about midnight
Once more a council of officers was held in Mr Cavendish 's cabin , on board the flag-ship , and a plan of campaign arranged . The squadron , it was decided , was to lie-to in a little bay not many miles to the north-westward of the Port of La Guayra . There was no danger of its presence there being discovered , there being no town or port near ; the cliffs rose up almost perpendicularly from the water 's edge , and the little bay itself was practically landlocked , and thus hidden from seaward . Then three boats were to be provisioned with food and water for two days , and , leaving the ships early in the afternoon , were to arrive off La Guayra about midnight or thereabout . They were to make as close an investigation of the harbour , and any ships that might be in it , as could be made with safety . They were to ascertain , if possible , whether there were any plate ships in the roadstead , and , if so , the precise positions in which they were lying . They were also to determine , as nearly as they could , what the chances of a night attack would be ; whether likely to be successful or otherwise .