water, her neatly placed water jet maintaining constant 

 control. 



We were safe from the whole waves, but what of those 

 whose crests were breaking all around us? Surely, we 

 would be caught by one of them and swamped! 



Twice, huge seas broke just as they reached our stern, 

 and twice Kemp, anticipating them, swung Reef Diver 

 around to face them. They burst harmlessly against our 

 high bow. Perhaps we would survive after all. 



I began to feel braver. When we were tlirough the 

 worst of the pursuing seas, I felt sufficiently reassured to 

 take a turn watching the bottom through the glass panels 

 in the cabin. There, lulled by the familiar sight of white 

 sand bottom, green-brown grass and mottled coral forma- 

 tions, half veiled by murky, sand-filled water, my com- 

 posure returned. 



But the next morning, when Ed decided to go out to 

 the reefs again, I was quick to offer to stay aboard Sea 

 Diver and let Vital go in my place. Although the wind had 

 gone down considerably, the distant reefs were still white 

 with foam, and I had no desire to repeat the experience of 

 the previous day. Promising to be back by lunchtime, the 

 three men cast off Reef Diver and soon disappeared around 

 the end of the island, which hid the reefs that were their 

 destination from my sight. 



I set about catching up with some tasks aboard, and 

 before I knew it the morning was gone. It was not until 

 lunchtime that I began to wonder why they did not return. 

 As the afternoon wore on, my imagination ran wild. Sup- 

 pose Reef Diver had been swamped? Or suppose the en- 

 gine had quit and they had been carried out to sea by the 

 tide? I checked the tide tables, only to find that the tide 

 was indeed running out. This did not help my morale. 



I was alone on Sea Diver, miles from the nearest 

 settlement. There had been no sign of a human being 



The Bahama Islands 153 



