the remaining sections from the bottom. These Barney 

 and Ed quickly transferred to Sea Diver. This time, know- 

 ing their value, they hastened to submerge the two sec- 

 tions they had retrieved in a barrel of fresh water to pre- 

 vent their deteriorating further before delivery to the 

 Smithsonian. 



We made Nassau our headquarters that year, berth- 

 ing Sea Diver at the Yacht Haven, a popular center for 

 yachts from every part of the world. We planned to track 

 down a score of stories we had heard of wrrecked ships 

 and sunken treasmre in widely scattered parts of the Ba- 

 hamas. 



We were better equipped than ever before, for Sea 

 Diver was now fitted with radar and sonar as well as spe- 

 cially designed plates to keep her from rolling when at 

 anchor. We also looked forward to a permanent crew of 

 two — Vital Jetty, the French-Canadian who for many years 

 had looked after our place in the Canadian bush; and Ed- 

 ward Kemp, a native Bahamian from Andros island who 

 had crewed for us during our visits to the Bahamas the 

 previous winter. 



When Vital had accompanied us to Marathon on 

 our initial diving venture, his first time away from the 

 familiar forest life of lumbering, hunting and trapping, 

 we had been amazed at the readiness with which he had 

 adapted himself to living on a sailboat, and his versatility 

 in handling the many strange tasks which confronted him. 

 He had heartily disliked the summer heat of the Florida 

 keys, but in spite of this he must have found sufficient in- 

 terest and adventure in that first job to make him willing 

 to set out with us again. 



Although he could neither read nor write, and his 

 English was an amusing blend picked up in the lumber 

 camps and colored with outcroppings of his native French, 



The Bahama Islands 127 



