fluid environment, for in its grasp it is impossible to make 

 an awkward movement. 



I was still breathless when I climbed back on deck, 

 and it took me the rest of the afternoon to recover. The 

 other divers soothed my injured ego a little by assuring 

 me that earlier in the afternoon there had been no diffi- 

 culty. I had been unfortunate enough to join them just as 

 the outgoing tide reached full force, and they, too, had had 

 to exert every effort to carry on with their picture taking. 



I now realized the meaning of those little arrows on 

 our chart flanking "1/4 knots" at the edge of the bank. I 

 am sure the outgoing pull was much stronger than average 

 that particular afternoon. 



It really was not so surprising, I thought, that a sud- 

 den, shelf -like drop from less than two fathoms to the 150 

 fathoms at the edge of the Bahama canal should create 

 such a condition. As a matter of fact, it probably explained 

 why all that we had been able to find on these wreck sites 

 at the edge of the bank were such heavy things as can- 

 non, windlasses, anchors and chain. With such a current 

 flowing twice a day over the years, anything less weighty 

 must soon disintegrate and be carried off. 



My experience that afternoon taught me a healthy 

 respect for the power of tides such as I had never experi- 

 enced along the shores and reefs of the Florida coast. 

 Many times thereafter we encountered a similar situation 

 as we explored the shoals and reefs of the Bahama banks, 

 yet in other deep-water sections of the Bahamas we had 

 no difficulty. 



Before the afternoon was over, a wind from the north- 

 west had sprung up and Ed suggested we seek an anchor- 

 age for the night on the Lily bank, in more protected 

 waters. If this same wind continued on the morrow, he 

 said, it would be too rough to search the outside reefs, and 



114 Sea Diver 



