The ship's boat is carrying the Skipper of the "Sephora", who boards the Captain's ship looking for any sign of Leggatt. The Skipper is distressed over Leggatt's actions and disappearance, explaining that he has been at sea for thirty-seven years and has never seen anything like what happened with Leggatt. The Captain offers the explanation that perhaps the heavy sea — rather than Leggatt — had caused the death of the crewman, but the Skipper tells him that this could not have been the case. He then tells the Captain that he will have to report Leggatt as a suicide.