Yarns the Missionaries Tell 59

Winding Up the Anchor Line. Next morning,
Saturday, we put off again but had to return. The
pump, which pumps water around the cylinders to
keep them cool, went wrong and we spent hours
trying to fix it, disconnecting pipes and valves, etc.
We finally succeeded, but too late to get home for
the three services awaiting us on Sunday. Next
morning we thought we might get home at least for
two of our services, so we rose early and pulled up
our anchor, throwing off on a buoy the line of a
second anchor borrowed at the lighthouse for the
occasion. As we pulled off I was at the wheel and
getting too near the sheer rocks on the starboard side
I turned the wheel over hard and the tiller system
broke, putting the boat out of control! And while I
waited wondering what to do I heard a crack as if we
had struck a rock and I noticed that although the
engine kept going the shaft had stopped. Upon
investigation we discovered that our propeller had
picked up this drifting anchor-line, winding up the
anchor until it finally hit the propeller with a bang.
That was the rock! Then we were fast. There was
no possibility of unravelling it without beaching the
boat, which meant waiting for high tide. We got
into our dinghy and towed our gas-boat back into a
lagoon astern of us and beached her there at high tide,
where finally we were able to repair the damage.

Taking advantage of our enforced delay waiting
for the tide, I took our row-boat and visited a lonely
family living along the shore. Father and mother,
their two children and the grandmother lived there.