THE RAMBLER AGAIN AT SEA.


 Three hours of sailing, paddling, and the swift current of New
River took us to the station landing, where we found the Rambler


all right.


The next day, at the appointed hour, Tiger was seen


poling a small canoe across the bay, with Cuff seated in the bow.
 The most favorable wind for sailing on the east coast of Florida
is a westerly one, which, blowing off the land, renders the sea


comparatively smooth.


The day after we returned from the


Everglades the wind was north-west, and had Cuff been aboard,
we should have at once set sail for Biscayne Bay, that being the
most favorable wind we could have had.
 As a rule, the wind in Florida boxes the compass in the regu-


lar way, following the sun


so that, by the time we were ready


to sail, it was easterly, but rather light, and, though there was


not much
north-east..


sea, there was a long and


heavy swell


We went out over the bar at ebb-tide.


New River Inlet is


one of the best on the south-east coast of Florida, there being, at


low tide, three or four feet of water on the bar.


As the chan-


nels to these inlets are constantly changing, owing to the shifting
of the sand, it would be useless to describe them in detail; but,
as a rule, the cruiser should sail below them until the stream
opens well to view, and then sail in on the plane of the out-
flowing river, which, on this coast, will generally be in a north-
erly direction.
 The shore line for ten miles below New River Inlet is of a


similar character to that already described


but it afterward be-


comes more heavily timbered, owing to the proximity of streams


about the head


of Biscayne Bay.


Twelve miles below New


River, we were abreast of Life-Saving Station No.


the last


one on the coast, under the charge of Ed Barnott; and, eight