norm, and the crew did little more than "relax and play in donkey races". On October 8, arrived to pick up the crew, and they were transferred to , which sailed for Norfolk, arriving in December 1850. The 1850s In the summer of 1851, Parker spent three months on leave and then reported to , which was then assigned to perform coastal survey duties. For the remainder of the summer, Parker sailed with the Washington along the Nantucket Shoals, surveying such areas as Block Island and the so-called "No man's land". The cruise of Washington ended in October 1851 when the ship sailed to New York City for a lay-up. The crew was discharged and reassigned, and Parker reported to the Washington Navy Yard for administrative duties. In the spring of 1852, Parker was ordered to proceed to Boston, where he had orders to report aboard , which was the first propeller-driven ship in the United States Navy. Reporting to the vessel, and foreseeing it as a "dismal failure", Parker applied for a transfer to a regular sail ship. Parker's feelings were somewhat prophetic, since Princeton would in fact suffer a major accident several months later when one of its guns exploded and killed several high-ranking dignitaries who were then on board. Parker reported aboard in July 1852, the ship then being under the command of George N. Hollins. In the weeks leading up to vessel making sail, Parker lived in Boston and had the chance to meet one of the leading mystics of the time, Margaret Fox. Fox attempted to talk Parker into giving up the Navy for a career as a psychic, but Parker amusingly declined the offer. In August 1852, Cyane sailed for Havana and nearly went aground near the Abaco Islands due to, what Parker believed, was incompetence on the part of the ship's sailing master. The ship then made port in Havana before sailing for Pensacola for supplies and provisions. In Pensacola, the ship found orders to return to Havana and, on this trip, the vessel was not as lucky and did ground itself near to Bahia Honda. As a result, the sailing master was transferred and Parker become Acting Master of Cyane. When the ship transferred one of its lieutenants only a few days later, Parker was appointed an Acting Lieutenant. During this same period, Parker met the Vice President of the United States