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It was off San Miguel that we had our first adventure, and'* Ow 
one- quite unanticipated. We were bent on fishing for deepwater 
mollusks with the unique rattan traps that John Finlay had 
devised, and to which he introduced us on the 1958 Smiths onian- 
Bredin Caribbean Expedition. Dr. Rehder and I wanted to "fish" 
the Cozumel channel where the 100-fathom curve was only a 
half-mile off shore. The current here runs swiftly, all of 
2-1/2 knots, but with plenty of line, as John advised, and what 
we deemed sufficient weight, two traps were put over late one 
afternoon within sight of one another to facilitate locating 
them before sun-up the next morning. In the half light of morning 
the channel and its unquiet sea were none too inviting, send the 
current appeared ever so much more swift than the evening before, 
and the large, well-inflated automobile tires that buoyed our 
lines were not where they should have been. We started to cruise 
in circles, working more and more to the northward of our bearings 
on the San Miguel light and pier in the direction of the current 
flow. We persevered to no purpose. Having apparently miscal- 
culated the strength of the current, we seemed to have lost our 
gear. 
True adventures are never planned in advance , except perhaps 
in movie scripts. Ours was suddenly thrust upon us with the 
utter failure of the outboard motor which powered our dinghy. 
It refused to start, no matter how hard our crewman, Hal, worked 
on it. Just when one needs it most the typical charter-boat 
outboard seems to let one down. Here we were out in this 2-3 
