Summary

The short story “Dip in the Pool” by Roald Dahl follows Mr Botibol, a passenger aboard a cruise ship sailing the Atlantic. The story begins with the passengers gathered in the dining room on the third evening of their journey. The sea has been calm that day for the first time since the journey started, yet during dinner, waves start rocking the ship again. 

Botibol asks the purser if he knows whether the captain has already estimated how many miles the ship will travel that day. The captain’s estimate is used in an auction where passengers can bet on whether they think the captain’s guess is accurate or not. The purser says he thinks the captain has made the estimation sometime earlier in the afternoon, probably before the weather started to get bad again. 

Botibol checks the weather and asks the elevator man whether he thinks the ship has slowed d...