eight o’clock
asked Glenarvan . `` To-morrow morning at ten o'clock , '' replied John Mangles . `` The tide will then turn and carry us to land . '' Next day , February 5 , at eight o'clock , the raft was finished . John had given all his attention to the building of this structure . The foreyard , which did very well for mooring the anchors , was quite inadequate to the transport of passengers and provisions . What was needed was a strong , manageable raft , that would resist the force of the waves during a passage of nine miles .