He was trying to run the boat down now.
Barebone might succeed in getting far enough away to be lost in the fog.
But in tacking so frequently he was liable to make a mistake.

The bigger boat was not so likely to miss stays.

He passed so close to her that he could read the figures cut on her stern-post indicating her draught of water.
There was another chance.

The "Petite Jeanne" was drawing six feet; the dinghy could sail across a shoal covered by eighteen inches of water.
But such a shoal would be clearly visible on the surface of the water.
Besides, there was no shallow like that nearer than the Goodwins.
Barebone pressed out seaward.

He knew every channel and every bank between the Thames and Thorpeness.