Erik the Viking
Erik knows that settlements that are easy to pillage are on the beach. He picks a random direction and starts walking down the beach.
Following Viking instinct, Erik sets off to his left, down the black ash beach. After five minutes he has not discovered any pillagable settlements but he can now see another island about ten meters across the water, which Erik now notes is very thick and nasty, likely due to the massive amount of ash and sultur being pumped into it by the volcano, which Erik is fairly sure he should have noticed sooner and will make sure to tell people he totally saw the entire time, should he be forced to recount this story.
The other island appears to have a beach of sharp gravel on it and trees with small, round, green leaves. A naked man is standing on the beach, looking at Erik.