For another five minutes the ordeal continued; then, almost as suddenly as she had entered the Race, the Kestrel found herself in comparatively calm water, with the final unwelcome gift of about fifty gallons of the English Channel being thrown in her cockpit.
The Merlin was not long in following her consort’s example, and, with the roar of the turbulent overfalls still dinning in their ears, the crews of both yachts set about repairing the damage done during their exciting quarter of an hour.
Owing to the fact that they had missed the most dangerous part of Portland Race both craft had come off comparatively lightly. Twenty minutes’ hard work at the pump freed the Kestrel of the water that had found its way on board. Her mizzen-boom had been sprung close to the gooseneck; one of the panes of the skylight had been broken; while—worst of all—her dinghy’s top-strake had been badly smashed owing to the boat being thrown violently against the Kestrel’s quarter.
Three of the Sea Scouts had received minor injuries owing to the severe and erratic motion of the yacht; Eric Little was “down and out” with sea-sickness; while Molly, the pup, who had been locked in the saloon, was nearly frantic with joy when Peter went below to see how she had fared.
“What’s wrong with your engine?” enquired Mr. Grant, hailing the Merlin.
“Water on plug and in the carburetter,” replied Scoutmaster Pendennis. “We’ll get her going soon, I hope. I’ve heard a lot about Portland Race, but I never expected it to be like that on a calm day. Hello! what’s the matter with your hand?”
“Poisoned it,” explained Mr. Grant. “It’s getting better now. I say: what do you propose to do?”
“We’re carrying on,” replied Pendennis. “We want to make Yarmouth or Lymington to-day. We’ll tow you until a breeze springs up.”
“We’ll have to put into Swanage,” announced Mr. Grant. “We’ve a stowaway on board and we want to land him.”
“How interesting,” rejoined the Cornishman. “All right, Swanage it is for both of us. We want more petrol, although we may have enough to carry us on if the breeze does show up.”