The ship's lookouts had to rely on their eyesight alone — the ship's binoculars were locked inside a cabinet that no one could find the key to.
The ship's lookouts, Frederick Fleet and Reginald Lee, didn't have access to binoculars during the journey, and therefore couldn't see very far.
The ship's second officer was replaced at the last minute, and forgot to hand off the key to the locker that housed the ship's binoculars.
The key resurfaced at auction in 2010, where it was sold for over $130,000.