The morning following the finding of the 

 ancient anchor, we got Sea Diver under way and began to 

 search the western end of the ten-mile barrier reef at the 

 outer edge of the harbor, which we had avoided until now. 

 With only two days left before Captain Weems and the 

 Life team would be leaving, we had decided to concentrate 

 on any likely areas we had so far missed. 



We had eyed the long coral bank each time we had 

 passed it on our way to the inner reefs, questioning the 

 possibility that the Santa Maria might have gone on it in 

 the darkness of that Christmas Eve. But always the large 

 ocean waves which burst mightily upon it made it look 

 very hazardous to approach in any of our boats. 



Fortunately we had chosen a quiet morning. We an- 

 chored well inside the barrier, with enough room for Sea 

 Diver to swing in any direction. Although the sea was 

 calmer than we had yet seen it, there were aheady breakers 

 upon the reef. Ed had mapped out a plan of search cover- 

 ing about two miles of its western extremity, for he thought 



Search for the Santa Maria 217 



