Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Repairing the Moore

What Conga and his partners have to do now is to repair the damaged part of the two-masted ship, so that the ship can sail to the Pacific Ocean without danger; in this way, all the cargo in the cave can be loaded Like, drive away as soon as possible. Repairing the hull of the Moore is quite a heavy job.But Fargas, the carpenter, is very skilled, and has all the tools and materials, so the repair must be very smooth. The ship's irons had to be removed first, and then the hull was carried to the creek bank, and the ship was laid on the starboard side, so that repairs could be made from the outside, and the planks of the bottom replaced.

It might take a long time; but Conga had plenty of time, for by his calculations there were still two full months of fine weather. As for the arrival of the lighthouse rescuers, he had already made up his mind. He found a lighthouse log in the lighthouse staff's shelter, from which he found all relevant materials.Relief only comes once every three months, and the letter ship San Fe will not return to Elgow Bay until the beginning of March, and it is only the end of December. The journal also told him that the names of the three lighthouse personnel were Maurice, Philip, and Fasquito.From the furnishings in the dormitory, it can be seen that three people lived there.So there was one man out of three who did not suffer the same fate as his unfortunate companions.Where has this man gone?Conga didn't take this to heart either.He is alone, and there is nothing he can do, and he will soon die of cold and starvation.

But although there was plenty of time for repairing the two-masted ship, some possible delays had to be accounted for.In fact, as soon as the matter started, it was forced to stop before the repairs could be carried out. That day was January 3rd, they had just finished moving the ballast of the Moore, and Conga was deciding to lean over the next day, and on this night, the weather suddenly changed. That night, many clouds gathered in the southern sky.The temperature on the weather gauge dropped suddenly, indicating that a storm was coming, and the temperature rose to sixteen degrees.There was lightning and thunder rumbling in the sky.The wind was blowing furiously.The raging tide like a mountain rolled straight up the reef, attacking the foot of the cliff.

It was a great fortune for the Moore to be moored in Elgow Bay at this time, because the harbor was completely protected from the southeast wind this time.In such weather, ships of any size, whether sailing or steaming, are in danger of being blown up along the coast of the island.A small ship like the Moore is of course more dangerous. The wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the impact of the sea water in the ocean was getting stronger and stronger, and even the small river was filled with sea water.At high tide, the river rose to the foot of the cliff, and the whole beach was submerged, all the way to the outside of the courtyard.The waves hit the lighthouse's dormitory, and the waves splashed half a mile as far as the beech woods.

Conga and his followers managed to keep the Moore from being swept away by the wind and waves with great difficulty.Several times the boat drew up the anchor and was nearly washed ashore.They were forced to lower a second anchor.Twice it seemed as if something had to happen. But apart from guarding the Moore day and night, those pirates have already occupied the dormitory of the lighthouse, so they are not afraid of the storm at all.All the beds and quilts of the sailors on the ship were moved here. The dormitory was originally spacious enough to accommodate fourteen people.They had never lived in such comfort since they came to Starn Island.

Don't worry about food.There was enough food in the storehouses of the Lighthouse, and plenty of it; even double the number of people would not be afraid.Moreover, when necessary, the grain stored in the cave can also be fetched.In short, the two-masted ship was well prepared for provisions during the long voyage to the Pacific Islands. The inclement weather was not over until January 12; a mile was wasted and nothing could be done.Kanga saw that the two-masted ship was rocking like a small boat, and for the sake of caution, ordered someone to move part of the weight back onto the ship.Since there were also many rocks in the harbor, the ship would sink as if hit by the mouth of the bay, so the ship was towed far away, and the repair work was stopped.

On the night of the 12th, the wind suddenly turned from west to southwest.There was such a wind and such a sea over Cape San Basuloma that the Mole would have been smashed if she had been in the little harbour. During the week a boat passed Starn Island during the day.Therefore, it does not need to keep an eye on any lighthouses, nor can it tell that the lighthouses are not lit at night.It sailed from the northeast and sailed into the Strait of La Mer with half sail, with the French flag flying on its mast. Also, it was three nautical miles from land when it passed, and it took a telescope to discern its nationality.Therefore, if Fasquez had made any gestures to the ship, the people on board would not have seen it, and indeed they did not see it, otherwise, the French captain on board would have not hesitated to send a small boat to save the ship. A dead man.

On the morning of the 13th, the Pirates removed the weight of the ship's iron from the Moore, piled it on the beach where the tide could not reach, and checked the interior of the ship again.This time it was much more careful than the inspection at Cape San Basuloma.The carpenter told everyone that the damage was worse than originally thought.At that time, the wind and waves in the sea were quite strong. The ship sailed against the wind and was under great pressure.For this reason a crack was made in the back of the boat.It was clear that something was going to happen as soon as the ship sailed out of the Elgow Sound.Now the boat had to be towed ashore and replaced with two new boards, three frames, and a fringe about six feet long.

It has been said before.Repair materials are at your fingertips, thanks to the various items collected in the cave.Fargas the carpenter, together with his men, could not finish the job.If he is not successful.The Moore could not sail into the Pacific without a thorough repair.Fortunately, the mast, sail, and rigging were not damaged at all. The first step in the repair was to lift the boat onto the sand so that it could lean over on the starboard side.Lacking the cranes in the docks that replace manpower, this was done only when the tide was at its heaviest.For this reason it was now necessary to wait two more days for the high tide of the first half of the month to bring the boat up to the highest point on the beach, so that it would not be flooded from end to end during the repairs.

Conga and Cargante took advantage of the two days' delay to go back to the cave once more, this time in the lighthouse boat, which was larger than the canoe.Some things of value, such as looted gold, silver, jewels, and other valuables, were brought back and placed in storerooms in the house next to the lighthouse. The boat set out on the morning of the 14th, and the tide had been out for two hours by then: it would not return until the high tide in the afternoon. weather is good.A slight southerly wind was blowing patches of white clouds, with sunlight peeking through them. Before setting off, Cargante went up to the lighthouse platform and looked out into the sky for a while, as he did every day.The sea is so desolate that there is no boat in sight, not even a local boat, which usually sails to the east of the New Year Islands.

The island, too, was deserted, at least as far as the eye could see. As the boat went downriver, Conga took a good look at both sides of the harbour.Where was the lighthouse man who escaped from their grasp? Although Kang Jia didn't take this matter very seriously, he still hoped to get rid of him. There is no one on the shore as in the harbour.The only sign of life here is the thousands of birds perched on the cliffs, flying there. Because the wind was favorable, the boat landed in front of the cave at about eleven o'clock. Conga and Cargante went ashore, leaving two men to guard the boat, and went into the cave, and came out again half an hour later. Everything in the cave looked the same as when they left last time, and it hadn't been touched. To be honest, the cave was full of messy things, of all kinds, and even with a light on, it was hard to find what was missing. Conga and his companions produced two chests, both tightly covered: they were full of gold and many precious stones; they had been robbed from an English three-masted ship.They put the boxes in the boat, and were about to set sail, when Conga said he was going up to Cape Sanchouan, and from there looked at the coastlines to the south and north. In this way Cargante and Conga climbed to the top of the cliff until they reached the end of the corner.From here the view is very convenient; from one side the coast jutting out into the Strait of La Mer can be seen for a distance of two miles, and from the other side as far as Cape Several. "Not a soul!" said Cargant. "By the way, there is no one!" Conga replied. Then they returned to the boat, and it was high tide at this time, and everyone sailed back with the tide, and returned to Elgow Bay before three o'clock. Two days later, on the morning of the 16th, Conga and his companions set about bringing the Moore ashore.The tide was at its highest at eleven o'clock, and everything was in order.They drew an anchor chain to the shore, and when the water level rose to a suitable level, they could use the anchor chain to pull the boat to the shore. There is no difficulty, or danger, in doing so.The tide alone does exactly that. They waited until the tide began to recede, then tightened the hawser, and pulled the Mole as high as they could on the shore. There's nothing else to do down here but wait for the tide to go out.About one o'clock the rocks near the foot of the cliff were out of the water, and the Mole's keel touched the sand below.At three o'clock the hull was clear of the water and sheering on the starboard side. Now the repairs can be started, but because there is no way to drag the hull all the way to the foot of the mountain, the hull will still float when the high tide comes, and the repair work will have to be interrupted for several hours every day.On the other hand, as the tide will recede from today onwards, the period of stoppage will be gradually shortened, and thereafter there will be a fortnight without interruption. The carpenter went about his business in this way, and the Patagonians in the Band of Pirates were of course useless, but the rest, including Conga and Cargante, could at least help. After the copper skin is removed, the damaged part can be easily removed.This leaves the skeleton and the floor; it is the floor which now needs to be repaired, and the timbers, planks, and bent logs from the cave are sufficient for use. For the next fortnight Fargas and the rest proceeded well, as the weather remained fine.The most troublesome thing was to knock out the floor and the ribs, for these were tightly bound with copper sheets, and fastened with wooden nails.The whole hull is extremely solid.Certainly he said that the two-masted ship Moore had been built in a well-known shipyard in Farbareso.Fargas had taken great pains to complete this part of the work; and the repair would have been unsatisfactory had it not been for the great collection of carpenter's tools in the cave. Of course, during the climax of the first few days, repairs had to be halted.After a few days, the tide was so low that it couldn't even hit the edge of the beach.Since the keel of the hull is protected from water, repairs are carried out both inside and outside the ship.But the important thing is to at least get the planks replaced before the tide rises. For the sake of caution, Kanga did not remove all the copper sheathing, but checked the seams of the water part of the ship plank in detail.The joints were all refilled with bitumen and wadding obtained from wrecked ships. Repair work continued almost without interruption until the end of January.The weather has been helpful, sometimes with a little rain, sometimes with a lot of rain; but not too long. During this period of time, two ships were seen on the sea of ​​Starn Island. The first English steamer came from the Pacific Ocean, entered the La Mer Channel, and then headed northeast, apparently bound for some European port.It passed Sanjouan at noon; it appeared after daybreak and disappeared before sunset, so that the captain of the ship failed to notice that the lighthouse on the island was out of light. The second boat was a large three-masted sailing vessel of uncertain nationality.It appeared towards the end of the day, just outside Cape Sanjoen, and drove along the east coast of Staten Island as far as Cape Several.Cargante was in the lookout at this time and could only see the green light to starboard.However, the captain and crew of this sailboat may have been sailing at sea for several months, so it is impossible to know that the lighthouse on the island has been built. When the three-masted ship passed by, it was quite close to the shore of the island. If someone at the end of the corner made a signal like a fire, the people on the ship would definitely see it. Did Fasquez manage to attract their attention? Whether it was there or not, the ship also disappeared in the south at daylight. In addition, some sailing and steam boats were seen on the horizon, probably bound for the Falkland Islands.Those ships may not even be seen from Starbucks Island. On the last day of January, when the moon was full, and the tide was very high, the weather changed greatly; Fortunately, although the repairs have not been completed, the wooden frames, floors and the bottom of the boat have been replaced. At least the bottom of the boat can be watertight, and there is no need to worry about water seeping into the hold. This was indeed a matter of good fortune, for for two full days and two nights the sea covered the whole of the ship: the two-masted ship was erected, but the keel had not yet floated off the sand. Conga and his men took pains to prevent further damage to the two-masted ship.Otherwise there would be another delay in their departure.Fortunately, the two-masted ship was never swept away by the waves; although the sides of the ship shook violently, it did not hit the rocks in the creek. And, on February 2, the tide went out, and the Moore ran aground again on the beach.In this way the seams of the upper part of the hull were caulked, and the hammers were tinkling and tinkling all day long. Also, the sailing date of the Moore will not be delayed because of the loading of the goods. Those who are not used by Fargas are loaded in small boats to carry the goods to the cave, and there are many round trips in this way.Sometimes it was led by Conga, sometimes by Cargante. Every time the boat sails, it has to bring back some goods, which are temporarily stored in the warehouse of the lighthouse; Drive the Mole to the front of the bay mouth cave, and stop when it encounters bad weather.There is no other shelter from the wind along the coast around Cape Sanjoen except for the creek below the lighthouse. In a few days' time, when the hull was repaired, the Moore would be sailable again, and cargo could be loaded at that time. On February 12, the remaining joints in the hull and deck were completely repaired.They also found buckets of paint on the wreck of the wreck in the past, so they repainted the Moore from top to bottom.Conga took this opportunity to change the name of the two-masted ship as well, calling it the Cargante, in honor of his second-in-command.He changed the rigging again and made several repairs to the sail. On the 12th the Moore could well have sailed back to her original mooring and loaded her cargo.Conga and his mates were impatient to leave Starn Island, and it was much to their annoyance to have to wait for the next tide to float the Moore. On February 14, the tide came.On this day, the keel that had been stuck in the sand floated up, and the two-masted ship sailed smoothly into the deep water.Now it's just loading. At this time, except for the unforeseen resistance, the Cargante can weigh anchor within a few days, leave Elgo Bay, sail into the La Mer Strait, and then raise full sail to the vast southwest. The Pacific sails away.