

Once the progress bar is filled, you will arrive at Fossil Island. Congratulations, quest complete!

Post quest:

Talk with the Junior Navigator again to exit the barge. Walk east towards the bank icon inside of the tent. Select on the dismantled chest to build the chest pieces and unlock the bank on Fossil Island.

Required: 21 Construction, hammer, 1 iron bar, 2 oak planks, 5 nails

Rewards[]

Bone Voyage reward scroll

Required for completing[]

Trivia[]

Fossil Island login screen

The log in screen upon the release of the Bone Voyage quest and Fossil Island.

  • A log in screen competition was held around 2 weeks before release in order to use a player-made log in screen to commemorate release of the quest. The winner of the competition, Runezilla, was awarded with "1 Year of Membership".
  • The name of the quest is a pun on the French bon voyage, used to wish others a safe journey, and bones, since the destination is Fossil Island. The pun made its first appearance in an update news post on 10 April 2006 with the release of Rag and Bone Man.
  • The term "feature creep" used to describe the second flawed design refers to a common anti-pattern in software design, where unnecessary features are added to the system. In real life this often results in the failure of the system.
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