Larry Vigil and Herb Seigler

Larry Vigil, an American, and Herb Seigler, a Swiss, are the two crewmen taken on at Cape Town to help tackle the rough southern Indian Ocean. Though hired hands rather than family, they prove hard-working, loyal and courageous through the crisis.

When the boat is flooding they are found 'pumping like madmen', and they share every exhausting task of pumping, steering and repairing. Above all, the narrator remembers them as 'cheerful and optimistic under the direst stress' — their steady good spirits help keep everyone going. Larry also skilfully steers the vital 185-degree course that brings the boat …