and Sea Diver had carried us several degrees south of the 

 intended course. A check of those on duty during the night 

 revealed that no one knew when our course had changed 

 or how long the ship had been heading in the new direc- 

 tion. 



That is one of the difficulties of sailing with amateur 

 crews. They do not function with the clocklike precision 

 of trained personnel. Fortunately, in this instance, there 

 was no danger, as we had been in deep water all night 

 long. It was still impossible to pick up any indication of 

 bottom with the fathometer. 



Ed corrected the course a few degrees to the north- 

 east and continued to take soundings until, at about nine 

 o'clock, the fathometer picked up depths of a hundred 

 feet. We steered this same course for another hour and a 

 half and then changed our heading to straight north, 

 thinking thus to intercept the northern line of reefs we 

 were seeking. 



We were making a very unorthodox approach. Had 

 we headed for the Silver banks from Puerto Plata, as we 

 had originally intended, we could have made use of the 

 bearings given by Captain Phips in his log for reaching 

 the site of the wreck, as well as those of Korganoff and 

 others; but, coming from Cap Haitien as we did, we had 

 to figure it out for ourselves. 



It was not long before we began to see isolated coral 

 heads around us, and soon we were forced to shift course 

 frequently to avoid them. Kemp took his station on the 

 pulpit, where he could keep an eye on the water depths 

 and the location of the heads, and Barney climbed the 

 mast to the crow's-nest, where he could view miles of 

 starthngly clear blue-green water. The occasional coral 

 head appeared as a pale, lime-green blotch against it. 

 Glenn, Jane and I watched in mounting excitement and 

 anxiety as the formations of coral grew thicker and Ed 



The Silver Shoals 253 



