Captain Cotton Top Ch 01
The coral reef lay in wait inches below the graying water’s surface, a secret to the Captain as his vessel cut across the swells. Frightened by the growing shape above, iridescent choirs of tiny fish scattered for shelter as the wooden hull advanced. The chart spread out on the cabin deck was old, maybe older than the coral. Centuries earlier, a leaded line dropped astern a naval schooner had bumped this shelf of life. A sextant’s sight of the sun from a rolling deck had led to errors, a...