EXISTENCE DOUBTFUL
On the old Admiralty Chart that lay unfolded on Manaroa III’s navigation table was a dotted oval with the words Sandy Island (1876). This simple note was punctuated with the letters E.D.
It lay among the clutter of nearby reefs, the usual soundings of deep open ocean – and a small tea stain that had absorbed into the fine paper – and which now looked like a phantom reef in the Coral Sea.
The letters stand for Existence Doubtful and how they got on the Admiralty in 1876. It was in an area near Bampton Reefs known for its atolls and low-lying islands.
