ok at this point i am ready to believe.  
 it would be so easy to let go and start  
 to take in water. the boat would be      
 submerged in minutes, a small list at    
 first but once enough sea has poured     
 in, it would be quick. the boat on its   
 way to the bottom. rope and bins         
 floating.                                
                                          
 anyway - i'm fairly certain that the     
 spots move. they're insects or           
 something. when i'm not looking, they    
 shift, they crawl, they grow and         
 shrink. they congregate                  
                                          
 (i'm thinking, i should get a tattoo     
 gun, draw circles around them. to show   
 that they do indeed migrate across the   
 skin. (or, the circles would trap them,  
 like salt))