Want to win a sailboat? First you must find campground's golden fishhook

A P.E.I. man who traded a golden fishhook for a 16-foot sailboat is now giving the boat away in a treasure hunt.

Josh Lindsay owns Ben's Lake Campground in Belfast, P.E.I.. He said he always enjoyed the story of the person who traded a paperclip for a house — so he decided to see how far he could get trading a fishhook.

He posted it online and someone took the bait.

"The first trade was for a sanding block, which is about a $2.50 block from the Dollar Store," he said. "Somebody else offered me a half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Didn't go for that one though."

He made 13 trades involving paintings, jewlery, a marijuana plant and a Dion Phaneuf autographed jersey, and ended up with a sailboat.

He stopped at the sailboat because that was something he really wanted — but now he has decided to give that away.

"I was having too much fun. And I said OK let's let's turn this into something," Lindsay said.

He said throughout his trading a lot of people wanted to participate but couldn't.

"They didn't have something to trade so I figured maybe I'll turn this into a giveaway type of thing," he said. "What person doesn't want to be a part of a real-world treasure hunt?"

The hunt started Canada Day. Groups search for clues around the campground to try and find a golden fishhook similar to the one Lindsay began the trades with.

He said Ben's Lake used to be all about fishing and when he took the campground over he thought the property could be used for other activities, like the treasure hunt.

People follow a map, decipher various clues and solve puzzles as they make their way through the campground.

"I kind of modelled it off an escape room thing," he said. "The original idea was OK, you give them a map and X marks the spot. But it's got to be a little more complicated than that because if you just walk to the point and there is the treasure, it's pretty simple."

Lindsay made up a story where the original owner of Ben's Lake Campground caught a fish so big it almost pulled him underwater and when he was trying get the hook out, he found a treasure map.

"The map got torn apart over years and scattered throughout the property. The goal is to retrieve the map pieces to find the golden hook," he said.

Everyone who does find the hook is entered into a draw for the sailboat. 

Treasure hunting during pandemic

He said he wanted to have a bunch of people out to hunt for the hook in a single day — but realised it would be hard to do with the COVID-19 physical distancing rules.

"Teams book a time to come in. We can do teams of six out a time, or we can do individuals or families," he said. "Keeping it outdoors is another big aspect because it is pretty easy to social distance outside."

Whoever wins the sailboat will also get a bonus. He recently traded two hats for his original golden hook and he's giving that away too. 

The treasure hunt runs from Canada Day to Aug. 1 when the winner of the sailboat will be drawn. Lindsay hopes the treasure hunt becomes an annual tradition.

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