CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
WRECK OF THE DUGONG.
The arrival of my uncle with his man, carrying a quantity of the lightratan rope, gave us some hopes of being able to rescue our friends onboard the brig.
"To be sure, this will float as easily as a cork," exclaimed Roger; "andI see no reason why I should not tow the end off aboard the brig. You,Tanda, pay it out as you see I want it."
Again my uncle warned him of the danger.
"Very true, sir," he answered, fastening the end round his waist; "but,you see, if we seamen had to stop every time we saw danger, we shouldvery soon have to go ashore and take to nursing babies. No, sir; mynotion is that the thing is to be done. It may fail; but if itsucceeds, why, we may manage to get most of those poor fellows safe onshore."
While we were speaking, the dog gave another loud howl, as if to make asignal to those on board; and we fancied it could not fail to be heardeven above the roar of the breakers, although our voices could scarcelyhave reached them. It was heard at all events by the rest of our party;for directly afterwards the two girls and Oliver were seen coming downfrom the house in spite of the pelting rain, covered up in mat cloaks.The Frau followed behind, entreating them to return.
"Oh, you will be wet; you will be washed away!" she cried out. "Comeback! come back! What is the matter?"
"We were afraid something dreadful had occurred," said Emily, as shereached the inner end of the rocks.
I entreated her and Grace not to come further, lest the seas, whichoccasionally washed up, might sweep them away. Oliver, however,clambered along to where we were.
"I may be of some use," he said. "Let me do what I can."
"Well, then, help to pay out this rope, Oliver," said Roger Trew, whowas securing the end round his own waist, having thrown off his jacketand shoes, retaining only his trowsers, which he fastened round hiswaist. "No time to be lost!" he added. "You pray for me, Walter. Itwill be a difficult job, but it ought to be done, and so it must!"
Saying this, he plunged in, and bravely buffeting the sea which broke inshowers round us, was in a short time free of the surf. He was notalone, however. Merlin, uttering a loud bark, plunged in directlyafterwards, and soon overtook him, swimming by his side, as if wishingto afford him support or companionship. Away they went, we graduallypaying out the light buoyant rope, which floated in a way no ordinaryrope would have done.
"I am afraid," said Mr Sedgwick, "that its strength is scarcelysufficient to enable those on board to pass over it to the shore."
"No, sir," I said; "but if we can haul in a stouter rope by means of it,the same end will be accomplished."
In a short time we could no longer distinguish Roger and Merlin; but weknew by the way the rope continued to be dragged out that they werestill making progress. Now, however, the rope seemed to stop. We knewthat it could not yet have reached the vessel. After a time we felt itagain drawn on. Again there was a time of great suspense. It made butlittle progress. Still we felt that it was drawn out, and that was allthat could be said. How eagerly we looked towards the vessel, andexamined the whole of the intervening space! Presently we saw an objectfloating on the water. Now it sank, now it appeared on the foamingcrest of a sea which came rushing towards the shore. "Help! help!"exclaimed a voice. "Lend a hand!"
Passing a piece of the remaining rope round my waist, I begged my uncleand Oliver to hold it, while Tanda paid out the cable, of which but asmall part now only remained. I rushed forward as the person was borneonward towards the rock. Stretching out my hand, I caught him as thenext sea was about to sweep him up into the bay on one side, where hewould have been dashed on the sharp rocks which lined it. I threwmyself back, my uncle and Oliver hauling in the rope, when I found I hadRoger Trew by the hand.
"I could not do it!" he exclaimed; "but there is another who willsucceed, or I am much mistaken. Merlin saw how it would be, I have anotion, from the first; and when I found I must give in or go to thebottom, I just threw him the bight of the rope. He seized it in hismouth, and swam on as well as if he was in smooth water, and I let thesea bring me back again. If Merlin does not succeed, I will haveanother try at it, though; but I think he will."
While he was speaking a jerk was given, apparently at the other end ofthe rope. Directly afterwards we heard Tanda utter an exclamation ofdismay.
"It is gone!" cried Mr Sedgwick. "The end is gone!"
"Then I'll have it!" exclaimed Roger, plunging into the water as the endof the rope glided by at a little distance.
So quick was he that he caught it; and though he was carried to anotherpoint of the rock, a few yards from where we were standing, he was ableonce more to climb up and regain a safe position. With the quickness ofa practised seaman he carried it up to a point, where he made the endfast in such a way that it was not likely again to slip.
We now all stood anxiously watching to see what would next occur. Wecould do no more, unless we found the end of our rope slackening, as asign that another had been fastened to it. We should then haul away onit. The minutes seemed hours as we stood on the shore anxiously lookingout towards the brig. Bits of timber came floating on shore; now apiece of a broken spar; now parts of the bulwarks. We were afraid thatere long the brig would begin to break up. Meantime Frau Ursula hadbeen urging the girls to go back to the house; but they were too deeplyinterested in what was taking place to listen to her entreaties. Theythought not of the pelting rain; they thought not of the driving sprayor furious wind. Their hearts were with our friends on board--with MrHooker, kind Mr Thudicumb, honest Dick Tarbox, and the faithful PottoJumbo. Presently we saw a round object floating towards us.
"It is a man's head!" cried Oliver. "Let me go this time."
"No, no," I answered; "I am not at all tired from my other swim, and Iwill try and help him."
I was getting ready to plunge in, in spite of Oliver's entreaties, when,on looking again, a flash of lightning at the moment lighting up the topof the wave, we saw the head of Merlin as he bravely swam towards us.We rushed into the water to help him, lest the send of the sea mighthave driven him against the rock before he had gained a footing.Instead of shaking himself, as a dog generally does, as soon as he wasclear of the water, he stood perfectly still. We then saw that he hadgot a bottle round his neck.
"A letter from Hooker; I am sure of it!" said Mr Sedgwick. "It willgive us important information. We cannot read it here, however. Come,young ladies, I must take you up to the house, and comfort the Frau'sheart. She is afraid you will catch ague or fever, or cold at allevents; and she has reason for her fears--so come along."
Very unwillingly the two girls left the scene; Emily entreating me, asshe went away, not to run any more risks of being drowned. Curiouslyenough, Merlin, having performed his duty, accompanied Mr Sedgwick andthe girls up to the house. In a short time Mr Sedgwick returned,saying, that the note was from Mr Hooker, to the effect that he hopedthe vessel would hold together till the hurricane was over, as she gaveno signs of breaking up, while there was a sufficient space free ofwater below, to afford shelter to all who remained on board. "I amsorry to say," he added, "that several of the crew have attempted toswim on shore. Two of them we saw lost before they had gone manyfathoms from the ship; but we hope the others have arrived safely. We,however, will make a hawser fast to the rope you sent us by that noblecreature Merlin, that in case we are mistaken about the brig holdingtogether, we may have a better prospect of saving our lives."
On hearing this we again went to the end of the point, and found that wecould haul in upon the rope; and by the resistance it made, it wasevident that a hawser had been secured to it. It was very heavy work;but at length, by our united efforts, we got the hawser secured to apoint of the rock. We had now a communication with our poor brig, butwe trembled to think of the danger to which Mr Hooker would be exposedshould he attempt to make use of it in his present weak health.
"A short time ago he would have come along that ro
pe without theslightest difficulty," observed Oliver; "but now I am afraid that, werehe to make the attempt, he could scarcely resist the strength of thewaves, and would be washed off."
"I am afraid so too, Oliver," said Roger Trew. "Sooner than he shoulddo that, I would go out and try to help him ashore."
Attached to the end of the hawser, I should observe, we found a lightrope. This was evidently sent that we might get another stout one onshore. We found on trying it that we were right in our conjecture, andhauling away as before, we got a second strong rope united to the vesseland the land. Mr Sedgwick now wanted us to go back to the house, butwe could not think of leaving the shore till our friends were in safety.He himself said that he would remain to watch, should any change takeplace. It was an anxious time, for instead of decreasing, the wind wasblowing even harder than before. It seemed a wonder that the _Dugong_could stand so much battering. Still, we could dimly see her throughthe gloom, her masts yet standing, though heeling over towards the land.Every now and then a huge sea swept over the larger portion of thewreck; and numerous pieces of plank thrown on the rocks showed us thatalready her bulwarks at all events were giving way.
"I suspect that Dick Tarbox and the others will not desert Mr Hooker;and they are afraid of his suffering should he attempt to come ashore,"I observed to Roger Trew.
"That is it, Master Walter," he answered. "Depend on it they will notleave him till they are washed out of the ship. I should like to go onboard and see how they are getting on."
I urged him, however, not to make the attempt.
"It is far more easy for them to come to us than for you to go onboard," I observed. "Let us wait patiently; perhaps as the nightadvances the gale will abate."
Still the wind blew as hard as ever. At length, just as Mr Sedgwickhad gone back to the house to look after the girls and Frau Ursula, ashout reached our ears. We hurried to the point of the rock, and therewe saw what looked like a huge piece of wreck being driven towards us.
"I am afraid the brig is breaking up," I observed. "Poor Mr Hooker!What can we do to help him?"
We tried to pierce the gloom to ascertain who was on the wreck. Bydegrees we saw that, instead of a piece of wreck, it was a small boat.Those in her were holding on to the hawsers. Now she rose, now shefell, as the waves passed under her. We could scarcely understand howshe could live in that tossing sea, with the weight of several people onboard. At length she seemed to stop, and turned round broadside to us.
"She must go over," shouted Roger. "Look out; help them as they comeashore."
She was at that time near enough for us to see two persons leapoverboard; one, it seemed, holding on to the other. They approached.Again a voice shouted "Look out!" Roger Trew ran to the point of therock, holding on to the rope, and stretching over into the sea. Wecould now distinguish the two men. Nearer and nearer they came.
"Give me your hand, Cooky, give me your hand," cried Roger, stretchingout his arm; and then I saw that Potto Jumbo was working along thehawser, with Mr Hooker secured by a rope to his back. The dawn wasjust breaking. The cry of some sea-fowl as they passed soundedominously in our ears. Even then I feared that Potto Jumbo would losehis hold, or that Mr Hooker, weak from his illness, might be torn awayby the fury of the sea. I ran forward with another rope, the end ofwhich Oliver held, and just as Roger caught hold of Potto Jumbo's hand,and was dragging him up, I grasped him by the arm. Mr Hooker seemedalmost exhausted, and could not utter a word. With the help of Oliverand Tanda we at length got them up on the rock, though not till PottoJumbo had severely hurt his legs against the sharp points.
"Heaven be praised, it is done! You all right soon, Mr Hooker,"exclaimed Potto Jumbo, as he committed his charge to our hands.
The boat meantime was slowly drifting in, in spite of the efforts of twomen on board to hold her; one indeed appeared to have been hurt, andable to exert but little strength. Who they were we could not then see,but I hoped that my old friend Dick Tarbox had escaped.
"Is the boatswain one of them?" I asked of Potto Jumbo.
"Yes, massa, yes," answered Potto; "and t'other Mr Thudicumb. But helpdem, help dem; no mind me. I take care of Mr Hooker; Mr Thudicumb nohelp himself."
It was time indeed for us to exert all our strength, for the boat wasnow being driven helplessly towards the rock; and it seemed but tooprobable, should she strike it, that those in her would be thrown out,and very likely swept off by the sea: indeed, they were in a moredangerous position than had they held on alone to the rope. There wason one side of the rock a sort of gulf, which ran up some way towardsthe beach. Should the boat strike the point, she would very likely bedashed to pieces, but if we could manage to get hold of her as she droveby on one side, we might, I knew, rescue our friends and save her. Thisthought passed rapidly through my mind. The rest of our party saw whatwas likely to happen as well as I did, and together we eagerly stoodwaiting for the boat to reach us.
On she came. Mr Thudicumb managed to crawl to the helm, while DickTarbox stood in the bows. Another sea came roaring in. The boatswainheld a rope in his hand. I almost shrieked with terror as I saw theboat, as I thought, coming towards the point; but the mate, moving thehelm, she grazed by it, and the next instant Tarbox hove the rope. Wecaught it, and hauling on together as we ran along, drew the boat's headfor an instant in towards us. Tarbox leaped out and seized the rope.Potto, who had placed his burden on a secure part of the rock, joinedus. The following sea almost filled the boat, but we dragged her bowsin, though as we did so she came with a fearful crash against the rock.Tarbox then leaping back, seized the mate, and with almost superhumanstrength dragged him out over the side on to the rock, while we hauledthe boat up half out of the water.
"You are safe, Mr Thudicumb, you are safe!" exclaimed Tarbox to themate, who scarcely seemed aware of what had happened.
While Oliver, Roger Trew, and Tanda attended to the boat, Potto Jumboagain lifted up Mr Hooker, and Tarbox and I assisted Mr Thudicumbalong over the ledge towards the shore.
"Are there any others left on board?" asked Roger Trew. "If there are,we will pull back and try to bring them on shore."
"No one, no one," answered the boatswain; "all left before we did,more's the pity. They would not stop, in spite of all we could say tothem."
We were soon met by Mr Sedgwick, who had returned from the house. Hecordially welcomed his old friend, moved almost to tears by thecondition in which he saw him.
"Rouse up, Hooker, my dear fellow!" he exclaimed. "You will soon have aroof over your head and a dry bed to lie in and willing hands to takecare of you."
We soon got the party up to the house, when Frau Ursula and the girlsbegan eagerly to busy themselves in arranging the beds for the two sickmen. Mr Thudicumb had been hurt by the falling of a spar, and ouruncle, who fortunately possessed considerable surgical knowledge, atonce attended to his injuries.
Daylight had now returned, and as the sun rose the gale began to abate.Mr Hooker and the mate were put to bed in my uncle's room, his owncouch accommodating one, and a mattress composed of mats serving as abed for the other. The rest of the party were now assembled in what myuncle called his hall.
"And now, my good Frau, you and the young ladies must go to your roost.As you have been night-birds, you must sleep in the day, and we willlook after these good fellows, who, I daresay, will not be sorry to takesome of the remains of our feast of last night."
"No, indeed, sir, we shall not," said Dick Tarbox; "for the truth is, wehave been far too anxious to think of grub, in the first place; and itwas a hard matter to get at any, in the second."
It was amusing to see the eagerness with which the shipwrecked men setto work upon the provisions placed before them.
"The sooner you get off those wet clothes of yours the better," observedmy uncle; "and though we are not very rich in garments here, we cansupply you with mat petticoats and a shirt apiece while your things aredrying."
In a few minutes we all
appeared dressed in the costume thus furnished,and certainly we looked more like savages than civilised people as wesat round the board.
"Now, lads, there is one thing I think we ought to do," said DickTarbox, "and that is, thank Heaven for bringing us ashore in safety, andgiving us such good quarters. If we had been driven on a coast not farfrom here, I suspect we should have found very different treatment. Thechances are our heads would have been off our shoulders before we hadbeen many hours in the company of the natives, and very likely, insteadof enjoying a good supper like this--or a breakfast, we ought to callit--we should have been served up as a feast to the savages."
Our meal over, Tanda brought in a further supply of mats, in which weall wrapped ourselves, and were very soon fast asleep, I was awoke byhearing my uncle's voice calling to Tanda, and looking up, I saw thatthey were placing another meal on the table. Our clothes were thenbrought to us.
"There, lads," said my uncle, "you are now more fit than you were toappear before the ladies; and as they are on foot, I will bring theminto the hall. I am glad also to say both Mr Hooker and the mate arevery much better for their rest, and I hope in a few days they will bethemselves again."
The first few hours we spent on the island appeared to me like a dream.I had been so tired on the night of the wreck, that scarcely was onemeal over than I was asleep again, and only woke up to see a freshrepast prepared for us. As soon as I was somewhat recovered, I hurriedout, with Tarbox and Potto Jumbo, to the shore to see what had become ofthe wreck. I gave a shout of joy when I saw that her masts were stillstanding, though she had been driven so high up on the rock that it wasvery evident that we should not be able to get her off again. The boatstill lay where Roger Trew and Oliver had hauled her up. We hurrieddown to examine her. A hole had been torn in her bottom, rendering herunfit for use.
"Never fear," said the boatswain, on examining her. "We may soon repairthis damage and be able to get off to the wreck in her. I hope we shallfind many things on board of use to us, even though we cannot get theold barky afloat again."
The next thing to be done, therefore, was to repair the boat. Wehurried back to the house to see if Mr Sedgwick was able to assist us.As soon as he heard the nature of the injury, he produced some planksand nails exactly suited for our purpose.
"I cannot supply you with pitch," he said, "but there are several gumsin the island which will answer the object, and here are copper nailsenough, if you use them with economy."
We of course at once set to work, and quickly patched up the littleboat. At first I had a vague idea that she might enable us to get offto some civilised place, but on seeing her once more in the water, Ifelt that that would be hopeless, as she could only hold three or fourpersons at the utmost in smooth water.
When Emily and Grace heard that we were going off to the vessel, theyentreated us to be cautious.
"I do so dread the sea," said Emily. "I should be very thankful if Ithought I had not again to cross it."
"But you would not like to live in this island for ever," observed MrSedgwick. "You will soon be wishing yourself back in the old country,as I have done, I can assure you, very often."
Oliver and I, with Tarbox and Roger Trew, had arranged to go off in theboat. The oars had fortunately been thrown on shore. Although one ofthem was broken, two had been preserved uninjured. I did my best toreassure my sister and Grace, and they and the Frau came down to see usoff. Tarbox and Oliver pulled, while I steered, and away we went overthe now blue sea towards the wreck.
As we drew near we saw the fearful injuries she had received.
A coral rock had forced itself completely through her side; and had shenot been thrown high up on the reef, she must inevitably have sunk, asthe water flowed in and out with the tide. It was now fortunately lowwater, and by getting on to the reef, which appeared above the surface,having made our boat secure, we were able to scramble on board.Everything with the exception of the masts had been swept from the deck,while the hold was still nearly full of water. In the cabin, however,we found a variety of useful articles, besides a good supply ofprovisions. All sorts of things, however, had been thrown out of theirplaces, and lay scattered about the wreck. Having collected, however,as many things as we could carry, we were about to return with them tothe boat.
"Stay," said the boatswain, "we have forgotten the arms. See, here arefour muskets against this bulkhead, and Mr Hooker's fowling-pieces. Ifwe could get some ammunition, we should be able to defend ourselves incase any of the piratical fellows in this neighbourhood should find usout and pay us a visit."
We were almost giving up the search for ammunition in despair, when wediscovered a couple of tins of powder in one of the lockers, evidentlyplaced there by Mr Thudicumb for immediate use. The powder,fortunately, from having been carefully packed in tins, had escapedinjury.
We now, laden with our prizes, got back to the boat, and without muchdifficulty steered clear of the surf to the shore. We were received onlanding by Frau Ursula and the two girls, who had been standing for along time anxiously watching the boat, afraid that some accident hadhappened. They now assisted us in landing our goods, and carrying themup to the house.
"We must not live idle lives here," said Emily, laughing; "and as wehave no fancy work, we cannot employ our time better than in makingourselves useful."
I saw the Frau eagerly examining the articles we had brought on shore.
"What! you no think of our clothes?" she exclaimed at length. "Youleave the frocks, and gowns, and shoes, and all the little girls'things? Oh, you thoughtless men!"
We felt ourselves rebuked.
"Well, we must go back at once, Frau," I answered. "I confess that weought to have recollected that you would require clothing, and thatmat-made garments, however suited to the climate, are not so becoming asthose you had on board. We will go back and fetch them."
"Oh no, no!" exclaimed Grace. "It is already late, and you have had along row to-day--some accident may be happening."
"Not much fear of that, miss," observed Tarbox. "You shall have yourduds, even though we had twice as far to pull for them. Just take carethat no one shakes his pipe over those tins there," he observed,pointing to the cases of powder. "They might chance to send the houseflying up over the trees, and the unfortunate smoker with it."
We had by this time landed all the articles we had brought on shore.They were somewhat miscellaneous, but all likely to prove useful.Besides the fire-arms and ammunition, we had found some cases ofpreserved meat and hams, a cask of biscuit, some tins of pepper and saltand mustard, a case of wine, a cask of pork, a box of cigars, and acouple of Mr Hooker's cases. We thought it would do his heart good tosee them; and I knew they were among those he valued most for theircontents.
"That was indeed thoughtful of you," observed Emily, when she saw thecases.
"It was not I who thought of them," I answered; "it was Oliver. He saidhe thought it would cheer up Mr Hooker to know that some of his thingshad been saved; and we must try and get some more on shore if we can."
"Oh yes, yes!" exclaimed both the girls together. "Bring his treasuresrather than ours. Many of them, probably, he cannot replace; and we candress, I daresay, in mats, or the cloth I have seen made out of thepaper mulberry-tree."
"Well, well, young ladies," said Tarbox. "We can find room, I daresay,in the boat for your light things, as well as Mr Hooker's chests; so Ihope, if we can get hold of the things, you will not have to rig up inany outlandish fashion."
He said this as we were shoving off the boat with our oars; and now,sitting down, we again pulled out towards the wreck.
"The gentleman on shore says he has lived here for several years," saidOliver. "All that time no vessel has called off here. Now, if we areto get away, would it not be better if we were to try and build onelarge enough for the purpose, so that we may quit the island whenever itis thought best?"
"You are right, Oliver," said Tarbox. "If we can get hold of thecarpent
er's tools, and ropes and spars enough, with blocks and sails, wemay build a craft out of the wreck, or of the wood we can cut down inthe island. It does not take so long to dry as it does in Old England."
Roger Trew agreed with Tarbox, and so did I, that we ought to make theattempt, and thanked Oliver for his suggestion. We determined,therefore, at once to secure as much rope and as many blocks as we mightwant, as well as sailcloth or sails and spars.
"I have heard talk of a man out in the Pacific Islands who built avessel with far less means than we have got," observed Tarbox. "He wasa missionary gentleman, though he knew well how to work at a forge, aswell as to use his saw and hammer. To the best of my recollection, hehad only got a file and a saw and an old anchor to begin with. He firsttaught the natives how to assist him, and then set to work to cut downthe trees and to saw them into planks. He next put up a forge, and madethe bellows, and manufactured nails and pins, and all the work hewanted."
"Oh yes, I have read of him," said Oliver. "He was Mr Williams, themissionary. He built the vessel, I think, at Raratonga, when he wasleft there by himself, without another European to help him. She wascalled the _Messenger of Peace_, and he sailed many thousand milesafterwards on board her in his missionary voyages. If Mr Williams--whohad no knowledge of ship-building except such as he obtained fromobservation of the vessels he visited--could do so, we, at all events,ought to be able to build a craft capable of carrying us to Singapore,even though we may not secure much more from the wreck."
"There is one thing we want, and that is iron," observed Tarbox; "andrope and blocks, and provisions, too. It would take us some time to putsuch a craft together."
"All I know is," said Oliver, "that Mr Williams had but the iron partof an anchor, a pick-axe, and a few garden tools, with some iron hoops.His vessel was from about sixty to seventy tons, and from the time hecut the keel until she was launched not more than four months hadpassed. Besides the bellows and forge, he made a lathe, and indeedmanufactured everything that was required. His sails were composed offine mats, woven by the natives; and the rope was manufactured from thehemp which grew on the island. In the same way he found substitutes foroakum, pitch, and paint, and everything he required."
"He you speak of must have been a very wonderful man," observed Tarbox."I consider that a man who could do what he did is fit to be PrimeMinister. Why, he would have made the Thames Tunnel, if he had tried."
"Very likely he would," said Oliver; "but God wanted him for His work,and that was to go out to those islands to the east of us in thePacific, and to convert the natives to Christianity."
By this time we had regained the wreck. Our first search was for theclothing of the Frau and the young ladies. We managed to get up a trunkwhich contained a portion of them, though the water had got in, and hadgreatly spoiled the contents. We fished about for some time, and thengot up another box, which had suffered in the same way.
"It cannot be helped," observed Tarbox. "We will not be particular howthe old lady and little girls look; and the clothes will soon dry--that's one good thing. The sun is not idle out in these parts."
Our next hunt was for the carpenter's tools. When I say that half thedeck was under water, it may be supposed that there were very few thingswhich had escaped soaking. Fortunately the carpenter had stowed many ofhis things away in a locker on the upper side of the vessel. These wesecured, and then searched for his chest, which we knew contained somemore of the necessary tools.
"Poor fellow! if he had stuck by us instead of attempting to swim onshore, he would have been here to lend us a hand," observed Tarbox.
Oliver was very busy hunting about. Of course, we had thrown off ourjackets, and retained only our trowsers. We did not mind, therefore,plunging into the water, now and then diving down in the hopes ofgetting hold of something. At length Oliver cried out that he felt thehandle of a chest, which he thought must be the carpenter's. We soongot a hook and rope, and hauled it up, when with much satisfaction wefound he was right. It was somewhat heavy, and we doubted if we shouldget it into the boat. At last Oliver suggested that we should open it,and carry some of the tools separately, so as to lighten it. This wedid; and by the time we had got a few coils of rope on board, and someblocks, our boat was heavily laden.