"You have my thanks," Konrad says. "That thing was nastier than I expected."
Even as this treatment is going on, efforts are again turned to getting the ship off the reef. More water is pumped off the ship to lighten it. By now everyone is moved to the aft. Chanur tries every trick he knows. Daerith and Wavedancer assist, but as he noted earlier, this is something that Daerith has no experience with. And so his assistance doesn't help much. The end result of all this is that while the ship moves a little bit back, it still remains stuck on the reef.
Then Fin steps up and suggests dumping almost all the water to truly lighten the ship. With land so close, they need not worry about re-watering. Chanur takes the priest's advice and soon gushing water can be seen coming out of the pumps. Soon this lightens the ship so that she moves back, and then back again, and finally is pulled off of the reef by the rear anchor. The Sea Wyvern is free in the water again.
But all is not good. As Berek reports from his time as a manta ray, and as Palan reports from below, the reef has holed the ship in several places. And while Palan and Kyle are working hard to patch them, it may be a near run thing to get to shore safely, a distance of perhaps twenty-fine miles. For by now it's clear that the Sea Wyvern must get to shallow, protected water soon or there's no hope for anyone on board.