Posted by John Wilson on July 11, 2005 at 14:37:17 from 202.154.157.202 user hugo.
In Reply to: Re: Secret Water oddity posted by Ed Kiser on July 10, 2005 at 03:48:59:
When Goblin loses her anchor, she does still have a spare kedge anchor, “not so heavy as the big one that had been lost”, which John finds (but not a long rope for it). He only has a pocket knife to knock the fid into place, which comes unstocked and does not hold (Chapter VIII, hb pages 114-116 & 122).
When they return, Cdr Walker finds the rope in the stern locker under the after deck (Chapter XXVI, pages 332-333). He stocks the anchor, makes the warp fast to it and drops the anchor. When the Customs come aboard he says “We’re only lying to a kedge and a light warp”.
The Customs say that they will give the hospital that Jim left a ring "right away” (Chapter XXVI, pages 337) but at the end of WD Daddy says “I’ve got some telephoning to do on his (Jim’s) behalf” (Chapter XXVII, page 359). Is he telephoning the hospital again?
Another query: the River Plate steamer which moors and unloads into barges (page 343, Chapter XXVII). There were barges lying to their anchors (page 332, Chapter XXVII). From the River Plate ie from the Argentine, and probably the big steamer they saw earlier moored in the middle of the river and unloading grain into barges (page 53, Chapter IV). When Jim leaves to get petrol, John imagines that they have just come from the River Plate on the Goblin: John & Titty both think that Dover would be too near to have just arrived from (page 94, Chapter VII).
NB: Unloading into barges seems a rather third world way of unloading ships. But maybe cheaper than port charges for the wharves!