THESEA'SWAY 23 



enough for a three-masted schooner. But this same stoutness 

 saved us that night and in the days to come when without our 

 forethought we would have been lost indeed. 



A full half hour passed before I regained consciousness. At 

 first I was only dimly aware of what was going on, but as surge 

 after surge of cold water swept over me and dribbled into the 

 scuppers I was brought into wakefulness. My head ached ex- 

 cruciatingly. And I was cold. Bitterly so— drenched with water 

 and lashed by the icy wind. I can dimly recall Coleman's leg 

 pressed into my side, could feel it strain and flex as he struggled 

 with the wheel. I tried to remember what had happened but 

 could not, nor can I to this day. On one knee I rose, fell again 

 and then painfully and slowly struggled to a sitting position. 

 My neck and shoulder muscles seemed almost torn from their 

 fastenings. Ten more minutes passed before I was fully awake. 

 Then, in spite of the pain and violent headache, I began to 

 realize the gravity of the situation. 



We must get those sails in. 



As soon as Coleman saw that I was able to fend for myself 

 he threw the ship into the wind so that we might reduce can- 

 vas. Then began one of the most grueling half hours we have 

 ever spent. Reefing sails in normal weather is a simple enough 

 job, consuming on a ship as small as ours only fifteen or twenty 

 minutes. But in the midst of a storm, with the ship plunging 

 and pitching, with waves sweeping the deck from one end to 

 the other, it is a difficult task. As though this were not enough, 

 every jolt of the boom and shake of the canvas sent shooting 

 pains darting up and down my head. The greatest job was 

 getting the mainsail down. This task took the combined effort 

 of both of us and our utmost strength. The wind would catch 

 the sail and with the force of a titan belly out the slack canvas, 

 jamming the jaws against the mast. Only by catching it be- 

 tween squalls and exerting our united weights on the down- 



