After breakfasting, Elizabeth and Aldrick stood at the forward rail on the quarterdeck, watching the activity below as the crew rigged the boom and launched the two boats. Their long silence was broken as she asked, "What is the purpose of the boom? I have tried in vain to determine it."

"It is to allow the boats to be held away from the hull to prevent their being repeatedly dashed into it by the seas and the winds. There is no need in this calmness, but the weather can quickly turn, so it is not wise to ignore rigging it."

Elizabeth nodded. "Aha! This is why I did not understand; it is not for now. Another routine. Anticipate change and be ready for it."

"Yes, it is easier to rig it in calm than it is to scramble..." He paused as eight bells rang and Wilson joined them.

"Good morning, Sir, m'Lady. I have now relieved Mister Charles to take the first half of the forenoon watch." 

"Thank you, Mister Wilson. I have authorised two firkins of light ale, a burlap of potatoes and the remains of a box of butter. The Cookery Mate will organise them up onto deck along with the gridirons, scissors, knives, boards and so on." Aldrick pointed to the strand. "With the broken branches strewn by the storm, building a roasting fire will be easy."

"My thoughts as well, Sir. Will you be going with the first boats?"

"I had thought it best to wait until the second trip. Let them land everything first without concern for us." He pointed to the right. "I would think they will settle next to the big reef. Many appear to remember it."

Wilson smiled as he nodded. "Where the lobsters are most plentiful." 

"Exactly! And we will go a good distance northward for privacy as we bathe and swim. I assume you and Judith will head ashore after you turn over the watch to Hudson. You may join us there if you wish." 

They discussed additional details, then after Wilson had departed to oversee the loading, Aldrick answered Elizabeth's question, "Imagine a creature about this long." He held his hands a little over a foot apart. "They have no internal skeleton; rather, they inhabit an articulated shell which is much like a soldier's suit of armour. And at their front are two tapered spines longer than their bodies, much like cavalry lances."

"Are you jesting?" She tilted her head and grinned. "Surely, you are."

"No, not jesting. They are indeed strange creatures, as you shall see."

"But appearance aside, from all the excited talk, they sound delicious. How does one eat them?"

Their tail is by far the best part, a piece of succulent meat which is five or six inches long and two inches wide." 

Elizabeth giggled as she nodded down his front. "And does it expand and stiffen when excited?"

"What do you mean by expand and...? Oh!" He chuckled. "No, lobster tails are a different sort of flesh. Contrarily, they shrink a bit when they are gotten hot."

She grinned. "And how will we cook them?"

"The easiest is to boil them in seawater. But our favourite method is to break off the tail and split it down the middle with scissors or a knife, then place the pieces shell-side-down on an iron griddle above the hot coals for a few minutes until the flesh turns opaque. A bit of butter to melt onto them adds even more magic to their flavour."

"I would love to find some."

"I can teach you how to swim underwater."

"Father taught us by throwing painted rocks into the river and rewarding us for finding them and bringing them up."

"I should have guessed you would know how."

She shrugged. "So will there be any for us to find? Or are they all in the big reef?"

"There will be plenty in the small reef. They hide in holes, crannies and crevices among the rocks and coral. But according to Mark Catesby, this is only during the day; they venture out of hiding to feed at night."

"You have mentioned Mark Catesby, but I forget who he is."

"The one who wrote The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands and presented it to Queen Caroline last November. It was through my discovery of him and his want of maps that I happened upon Bolton's plot of our treasure anchorage."

They carried on a rambling intercourse as they watched the loading, and when the boats were pulled away from the ship, Aldrick motioned toward the hatch coaming. "We should go below and prepare a basket to take ashore."

"What do we need?"

"Two of the large bath sheets, a few smaller cloths to clean our hands from the buttered lobster, some —"

"We eat it with our hands?"

"It is as the crew does, and I had thought we would also, so as to not be seen as looking down on their manners."

Elizabeth nodded, then she led the way down into the great cabin where she was greeted by Judith, "Good morning, Lady Elizabeth."

"Good morning, Judith." Elizabeth chuckled. "Your manner of address is improving. Now all that remains is to drop your use of Lady." 

"I am working toward it, Mmm..." She put a hand to her mouth, then grinned as she pointed to the basket on the table. "James and I prepared a hamper for you with things you will need ashore. Large bath sheets, a block of Castile soap, sponges, pumice, cloths, scissors, brushes, combs, hair pins, ribbons. And also, an assortment of ampoules of your scented oils." 

"Thank you, Judith. That is very thoughtful."

When Elizabeth paused, James spoke up, "And I have added knives, forks, plates — porcelain ones, not the silver — and also linens, wine and wine glasses, Sir."

"Thank you, James. Perhaps add tankards so we may enjoy some of the ale. Also, Elizabeth wishes to dive on the reef to find lobsters, so we need an empty potato or onion burlap to hold them."

"Aye, Sir."

A quarter-hour later, Aldrick followed Elizabeth down the accommodation ladder, and as soon as they were seated, he said, "Away, the boat." The eight men on the sweeps pulled in rhythmic unison to a chanted ditty, and the two cables distance to the strand was quickly done. At a command, the men shipped their oars and moved smartly aft to lift the bow and allow the boat's way to glide it up the sand beyond the edge of the water.

"Well-done, Lads." Aldrick leapt from the bow onto the dry sand, and as he turned to assist Elizabeth, he watched her leap to the strand beside him.

Franklin and Charles strode over to greet them ashore, then after a brief exchange, Aldrick pointed along the strand. "Elizabeth wishes to swim and dive for lobsters, so we will go up to the smaller reef where we may have privacy." He shrugged. "Also, some might be embarrassed with a woman watching them in their nakedness." 

Elizabeth giggled as she tilted her head toward all the men frolicking in the sand and the shallows. "Those do not seem concerned." 

"Dressed as you are, and leaping about as you did, they have not likely recognised you as a woman."

"True."

As they walked northward, Elizabeth occasionally looked back, and after about a hundred yards, she unbuttoned her shirt and took it off, folded it and laid it in the basket. Then she stopped to remove her breeches and let down her hair. "They will see no detail at this distance." 

Aldrick chuckled. "But their imaginations. Any who may be watching will find it difficult for their response not to show." He set the basket down and undressed, folding their clothes on top of it. Then they continued the remaining few hundred yards until the paleness of the small reef appeared. He set his load on the sand, and they raced into the water.

After frolicking in the shallows for a while, Elizabeth ventured deeper, the water up to her chin with her long red hair spread out like a fan upon the surface, then with a deep breath, she dipped down, her hair following.

Aldrick plunged under and swam behind her beneath the surface toward the reef. He had to come up for air, and when he had taken his breath, he submerged to see she was much farther ahead. He followed, slowly closing the distance, then he had to breathe again. As he was about to go under again, she surfaced twenty yards away and turned to wave at him. Then she dipped beneath the surface.

When next he saw her, she surfaced with a huge lobster held high. "Your description was not a jest. I saw several down here. This is the largest." 

"You must teach me how to hold my breath. And my pre-judgement."

She swam toward him, and as she neared, she said, "Father taught us breathing exercises he had learnt from sponge divers in Greece."

"I thought they had stopped their tour in Venice."

"This was years earlier, long before he met Mother. It was why he was comfortable running off with her."

Aldrick nodded. "And it is obvious he transferred to you his comfort with all things. Shall I fetch the burlap sack, so you can fill it?"

"You may do..." She paused as her eyes grew round. "Aldi! Ashore. A man. Not ours."