His second cruise nearly ended in disaster as he collided with a collier off Charlton and the boat almost capsized. He then sailed out to the Nore, this being the point where the Thames is deemed to end and the North Sea begins. In this cruise he again collided with another vessel at 5am, which brought the sleeping crew angrily up to separate the two vessels. This was such a frightening experience that it was a full year before McMullen had recovered enough to contemplate another voyage.McMullen, Richard (1898), p. 4
