Chapter Six
Ballast
One of the features Casco insisted upon when the boat was still being designed was that it have extra built-in tanks for water and fuel that would allow him to take long ocean journeys without having to stop for refills of the two most precious liquids, water and diesel fuel. Once the tanks were installed, he set about creating access panels ostensively to allow the tanks to be inspected from time to time. In fact, what the access ports did was give a realistic view of the inside of the tank, but in such a way that ninety percent of the space was not actually visible. Using a secret magician’s trick, the view ports showed what any inspector would expect, a full or empty tank. The sight glasses mounted on the tanks verified what was seen through the port, so there was
