six o'clock
At last , when they had , after two postponements , fixed a day of departure , a storm that tied up shipping all along the North Atlantic Coast for four days caused a final delay , and consequently it was well toward the last of August when they said good-bye and set forth for Squirrel Island . No one particularly cared to visit Squirrel Island save Han , who had friends there , but as there was still a full week at their disposal they were in no great hurry and one port was as good as another . They remained there a day and then made Portland . At Portland supplies were put in , and one Wednesday morning they picked up the anchor at a little after six o'clock and started for Provincetown with the fine determination to cover the distance of approximately a hundred and twenty-five miles before they sat down to supper . That they did n't do so was no fault of either the _ Adventurer _ or the _ Follow Me _ . It was about half-past eight that Phil , sitting on the forward cabin roof with his back braced against the smokestack , called Steve 's attention to an object far off to port . They had then put some thirty miles between them and Portland and were twenty miles off Cape Neddick .