phone, so that communication could be maintained with 

 the mother ship at sea. 



Ed felt it most necessary to determine her handling 

 characteristics before taking her to some remote part of 

 the world where it would be difficult to make any changes. 

 So he had decided to pursue another tale of brass cannon 

 on the north Bahama banks, which had been told us by a 

 Danish salvager, Willy Dahl, and, at the same time, gain 

 some experience with the new craft. 



We anchored several days later in the lee of Miss 

 Romer cay, as far from civilization as it was possible to 

 get on those remote northern banks, having picked up 

 Kemp en route at West End. There, while the new 

 cruiser bobbed prettily from the outrigger on Sea Diver's 

 port side, she was christened Reef Diver. To complete the 

 naming of the trio of boats, we called the hitherto-nameless 

 glass-bottomed skiff Wee Diver. A bottle of rum from the 

 ship's store made the christenings official. 



A strong northeast wind struck at Reef Diver as we 

 rounded the end of Miss Romer cay the next morning on 

 the cruiser's maiden voyage. We could feel her recoil in 

 momentary astonishment. Then, with Kemp's coaxing and 

 a slight increase in power, she dug her broad bow into 

 the waves and set out to cross the miles of water between 

 us and the seaward reefs, where Ed had been told the 

 cannon were to be found. Even at that distance we could 

 see a fine show of rolling blue waves and white, breaking 

 seas. 



As Miss Romer cay was left behind, we bounced about 

 in waves which became ever larger and rougher. Twice 

 Kemp turned Reef Diver about to test her responsiveness 

 and to see how she would handle in a following sea. She 

 answered instantly to guidance in any direction. The water 

 jet beneath our hull seemed completely adequate, and we 

 continued toward the reefs with more assurance. 



150 Sea Diver 



