Page 8 - CYAA2024 Winter Series entry notice

having so little exercise, Splendid winds then set in while he was running south
between latitudes 5deg. south and 15deg. south. His habit was to sleep three or

four hours before daylight, but he found about this time that his sleep was
much disturbed by a constant knocking at the bottom of the boat. This was due
to the fact that his boat was surrounded by small fish, which the sharks would
attempt to catch, but only when it was dark or during a squall. The sharks

would come right up alongside, and turning over, try and gulp down as many
fish as possible. To avoid this he made a harpoon out of a kind of boathook he
had, and though he speared many, was unable to bring them alongside and kill
them; but his constant efforts made the sharks fight shy of him, so he says that

at night when turning in he would place his shirt where he was accustomed to
sit at the helm, and thus the fish would keep away and trouble him no more
with their midnight yappings. On 10th November he sighted the barquentine
Tropic Vance, Captain Burns, from Tahiti to San Francisco. He went alongside
the vessel and obtained his correct longitude, as so far he had been using dead

reckoning. Having exchanged greetings and received a quantity of fruit he
proceeded again. After passing the Tropic Vance the Pacific made some of her
Quest; runs, from 98 miles in the 21 hours to 106 miles by the patent log. On

Saturday, 9th December, the island of Eoa, the southernmost island in the
Friendly group, was passed, and he ran to the south of it. On the 14th Decem-
ber, after running before a heavy sea and wind, but both favorable to the
course, a heavy sea broke under the boat and turned her completely over. He
had his mainsail and foresail set, but closely reefed He himself went backward

into the water, and coming alongside the boat, clambered up the bottom. And
now he had to commence a series of manoeuvres to get the boat righted. At
night he had been in the habit, when asleep, of using a "floating anchor,” with
which to heave-to on, and so on this, which with 40ft. of rope connected with

the boat, he was enabled after about an hour’s hard work to haul away and
right his boat; but here again another difficulty arose. The boat was, of course,
nearly full of water, and he proceeded to bail, when the boat capsized a second
time, more on account of the unevenness of the balance in the water, which
leaked into the compartments, than anything else. However, she was righted

with more ease this time, and he proceeded to clear everything at once which
would make her top heavy, and fastening all the spars together, he let them
float some way behind on the sea anchor, thereby steadying the boat, and at the

same time lessening the risk of her toppling over. He was at the time 1,400
miles from Sandy Cape, with provisions almost gone, and his boat nearly full,
and a heavy sea on. He bailed away that night, and next day secured all things
snug and taut in the boat, and on Saturday, the 16th December, he got under
weigh again with pleasant weather, and everything so snug that by means of a

kerosene lamp and stove he was enabled to get a warm meal. Shortly after this
a swordfish 'struck the vessel in the fore part, and not till things were floating
about in the vessel was the leak suspected. This was soon stopped. Having had