UNDER SEA WITH HELMET AND CAMERA 



passage was a pleasant one. It was possible for me to take the time to repeat 

 my previous experience of making the homeward sail by the ocean route. 

 A friend, Dr. Lalor Burdick, joined me, making a total ship's company of 

 five. We enjoyed pleasant sailing for the first three days; then the wind 

 suddenly shifted to the North. The weather became threatening. We 

 started the motor, furled sail, and rigged the storm jib to be in readiness 

 should it be required. The wind continued to blow from the North, and 

 by ten o'clock we were in a gale, hitting heavy seas, with Cape Hatteras 

 lighthouse and Diamond Shoal in sight. The lightship was abeam about 

 midnight and the wind blowing with still greater force. At four in the 

 morning, we had not progressed more than ten miles from Hatteras and 

 Buckaroo was making no headway. If we held to our course, it would be a 

 question of which would last longer, the storm or our fuel supply. The next 

 port was Norfolk, 1 1 5 miles to Chesapeake lightship. We decided to turn 

 and flee for Morehead City, sixty-nine miles to the bell buoy off Cape 

 Lookout Shoals. The turn was accompHshed nicely, though with anxiety, 

 and we hoisted our jib. I appreciated Captain Billsborough's foresight in 

 having this sail ready for we surely needed it to keep a steady pull forward, 

 helping to hold the ship stern-on to the waves. It would have been no fun 

 getting that jib out of the sail locker in the forepeak under the circum- 

 stances. Our course was S.W. %W. but the seas were running S.S.W. 

 When an extra heavy one approached, it was necessary to steer S.S.W. to 

 avoid broaching. One of us had to keep looking astern, calling to the man 

 at the wheel for the change of course. Thus, we kept gradually increasing 

 our distance from shore. When we estimated our position to be directly 

 off Morehead City, we turned N.W. /4N. We experienced a terrific 

 rolling for seven hours. After keeping the course for forty-two miles we 

 got a radio bearing on Cape Lookout Light and took a course N.E. %E. 

 The necessity of turning for the heaviest seas had taken us nearly seventy 

 miles off-shore. The correct course would have brought us within ele 



