I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment
later I realized that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but
the white crest of an enormous wave. During twenty-six years'
experience of the ocean in all its moods I had not encountered a wave
so gigantic. It was a mighty upheaval of the ocean, a thing quite
apart from the big white-capped seas that had been our tireless enemies
for many days. I shouted, "For God's sake, hold on! It's got us!"
Then came a moment of suspense that seemed drawn out into hours. White
surged the foam of the breaking sea around us. We felt our boat lifted
and flung forward like a cork in breaking surf. We were in a seething
chaos of tortured water; but somehow the boat lived through it, half-
full of water, sagging to the dead weight and shuddering under the
blow. We baled with the energy of men fighting for life, flinging the
water over the sides with every receptacle that came to our hands, and
after ten minutes of uncertainty we felt the boat renew her life
beneath us. She floated again and ceased to lurch drunkenly as though
dazed by the attack of the sea. Earnestly we hoped that never again
would we encounter such a wave.
The conditions in the boat, uncomfortable before, had been made worse
by the deluge of water.
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