The boat was going down in the cold Florida waters. The crew had to jump. The captain, the cook, the oiler, Billie, and the correspondent all piled into a little boat about the size of a large desk. They needed to get through the rough surf to get to mainland and their safety. They knew the boat would disintegrate if they took it in but they didn't have much of a choice; there was nobody at their rescue.
             The correspondent went through much physical, mental, and emotional hardships during his long swim to the beach. He was already worn down from his previous days out in the water. This made the trip much harder for him.
             The correspondent was mentally beat. The skies were playing with his emotions. The day of the long swim, he awoke to a morning of "splendor, with a sky of pure blue, and the sunlight flamed on the tips of the waves." This gave him a sense of calmness that would turn out to be anguish or aggravation. There was also a lookout tower that to his
             inconvenience was not being used. He wonders to himself "if none ever ascended the tall wind-tower, and if they never looked seaward." He goes on to say that the tower represented "the serenity of nature amid the struggles of the individual."
             He had to suck it up though. He knew the others "were not afraid" but they were trying to hide the fact that they were worried. They wanted to be at the shore but the correspondent "was too tired to grapple fundamentally with the fact. He tried to coerce (force) his mind into thinking it, but the mind was dominated at this time by all the muscles, and the muscles said they did not care." He thought that if he would drown however, that it would be a shame.
             When the time came for them all to jump out of the boat, he grabbed a life-belt that had been lying at the bottom of the boat. He held it close to his chest with his left hand so he could keep afloat and while trying to...