old King Neptune must have set out in 

 1952 with the avowed intention of discouraging us from 

 our purpose. Not only did the winds continue to blow 

 and the seas to churn up sand and powdered shell until 

 it was impossible to see the bottom, but on our very first 

 trip from the shipyard in Miami we had a most unex- 

 pected accident. 



We had no crew aboard, just another couple and our- 

 selves. We had been combing the waters within the reefs 

 ojBF Key Largo, searching an area where we had been told 

 cannon had been seen on the bottom. Now it was nearly 

 noon, and we realized that, if we were to get to Marathon 

 that night, we would have to leave immediately. We could 

 make better time by cutting between the reefs and tak- 

 ing the outside route bordering the Gulf Stream than by 

 following the intricacies of Hawk channel, close to the 

 keys. 



Checking the chart, we found that we could safely 

 set a course through the reefs and out to sea by passing 



The Florida Keys 59 



