our anchor and chain did not fail, or we would find our- 

 selves dashed against these same reefs which had claimed 

 the Nuestra Senora so many centuries before. 



The night passed quietly enough. In fact the wind 

 went down toward morning, but we found ourselves hard 

 put to it to stay in our bunks as Sea Diver rolled steeply 

 from side to side in a cross tide. We were up early. After 

 breakfast Ed and Kemp embarked in Wee Diver to assess 

 the problem of raising the anchor. 



They found it caught in a coral head on the bottom 

 as they had feared, the chain twisted and turned aroimd 

 nearby heads. This time it was in fourteen fathoms of 

 water, and again it was necessary for Ed to dive to this 

 depth to free it. But now it was much more difficult, for 

 the rough open sea caused Sea Diver to jerk and pull on 

 the chain, and he had to time his movements while loosen- 

 ing it to the brief intervals when there was a little slack. 

 He was exhausted from the struggle when he came back 

 on board. 



We were rewarded for the efforts of the previous day, 

 however, when we approached the reef harbor, where a 

 yellow-flag buoy floated, marking the permanent mooring 

 we had laid. We found our way in through the surround- 

 ing reefs and heads, coasted up to the buoy, which Kemp 

 caught with the boat hook, and secured Sea Diver quickly 

 and safely. 



It was late in the morning when we had finished eat- 

 ing breakfast and completed the chores on board. By the 

 time Reef Diver was loaded with the necessary diving 

 equipment and the two small boats were finally on their 

 way to the reefs, the vidnd had come up again. Although 

 it was fairly quiet within the reef harbor, the seas outside 

 were kicking up quite a fuss. 



We had hoped to anchor over the spot where Barney 

 and Jane had picked up the two ballast stones, but the 



266 Sea Diver 



