start to finish during the previous year. Unpredictably, it 

 had blown just as hard in the usually calm late spring and 

 early summer months as in the winter. 



Sea Diver had undergone considerable transformation 

 since we had left her in Miami, for in the brief weeks we 

 had used her following her purchase, we had discovered 

 the need of many additions for our comfort and conven- 

 ience. Rolling chocks had been installed on both sides of 

 the hull, for while the time-tested shrimp boat, with its 

 six-foot draft and rounded bottom, is a most seaworthy 

 design, it has, as we soon found out, a great tendency to 

 roU. 



I was the proud custodian of a commodious stainless- 

 steel freezer, which had been placed just outside the gal- 

 ley door on the deck. It was encased in a plywood chest to 

 protect it from sun and weather. And, remembering our 

 discomfort during the extreme heat in Marathon the previ- 

 ous summer, Ed had had a number of ventilators and power- 

 operated fans installed, in addition to an air-conditioning 

 system in the aft cabins below decks. Now we could look 

 forward to a good night's sleep no matter how hot the 

 weather. 



These were the things of immediate interest to me. 

 Ed bragged that, with the addition of extra bilge pumps, 

 Sea Diver could now rid herself of 13,500 gallons of sea 

 water per hour. The three pumps now on board could be 

 started separately or run together. As he had also installed 

 a high-pressure jetting pump, which would pump six thou- 

 sand gallons per hour, to be used for moving sand on tlie 

 bottom, he felt that we were more than adequately pre- 

 pared against foundering at sea. 



With the installation of three more water tanks, Sea 

 Diver now had a total capacity of thirteen hundred gal- 

 lons of fresh water. This would take care of all our needs 

 for long periods at sea, and even allow for shower baths 



The Florida Keys 77 



