As the Pacifica-Two moved forward, I checked on my compass to be certain we were moving east. The sun was in the correct position in the sky for this time of day and I was not certain why I looked at the compass, but I did. I saw Becky check her GPS and write down our position. While she plotted our position on the maps, I got some clean clothes and put them on. I carried my dirty clothes up on deck so I could wash them. I knew that once I washed my clothes, Becky would do the same. I carried up some water from the cabin and filled a small pail. I put my bar of soap into the pan and swished it around a little. Once I had enough soap, I washed the clothes and laid them on the deck. Once I finished rinsing them, I hung a rope from the bow to the stern masts and hung up my things. I had no more than finished my wash when Becky carried her stuff up and performed the same procedure with her clothes. We normally would not waste fresh water to wash clothes, but Becky had already confirmed that we were only one day out from Jamaica, so we had plenty of water.
While our clothes dried, we did the job we both hated. We carried our chamber pots up on deck and dumped them. Then we used Becky’s clothes washing water to clean the pots. When they were again sanitary, I carried them back down into the cabin. We would not use them again unless we had to spend time below deck.
I decided to get the batteries charged back up in case we needed them. The solar panel would eventually charge them, but it would take many hours. Instead, I started one of the generators to do the job. I would give the generator an hour to put a healthy charge into the batteries and then switch to the solar panel to complete the cycle. I did not want to use any more diesel than we had to. We would need to purchase more diesel fuel when we arrived in Jamaica.
After breakfast, Becky got on the marine radio and found the VHF channel for the marina at Jamaica. Once she made contact, she arranged for a place to anchor for two days. As they talked, the man asked if the Pacifica-Two was the same vessel that he had seen on a news channel a few days ago. He explained that the video came from a local television studio in Veracruz, Panama and they had sent a copy to many of the larger marinas. Becky explained that he probably had seen the Pacifica-Two, because they were in Veracruz and someone had photographed them, but she had not seen the videos. When Becky cleared the channel, she said, “It seems we and the Pacifica-Two are well-known. The owner of the marina has seen videos of our vessel and he wants us to anchor in the very front of his harbor. He said he would wave our harbor fees if we would allow the television crews to film our arrival and departure. You may have to give an interview. He wants us to call him a couple hours before our arrival so he can give the television crews time to set up before we sail into port. I agreed to his requests.” I looked Becky in the eyes and said, “You indicated that I would be giving interviews. I think you have misstated who will be giving the interviews, Captain.” I saw Becky begin to smile. She said, “You may have to stand beside me so I do get nervous and stumble off the edge of the dock.” I chuckled and said, “If you wear that white bikini, I guarantee that the males behind the television cameras will be the ones stumbling off the edge of the dock.”
Chapter 32 – A Port of Call on the Island of Jamaica
We entered the coordinates into our handheld GPS units and guided the Pacifica-Two towards the marina. Becky called the owner of the marina an hour before noon to announce our arrival. When she cleared the channel, I could tell she was nervous. I said, “I will clean the cabin and put our underwear away in case a film crew decides to take a peek inside the cabin. I would not want my wife embarrassed when her dirty panties appeared on the evening news.” She slid into my arms, hugged me for a minute and then returned to the deck to stand watch. There were other vessels in the area and we certainly did not want any narrow escapes.
As we got close, Becky went down to the cabin and changed her clothes. When she stepped back up on deck, she looked gorgeous. I whistled at her and made her blush. As we entered the harbor, the wind died. We left the sails up, but I went down to the cabin and plugged in the remote unit so we could steer the vessel from the deck. We now had the capability to control our speed, the rudder position and the dive planes from this new remote box. As we entered the waters of the marina, we saw that the film crews had set up on the docks. We lowered the sails and fastened them to the mast. The owner came out to meet us and had us follow him. Once we were in position, I lowered the bow anchor. When it was secure, Becky turned the rudder so the vessel would slowly rotate in a circle around the anchor. She turned off the starboard motor and only operated the port side motor. The vessel slowly rotated so the camera crews could get a good look at the incredible sailing submersible vessel.
The vessel was spectacular in the bright sunlight. The upper half painted in metallic black sparkled and the lower half, painted grey stood out in the clear blue water of the harbor. As the vessel turned parallel to the docks, we lowered the stern anchor. As the owner motored up close to the port side ladder, he asked if he could bring a camera crew out to get pictures of the vessel and the cabin. We agreed, hoping to get this publicity event over. We both wanted to put our feet on something stable and unmoving.
When the film crew arrived, we assisted them in carrying their equipment up on deck, and then began the introductions. While the photographers set up their equipment, another motor boat arrived. The owner of the marina spoke to Becky and me and said, “I would like you to spend a night in one of our best hotel rooms, my treat. You will spend no money during your visit here with us.” Becky and I thanked him, but Becky said, “We need to have the hull of this vessel inspected. Do you have facilities to raise her out of the water for inspection?” The man said, “That is easily accomplished. I will arrange for that to occur in a couple hours, while we move you both into your hotel room.” Becky said, “I insist on paying for the inspection. That is not part of the publicity for your marina. Although, please feel free to allow your photographers to take pictures of the vessel once she is out of the water.” The owner said, “Once we finish here, we will move you to your room. After you have settled yourselves, I will come to your room and escort you to the repair facility. Then, you can motor your vessel into the dry dock. Once the vessel is out of the water, you can work with our technicians to insure all systems are in working order and undamaged.”
When we stepped into our hotel room, the place was incredible. We barely got the door locked before Becky began stripping off her clothes and headed to the shower. I listened to her sing quietly to herself as she showered; apparently, she had looked forward to some hot water and soap. When she finally stepped out of the bathroom, she was drying off with her towel. I walked over to her and kissed her. She giggled and said, “You could dry my back.” As I dried her beautifully tanned back, she leaned back against me. I kissed her on the neck and she moved my hand up to her breast. I rubbed gently and said, “I need this to stop, now. The owner will be here shortly and we will not be dressed if I touch your body again.” She giggled and began to dry her hair and get dressed. I quickly showered and dressed. We planned to work with the mechanics to inspect our vessel and then move the Pacifica-Two back out into the harbor. We would bring the dinghy back to the docks so we could load groceries into it before we set sail for the next leg of our journey.
We had no more than climbed down the ladder after moving the Pacifica-Two into the dry dock bay when the rain began coming down in torrents. I had not often seen raindrops so large. It was as if the skies had opened up. The men working to get timbers under our vessel, seemed not to notice the heavy rain. Apparently, this rain was a normal event on this island during certain times of the year. Within ten minutes time, these professionals had the Pacifica-Two out of the water. The huge trolley rose up and moved forward, lifting the Pacifica-Two out over the dry concrete floor of the workroom As Becky and I walked around under our vessel with the technicians, and we found everything still in tack and working correctly. The planes all worked properly and remained securely bolted to the hull of the Pacifica-Two. The propellers showed some wear, but the pins were tight and looked to be in good condition. We found one scratch on the hull under the port ladder, but had no idea what might have caused the scratch.
As the men returned the Pacifica-Two back into the water, we realized that one of the timbers rested right where the scratch was on the hull. We now knew what had caused the problem. I mentioned to Becky that the scratch was normal wear and tear and we surely would find more during our voyage. Becky giggled and said, “At least we did not put the first scratch in the hull. I have feared since day one that we would allow her to tip in the boathouse canal or bump her on a rock or dock.”
When we had moved the Pacifica-Two back out into the harbor, we decided to show off a little. One of the camera crews had filmed us taking the vessel out of the water and returning it. Now they had set up on the docks again. When we were certain the water was deep enough, we carefully insured that we had tied the sails securely to the masts. Then we climbed down into the cabin and closed the hatches. Once we could see the bottom of the harbor with our fish finders, we began to flood the ballast tanks with water. We felt the vessel slowly begin to sink towards the bottom of the harbor.
When we were down thirty feet and were certain that the tips of the masts were below water, we remained submerged for about ten minutes. Then we began blowing the water out of the ballast tanks and allowed the Pacifica-Two to rise slowly up out of the water. When we were properly sitting on the surface of the water, we opened the bow hatch and stepped out onto the deck. The dock now had forty or more people with cameras, all taking pictures. Becky stepped out to the edge of the deck and took a bow. I immediately began to whistle and clap my hands. I never realized I had married such a showoff, but it was great to see Becky getting the recognition she deserved for designing this incredible vessel. Now that the publicity stunt was over, we dropped the anchors and made certain the vessel was secure.
Becky said, “I don’t know about you, but I am getting hungry. Shall we go to shore and get some food?” We got the dinghy out of the cabin and placed it on the deck. I put two spare inflation cartridges into my pocket and pulled the cord to inflate our transportation to shore. Once the dinghy was fully inflated, we pushed it over the side and into the water. As we paddled towards the dock, we realized the owner was standing with the film crew. When we got to the dock and tied up, the owner stepped up to us and said, “I am speechless. Thank you for the diving demonstration. I just watched a replay and it is incredible. I am now paying for your dry dock inspection charges. You have done me proud with your demonstrations and interviews with the television people. This marina and your vessel are to be show cased in some very notable magazines in the near future. Thank both of you for visiting us.”
As we excused ourselves and headed into the restaurant for dinner, the owner stepped up to the cashier and spoke to her. The waitress seated us and took our drink and food order. As we sat looking out towards the harbor, we could see the Pacifica-Two slowly rolling in the waves that a large catamaran made as it slowly moved out into the shipping channel. As we waited for our food, the waitress turned on a large television over the bar and turned up the volume. The people that were eating their meals looked up to see a video playing that showed the Pacifica-Two sinking into the harbor and then slowly rising back up. Then the camera zoomed in on Becky’s face as she bowed towards the docks. When the waitress turned the television back off, the owner stepped into the center of the room and looked at us. He spoke loud enough for everyone in the room to hear as he said, "Thank you Becky and Stanley for showing us your spectacular sailing vessel you have designed and built, The Pacifica-Two. We are pleased you joined us this day. Have a safe trip on your voyage to New York. I also hear you are going to travel the southern route around South America on your return trip back to your home in San Francisco. Have a pleasant and safe journey my friends.” Then he walked over to our table and talked to us for a moment. When he turned to walk away, the restaurant staff all gave us a round of applause. I watched a smile form on Becky’s face that would remain ingrained in my mind for my remaining years on planet Earth.
The following morning, we motored out of the harbor and set sail in the shipping channel. We were both happy to get back onboard. We loved all the people we had met, but our first love was the sea. As we sailed past a large freighter, I heard someone hailing the Pacifica-Two over the marine radio. When I answered the hail, I realized I was speaking to the captain of the freighter that loomed two stories above us. The man said, “We are watching feeds from the local television station showing your vessel submerging and surfacing. That is one incredible vessel my friend. You will run into rain as you move towards the Cayman Islands, probably within the next two hours. Have a safe trip,” then the captain cleared the channel. When I turned around, Becky was staring at me. She did not say anything and I guess that was best. She was managing not to cry, but she knew if she spoke even a single word, she would lose that composure.
As we sailed southwest around the southern side of Jamaica, we worked out the distance to our next port of call, Key West Florida. We had calculated the distance to Florida to be around eleven-hundred miles. That distance would require ten or so days of steady sailing. We planned to make the journey without stopping, except to catch some fish and to bathe. We had carefully stocked the Pacifica-Two with fresh fruit and vegetables while in Jamaica. The water jugs were full of drinkable water and we should have little difficulty with the run to Florida.
Just before suppertime, we lowered the sails and tried our hand at fishing. Becky hooked the first fish and managed to get it onto the swim platform. The fish was about two feet long, so I continued fishing, hoping to find another one about the same size. Two fish this size would feed us for three days. Within a few minutes, I had a second fish on the platform. This one was about four inches longer than Becky’s was. When she slid her fish up next to mine, I saw the competitive side of her return. She looked up at me and stuck out her tongue. I chuckled and grabbed her wrist. She tried to free my grip, but I pulled her to me. I sat down on the platform and pulled her over my lap. I pulled her bikini bottoms down and gave her a swat on her bare skin. I heard her squeal and I let her up. She stood up beside me with her swimsuit down around her knees and said, “You will pay for that.” She pulled up her pants and carried the two fish up onto the deck.
As we cleaned our fish and carefully packed the fillets, Becky kissed me just as we both stood up from placing the fish in the cool box. I chuckled and said, “I hope I did not hurt your feelings when I spanked you.” She looked at me and said; “A playful swat on my butt is always a turn on. A true spanking will get you thrown overboard and drowned.” I pulled her to me and kissed her hard on the lips.
As we cleaned our fish and discarded the remains overboard, we discovered a good reason not to swim in these shallow waters. Two large fins appeared behind the Pacifica-Two, attracted by the carcasses we had thrown overboard. We quickly put on our safety belts and tether lines as we set the sails and moved out of the area. Falling overboard in these coastal waters would not be something either of us would like to have happen. We never managed to see the sharks well enough to be certain what type they were, but they had rather large second dorsal fins. By looking at the design of the dorsal fins in our fish book, they appeared to be sand tiger sharks.
On the morning of the second day out, a strong southwest wind began blowing. We set the spinnaker and let the Pacifica-Two ride high in the water. Even with the strong winds, the waves remained small, giving us maximum speed towards the Cayman Islands. We never touched the sails for two full days. I had never seen the wind remain in one direction for two days in a row, but we were pleased that it did so.
Chapter 33 – Sailing into the Gulf of Mexico
On the morning of the tenth day, our GPS said we were in the Gulf of Mexico. We were thirty miles west of the tip of Cuba. We had taken down the spinnaker as we moved between Cuba and the northwestern tip of Mexico. As we turned towards the northeast, the wind picked up again and we hung the spinnaker again. As our speed increased, nightfall set in. We decided to take turns standing watch during the night.
The wind remained strong and steady throughout the night. As the miles ticked off, we were beginning to feel pretty good about this last leg of the trip. As the sun began to rise, our GPS showed us that we were about one hundred and fifty miles from Key West, Florida. It was then that we realized that a Coast Guard vessel was following us and slowly catching up to us. We could see the Coast Guard ensign flying on the vessel and were pretty certain they would want to board us. We took down the spinnaker and moved it into the cabin. Becky got out the pistols and loaded them; then we strapped them to our waists. As the vessel got closer, we could see the name of the vessel painted on the bow.
As the Coast Guard vessel came along side, us, Becky hailed them before they hailed us. She asked why they were running so close to the Pacifica-Two. The officer that she was talking too began asking questions about our destination and the last port we had visited. Becky answered all his questions, but he said, “We will be boarding your vessel to insure you are not transporting drugs.” Becky explained that the Navy had boarded the Pacifica-Two in the past and found no drugs. The officer said, “Stand by to be boarded.” Becky and I lowered the sails and tied them to the masts.
When the skiff came up alongside the ladder, Becky said, “Only the ranking officer may board my vessel.” The man in the back of the boat stepped up to the ladder and began climbing. When he reached the top, I offered him my hand. As he stood in front of us, he introduced himself. Becky followed suit with introductions. The officer said, “We are always concerned about vessels that could be carrying drugs or smuggling illegal immigrants.” The officer asked, “May I inspect the interior of this vessel?” Becky said, “You may.” The officer said, “May I see some identification from both of you and the paperwork for this vessel.” I handed him my driver’s license and then began passing him the papers he requested. Once he inspected Becky’s drivers license, he said, “May I now see the cabin, please.” Becky said, “I will lead the way. Stanley will remain on deck.” As the two headed down into the cabin, I talked to the three men in the skiff below me. They were curious about a submarine with sails.” I explained how the Pacifica-Two worked and kept the men occupied while the officer inspected our vessel.
When Becky and the officer returned to the deck, he asked how he could be certain that the hollow walls of the vessel did not have drugs in them. I chuckled and said, “If you would like to join us in the cabin, we can dive three hundred feet below the surface. Doing so will fill all the ballast tanks full of water. Then your brilliant mind can do the calculations to determine how much water is loaded into the hollow walls of the hull. Those calculations will tell you that there is no room left over for drugs in the hull, only water. We also have documents from the Navy, stating that they inspected this vessel and that the walls are filled with ballast tanks, not drugs.” I handed the paper to the officer to read. The officer said, “I should have you towed to port and have the hull disassembled to insure you are not carrying drugs.” I starred the man in the eyes, hoping he would back down. I stepped up within a couple inches from his face and said, “Do you treat everyone you come across at sea to be drug dealers. I have given you documentation from the ship builders, the Coast Guard, and the Navy. They have all stated that the hull of this vessel does not contain drugs. What in the hell more do you need? Maybe you are just a prick to everyone you come in contact with.” The officer said, “I can have this vessel impounded and torn down. It will be a pile of junk when I am done with it. Would you like that, Mister Smartass?” I removed the pistol from my waist and handed it to Becky. I looked the man in the eyes and said, “You have ten seconds to be off this vessel. After that, you will find yourself swimming with the sharks.” The man thought about his position for another moment and said, “Have a great day,” and began climbing down the ladder to the waiting skiff.
When the Coast Guard vessel moved away from the Pacifica-Two, we set the sails. Once we were back on course, we began looking for a large shopping center where we could restock the vessel with fruit and vegetables. We had plenty of canned and prepackaged supplies, but we did not want to touch them unless we had no choice; we considered them to be strictly for emergencies. We had cell phone service, so we brought one of the laptops up on deck and used the air card for Internet access. It took us only a few minutes to locate the store we wanted to visit. We wrote down the address and I entered it into my GPS unit. We motored up close to the shore and dropped both anchors. The place we chose had a dozen or so other boats anchored, so we felt comfortable stopping there. Once we had the dinghy inflated, we dropped it into the water and began paddling to shore. We tied up the dinghy under the dock for safekeeping, put our backpacks over our shoulders and began walking the six blocks to the shopping center. We could see the store from the dock, so we did not have far to walk.
When we entered the store, it only took us thirty minutes to complete our shopping and check out. When the cashier wanted to put our goods into bags, we instead loaded them into the four backpacks. As we walked out of the store, a man who looked to be store security spoke to us. I suspect he had watched us load our purchases into the backpacks. He was probably wondering what we were up to, but he did not ask any questions or check our receipt as we left the store. When we loaded our backpacks into the dinghy and began paddling back towards the Pacifica-Two, we could see two small sailboats slowly making a circle around our vessel. As we carried our groceries up onto the deck and then pulled the dinghy up, we saw the people wave at us. Becky said, “I think we have fans again.” Becky and I took a moment and waved to the people in the sailboats.
Once we had stowed the dinghy and our groceries, we raised the anchors and set the sails. As we moved away from the coast, the two small sailboats followed us for a couple of miles. As we set the spinnaker, they soon fell behind and we lost sight of them. Becky looked at me and said, “That was the fastest grocery shopping trip we have ever made. The entire trip to the store only took us ninety minutes.” I laughed and said, “I am still pissed over being boarded. I realize that they have a job to do to protect the borders and coastal waters, but they don’t have to be asses about it. I am a United States citizen and I pay their wages with my tax dollars. Now that I think about it, I have decided to fire that jerk who boarded us this morning. He is an insult to the fine men and women of the Coast Guard and Navy.” Becky walked over to me and said, “Husband, I was getting concerned you might throw the man overboard when he implied that we probably were drug smugglers. I am glad you handed him the paperwork and did not physically harm him. I could see the fire in your eyes.”
I was still angry and had to walk away from Becky. I was not mad at Becky and did not want to say something I would regret later. I decided to walk away from her and sit down on the swim platform for a few minutes. In a few minutes, I heard Becky climbing down the ladder. When I looked up at her she said, “Maybe a cup of hot coffee will help you through your pout.” I looked up into her eyes and said, “I am not pouting.” She giggled as she handed me the coffee and said, “Okay, if you say so.”
After a few minutes, I calmed myself and decided to send an email to the Coast Guard, expressing my displeasure over our boarding. I went down into the cabin and found my cell phone. I had a good signal, so I opened up my laptop and connected to the Internet through the air card. It only took a few minutes to find an email address and type a carefully worded, yet polite message to the Coast Guard. When I pressed the send button, I figured someone would quickly delete the message as soon as it arrived at its destination. However, I did feel better after expressing my feeling over the boarding.
The weather was beautiful and my mood seemed to mellow as the day wore on. As we sailed past Key Largo, we turned a little towards the northeast. Our intention was to sail on the east side of Bimini Island. We both wanted to put our feet on solid ground and have a shower. A man we had talked to back at the Panama Canal had recommended this island to us, so decided to pay it a visit. He had warned us that the water around the island was very shallow. When we checked the charts, we decided we would have little problem if we blew some water out of the ballast tanks. We also planned to keep the Pacifica-Two out on a sandbar and use the dinghy to get to the hotel.
We were about eighty miles from our destination at Bimini Island. The sun was setting and we decided to catch a fish for supper. We were in shallow water, so we took down the sails and tied them to the mast. As we floated along, we started to see fish below us. They were small, but probably good to eat. Within a few minutes, we caught our first fish. We drifted over a sharp drop off and dropped our bacon impregnated artificial worms down into the depths. Becky’s bait had barely sunk out of sight when a large fish grabbed it and headed towards the depths. She quickly brought it to the surface and slid it up onto the swim platform. I grabbed the fish’s tail with a gloved hand. Once the fish no longer flopped in my hand, I carried it up onto the deck. Becky decided this one fish would be plenty since we would be spending tomorrow night in the hotel.
While Becky put away the fishing equipment, I filleted the fish. When Becky climbed back to the top of the ladder, she handed me a pan and then the camp stove. Within a few minutes, the smell of battered Snapper washed across the sea in the gentle breeze. I debated what to do with the fish carcass, but decided we were not going to swim in the shallow water anyways, so I dumped it into the sea. I was normally not fearful of swimming in the sea, but in these shallow waters, I wanted nothing to do with creatures such as stingrays, sharks and ells. Even the barracuda posed some risk to human flesh.
As we ate our supper, the sun began to set. When we finished eating, we decided to anchor where we were and get some sleep. We moved off the drop off and dropped one anchor. There were no bugs out tonight, but we still put the screens over the hatch doors. We had a bat fly into the cabin one night after dark. It was probably chasing an insect that flew into the lights of the cabin. It took us an hour to get the critter out of the vessel. We actually had to put Becky’s mechanical engineering skills to work to accomplish the task. We turned off the cabin lights and hung a lit lantern over the hatchway. Within a couple of minutes, the hungry bat followed the light to the hovering insects that gathered around the lantern. That was the first time I watched in awe as my wife grabbed her crotch with one hand and pointed to her head with the other, and then yelled at the top of her lungs, “Me woman. Use brain not brawn.” This playful side of Becky always made me giggle like a teenage boy.
We sailed into the Bimini Island harbor around noon the following day. We launched the dinghy and paddled to shore. We tied up the dinghy to a small dock and gave the owner twenty bucks to secure the deal. The man told us how to find the restaurant and the hotel. As we walked towards the restaurant, we stopped and talked to some people who had been watching us anchor the Pacifica-Two and row ashore. The man said, “Mrs. Becky, the restaurant food is horrible and the hotel has bed bugs. You two should just stay here with us. We have a small guesthouse with a shower and hot water. The guesthouse had a good bed where you can start a baby growing in that firm belly of yours. We also have the best food you can find within a hundred miles” I watched Becky blush and instantly fall in love with these two people.
Becky walked down the stone path to where the couple on a porch sat. She quickly struck up a conversation with and discussed the guesthouse a little more. Becky said, “How did you know my name, old man?” He said, “You and your man’s faces are plastered all over the front page of every newspaper around here and on the evening news. I would recognize that boat you anchored out there, anywhere.” As I followed Becky down the steps, I heard her begin talking to the old man again. She said, “Old man. I just might take you up on that shower, hot water and good bed. But I am not certain I want a child suckling my teats while sailing the high seas.” I watched the man’s face form a smile as he stood up to shake our hands. Then he took Becky’s hand and said, “You may change your mind about the child once you tire of tempting your fate with Davey Jones’ out there on the high seas.” The old woman stood up and punched her husband hard on the shoulder and said, “Old man, sit down and mind your manners with our guests. This fine woman is not your play toy.”
I instantly began to laugh and said, “I know exactly how those punches to the shoulder feel. The bruise on my shoulder just healed a couple weeks ago.” The old man began to laugh and said, “My shoulder has never healed. We have been married for forty some years and my shoulder has had a bruise on it ever since we walked out of the church.” Becky said, “I have tired of addressing you as old man and old woman, could I be so bold as to ask what name you go by?” The man nodded and said, “My true name is Walter James Haggart III. This fine woman sitting beside me goes by the name of Kathryn Lynn Smith – Haggart.”
Becky looked the old man in the eyes and said, “Glad to meet you, Walter James Haggart the third.” Then she looked the woman in the eyes and said, “Glad to meet you too, Kathryn Lynn Smith – Haggart the first.” Kathryn smiled and said, “Oh, what a mind. You remembered our names after hearing them spoken only once.” I chuckled and said, “Becky has a photographic memory, I call it telepathic; as she sometimes punches my shoulder before I even get to speak the words.” Walter began to laugh and soon was holding his sides. Kathryn said, “I think it is time us girls fix lunch. These men are getting quite out of hand.”
Becky asked the price for the guest room and meals for one night and a day. Kathryn said, “We get sixty for the guest house, but the meals are free if you help cook and clean the dishes after the meals.” I watched Becky’s face light up. She walked over to a rocking chair and sat down. She said, “How about sixty for the room and twenty for the meals; and we help you prepare the meals and clean up. I will not discuss my offer any further with you.” I saw the old woman’s face light up as she said, “Child, you and I are going to get along just fine. Maybe you will decide to stay a second day after you relax in a rocking chair around a bond fire tonight.” Becky said, “Time will tell.”
Becky opened her backpack and took out some money. She counted out eighty dollars and passed it to the woman. Then she leaned back in her chair and slowly rocked. I walked over and sat down on a deck chair beside her. As we sat and talked, the woman said, “We have not eaten lunch yet. Let’s fix those sandwiches and eat in the gazebo.” She pointed her crooked first finger towards a circular building on stilts along the edge of the forest and said, “The gazebo has screens to keep the bugs out and it is cool and wonderful during the heat of the afternoon.”
Walter spoke to Becky and said, “If you leave your baggage, Stanley and I will take your belongings to the guest house.” Becky sat her backpack beside my chair, and then leaned over and kissed me. I smiled as she walked away. Walter stood up and I picked up the backpacks and joined him as he escorted me to the guesthouse. When I stepped inside, the house was small but the huge sliding doors facing the sea gave a spectacular view. Heavy blue curtains were drawn back to let light and air into the room. I sat the backpacks down on the floor and checked out the bathroom. This guesthouse would be perfect, probably better than the hotel we had planned to visit. Becky could take her hot shower and relax here in style. Walter said, “The gas fired water heater will provide plenty of hot water; you will not run out. If the room would need heat or cooling, the thermostat is on the wall by the bathroom door. The furnace and air conditioner unit is located on the roof.”
As we walked back to the main house to assist the girls prepare lunch, Walter opened a refrigerator by the back door and offered me a cold beer. He said, “Help yourself to a beer if you and your lovely Mrs. Becky care for one and I will show you where the fixings are if you wish to have coffee or tea. The misses and I are normally up by six in the morning. We have breakfast here in the kitchen around seven thirty if you two are up that early; I assume you will be up by then, since you live on the sea. We can take my four-wheeler to the store and purchase groceries and supplies if you are in need; before you leave.”
As we stepped into the kitchen, we heard the girls giggling and acting like schoolgirls. Walter turned to face me and said, “Thank you and Mrs. Becky for staying here with us. Kathryn loves company and loves to cook.”
We carried our lunch out to the gazebo and sat our food on a round table in the center; a cool ocean breeze rustled the screens that surrounded the structure. As we sat down to eat, I paid careful attention to the couple’s home. It was a very sturdy concrete block building with a poured slab roof. They had built the house into the leeward side of the raised road, which acted as a buffer to allow the winds to travel over top the house, protecting it from the winds fury. I realized when we first arrived that there was a motor home parked on a driveway near the south side of the house. The sparsely decorated home seemed almost portable. It looked as if they could load everything they owned into the motor home and move out if a strong storm approached
As I studied the layout, Walter spoke to me and said, “I believe that engineering mind of yours has figured out that this is not our home during hurricanes. We only returned a few days ago after the latest storm passed south of here. Kathryn and I built this place many years ago and it remains strong and livable after many hurricanes. The manufacturer calls the motor home you see sitting over there a toy carrier. We use it to transport our belongings to the mainland before an approaching storm gets to strong. A ferry brings supplies to this island and carries passengers back and forth. We, as do many other people who live here, pack up our stuff and move to safety during the storms. The building you see, can weather a storm with no problem and we would be safe here from the winds, however, the storm surges can and often do put this island under water.”
I looked at Walter and said, “The inconvenience of the storms forcing you to move for a few weeks each year seems inconsequential compared to the beauty and excitement of living on this incredible island, in this incredible home.” Kathryn said, “Your words are true. Living here is magical at times. Only those of us who are one with the sea can truly appreciate life here on the Bimini Island. You two lovers are part of the sea, one with the sea.” I saw Becky stir in her seat and look down at her plate while she ate. Kathryn noticed also and said, “Something stirs in your soul young lady. I can see it in your body posture and your eyes tell of a long history with the sea.” Becky looked up into Kathryn’s eyes and I saw a single tear slide down her cheek. She never lost eye contact as she said, “My father was a sea captain on a tug boat most of his adult life. He lost a leg to a Great White Shark and lived to tell the story. He later died of old age, but before his death, he melded his young Daughter to the sea, to a life that I cannot step away from or ignore. His oneness with nature, with the creatures that swim below us, with the wind and stars, now fills my heart and soul with a love I do not fully understand. The dolphin’s pulled me from my own destructive darkness shortly after my father’s death. Now they join me at sea and sing to me whenever my troubles seem unbearable, unmanageable: whenever my mind turns to sliding unchallenged into the sea. Stanley and I created a child, which was unable to survive in this world. The dolphins sang with me during those troubled times. They also sang to my lover who now sets before me at this table. Those dolphins bonded our love, mended our broken hearts over the loss of our unborn child and gave us hope for better times. I am certain of only one thing as I travel down life’s highway. I will spend the rest of my days on or near the sea. I feel in my heart that one day Stanley and I will adopt a child and calm its nightmares in the rocking chair of the rolling seas. I pray those times will come.”
As Becky returned her attention to her food, Kathryn patted Becky’s hand and said, “Those times will come my child. Let your love for the sea, your love for this man, your wish for a child to raise, keep the darkness far from your soul.”
After lunch, Becky and Walter walked on the beach. I took the opportunity to help Kathryn clean up the lunch dishes and set with her awhile. We drank tea and talked for over an hour. We swapped tales of the sea, stories about my life in New York and her life here on this enchanted island. Kathryn even passed along some recipes that she had stashed in her old tattered cookbook. I took the time to copy down a recipe for campfire brownies and a couple more for fish seasonings. The woman was an incredible storyteller. She told me two stories of the sea that made my sides hurt from laughing.
When Becky and Walter returned, they came ashore paddling the dinghy. They pulled the raft up to the house and tied it to a metal lamppost so it would not blow away in the wind during the night. As they walked up to the recreational vehicle, Becky slid her arm inside of Walter’s and talked to him like as if he was her father. I could feel the love she had for this wonderful man she had met. I looked at Kathryn and said, “It is good that Becky spends some time with Walter. She often needs a strong male shoulder to ward off the darkness that sometimes possesses her soul.” Kathryn patted my hand and said, “I think the hard times in Becky’s life are past. She now takes comfort in your love for her and your ability to be at ease with her occasional dark side. She will be okay, just give her time to heal the loneliness that has filled her heart since her father’s death.”
As Becky and I sailed away from Bimini Island and left our newly found friends behind, I felt a little sad that we would never see them again. They were good people. For some unknown reason, I felt that Kathryn had looked deep into Becky’s soul and had seen an image of herself. As we sailed this morning, I had the distinct feeling that when Becky spoke words about her darkness to Kathryn, the darkness that existed in Becky’s mind came to the surface: brought out into the light of day. Kathryn had drug the darkness from Becky’s mind, as if she had entered and drug it out kicking and screaming. The light in Becky’s eyes now glistened as she walked up to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I felt her trying to hide her emotions, trying not to cry; but she could not remain calm, there was a new light coming from within her. A light brightly lit by her love of life, her love for the sea, and her love for me.
When we entered the deep waters, Becky said, “We need about seven days to reach Chesapeake Bay. I just checked and the temperature at the marina where we plan to dock is forty degrees Fahrenheit. I am anxious to feel the cold. I have not been that far north in many years.” I chuckled and said, “You may not be so excited when the first snowflakes chill your cheeks.” Becky thought about the possibility of snow and said, “We have warm clothing. I will welcome the snow.”
As we sailed on, the temperature began to drop, especially at night. For the first time during this voyage, we opened up the two cupboards that contained our warm clothing. The cameras had temperature sensors built in. This gave us an easy method of keeping track of the water temperature around the vessel, but did not help us determine the temperature on deck. During the day, we would sit out on deck in the sunlight and be very comfortable, but as the sun began to set, the temperature would quickly drop. Becky walked up to me one evening, dressed in her warm clothes and said, “I actually do like cold weather, having silky long underwear against my bare skin feels perfectly heavenly.” I chuckled and said, “Are you telling me that you have no panties on under that underwear?” She giggled and said, “I refuse to answer that question. A lady does not have to reveal what she is wearing under her cold weather clothing.”
Just before dark, I checked the air temperature on the deck. It was just above freezing. We decided to spend the night below the surface if we could find a place to sit the Pacifica-Two down safely. I checked the water depth and realized it was only ninety feet deep. Then I checked the sonar and discovered that we were on a sandy area with only a few rocks. We quickly took down the sails and stored them in the cabin. Within twenty minutes, we were diving towards the bottom. As we settled in the sand, we rolled a little. I heard Becky gasp as I blew a little water out of the starboard ballast tanks and leveled out the Pacifica-Two. Once we settled in the sand and leveled out, Becky checked the water temperature outside the vessel. The fish finder showed the temperature to be, sixty-seven degrees Fahrenheit. She laughed and said, “That is better. I can sleep comfortably at this temperature.”
We fixed some food and sat at our tiny eating table. Becky said, “I put a bottle of red wine in the cold box yesterday, would you care to join me. I think a little wine might relax us and allow me to show you how much I love you. The time we spent with Walter and Kathryn in their home, showed me how two peoples love for each other can grow stronger with each passing day. They live the fairy tale life I wish for you and I. Barbie and Ken living and loving into eternity. I hope that our love remains strong and stands the test of time.”
I kissed her and pulled the cork out of the wine bottle. I poured two glasses and sat back down across from her so I could look into her eyes. I put my hand on Becky’s and asked, “Can we talk about the words you spoke with Kathryn, when you mentioned you hoped we could one day adopt a child to raise as our own.” I saw Becky look down at her wine glass and fidget in her seat. Finally, she looked up at me and said, “Sorry for saying things we have not discussed. Maybe tonight is a good time for that discussion. Stanley, I love you very much and I realize that we both want to live on the sea as long as our bodies allow, but I would like the discussions to begin about having a child in our lives. I was and still am very glad you had the vasectomy. I do not want to push a child from my belly, however, I do think often about a child in my life to love. I think a child in our lives would draw our love for each other even closer. I ....”
Becky again looked down and began squirming around, trying hard to find words to speak, trying hard to explain her feelings. She took both of my hands in hers and said, “I have kept certain things about me from you. I hate now speaking of having kept secrets from my husband, but I must now tell you everything. When Kathryn and I talked, she guessed my secret. It was as if she could look into my mind and sort out the truth. I will now tell you that truth. It is a story that will not change our love for each other, but it may make you angry that I kept the secret from you.”
Becky took a moment and refilled our wine glasses. She sipped a tiny bit and then put the glass down on the table. She looked up into my eyes and said, “I have a condition with my uterus. I have a band of tissue dividing my uterus. The band has little or no blood flow. It causes me only minor problems with my monthly cycles, but it does cause pain at times that should not accompany my period. I did not discover the true nature of my monthly pain until a few weeks after my father’s death. I guess the emotional stress of his death caused the problem to get worse. When I went to a new doctor, she did some ultrasound studies and found what was causing the problem. The band is wide enough that the doctors did not recommend surgery. Instead, they suggested I try to cope with the pain or have a hysterectomy. The problem is not bad enough for me to risk major surgery, so I deal with the problem when it occurs. With all that said, I now come to the crux of the problem. This uterine septum causes miscarriages if a fertilized egg tries to attach anywhere on or near the septum. There is a chance I could get pregnant, as you have seen, but the chance of carrying a child to term is very slim with the size of my septum. I did not intend to get pregnant without having this discussion with you, but the point became moot after the birth control pills failed. Now, as I see it, this is the problem. When I married you, I knew of this problem but I did not tell you then. I don’t know why, I just didn’t. When Kathryn and I talked in the gazebo, I realized the woman knew why I had miscarried. She seemed to read my mind or something. Anyways, at that point, I knew I had to discuss this with you and come clean.”
I watched Becky take a deep breath and slump down a little in her chair. I could see her mind relax. She had cleared her conscious and felt better. I reached across the table and took her hand in mine. I said, “None of this causes me any serious problem or gives me reason to toss you into the sea. As I see it, your pain is the only thing at this point that is an issue and I am certain the doctors can help you deal with that. I love you as you are. I love you unconditionally and it matters little if you kept this information from me.”
I poured Becky a little bit more wine and said, “We
were discussing adopting a child. Can we begin that discussion
again? I would love to begin the process after we complete this
voyage, and possibly before we set out on our next adventure.” I
watched Becky begin to smile. She did not say anything for a moment
and then finally found the words she needed. She said, “We can
discuss that while we make love tonight.”
By the time we began turning west into Long Island Sound, we had snow blowing into our faces. We had begun wearing our warm clothing and dry suits two days ago. We both feared falling into the cold Atlantic without our wet suits and life jackets. We even began using our lanyards to ensure we could not fall into the water in the first place. The windblown water was not so cold by itself, but when the water hit the cold air, it quickly chilled any exposed skin.
It took us almost an hour to get to the marina. We had called ahead and made arrangements to have the Pacifica-Two placed into warm storage while we visited New York. As we motored into the boat yard, the yardman talked to us on the marine radio and guided us into a long canal that appeared to pass completely through the huge building. When the linemen tied us up, they quickly moved a huge crane over us and lowered a metal rack until it was about six feet over the Pacifica-Two. Then they began moving huge nylon slings under us until they had six of them securely supporting the Pacifica-Two in the water. Once they were certain they had properly supported the load, they began lifting us out of the water.
They moved the huge ceiling crane across the shop until we rested over a second canal. Then they lowered us down, carefully tying our vessel so the planes could not touch the sides of the canal. Once they had securely tied our vessel, they rolled a large set of stairs up to the deck. One of the men came up to the deck and talked to us. He explained that we needed to unhook the batteries. He also took our diesel and white gas cans down and sat them on the floor on a wooden pallet. Once we were ready, we carried our backpacks and clothing tote bags down the ladder, and then I went back up the ladder and locked both hatch doors. When I returned, Becky had written our names and cell phone numbers on a large tag with a felt tip pen. The man fastened the tag to the hull ladder so our names and phone numbers were visible. He also wrote the pallet number for our fuel tanks on the tag.
When we stepped out into the office area, a woman asked us the name of the hotel where we were staying. Becky produced the name and phone number from her cell phone. The woman picked up the phone and made the call. When she hung up, she said, “A hotel shuttle will arrive in about twenty minutes. May I offer you some coffee or a soda?” She directed us to the coffee pot and Becky poured two cups. We figured the stuff would be awful, but someone had just recently made it. It actually tasted rather good.
When the shuttle arrived, we loaded our four backpacks into the back and headed to our hotel. The drive took us only twenty minutes, even in the heavy traffic. As we unloaded our stuff and walked into the hotel, the rain began to come down hard. We stood in line to check in for about five minutes, the place was rather busy.
Once we finished the paperwork and walked down the hall to our room, we realized that our room was just a few steps from the pool.
Once we had settled into our room, I called my daughter, Dawn. I had not talked to her for a couple months now. She knew we were sailing to New York, but had no idea when we would arrive. I called her cell phone number, but did not get an answer, so I left a short message. I had barely laid the phone down on the table when it rang. When I picked it up, I heard a very excited voice on the line. Dawn asked where we were staying and I told her. She said, “I get off work in twenty minutes and the hotel is only ten blocks from my office. I will hug you in a few minutes.” I gave her the room number and she hung up. I saw a look on my wife’s face that I knew meant tears. I walked over to her and hugged her. She said, “I am excited to finally meet Dawn.” She put her head on my shoulder, but managed to keep the tears inside.
When I heard a knock on the hotel room door, I opened it and saw my daughter’s face staring back at me. She looked beautiful. I invited her in and introduced her to Becky. As the two women were hugging, I realized that my daughter had a little excess belly hanging over her belt. Not much, but enough to make me wonder if she no longer had time to exercise, or if she might be.... I decided not to think about it any further.”
As we talked for a few minutes about where we had stored the Pacifica-Two and how long we planned to stay, Dawn said, “You two must come stay with Henry and me. We have lots of room and you will love my man.” She turned to face me and said, “Father, Henry is going to be a Father, just like you are.” It took me a second, but I soon caught on. She wrapped her arms around my neck and cried. When she stepped back, Becky handed her a tissue and then hugged her. Dawn said, “Father, Becky, would you come stay with us while you are here in New York. There is no reason for you to stay in this stuffy hotel when you can be on the beach where you will be comfortable. We have an extra car that you can use while you are here. I simply must call Henry right now and tell him you are here. Can you join us for supper tonight? We just put a side of beef in the freezer so we can have steak tonight to celebrate your arrival.” Then she looked at me and said, “Maybe you two had other plans. I don’t mean to intrude.” Becky said, “We have two plans for this trip to New York. You, Henry, and now this child are first on the list.”
Dawn said, “I know you have paid for this room, but you could simply put the door keys on the table and load your stuff into my Jeep. The entire second floor of the mansion is empty and lonely. Your presence there would be wonderful.” Becky looked at me with a smile and said, “Let me consider this. We either stay here in this noisy hotel or go stay with family at their mansion. I guess I have made up my mind.” She walked over to the bed and began packing her things into her tote. I heard Dawn giggle. Then she looked at me and said, “Becky and I are going to get along just fine. I like her attitude.” I rolled my eyes and said, “Wait until you piss her off once.” Dawn began to laugh and said, “I seem to remember that my father had quite the attitude at times, or has he changed?” Becky turned around and said, “He has mellowed, but only a little. I recently saw his personality change instantly when a Coast Guard Officer basically called him a liar and a drug smuggler.” Dawn said, “I guess no punches were thrown or you two would have been calling me for my legal services.” I looked at my daughter and said, “I would never have hit him, but he might have accidently stumbled and fell overboard.” Dawn said, “That’s the Father I remember.”
As we turned into the long winding driveway of Dawn’s home, we realized that the place was truly a mansion. It was two stories tall and built from beautifully colored bricks. When Becky commented on the bricks, Dawn explained that the school district had torn down the high school that Henry attended and he had purchased the bricks to build this home. Then she said, “I met Henry when I started working for a law firm in town. Soon after, we decided to start our own law firm. Today we have six additional attorneys and an office staff of five. We seem to stay very busy in this town.”
As we began unloading our stuff from the Jeep, Dawn asked me if I had talked to her mom recently. I smiled and said, “No. I have nothing to argue about so I do not call her. I would love to see her, but I cannot deal with her negative attitude towards life.” Dawn said, “She calls me quite often, usually to bitch about someone that has done her wrong. I try to keep the conversations short, but the woman can rattle on for hours about nothing. I do love her, but I cannot stand to be around her.”
As we entered Dawn’s home, a woman met us at the door. She stood beside Dawn, talked to us about our trip and then offered to take our bags to our room. I picked up three of them and allowed her to carry one. As we started up the stairs, Dawn said, “Hold on a minute. I have not introduced everyone.” As she introduced Becky and me, she addressed the woman as Julie. Then she said, “Julie has worked for me for a couple years now and without her help, this home would be a total disaster. I could not manage without her. When this child is born, I am going to photocopy Julie so she has some quality help.”
As I climbed the stairs behind Julie, I realized how magnificent this home really was. There were four large bedrooms on the second floor, each with their own bathroom and shower. The place was immaculately clean and carefully decorated. I smiled to myself over how well my daughter was doing, despite her mother’s constant interference.
When I went back down to join the ladies, Henry was just driving into the driveway. When he stepped into the kitchen, he walked up to me and said, “You must be Dawn’s Father. I can see the resemblance in your eyes.” I turned as Dawn said, “I hope you approve of each other.” Henry looked me up and down and I walked around him once. When we both faced each other again, I said, “Yea, I guess he will do.” Henry grabbed my arm and pulled me in for a man hug. When we parted, Becky stepped up behind me. I moved around so she was standing beside me and said, “This fine lady goes by the name of Becky. She is a mechanical engineer and has degrees that I cannot even pronounce.” Henry hugged her and said, “I see why you married her. She is not only very smart, but soft and cuddly also.”
I heard Dawn clear her throat behind me and say, “If you keep talking like that to every good looking woman you meet, I will own this home and you will be spending your evenings at the homeless shelter.” I watched Henry’s eyes light up as he walked over to Dawn and kissed her hard on the lips. She giggled and said, “That is much better. Just remember which bed you sleep in tonight, lover boy.” I saw Becky blush and Henry noticed it. He stepped up to Becky and said, “Dawn and I try to keep things on the happy side around this house. I love Dawn’s Mother as if she was my own, but she is so angry all the time. When she is not here, we often find ourselves teasing and giggling together. Pardon us if we tease too much.”
Just then, Julie came into the room and asked what she could prepare for supper before she left for the evening. Dawn thought a moment and said, “If you would take out four T-Bone steaks from the freezer and put them on the counter to thaw, I think Becky and I will cook supper tonight.” Then she stepped up close to Julie and said, “We would love for you to join us for supper tonight. If you would like to stay, take out an extra steak. I would love for you to spend some time with my father and his wife, Becky.” Julie thought a second and said, “I thank you for the offer, Dawn, but I will join my husband for supper tonight. Maybe I will take him out to dinner. We seem to never slow down long enough to enjoy each other’s company anymore.” Dawn hugged Julie and walked with her to the driveway where she had parked her car.
Henry said, “Without our Julie, we would struggle to maintain this house. We work way to many hours anymore. I have just hired another experienced trial attorney to work for us. My intention is to slow Dawn down just enough that she can manage her career and this pregnancy at the same time. I am certain she will work right up until her due date, but I am going to insist that she take time for herself and enjoys her life.” Becky said, “You could send Dawn and the baby to California when we finish this journey. I could really enjoy having a crying baby to love.” Then Becky looked at me and got a horrible look on her face. Finally, she smiled and said, “I think that Stanley and I will have to adopt a very young child to love when we finish with this adventure.” Henry said, “I hope you do just that. Do it while you are still young. I can guide you to three well-known adoption agencies that will work with you. If you ever need a referral, just let me know.”
When Dawn walked back into the kitchen, she said, “If you gentlemen will excuse Becky and me, we have kitchen work that needs doing. We would appreciate it if you males would get lost so we can talk girl stuff.” Henry and I began to laugh. Henry said, “Okay, okay. We will be in my office. The New York Rangers are playing at home tonight and I am almost certain I can interest Stanley in a beer before supper. We also have man stuff to talk about, but we certainly will not gossip as you girls certainly will.” Dawn threw an apron at her husband, which he caught and lobbed back at her.
When we walked into Henry’s office, I realized that he used this area to meet with his clients. The walls had herringbone-patterned wood and the furniture was all soft black leather. Beautiful ceramic tiles covered the floor, all carefully laid in a herringbone pattern. There was a sixty-inch flat screen television on the back wall and a microwave and refrigerator in the corner. When Henry opened a cupboard door, I realized there was a wet bar behind it. Henry turned on the television, but left the volume turned down. Once we each had a cold beer, we began discussing our lives. I wanted to know as much as I could learn about my daughter and the child she had growing in her belly, and her husband.
As we talked, Henry’s desk phone rang twice. Both times, he looked at the caller ID and let it go to voice mail. The third time it rang, he said, “This call I need to take.” I took my beer and stepped out to the kitchen with the girls for a couple of minutes. When I walked into the kitchen, the smell of beefsteak cooking over an open fire greeted me. I walked over to the stove and realized there was a built in gas grill mounted beside the range. I laughed and said, “We need one of these in the Pacifica-Two.” Dawn said, “This one is not for sale. I use this grill all the time. Henry likes to cook outside with charcoal while he freezes his ass off and munches on bugs that fly into his mouth. I like the convenience of cooking indoors. I hate the bugs and I like to be comfortable while I cook.”
In a couple of minutes, Henry came into the kitchen. He walked up to me and said, “Sorry for the phone calls, but I needed to talk to that judge for a few minutes.” The girls did not kick us out of the kitchen so we sat down at the table and joined them while they prepared dinner. I soon got the conversation around to my grandchild growing in my daughter’s belly. Dawn walked over to me and said, “Father. Please don’t fall in love with this child just yet. I am having trouble keeping this baby happy. If this pregnancy cannot go to term, I don’t want you devastated.” I stood up and hugged her. I reassured her that I would be able to face that reality if it came to that. As I hugged her, she began to cry. I held her for a few minutes until she calmed. Then she stepped back and said, “I have missed you a lot. If this child survives and things work out, when you guys get back home and this child is old enough to fly, I am bringing him to your house for a couple weeks. I think Henry could spare me if I asked nicely.” Henry smiled and said, “Your father and I were just talking about you taking some time for yourself. I think a trip to San Francisco would do you good.”
As Dawn returned her attention to preparing supper, Becky looked at me and said, “Stanley, let’s check out the pool. Dawn says it’s for swimming laps. I would like to see it.” As we stepped outside, Becky said, “Husband, Dawn has asked me if we could stay until Thanksgiving. She would like to have her father here with her for the holiday. Would you mind if I said yes. The only reason I ask is that your ex might show up. Could you deal with that for a day?” I chuckled over her words and said, “Yes. We can stay. As long as I don’t have to sleep with the witch, I can manage just fine.” Becky giggled and said, “If I find her in our bed, she will have me to answer to.” Becky slid into my arms, hugged me and held on. Then she said, “One other thing. Dawn may lose the child she is carrying. She has faced that reality. Please stay supportive of her pregnancy, but don’t discuss it unless she opens up the conversation, okay?”
As we checked out the pool, we realized that the bugs were horrible. When we went back inside, Dawn said, “I warned you about the bugs. The damn things hatched out two days ago. I think they are a form of stoneflies. They hatch out in the reeds along the streams that feed into the ocean. They seldom hatch this late in the year. It is much too cold for them, yet here they are.”
When we walked back into the kitchen, Dawn said, “Have you two agreed to stay for Thanksgiving. I know you have a long way to go yet on your trip, but I checked and you should not head towards the tip of South America for another week. The icebergs are still floating around down there. You should simply wait until they melt.” I started to laugh and said, “Okay, okay. I give up. We will stay. Besides, I really don’t want to spend my nights in the cold Atlantic when I could be spending them here with my family.” Dawn turned away and walked over to the Kleenex box. When she had wiped her eyes, she turned around and said, “Sorry for all the tears. My hormones are all fucked up.” I saw her eyes light up and her hands came up to her mouth. She said, “I am so sorry for those words. They came out before I could stop them.” I saw Becky giggling to herself. I looked up at Dawn and said, “Daughter, I think you have been hanging around your mother a little too much lately.” She said, “Again, I apologize. I try not to use such language. I fear it might slip out around our clients or in court. Instead it slipped out in front of my father and Becky.”
Becky continued to giggle. I looked at her and said, “What has tickled you so, Mrs. Becky.” She said, “I just realized how many gestures and facial expressions you and Dawn share. You both do the eye-rolling thing, and you both put your fingers over your mouths when you swear. You both have the same deep belly laugh and you both wipe your tears away with your left thumbs. I have come to love all those things in my husband and now I discover his daughter is just as incredible. I love you both.” Henry walked over to Becky and put his hands on both her shoulders. He said, “Becky, I hope you will find that I am a very lovable person, also.” I watched Becky pat his hand on her shoulder and say, “Don’t rush it Henry.” Henry leaned down, kissed Becky on the cheek and said, “I will stop teasing you, for now.”
Dawn sat down beside me at the kitchen table and said, “I may have to ask you all to leave. If I keep laughing like this, I may deliver this child here on the kitchen floor.” I looked at her to see if she was all right and she said, “I am fine, Father. I just cannot keep laughing like this.” I heard Dawn say, “Maybe it is not the baby that is the problem.” She quickly got up and headed to the bathroom. When she shut the door, Becky said, “I hope she made it. She may have wet her pants.” Henry walked over to the bathroom door, knocked and talked to his wife. He came out laughing and said, “She is fine, just had to pee.”
When Dawn walked back out of the bathroom, she said, “Okay. It is time to eat. We have messed around long enough. The food will get cold before we sit down at the table.” We all quickly set the table and put the food on while I poured the wine. I sat a full glass in front of each of us and then sat down beside Becky. Dawn asked me if her wine was baby safe and I told it was.
Henry raised his glass and said, “A toast to our family and to this wonderful meal and a special blessing for my child.” With the toasts spoken, we sipped the wine. It was cold, sweet and delicious. I looked at Dawn and said, “I am only guessing, but I assume you have had an ultrasound.” I watched my daughter’s eyes light up as she said, “What makes you think that, Father.” I smiled and said, “The words, Son, have passed your lips twice today.” She giggled and said, “You do listen well, don’t you, Father. You always have. Yes, the child has an appendage that cannot be anything other than his manhood.” I laughed at her words and moved the conversation to our idea of inviting a young boy to join us on the Pacifica-Two for the final leg of the voyage home. Dawn asked about the boy and asked who he might be. I looked at Becky and she began to explain about her Grand Nephew.
As we sat down to Thanksgiving dinner, the gently rain turned to snow. I saw Becky stand up from the table and move to the sliding glass doors. She could not stand it one second longer. She opened the door and stepped out into the falling snow. She held her hand out and let the flakes melt in her hands. I even saw her taste a couple flakes with her tongue as they fell from the sky. I sat at the table and giggled like a little girl over my wife’s fascination with the snow. When she got cold, she stepped back inside and took her shoes off at the door. When she sat back down with us, she had a grin from ear to ear. She finally said, “I cannot wait for our first snowstorm at sea. I know the first one will be fabulous, but I am certain that the excitement will quickly wear off when I start shivering while standing watch.”
Dawn giggled and then said, “Don’t get me started giggling again or I will have to start wearing diapers.” I saw Becky almost spit her wine out on the table, but she managed to keep it under control. Becky sat her wine down on the table. She almost dumped it when she sat it on her knife. I looked at her and she winked at me. She said, “I don’t think my wine is baby safe.” I smiled and said, “I only poured Dawn the lead free wine. You got the high-octane version.” Becky said, “I would not have drunk any before eating if I had known.” I looked into her eyes and said, “Are you okay?” she giggled and said, “Yes, but I think I should eat some food to soak up the alcohol. I feel a little queasy.” I poured Becky a glass of alcohol free wine and moved the one she had over beside my plate. She looked up at me and said, “Thank you.”
When the meal was over and we had finished the dishes, we watched a movie on the big screen television. As Becky and I cuddled on a sofa, Dawn giggled and said to her husband, “No. Not while my father is in the house.” I felt Becky begin to giggle. She made no sound at all, but struggled not to let Dawn see her. Becky whispered in my ear, “We could get the ball rolling, if you know what I mean. Then Dawn might allow her husband to love her.” I said, “No. Not while my daughter is in the house.” I must have said the words a little too loud, because Dawn looked at me and then snuggled up to Henry. I heard her say, “Well maybe. Father and Becky are in need of some alone time anyways. We could sneak off while they finish watching the movie.” Dawn stood up and said, “I need a nap.” She yawned and left the room. In a couple minutes, Henry said, “I had better check on her and make certain she is okay.” When he left the room, Becky said, “Well, it seems they just needed a little prodding.” I gently poked Becky with my finger. She asked, “What are you doing?” I said, “Prodding you.” Becky said, “Can we wait until we get back on the Pacifica-Two?” I asked how long that might be. She said, “I was considering calling the marina in the morning so they can put the Pacifica-Two back into the water for us. We could leave tomorrow after lunch, if you are ready to leave. I don’t want to rush you.”
I thought about what Becky said, and decided we really should leave. We had been with Henry and Dawn for ten days. We had overstayed our welcome.
When Dawn and Henry joined us for an evening snack in the kitchen, the snow had stopped. Becky poured herself another glass of wine, but made certain she chose the alcohol free bottle. As we sat and discussed the dinner, I told them that we planned to join the Pacifica-Two tomorrow after lunch. Dawn said, “We have enjoyed having you guys stay with us. I want to thank you, Father, for being nice to Mother while she was here. I know she can be a pain in the ass, but she is my mother, and your ex-wife, so we need to make an honest effort to be her friend.” I smiled and said, “She did act civilized during dinner and I actually enjoyed talking to her for a change.” Becky said, “Did we make her mad at lunch? She left quickly after the dishes were done.” Dawn giggled and said, “She and some of the women she runs around with were going to a casino. Mother hoped to give away some of the money Father so graciously gave her at the divorce.” I watched my Daughter begin to smile, but when she looked up at me, she quickly dropped her eyes back down to her plate of food. She said, “Sorry Father.” Becky laughed and asked, “Dawn, does your Mother still work, or has she retired?” Dawn said, “She works part time at Walmart, but mostly just hangs around the million dollar beach house that Father gave her as a parting divorce present.” Becky looked at me and said, “So what did you get out of this divorce, other than a Daughter that loves you.” I looked at my wife and started to speak, but closed my mouth and said, “I should just sit here and remain silent. I have gotten over the anger and should not go back to those times.” Becky patted my hand and said, “Sorry for bringing it up.”
Dawn stood up and walked around the table to where I sat. She leaned down and hugged me, then kissed my cheek. When she sat back down she said, “I am sorry Mother turned out to be so stupid, but I can remember a time when you two were very much in love, a time before she changed.” I smiled and said, “Daughter, you surely understand that your mother and I had to get married, but what you may not know was that we did love each other during those hard times. A tiny little baby brought us together and kept our love strong. That same child keeps me tolerant of the Mother that brought you into this world. Your mother and I loved you from the moment we were certain you were growing in her belly and we still love you to this day. Your conception might have been an accident, but you were always wanted. Your presence in my life has been the one thing that has kept me sane and in love with myself. My God gave you to me to help me survive in this world. You have done that.”
The following morning, Becky called the marina. They asked that we meet at the Marina around ten o’clock in the morning. They said they would load our fuel tanks and then set the Pacifica-Two into the canal and move her out into the harbor. Becky asked how much the bill would be and discussed how they wanted payment. They said they did not take checks, but would take cash or a major credit card. When Becky hung up, she looked at me and asked, “How much cash is in the safe? Do you know?” I thought a moment and said, “Thirteen thousand, six hundred and twelve dollars.” Becky giggled and said, “We need to transfer some money from my accounts in San Francisco so we can have more cash. I would like a cashier’s check for the marina and then another ten thousand in the safe.” Henry spoke to Becky and said, “I have that much ready cash in my safe. You could simply write me a check to cover the cash and then you would not have to deal with a cashier’s check.” Becky thought a moment and said, “That will work. Let me get my check book.” As Henry counted out the money on the desk in his office, Becky made out the check. As I counted out the cash and placed ten thousand into one pile and the remainder into the other one, Dawn walked into the office. She giggled and said, “Are we being robbed?” Henry giggled and said, “Your cooking was so bad, we are paying our guests to stay here.” Dawn giggled as she saw the check lying on the desk to cover the cash. Henry leaned over, kissed his wife and said, “We are exchanging cash for a check, it will take days to transfer money and get this kind of cash out a bank door. I can move the money around in my accounts without any hassle.” Dawn giggled as she picked up a stack of money and smelled it. She said, “Oh, the sweet smell of money.”
Henry had a few hours off, so the four of us loaded up into the Jeep had headed for the marina. When we drove in, Dawn said, “Would it be alright if we hang around and see the Pacifica-Two put back into the water. Maybe we could get a look inside her.” I laughed and said, “I don’t know. I should warn you in advance, you may fall in love with the sea.” Dawn said, “I will chance it. How are you going to sail with snow blowing in your faces? Won’t you freeze to death?” Becky said, “We have divers’ dry suits that we wear over our long underwear and fleece clothing. We could survive long enough for rescue, even if one of us fell overboard. The only thing we have to be concerned with is freezing weather. The ballast tanks could freeze if we were not paying careful attention. That error could be expensive. We have a heater inside the vessel if we should need it, and the water temperature below the surface never gets below freezing in the waters we will be sailing. We can always submerge the hull to keep things from freezing.”
When we walked into the marina, one of the ladies that knew us stepped up and said, “You are right on schedule. The guys are just hooking up the lifting cart if you want to go out and watch.” As we walked out into the work area, I heard a gasp come from Dawn. She said, “Oh my. This place is huge.” When we walked up to where the foreman stood, he smiled and said, “As you can see, we are ready to move your vessel over into the main channel. First, we need to load your fuel containers. Then, once the Pacifica-Two is out over the concrete floor, we will walk under her and make certain everything is undamaged and ready to sail. Once the vessel is sitting in the water, you may connect your batteries and power up the electrical systems while we hand line the vessel out of the canal. From that point on, you are ready to sail.” Becky said, “Stanley, while you work with the vessel, I will go back to the office and pay our bill. I will join you for the inspection.”
As I worked to get the fuel containers in their proper storage units and fastened down, Henry and Dawn looked around in the cabin. When I began explaining the systems to them, Dawn said, “And you and Becky built this vessel?” I smiled and said, “Becky designed the original version and I installed the electrical systems. On this second build, we worked together to implement what we had learned into this upgraded model. We had the hull built in Oahu, Hawaii and we sailed her to San Francisco. There, we installed most of the electrical and mechanical systems. We had a marine carpenter do the word work. You must remember that this vessel is Becky’s lifelong dream; I only came along later to design and install the electrical systems. Now, I have fallen in love with the sea and with Becky.”
Once we carried the fuel containers down into the cabin, we climbed down to the floor of the work area and the guys prepared to hoist the Pacifica-Two up out of the water. We stood to the side, out of the way. Once they swung the vessel out over the floor where we could inspect her, the foreman said, “I can only allow the captain of the vessel and myself under the Pacifica-Two while she is suspended, safety issues being as they are.” While the foreman and I checked every inch of the vessel, Becky began saying goodbye to Dawn and Henry. When I had signed the paperwork stating that the hull of the vessel was undamaged, I walked over and said my Goodbyes to my family. As I hugged Dawn, she started to cry, but quickly stepped back and said, “I promised myself not to cry.” I hugged her again and said, “When this child is born and ready to travel, call and we will work out a trip to San Francisco for you.” I shook Henry’s hand and said, “You are welcome to join your wife and Son in San Francisco. It would be wonderful to show you around San Francisco and take you out on a day trip in the Pacifica-Two to enjoy the Pacific Ocean.”
As the men sat the Pacifica-Two down into the water, they threw the hand lines to Becky and I and we secured them to the safety rings. As the hoist moved out of the way, the line walkers began pulling us through the canal. I quickly connected the power and got everything working. As we passed the dock where Henry and Dawn were now waiting, we waved goodbye to them one last time and watched them head towards the warmth of their Jeep. As they drove out of the parking lot, we saw a hand wave out the open window. As I waved back, I realized I was freezing. We moved the vessel out of the channel and dropped anchor. We needed to put on our warm clothing and dry suits before we went any further.
Once dressed, we moved the sails and tackle up on deck, and then prepared the vessel for the sea. When we were ready, I began motoring out of the harbor. We wanted to be out of sound before dark if possible.
Chapter 36 – Port of Call - Barbados
As we sailed out of the Long Island Sound, Becky guided me with her handheld GPS. An hour later, we began to make the southerly turn around the south side of Block Island. Once we were sailing due south, we began carrying up the sails and tackle. Twenty minutes later, we were under full sail and headed towards our next destination.
We planned to sail, nonstop, from New York to Barbados. We planned to purchase groceries and supplies once we arrived, and probably spend a night or two in a nice hotel. We worked out the mileage calculations while at Dawn’s house and found that the trip would take us at least twenty-one days, if we had good weather.
We took one-hour shifts standing watch on the deck during daylight and then I took the first six-hour shift after sunset. We wanted to get to warmer water as soon as we could; this cold weather was killing us. Becky relieved me around three o’clock in the morning. By then I was getting tired. Becky asked if was cold. I chuckled and said, “If anything, I have been too warm all night. I will remove one layer before I relieve you later this morning.” Becky snapped the lanyard to her safety belt and hung the steering remote around her neck.
When I got down into the cabin, I ate some toast with peanut butter and drank a cup of coffee. When I crawled into bed, I set the alarm for quarter to nine in the morning.
When the alarm went off, I quickly got myself dressed. I fixed a pot of coffee, poured myself one and headed up to relieve Becky. When I opened the hatch door, a spray of water hit me in the face. I hooked my safety line and went up to check on Becky. She was standing at the bow mast, staring out ahead of the Pacifica-Two. The white caps on the water were breaking on the bow and splashing water over the deck. When I stepped up beside her, she looked at me and said, “Hello, Husband.” I chuckled as I looked through the glass of her dive mask. She had her dry suit hood pulled up and her diving mask covering the rest of her face. Her foul weather outfit covered here from head to toe. I asked if she was cold and she said, “No, I am quite warm.” She handed me her GPS and said, “The course is plotted on the GPS. All you have to do is try to stay on course, which is not so easy in this wind. The wind is suppose to die off in another couple hours. Wake me if things get worse and we will sail together.”
As Becky headed down into the cabin to get some rest, I checked the GPS and realized all I had to do was sail a straight line towards the south. As long as no vessels got in my path, I had little to do but enjoy the sea. The sun was up and shining bright. Now if the wind would die off, we could sail in comfort. One benefit of the wind was that it was pushing us along at 5.1 knots.
Around noon, the wind began to die off and the white caps began to settle down. As I looked up at the sails, I realized that one sail on the stern mast had a tear just below the top eyelet. I decided to change it before it ripped so badly that we could not repair it. I lowered the stern sails and removed the torn sailcloth. I opened the hatch and put the sail in the corner. When I took a new sail out of the cabinet, I realized Becky was up. She seemed to know something had changed with her vessel. I told her to go back to bed. She laughed and said, “I cannot sleep anymore. I have rested enough.” I carried the new sail up on deck and hung it. Once the opposing sails were properly set, the vessel surged forward in the wind.
Around one o’clock in the afternoon, the wind died out and became a gently breeze. The waves remained high and I was certain they would remain high for the remainder of the day. Out here in the deep water of the Atlantic, wind and high waves were a normal daily occurrence.
Now that the wind was light, the sun began warming the air. I soon was getting hot in my dry suit. I decided to shed the dry suit and some of the warm clothing under it and put on my rain suit instead. I opened the hatch and quickly changed. When I returned to the deck, there were six sea gulls walking around as if they owned the place. I had never seen sea gulls hitch a ride before; they were not bothering anything, just annoying.
Becky came up on deck around three in the afternoon. She said, “There is food cooked in the cabin if you are hungry.” As we stood on deck and talked, we decided to drop the sails for a couple hours when the waves calmed down a little more. Just as I was about to head down into the cabin, I looked out across the rolling sea and realized we had company. I spoke to Becky and said, “We have a following, Captain.” Becky stood watching the pod of dolphins heading towards us. Within a couple minutes, they were swimming and diving all around us. They swam with us for ten minutes or so before turning east. When I stepped up beside Becky, I realized she was laughing. I hugged her and asked why she was so happy. She giggled and said, “The dolphins are so incredible. They speak to my soul.” I kissed her wind-chapped cheek and headed down to the cabin for some coffee and food.
Around six o’clock, I felt the vessel begin to slow. At least that is what it felt like down here in the cabin. I quickly dressed and climbed up the ladder to see what my wife was doing. When I got up on deck, Becky had lowered and tied the sails to the masts. I realized that the wind had completely died out and the waves were now only gently rolling crests. Becky said, “I stink.” I chuckled and said, “Shall we wash that cute body of yours?” She giggled and said, “I had better wash it myself. You will not want to get anywhere near me until after my bar of soap has worked its magic.”
I went down into the cabin and returned with our robes, towels and our soap. The current was moving us along at a fast pace, so we put on our safety belts and connected the lanyards to the safety rings in the swim platform. As we slid into the water, we realized it was cold. We quickly washed and got out of the water. Becky said, “I love the Atlantic Ocean, but it certainly is not an ocean to bathe in.” While she was drying with the towel, I realized that she had goose pimples on her skin. Then I laughed and said, “You seem to have two bumps that really like the cold water.” She looked down and said, “You could warm them for me.” I stepped up and warmed them with my lips and the end of my tongue. She giggled as she squirmed away.
Before we set the sails, we took time to catch two fish. Once we filleted them, we had enough meat to last us to Barbados. Once the fish was packaged and stored in the cool box, we set sail again. We were eighteen days out of New York and should arrive in Barbados in four more days. We planned to drop anchor and bathe one last time before reaching our destination.
We carried the solar panel up on deck and began charging the batteries. We had been using cabin and running lights at night and we realized me might need the batteries in the near future. The weatherman was calling for thunderstorms by noon tomorrow, and out here at sea, one never knows how intense those storms may become. We hoped for rain, but certainly did not want to have to submerge to weather severe storms.
We knew we had enough water to make it to Barbados. However, a good rain would allow us to refill our water jugs at sea instead of having to fill them at the marina. Lugging the heavy water filled jugs around in the dinghy was hard work, very hard work.
Becky said, “I have cell phone service. I am going to take a few minutes and find marinas along the east coast of South America where we can refill our water jugs and purchase food and supplies. We cannot make it all the way from Barbados to the Falkland Islands without stopping. There certainly must be some English speaking marinas and hotels along the way.”
When Becky came back up on deck, she said, “I found a marina and hotel in Salvador, Brazil and they speak English. We have open reservations at both places. All we have to do is call two days ahead and they will work with us. The marina has a service barge that can refill our water jugs. The man I spoke to explained that they purified their water using steam condensate distillation. He said their water was 99.9% pure and would not sicken us. He said they supply fresh water to yachting clubs from all over the world. I guess if we had to, we could fill our water jugs at that marina. I still prefer rainwater.”
We had just begun to turn towards the west so we could circle around to the southwest side of the Barbados Island when we saw an amazing sight. We saw a bunch of beautifully colored butterflies flying around over the surface of the water. I had never seen butterflies out on the ocean and neither had Becky. As we passed by, the butterflies would take flight and then land on something. The butterflies were beautiful. They had black wing tips, and then the colors changed to blue in the center and then to pink where their wings connected to their bodies. There were hundreds of them and they seemed to hover over a spot in the water. As we watched, we realized the butterflies were resting on a section of someone’s boat dock. It had probably torn free in the recent hurricane. Soon we were out of sight of the butterflies, but we discussed looking them up on the Internet to see what kind they were.
Right on schedule, we ran into heavy rain. It rained so hard that within two hours we had filled all of the water jugs. As the wave height increased in the winds, we finally took down the foresails and fastened them to the mast in an attempt to slow our speed a little. There was no sense sitting out in the storm, so I sat in the bow hatch and watched for other vessels. As I looked out through the viewing windows, Becky’s gave me information on how to keep the Pacifica-Two on course. Without the GPS, we had no idea which way was south. The rain came so hard at times that I could barely see out of the viewing windows.
I realized that Becky was doing something in the bow. I leaned down and saw that she was emptying out two plastic totes that we had stored cans of food in. When they were empty and clean, she placed them under the rainwater collection hatch and began filling them. Each tote would hold about thirty gallons of water. It took thirty minutes to fill the first tote. Becky carefully placed the lid on top of the tote, and then wrapped two wraps of plastic wrap that we used to seal food around the lid and sides of the container. The plastic wrap would keep any dirt or contaminants from getting into the tote. Then she slid the full tote to the side and began filling a second one. As she filled the second tote, I realized she would now have sixty additional gallons of good water stored within just a few minutes.
The heavy rain had turned into a drizzle. I put on my rain slicker and when up on the deck to stand watch. When I stepped outside, I realized that the rain was very warm and the air smelled wonderful. Then it dawned on me that I was smelling land. I looked to my left and could see the island of Barbados. I opened the hatch and yelled, “Land ahoy, Captain.” Becky scampered up on deck and stood beside me. She wrapped her arm around my waist and said, “I was afraid we would never see land again. I love that smell, it almost makes me cry.” I hugged her and looked at her. The rain had soaked her hair and clothes. She stood beside me with water dripping from her chin onto the deck. Within minutes, the rain stopped and the air became hot and steamy. Becky headed to the cabin, dried off and changed her clothes into shorts and a lightweight top. When she came back on deck, I did the same.
Once our GPS said we were in the harbor leading towards the marina, we took down the mainsail and used the propulsion motors to move us into our mooring location. Once the harbormaster was satisfied, we dropped the anchors and took down the sails. The sails were very wet, so we laid them on the deck to dry. The sun was very warm and it only took the nylon sails an hour to completely dry out. While the sails dried, we packed our clothing totes and moved the dinghy up on deck. Once we had it inflated and the paddles secured, we lowered the dinghy down into the water.
Just as I was about to lock the hatch door, Becky said, “The torn sail.” I looked at her and said, “Yea. What about it?” She giggled and said, “We might want to get it repaired. I will call the marina and see if they have the equipment to repair it of make us another one.” As she dialed the number and discussed the problem with the service manager, she hung up and said, “The marina does not repair sails. They send their work to company a mile or so down the road to a place that specializes in creating sails and repairing them. The manager will take our sail to them for repairs or replacement.” I went down into the cabin and retrieved the torn sail. When I climbed back up on deck, Becky was in the dinghy. I passed her the torn sail and our totes, and then stepped into the dinghy from the swim platform. It only took us a couple of minutes to paddle to the docks. Once there, we flipped the dinghy upside down and tied it securely to the side of the dock.
After we registered at the hotel, we quickly took showers, dressed and headed down to the restaurant for some food. We were determined to assault our bodies with greasy food. I ordered two eggs over easy, bacon, hash brown potatoes and toast smothered in butter. Becky ordered her eggs scrambled. As we ate, Becky giggled and said, “They have a walking trail along the edge of the harbor. Shall we take a long walk and listen to the birds singing. I don’t want to be cooped up in the hotel room for a couple more hours.” When our meal was over, we started walking. When we returned to the hotel, the sun was setting.
When we woke in the morning, we rented a golf cart and drove it to the market, two blocks down the road. The market had an incredible fresh fruit section and a health food area. Most of the food items we purchased came in plastic containers, ideal for use aboard the Pacifica-Two. We had difficulty storing used metal containers after we emptied them, so plastic and paper packaged products were perfect. We could burn those items in our small stove. We filled the golf cart the first time, carried our purchases to the Pacifica-Two in the dinghy and then prepared to make a second food run in the golf cart.
While we were putting the first load of food into the cabinets of the Pacifica-Two, we checked the sails we had laid out on the deck to see if they were dry. They felt damp, so we ran a rope through the eyes and tied them securely so they would not blow overboard if the wind suddenly came up. We wanted to insure the sails were dry before returning them to the cabin. We would be staying in the hotel for one more day. As I feared, the wind had damaged the sail beyond repair. The sailcloth had frayed badly along the edges and the repair facility simply could not repair it. The company had material in stock and said they would have a new sail ready for us tomorrow. We decided to enjoy the luxurious hotel for one more night.
We finally set sail for the Falkland Island on December 8. I had a secret that I intended to keep from Becky. I normally would never keep anything of importance from her, but this one time, I made an exception. I hoped she would love the Christmas present I purchased just for her.
We were just sailing along the east side of French Guiana when I heard Becky’s laptop make a dinging sound. I looked at the screen and discovered Susanne had sent Becky an email. When I returned to the deck to help clean up the lunch dishes, I told Becky about the email. I told her to go read the message before we lost cell service and that I would finish cleaning up. Once I finished cleaning, I sat my deck chair on the bow and watched the seagulls scavenging something floating on the water, probably a dead fish. I decided to fix some coffee and headed down into the cabin. As I fixed the pot and placed it on the camp stove to perk, I realized Becky was not down here with me. She must have slipped past me while I sat on the bow.
When the coffee finished perking, I poured two cups and carried them up to the deck. Becky was not up here either. I looked over the stern and found her sitting down, leaning back against the hull. She was obviously crying. I sat the coffee down and climbed down the ladder. I did not say anything; I just sat down beside her. I knew she would talk to me about the problem when she was able, until then, I needed to let her think. In a few moments, she leaned her head against my shoulder and took hold of my hand. I could feel her warm tears dripping on my arm and knew something in Susanne’s email had upset her. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “Susanne’s email was not good. I need to read the message to you. I need to speak the words out loud to my best friend. I need you to listen. I know I will cry while I read to you, but let me do this. My sanity somehow needs me to cry the tears and accept the reality of my niece’s words. Becky stood up and pulled me to my feet.
Once we were in the cabin, Becky sat down at the communications desk and opened the email she had saved. She looked up at me and took a deep breath. Then she began reading.
“It sounds like you and Stanley are having a great trip and I thank you for the offer to have Charlie meet you in the Falkland Islands, all expenses paid, so he could ride home with you to San Francisco on the Pacifica-Two. That trip would be something he would remember for the rest of his life.
Unfortunately, the family has a medical issue that requires Charlie to remain at home. As much as I would love Charlie to be with you and Stanley right now, I think it is more important that he spend as much time as possible with his father. Becky, I don’t know how to tell you this without just saying it, Charlie’s Father has advanced brain cancer and only has a few more months to live. The doctors are unable to do much to help, except keep him comfortable with drugs. I have not told Charlie that his father is dying, only that he is very ill and will be spending a lot of time in the hospital. I will tell Charlie the truth when the time is right. His father may do the deed for me if he can work the conversation around to it.
There, I have said the words. I am trying to type as the tears run down my cheeks. I have cried a river of tears and I hoped I could make it through this email without shedding any more. I will keep you updated with as much information as possible. Have a safe trip. Thanks again for the wonderful offer to have Charlie join you; sorry it did not work out.
Love always
Susanne
As Becky closed her laptop, she had managed to dry her tears. She said, “Right now, I feel as if Charlie was my own Son. I hate what he is going to have to endure as his father’s illness progresses.”
Becky said, “I need to not let this horrible news control my life. I cannot do anything to change the outcome, nor do much to help Susanne and Charlie deal with the heartache they will both endure. I need to get on with my life and try to remember the good things I know about Charlie’s Father.”
When Becky stood up she said, “Will you join me on the deck for a beer. I think I need to stay near to you for awhile until this darkness I feel in my heart passes, if that makes any sense to you.” I pulled her into my arms and said, “Charlie needs your love and support. I suggest you pull yourself from that darkness and do it now, girl. I love you, Susanne loves you, and Charlie loves you. Remember to talk to me if the darkness becomes overpowering. I cannot lose you. My life would become meaningless without you in my arms.”
As we started to climb the ladder back up to the deck, I pushed a bag with a box inside it with my toe so it was not blocking the bottom rung of the ladder. Becky giggled and said, “I will move that box after you are up on deck.” I looked at her with intentions of asking what was in the box, but the sly smile on her face told me not to ask.
I headed up to the deck and chuckled over her secrecy. I was certain she had bought me a Christmas present. I could see the Christmas wrapping paper on the box. The girl still loved me.
It was Christmas Eve and we decided to stop for the night. We had sailed a little closer to the South American coast in an attempt to find warm shallow water where we could anchor, bathe and fish. The spot we chose had water only twenty-two feet deep. We could see fish all around us, so we dropped lines and soon caught four fish. Once we had them filleted, we left the carcasses in a large pail on the deck. Then we took some time and took a bath. As we stood on the swim platform drying off, we saw an octopus stick his tentacles up onto the swim platform and slowly begin pulling himself aboard. We both began to laugh at the creature as it pulled its head up out of the water and appeared to be looking us over. We decided to feed the creature. We had no idea what octopus ate, but decided to give it the fish carcasses we had up on the deck. I brought the pail down and slid one of the fish into the water. The octopus quickly grabbed the fish and held on with one of its tentacles. I slid a second fish into the water and the animal grabbed it with a second tentacle. By the time I had all the fish into the water, the octopus slid off the platform and back into the water. We could see it below us, carrying all four fish across the sandy seafloor, probably taking them home to his family. Becky looked at me and said, “I hope that is the Father fish and not a baby. I would not want a big octopus on this vessel.”
We decided to sail out into water a hundred feet or so deep and submerge for a few hours sleep. We never seemed to get a full nights’ sleep while we sailed. We were always taking turns standing watch and we never sleep a full six or seven hours. Tonight we would sleep together from dark to daylight before setting sail. It would extend our trip by another day, but the whole point of this sailing adventure was to enjoy the sea. Sleep made living aboard the Pacifica-Two a little easier.
Once we found a place with a sandy bottom, we took down the sails, lowered the masts and settled to the bottom. I no more than had the vessel stable in the sand, when I heard a scream from Becky. I looked towards the bow, expecting to see her bleeding or injured. Instead, I saw her with her back pressed against the bathroom door, staring out the port viewing window. I walked over to where she stood and looked out the window. As I pressed my face up to the window to try to locate what had frightened her, a huge shark head appeared in the window. I know I screamed like a girl, I know I peed a little, I know my legs were shaking when I turned around to face my wife. She started giggling and said, “I wish I had my recorder turned on. You screamed like a six year old girl.” I inspected the front of my shorts and said, “Okay, laugh if you want. I think I wet my pants.” Becky sat down on the bed and watched me change my shorts. She tried hard not to laugh, but could not contain herself. I finally threw my wet shorts at her and asked, “Why did you not warn me about the shark? Sometimes, I just hate you.” She began to laugh all over again. Finally, she managed to settle down and said, “At least I didn’t pee in my pants.”
I returned to the window, but kept a safe distance this time. As I watched, I could see at least two sharks on the port side and another one on the starboard side. They seemed intrigued by the Pacifica-Two, probably wondering if it was a predator or simply prey.
Becky put her arms around my neck and said, “To think, we swam in these waters just a couple miles from here. Those sharks may have watched us bathe and feed the octopus. They might have even had the octopus and our fish carcasses for supper.” I did not like her words, but I did realize she was probably correct in her assessment. I also realized that just because there was a shark in the water, did not mean the animal was intent on biting or eating us. Most often, they were simply curious.
As we crawled into my bed and cuddled, Becky seemed unable to get to sleep. I rolled over and kissed her, then slid my hand down into her pajama bottoms. With just a little coaxing, she rolled on top of me and allowed her body to release the tension this day had produced. Twenty minutes later, my wife was sound asleep beside me, hogging the bed as usual.
When I rolled out of bed, I felt an excitement in the air. I smelled coffee and saw Becky eating her breakfast at the little table. I could tell we were on the surface because the sun was shining in one of the viewing windows. I got up, went up on deck and peed over the side. When I returned to the cabin, I poured a cup of coffee and joined my wife at the table. She smiled and said, “Merry Christmas, my love.” I said, “Merry Christmas, Becky. I love you too.” She asked if I had bought her a Christmas present. I chuckled and said, “You know I did and you probably already sneaked a peek.” She giggled and said, “I promise you, pinky swears, that I did not peek. It was difficult, but I have no idea what you bought me, besides both packages are wrapped.” I gasp over her words. She put her fingers over her mouth, trying to take back the words she had just spoken.
Then she got up and began rummaging around in the compartment under her bed. She produced the box I had seen earlier, nicely wrapped in Christmas paper with a red bow on the top. She sat the box on the table in front of me and said, “While you unwrap your present, I will get mine out from under your bed.” I began to laugh as she began pulling stuff out from under my bed. She put the smaller package on the table and then sat the larger one on the floor. I looked at her and said, “May I borrow this bow for a few minutes?” I took the bow off my present and stuck it to the smaller box she had sat on the table. She giggled and said, “Bows are optional. Only the present is important.” She leaned over and kissed me hard on the lips.
As I removed the last of the wrapping paper and saw what she had bought me, I almost cried. She giggled and said, “That bad, huh?” I wrapped my arms around her and said, “That good. I love you. This is the best gift you could have given me. Now I can listen to BBC; I simply love that program.” As I looked in the box, I realized there were two rolls of wire for making an antenna. This would work out very well.
I moved the small package over to Becky and watched her unwrap it. When she pulled out the knee length pink tee shirt, she giggled, pulled off all her clothes and put on the new shirt. I chuckled and said, “Wow, you look good enough to nibble on.” She giggled and said, “That later. Right now, I have one more present to open.” She slowly removed the wrapping paper, only to discover another box carefully wrapped inside the first. She giggled and opened the second box. This time she found what she wanted. The box contained a small boom box with a radio and CD player. In the bottom of the box were twelve CD’s by the music artists she loved the most. She looked up at me with glistening eyes and said, “How did you know I was looking at this CD player? You were not with me when I looked at it.” I explained that I had asked the sales clerk what she had that would be a good Christmas present for you and she had said, “ow about theHHow about the CD player your wife was checking out?” Since I knew you liked it, I bought it. The CD’s were easy; I know what music you like.
Becky checked for batteries and opened one of the CD’s. When she pressed the play button, the sound of music echoed around the cabin of the Pacifica-Two. She giggled, picked up the player and headed for the deck. I followed her, only to discover she had taken off the long pink tee shirt and was dancing on the deck in her birthday suit. I joined her, but she said, “No. you cannot dance to my music with your clothes on.” I quickly remedied the problem and joined her again. After a few minutes of dancing, Becky turned off her player and put her tee shirt back on. She giggled at me and said, “Apparently, your male body likes dancing in the nude.” I chuckled and pulled my shorts back on.
After we fixed a Christmas breakfast, we set the sails and got back underway. Spending Christmas Eve here in the Southern Atlantic and opening our presents this morning was wonderful. The weather could not have been nicer, it was eighty-six degrees and sunny. Today would be a wonderful day on the high seas. While Becky got the Pacifica-Two headed in the right direction, I ran a wire from a junction box by the stern hatch so Becky could plug in her CD player on the deck without running down the batteries. She already had the CD player jamming out music as she sailed us towards Salvador.
Around noon, I cooked us our favorite food: Fish. Becky sat down beside me to eat our lunch. I had opened a bottle of wine to celebrate our Christmas dinner and I poured her a small glass. As we ate, she said, “What is it that I smell?” I said, “While you were jamming to your music on deck, I cooked us a special Christmas treat.” She looked at me and said, “It smells like brownies.” I chuckled and said, “Did you save enough room for desert?” She looked at me and said, “Yes.” She seemed unable to believe that I had cooked desert. I went down into the cabin and served up two large brownies. I carried them up to the deck and handed one to Becky. She giggled and said, “Holly crap, Ke-mo sah-bee, this smells incredible.” I blew the wine I had just taken a sip out my nose and all over my legs. As I cleaned up the mess, she giggled and said, “You must tell me how you made brownies this good on a camp stove.” I said, “I cannot tell you. I was sworn to secrecy.” She leaned over and said, “I will give you a very special Christmas kiss if you tell me your secret.” I giggled and said, “Don’t make promises that you will regret.” Then I explained that the recipe came from Kathryn. I had told her of your love for chocolate during your periods each month. She wrote down the recipe and I tried it this morning. I think it came out quite nicely.” Becky sat looking at me, considering the story I had just told her. She finally rolled her eyes and took another sip of her wine. When she tasted the brownie, she smiled and said, “As captain of this vessel, I proclaim that you now have an official title. I, by the power invested in me, do proclaim that you, Stanley, are the official confectionary for the Pacifica-Two.” I stood up and bowed to the captain. She giggled and said, “I am in awe of your skills. The longer I know you, the more I love the mystery about you.”
When we entered the harbor at Salvador, Brazil, we decided to purchase some groceries and immediately head back out to sea. We had plenty of fresh water stored in the cabin, so all we needed now was some food and supplies. We hoped to be in and out of the marina in four or five hours at most.
Once we anchored, we paddled the dinghy to the docks and tied it to a post. When we entered the marina, we discussed where we could purchase groceries and supplies. The Spanish-speaking lady at the counter explained that the market was two blocks down the street. We paid her for one days docking fees and began walking the two blocks to the market. We purchased what we needed and filled all four backpacks. As we slowly walked back towards the dinghy, we realized that we had packed more into the backpacks than we should have. We were struggling as we walked up the steep incline to the marina’s docks.
Once we unloaded the backpacks into the dinghy, it only took us another twenty minutes to get everything stowed in the cabin. We decided to go back to the marina and have some lunch before leaving. When we sat down, the waitress only spoke Spanish, but we managed to place our orders. I was glad we both had taken Spanish classes in high school and again in college. Knowing the basics of the language allowed us to manage, albeit with difficulty, to converse in this southern continent. Speaking the language had been extremely important while crossing the Panama Canal. Many, if not most of the people we met spoke either English or Spanish.
As we motored out of the harbor and returned to the shipping channel, we set the sails and headed due south. The weather was warm and sunny with a slight northwesterly wind. We set the spinnaker and pushed the Pacifica-Two hard for the next seven days, until we ran into stormy weather just east of Rio de Janeiro.
The storm warnings first came across the marine radio around six o’clock in the morning, startling Becky out of bed. I was standing watch and could see the lightning hundreds of miles to our east; over land, it appeared. When Becky stepped up on deck, three hours before she was to relieve me, she moved a deck chair up beside me and said, “We may have to find a location and submerge for a few hours. The storm that you see is rapidly approaching us. NOAA has issued an advisory for all vessels to seek shelter. The storm contains high winds, large hail and heavy lightning strikes. I see that the waves have gotten larger from the approaching storm. We are presently in water that is 1200 feet deep. I would like to find a sandy area in a couple hundred feet of water and settle in before the storm arrives. If you sail directly to the east, I will tell you when we reach an appropriate area with the depth gauge and fish finder. I will start the generator while I am down there so we have fully charged batteries before we submerge.”
When Becky had left the deck, I began moving the deck chairs to the cabin and then took down the foresail. As I carried the sails and rigging down the ladder and placed everything into the proper cabinets, Becky said, “I believe we are in an appropriate location. If you turn and sail us due south for a few minutes, I will see if I can find a place slightly deeper.” As I sailed for another half hour, Becky stuck her head up through the hatch and said we should dive here. I quickly took down the mainsail and rigging and passed it to Becky. I lowered the two masts and brought our safety belts and lanyards into the hatch. Becky said the batteries were now fully charged and shut down the generator. Once we had closed and locked the hatch doors, we settled the Pacifica-Two a little deeper and looked for a place to wait out the storm on the sandy bottom. NOAA had predicted that the storm would run its course in few hours. Once we found a place where we wanted to be, we surfaced again. Our intent was to remain on the surface just long enough to gather sufficient rainwater to refill all our jugs.
We did not have to wait very long for the rains to start. We let the rain wash the hull around the water collection hatch for a couple of minutes, and then opened the hatch and let the water start flowing into the first jug. We had eight jugs to fill, so we would be at this for a while, unless it rained extremely hard. As long as the lightning or waves did not get to bad, we would stay on the surface until the jugs were full.
As I watched the storm through the viewing windows in the stern hatch, I could see the storm moving towards us. The lightning did not seem too bad yet, but the rain began coming down extremely heavy. I could see Becky working below me to fill water jugs so I went down to help her. Within an hour, we filled all of our water jugs. We now had enough water to make it all the way to the Falkland Islands. Once we closed up the water collection hatch, we dove again. We were certain we had drifted a long ways from where we originally found a sandy place to set the Pacifica-Two on the bottom. It was dark, so we could not see the bottom. We did not want to set the vessel down on a rock or a ledge, so we decided to turn the bow in the direction the currents were moving us and ride out the storm. The depth gauge said we were in water over six hundred feet deep, so we did not have to worry about running aground. Grandfather’s compass said we were drifting due south. When Becky plotted our GPS position on the map, it appeared we would travel west of the Bromley Plateau.
We discussed our options and decided to keep the stern hatch viewing windows just above the surface so we could monitor the storm and continue drifting south. I took the first watch and Becky crawled into bed. She needed some sleep and I was wide-awake, so the choice was obvious. While I watched out the windows, I thought about Charlie. He was now ten years old and would soon lose his father. That was a sad thing to consider.
I could hear Becky slowly breathing below me. She had not slept well after getting the news about Charlie’s Father, so I let her sleep. I was one of those people who could take a couple twenty-minute naps and be just fine for a couple days. I would catch up on my sleep later when Becky had rested. As I sat and thought about the remainder of our trip, I realized we would have many days with very little to do. The trip around South America would be long and tiring. We would have to find things to keep us occupied.
As I watched the approaching storm out the viewing windows, a huge bolt of lightning struck the surface of the water a few miles away. When the clap of thunder hit the Pacifica-Two, it sounded like someone had hit the outside of the vessel with a sledgehammer. Becky was instantly on her feet and trying to figure out what had happened. I talked to her, explaining that lightning had struck nearby and that I was taking the Pacifica-Two down a hundred feet or so below the water. I realized that lightning bolts this intense could penetrate the hull and cause severe damage.
Once I had the Pacifica-Two settled out around one hundred feet, I kept an eye on the compass needle and tried to keep us moving south with the rudder. The current was moving us along so I really did not need to waste power running the propulsion motors. I decided to remain at this depth for an hour, then raise up closer to the surface and see what was going on outside. If the storm had passed, I would like to set the sails and get back underway. Becky soon settled down and went back to sleep. I decided to allow her to sleep through the night. I napped occasional, but tried to remain awake.
I waited until it was almost time for the sun to rise before surfacing. I moved towards the surface slowly, but could see the bright sunlight above me as we climbed upwards. When the hull cleared the surface, I opened the hatch door and realized the ocean had calmed and there was a gentle breeze coming from the northwest. I blew a little more ballast water from the tanks so the hull rode at a good height in the water and then began taking the sails and tack up to the deck. I had the mainsail hung and set when Becky came up on deck. I watched her climb down to the swim platform with her bar of soap. Once she had finished doing her business and bathed, using a small pail of water to rinse, she carried the pail and soap to the cabin. When she returned and stood drying herself with a towel, she said, “Stanley, I will fix us some breakfast and then you can sleep for awhile if you want. It appears you have been up all night. Thank you for allowing me to catch up on my sleep. I think my nerves have gotten the best of me lately.” Once I had the foresail set and adjusted, I checked our direction with my GPS. I then brought up the solar panel to charge the batteries.
While Becky fixed breakfast on the deck, I took my bath on the swim platform. I heard Becky giggling and looked up to the deck. She was sitting on the edge of the deck with her feet hanging down. I asked what she was laughing at. She giggled again and said, “It is amazing what cold water does to a man.” I walked over to where she sat, reached up and pulled her down off the deck and into my arms. She giggled and said, “I have little to fear from that weapon you are sporting.” As I slid her down, I pressed her back against the hull as she wrapped her legs around my hips. Her knee length tee shirt had slid up and now her bare body was against me. She took a deep breath as my manhood slid easily into her body. She rested her head on my shoulder and said, “Oh my, that really feels good standing up like this.”
As we washed, Becky asked, “Is there any reason we need to portage while visiting the Falkland Islands. I was reading some of the journals from sailors who visited the islands and most found no real reason to spend any time on land. The islands beauty can be best seen from the sea.” I told her that we would run out of supplies around that time and would need to restock at some point. She said, “I would like to stop before we get to the Falkland Islands and then sail around them so we can take pictures and have a good time.” I told her that we would do some more research, find a marina along the way and stop there.
Becky and I spent some time on the Internet whenever we had cell phone service to run our Internet air card. We soon discovered that making a portage on the Falkland Islands was just not something we wanted to do. After doing some research, we decided to stop at a well-known marina in Uruguay. Once there, we would carefully stock the Pacifica-Two with groceries and supplies, and then sail around the western coast of the West Falkland Island archipelago. We knew that the Falkland Islands were rich in wild life and would allow us to see penguins, seals, albatross, porpoises, dolphins and with any luck, some whales. If Charlie had been able to join us, we would have anchored in a harbor and picked him up, but now that he was not joining us, we decided to do things a little different.
As we anchored in the Uruguay marina harbor, we discussed with the harbormaster where we could purchase groceries and supplies. The man said that we could rent a golf cart at the marina and drive it to the shopping center. The harbormaster spoke broken English, but we suspected that most everyone we would meet in this area spoke Spanish. As we tied up our dinghy to the docks, we entered the marina and paid our docking fees. We also paid for the rental of a golf cart. When we stepped outside to get the cart, one of the employees showed us how to operate the vehicle. The controls were in Spanish and it took Becky and me a couple minutes to get the hang of which control did what. We soon discovered it was just a golf cart and certainly could not be too difficult to operate. The man pointed down the road and explained where the market was located. We went back into the marina and asked where we could convert US Dollars into Pesos. The manager quickly did the conversion for us.
When we got to the store, it was very small, but had everything we needed. We loaded everything into the four backpacks and placed them into the golf cart. As we headed back towards the marina, we saw a pickup truck sitting alongside the road that was selling fresh fruit. We stopped and decided to buy some apples, oranges, pineapples, carrots and sweet potatoes. As we loaded everything into the golf cart, we counted out the money to pay for them. The vendor was pleased with our purchases; we had bought half of his inventory. Fortunately, we had put the cloth shopping bags with handles into the backpacks before leaving the Pacifica-Two.
When we got to the dinghy, we realized we had quite a load, but the dinghy did not seem to mind. There were no waves so we should not sink on our way out to the Pacifica-Two. We moved the dinghy up to the swim platform and I jumped out. We spent the next hour getting everything up and down the ladders so we could stow it in the cabin. Once we were done with our work, we returned to the marina. We returned the golf cart and headed to the restaurant for supper.
The waitress spoke some English and we spoke some Spanish, but we managed to order what we wanted to eat. We both ordered beefsteak and baked potatoes, with vegetables on skewers. The steaks were small, just the right size for Becky and I and they were cooked to perfection. I had not had such a great meal in quite some time. When the waitress placed a dessert menu in front of us, we both ordered hot apple pie. That too, was wonderful. By the time we arrived back at the Pacifica-Two, it was getting dark. We moved the dinghy up on the deck and stowed it in the cabin. Once we had everything settled in the cabin, we turned in for the night. We had placed the screens over the hatch doors to let in some fresh air. As we got comfortable in our beds, the sounds of crying cats began to echo around the harbor where we had anchored. I finally went up on the deck to listen to the sounds. I soon realized that the animal voices were actually the sounds of frogs.
In the morning, we decided to eat breakfast in the restaurant before we set sail. While we were getting the dinghy back out of the cabin, we saw what looked like an alligator along the edge of the stream hunting something, but we could not see what it was trying to find. Once we were in the restaurant, we asked the male waiter and he said the animal was a Broad-Snouted Caiman and it was probably hunting the frogs that we had heard making cat sounds before we went to bed. The waiter said that neither the frogs nor the caiman normally hung around this area, but apparently the frogs had hatched out along the fresh water stream that emptied into the harbor and the Caiman had come there to feed.
Once we moved out of the harbor into the shipping lane, we set the spinnaker. The wind was just perfect and the Pacifica-Two surged out into deep water. We got a few confused stares as we passed some large yachts and small sailing vessels. They did not know what to make of a sailing submarine.
Chapter 38 – The Falkland Islands
Once we were out into deep water, I decided to clean our guns while the weather was hot and sunny. I started with my rifle, which was a Ruger 77, chambered for .308 ammo. I could also use 7.62 x 51 NATO rounds in it if necessary. It had a 3-9 x 40mm Bushnell scope. Once it was clean and reloaded, I put it back into the rack. I then cleaned Becky’s rifle, which was the same as mine except her rifle did not have a scope. She wanted nothing to do with a scope, and the girl was deadly accurate with the rifle just as it was. Once I finished with Becky’s rifle, I brought up the two pistols. The pistols were Ruger model P345, with 230-grain ammunition. We purchased the pistols to stop a pirate at close range and the 230-grain ammo would certainly do the trick.
Becky decided she would like to shoot her pistol while we were out on the ocean and no one was around. I had saved some one-gallon milk cartons for that very purpose. With the tops tightly screwed on, the jugs would float nicely on the surface. I tied a long piece of rope to the handles so we would not pollute the sea if they sank and tossed one out into the water. Becky picked up her pistol, loaded it and fired three shots into the jug, hitting it all three times. When she had cleared the gun, I pulled the milk carton up on deck and saw three holes all tightly grouped in a three-inch circle. I high fived my wife and said, “I can tell you are now comfortable with your pistol. You did well.” Once I cleaned the pistols, loaded them and stored them in the cabinet, we began preparing a light lunch. We had both put on a couple pounds and decided to eat carefully and work out harder each day. Exercising on deck was always a giggle fest.
With the help of the spinnaker and perfect sailing weather, we reached the Falkland Islands on the afternoon of the tenth day. We had made incredible speed. The weather was perfect so we set up our camera on a tripod on deck, hoping to get some pictures as we sailed. Our GPS showed that we were just at the western end of Pebble Island. There are two smaller islands west of the main island and we dropped anchor a couple miles north of there. We found a place that was only fifty feet deep. The water was clear and warm, even for the South Atlantic. We spent some time in the water getting clean and then caught some small fish for supper and breakfast. We filleted the fish and put the carcasses into a sealed bucket until we were ready to leave the area tomorrow. Just before sunset, we decided to pull the anchor and settle the Pacifica-Two on the ocean floor. We had no idea what vessels might be lurking around the area after dark and certainly did not want pirates to board us while the anchor was down.
As soon as we settled on the sea floor, we crawled into bed and set our alarms for five o’clock. We wanted to be up and around when the sun came up. We would eat breakfast while we sailed into Keppel Sound. We hoped to circle Keppel Island and try to get pictures of the wildlife. We would use the high power zoom camera lens to get good close up pictures without getting to close to shore and disturbing the creatures that lived there. The camera lens cost Becky almost three thousand dollars, but the investment was worth every penny. We had some incredible pictures on the computer of sea life that were simply awesome. Seldom, does one get a close up picture of a whale’s eye while it’s looking at you trying to decide if you are a predator or prey. However, with the telescopic camera lens Becky purchased, we had done just that. Becky had emailed a copy of that picture to Charlie and Susanne.
When we were under way, Becky walked up to me and said, “Hold still while I put more suntan lotion on you. The Internet says this area is part of the Antarctic ozone hole and we must wear plenty of suntan lotion.” When I was white with the stuff, Becky handed me the tube. I rubbed lotion into every bit of exposed skin on her body. When I was certain I had not missed any spots, I said, “You are done.” She giggled and turned her back to me again. She pulled her bikini bottoms down a couple inches and said, “More on my butt please. Whenever I bend over the top of my bikini slides down and exposes white skin and I burn.” I chuckled as I rubbed lotion onto her butt cheeks. She really did not have any white skin. Her body was very evenly tanned, since she often went without clothing while she was onboard the Pacifica-Two. However, I did not want any of her skin left unprotected if the ozone layer was in fact thin in this southern region of the planet.
As Becky prepared breakfast, I got the camera and tripod set up again. As we slowly made our turn around the western tip of Pebble Island, we spotted whales and seals in the water. We suspected that the whales were feeding on the seals, but we never saw any evidence of that fact. As I watched the shore through the camera lens, I spotted some Rockhopper Penguins walking along the shoreline and got a few great close-up pictures of them.
As we ate breakfast on the deck, we sailed into the Keppel Sound. The water was rich with sea creatures and full of seagoing vessels. As we ventured closer to Keppel Island we could see sea lions, seals and albatross on the beaches. As we sailed, dolphins began swimming beside us. There were possibly thirty in the pod. We went down onto the swim platform and discovered we could slap the water with our hands and the dolphins would swim right up onto the platform with us, and then slid back into the water. I heard Becky scream once as a dolphin slid right up to her feet and stuck its nose between her ankles. She slowly leaned down, put her hand on the top of its head and gently scratched. The dolphin made a sound and slid back into the water. Becky was beside herself after the experience; she loved dolphins, but she had never touched one in the wild. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of Becky and the dolphin. It happened too quickly for me to realize what was happening. I was certain she would giggle in her sleep tonight as she dreamed of dolphins playing with her.
As we watched and played with the beautiful animals, another vessel came up alongside of us to see the dolphins play. They had two young girls onboard so we showed them how to call the dolphins by slapping the water. After a couple minutes, the sound of the children’s hands slapping the water and their childish screams had the dolphins in another playful mood. The parents had secured the girls’ lifejackets to the boat with safety lines so they could not fall into the water. I had not heard young girls giggle and laugh like that in many months. When the dolphins tired of playing with humans, they moved off towards the east, probably looking for small fish or squid for their lunch.
I had managed to record a video of Becky and the two young girls playing with the dolphins. As I played it back in the viewfinder, I realized how wonderful it was to be married to this incredible woman; and the two young girls rubbing the snouts of the dolphins with their hands, how precious was that? Before the vessel beside us moved off, I yelled at them and explained that I had a video of their girls playing with the dolphins that I would email them if they wished. The captain had seen me with the camera as I recorded the events, so he carefully maneuvered up beside us and passed Becky a business card with his email address on it. I told him I’d send the video as soon as I had good cell phone service.
As we continued to circle the Keppel Island, we realized that we could only take just so many pictures of the same wild life, so we concentrated our picture taking to the beautiful islands and vessels that were touring the island. We continued around the Keppel Island and anchored just before sunset in a small bay along the Saunders Island. The weather was cool and breezy, so we ate our supper on the deck. Within a half hour, three more vessels decided we had picked the perfect spot to anchor for the night. They kept their distance, but all seemed to sense that there was safety in numbers. When we decided to turn in for the night, we put the screens over the hatches and crawled into bed. As things got quiet, we could hear a young child crying on one of the vessels, and then the sound of a female voice singing to the child filled the air. Becky moved over to my bed and snuggled up close to me. She said, “It is nice having these people with us. I enjoyed our time here in the islands. I hope you did as well.” I pulled her close to me and said, “Good night, Becky. I love you.” Within a couple minutes time, she was sound asleep.
When I woke, the sun was shining into the cabin from the open hatch doors. I could smell freshly brewed coffee so I got myself up and dressed. When I walked out onto the deck with my toothbrush and toothpaste in hand, Becky giggled and said, “You were quite the sleepy head this morning.” I explained that I could not get to sleep last night, but finally the cabin cooled down and I fell asleep something after three in the morning. Becky said, “When you brush your teeth, I will remind you that I love you.” I walked down to the swim platform and used the toothbrush. When I returned to the deck, Becky handed me a plate of fish smothered in cooked onions. She had also fried some potatoes. When I took the first bite, I looked up at her and said, “Woman, I now remember why I married you. You not only can build a very fine sailing vessel, but you can shoot like Annie Oakley and make one hell of a breakfast.”
As we set sail, we discussed our plans. Becky said, “I had hoped to gather some supplies while we were here and then we would not have to stop in Argentina or Chile on our way towards Easter Island, but I am uncertain where to stop here on the Falkland Islands.” I said, “We can sail around to Port Edgar or all the way back to the Stanley on the northwest side of East Falkland.” Becky said, “I will bring my laptop up on deck and begin looking for a suitable marina while we sail. I really don’t want to sail back to Stanley for supplies, I would prefer to begin our voyage through the Beagle Canal and stop in Puerto Williams for supplies.”
When Becky began her search, she soon discovered the Marina in Puerto Williams, Chile would work out perfectly. She did the research and said, “If we get rain during our trip to the southern end of the Falkland Islands, we will continue on to Chile. If we get no rain to refill our water supply, then we will sail around to Port Edgar in the Falkland Sound. Is that alright with you, husband?” I said, “I will be quite okay with that. We will see all of the Falkland Islands we want to see by the time we reach New Island, where we will either turn southeast to Port Edgar or turn southwest toward Chile.” Becky smiled and said, “Then we are in agreement.”
I guess the Gods were with us again. The following night, the heavens opened up and gave us a full load of drinking water. When we closed up the water collection hatch, Becky walked over to me and asked, “Does our agreement still stand? No rain we go to Port Edgar, with rain we head to Chile”? I kissed her and said, “It still stands, Captain.” She giggled and said, “The storm has passed, shall we turn southwest?” I smiled and said, “The time is right, the weather will only get colder as we travel around the horn. The temperature this time of year averages between four to twenty-nine degrees Fahrenheit. We will certainly be cold in the gale force winds that frequent the Beagle Canal.”
We decided to turn southwest right then. Once the sails were set and we were on course, we decided to stand watch on four-hour shifts for the four days it would take us to reach the marina in Puerto Williams, Chile.
Becky said, “I am going to the cabin and get my cold weather gear ready. We will want to wear our dry suits, warm underwear, life jackets and safety lines while standing watch. Falling overboard would be a fatal error in the cold water around Antarctica.” I thought about the cold weather and said, “When we get to the Puerto Williams marina, we should purchase at least one more five-gallon diesel fuel container. We will need a lot of fuel to keep the generators running while we navigate the canal and keep warm.” Becky made a call to the marina to see if they had two more containers. The manager said they did not have the cans in stock but would have them ready and waiting at the service counter when we arrived.
We took turns standing watch for the four days it took us to enter the Beagle Canal. The air temperature was hovering around freezing as we both stood on the deck in our dry suits. The wind had increased in the last hour and the waves were crashing over the hull, soaking us down in freezing cold water. It was only about sixty-two miles to the marina and we wanted to continue even in the dark. We were following a large yacht as we moved along the canal, so we decided to stay within sight of their stern. The captain of the yacht had radar and could easily navigate the canal in the dark. I heard someone hailing the sailing submarine and figured the boat in front of us was trying to make contact. When I acknowledged the call, the captain of the vessel ahead of us asked if we needed a guide to the marina. I quickly explained that we did not have radar and were tailing them in hopes we could stay properly lined up in the busy canal by using them as a guide. The captain said, “You can move up closer if you need to, we will guide you to the Port Authority location.”
Once anchored, we did the paperwork with the Port Authority and quickly located a place to purchase supplies. The adventure took us over four hours, but we managed to locate everything we wanted. We had taken the two diesel fuel containers from the Pacifica-Two with us to shore and dropped them off at the marina so they could fill them for us. We laughed at how little we could converse with the locals. It seemed everyone here spoke a different dialect of Spanish than we were accustomed to. We managed, but with difficulty to purchase our supplies. When we got back to the marina, we loaded our four backpacks and the four cans of diesel fuel into the dinghy. We had purchased two extra fuel containers from the marina and they had filled them when they filled the containers we had dropped off. The waves were getting higher and the air colder as we paddled the dinghy out to the Pacifica-Two. After everything was loaded into the cabin and carefully stowed, we did our visa paperwork with the Port Authority and prepared to continue through the Beagle Canal to the Pacific Ocean. It was not until we had our warm under garments and dry suits on that we began to warm up.
We pulled anchor and began motoring out into the harbor. As we moved out into the canal, we spotted three small catamarans running in single file. We were reasonably certain we could keep up with them, so we moved in behind the last one as it passed. We did not want to run the motors unless we had to. We had only rigged the mainsail, but shortly needed to rig the foresail as well to keep up with the sleeker, faster vessels. We knew they were only sailing at half the speed they were capable of; however, we were running at full speed to keep up with them.
The weather out here was horrible at best. The wind was extremely cold and sometimes, small hailstones pelted the Pacifica-Two and us. We wanted to both remain on deck as long as possible. Trying to follow the other vessels in the approaching darkness was difficult at times, but we managed to keep the running lights of the vessels in sight. The lights on the catamarans were just not as bright as the ones we had on the Pacifica-Two. I had purchased running lights that used LED’s for lamps. Even our red and green sidelights were much brighter that those on the other vessels, and our lights certainly used a lot less electricity to operate.
It took us almost twenty hours to navigate the Beagle Canal in the harsh weather. When we immerged out into the Pacific Ocean, we quickly located a suitable bay and dropped anchor. We were cold, hungry, tired and cranky by the time we took off our dry suits inside the cabin. The cabin was chilly but not so cold as to be miserable. The outside temperature was hovering around thirty-six degrees, so we were certain the ballast tanks would not freeze. We did add more water to the ballast tanks to settle the vessel a little deeper into the sea, hoping that the water was warmer than the air on the surface. We decided to keep track of the interior temperature during the night and start the cabin heaters only if necessary. We were certain we had enough diesel fuel to keep one of the generators running if we needed heat, but did not want to put a lot of run time on the generators unless we really needed to run them. For tonight, we would cuddle under the blankets to keep warm. In the morning, we would run the cabin heaters for a few minutes while we fixed breakfast. We should have about four hours of daylight today. If the skies cleared, the sun might help warm us a little.
When I woke, Becky was already up. She had heated a pan of water on the stove and was washing her body. I started the generator and turned on the cabin heater. I saw her smile at me when she felt the warmth of the heater begin blowing around the cabin. As I walked past her, I leaned down and kissed her cold nipples. She giggled and said, “You are just making them worse. They will never return to normal size if you keep getting them wet with your lips.” Then she turned to me and said, “On second thought, would you kiss both of them one more time before I get dressed?” I did as she asked and felt her bounce on her toes from one foot to the other as I sucked on one nipple just a little too long.
We quickly dressed and began fixing breakfast, hoping to get underway as quickly as possible this morning. Normally, there was little hurry to set the sails, but here in this cold climate, we wanted to head north to warmer waters as quickly as we could.
Once we had dressed in our warm clothing and dry suits, I opened the hatch door, only to find the deck coated in a light layer of ice and snow. I chuckled and said, “It snowed last night.” Becky said, “Go up the ladder so I can see.” I stepped out onto the deck and felt my feet slide. I fastened my lanyard to a ring on the hatch and said, “Be careful Becky, the deck is very slippery.” She did not come up, but instead began handing up the mainsails and rigging. When I had the sails rigged on the mast, she joined me and we raised the icy telescoping mast. Becky and I raised the anchor together, being very careful to keep our lanyards securely fastened to prevent a dunk in the icy cold ocean. Becky moved into the stern hatch and operated the rudder from inside the cabin to guide us out into deep water. Then she handed up the sails and rigging for the foresail. Once I had all the sails set and were on course, the waves splashing over the bow quickly melted the ice.
When the sun came up, we could see that the sky had mostly cleared. Only a few puffy black clouds floated overhead, but at least we had sunlight. We pushed hard while it was light, trying to make as many miles as possible before darkness set in again. As we sailed, we passed a dozen or more vessels, all heading towards the Beagle Canal; probably hoping to get as far through the canal as possible while they had daylight.
I saw Becky point towards the bow.
Finally, I saw what she had pointed too. The dolphins were swimming with us. Becky said, “I did not realize that dolphins ventured this far south in the cold water.” I reminded her that the water was warm to them.” She did not say anything, but I could tell she was carefully pondering what I had just said.”
The winds turned southwesterly, so we hung the spinnaker. The seas were rough, but the Pacifica-Two rode well on the wave crests. Around noon, Becky made us some sandwiches. I ate mine on deck, not wanted to allow the vessel to sail without someone standing watch. The waves were still high, but the skies had cleared a couple hours ago. As we sailed, Becky plotted our intended course to the Easter Islands on the map. She plotted six points along the line she had drawn with the GPS coordinates. We would use those six points to stay on course towards the northwest. If we found ourselves in high winds and blown off course, we could use the GPS to work ourselves back to those plotted positions. Out here in the South Pacific, gale force winds and storms were almost a certainty.
We knew that the course we had plotted to the Easter Islands was some three thousand miles. We realized that sailing west would reduce our speed to an average of ninety miles per day. Doing the math told us that it would take us over a month to get to our destination. We had plenty of food and supplies, only water would be the issue. We were certain we would run into a few storms during the trip so we could refill our water containers, but until we did, water conservation was an absolute necessity. We were sailing during Chile’s rainy season. With any luck, the rain would originate out in the Pacific so we could capture some of the precious water before it fell on the Chilean coastal towns.
Six days out, we realized were in for a storm. The seas had picked up and we were sailing in waves over fifteen feet high. The Pacifica-Two easily followed the swells, but we did not know when the storm would reach us. I ran the generator and charged the batteries in case we needed to run submerged for a few hours; certainly, that would be the case. We hoped we could fill the water jugs before the rough seas forced us to the safety of the deep Pacific.
While Becky stood watch, I began putting everything inside the cabin in its proper storage location and securing the cabinet doors with the safety latches. Then I installed a second safety strap on the full water and diesel fuel jugs. We had five of our fourteen water jugs still filled. The one we were presently using was half-full. I placed the empty water jugs in a line under the rainwater collection hatch, fully intending to fill all of them in the next few hours. Once the cabin was secure, I perked us some hot coffee and carried two cups to the deck. The waves were getting higher. I estimated them to be around eighteen feet high as I looked down into the wave troughs from the deck. Becky said, “The wind is getting very strong. I think we should take down the foresail and stow it. Then we will lower and pin the mast. If the wave crests become closer together, we will not be able to keep the planes in the water and will be forced to dive.”
As we took turns in the cabin preparing to submerge if necessary, I realized how cold it was getting. When Becky stepped up on deck with me, she was in her warm clothing, dry suit and lifejacket. She connected her lanyard to the eyelet at the bow hatch and said, “Go get dressed. You are shivering in that lightweight foul weather gear.” I quickly headed to the cabin and got dressed. When I returned, it had started to rain. Within a couple minutes, the rain turned to a torrential downpour. We both headed to the cabin. Becky sat in the bow hatch and closed the hatch door to keep out the rain. I opened the rainwater collection hatch and began filling water jugs. The rain was coming down hard and we could feel the Pacifica-Two riding the large swells. I wanted to get the water jugs filled before we took down the mainsail and submerged.
As it turned out, I had the last of the jugs filled and the entire procedure only took us about an hour. I plugged in the remote control box and started the propulsion motors. We did not want to take down the mainsail until the motors were running. We needed to be able to power the vessel to keep it headed properly across the deepening swells. Once we had forward momentum from the propellers, we opened the hatch, connected our lanyards and began taking down the mainsails, I quickly dropped everything down into the cabin and lower the telescoping mast. Once it was secure and pinned, we returned to the cabin.
Within ten more minutes, the waves were running in excess of thirty feet. Becky yelled that we needed to dive and do it now. I quickly began filling the ballast tanks with water and releasing the air to the sea. As the vessel lowered, the entire vessel swayed in the rolling seas. By the time we were down to sixty feet, we began to find calmer water. I watched the depth gauge, settled the vessel down to one hundred feet and leveled it out. I heard Becky quickly climb down the ladder and puke in the first chamber pot she could find. I felt the same way, but managed to keep my lunch down. The Pacifica-Two was still moving in the currents so I dove another fifty feet. Once the vessel felt stable, I leveled it out and set the depth gauge alarms to warn us if we moved out of a ten foot depth window.
Becky lay down on her bunk with the chamber pot beside her, trying to settle her very upset stomach. I found the Dramamine tablets and gave her one with some water. She seemed to be able to keep the water down, at least for now. Within a few minutes, she was sitting up on the edge of the bed and had some color back in her cheeks. I helped her get out of her dry suit and warm clothing and put on her pajamas. I seldom saw Becky become sea sick, but we had only experienced thirty-foot high waves a couple times before today. I kept watch on Grandfather’s compass to insure we remained on course. The currents were slipping us sideways a little, but a little adjustment of the rudder seemed to keep us steady. I turned off the motors to see if we could remain on course while we drifted in the heavy currents, and the vessel seemed to do just fine. As long as I kept the compass needle pointing northwest, we would have to live with any sideway slip the current gave us. Until the storm passed and we could get the antenna up to the surface, we could not get an accurate GPS reading. I did not want to use up the batteries by running the motors or any electronic equipment unless it was necessary. I checked the air tank and saw that we had one hundred and ninety PSI in the tank. We had plenty of air to dive to three hundred feet if necessary.
I heated some water for tea on the camp stove, hoping that Becky could sip some along with a cracker or two to help settle her stomach. She seemed better, but time would tell. Once a person gets seasick, it is sometimes very difficult to get the stomach back under control again.
I turned down the two battery operated lights so we had just enough light to navigate. When I looked back at Becky, she was sound asleep. She was lying on her side with her head near the chamber pot. I chuckled to myself, got the clean chamber pot out and exchanged it for the stinky one. I did not want her waking up and getting sick all over again because of the stench.
I realized it was going to be a long night. I made myself some peanut butter crackers with honey. We had a dozen boxes of Ritz crackers, but no bread. We had eaten the two loaves of homemade bread we had purchased at our last stop. I made some instant coffee with the hot water I had made for Becky’s tea and returned to the communications desk, hoping to do some writing during the quiet time. The compass was holding steady, but I could feel the tiny movement of the hull. I could tell the sea was angry when I looked out the viewing windows while fixing the crackers. It was obvious that the storm was raging overhead. I would stay awake until Becky was up and feeling better. Right now, the best thing for her stomach was to sleep.
I walked over to the oxygen monitor to see if it was working. It showed that we had the correct amount of oxygen in the cabin. If the alarm went off, I could turn on the oxygen scrubber system. That would hold us for a couple of days, after that; we had four one hundred pound oxygen tanks in the bow that would keep us safe in an emergency.
I realized that it daylight on the surface. I could see a tiny glow when I looked out of the hatch viewing windows. The sea had calmed around the Pacifica-Two, so I decided to move closer to the surface and see what was going on. I went up slowly, not wanting to find myself in high seas without realizing it. As the viewing window rose up out of the water, the sunshine was blinding. When my eyes adjusted, I realized that the seas had calmed and the sun was brightly shining. It was a beautiful day on the surface. I opened the hatch and felt the cold air. When I thought about the cold, I remembered that we were still below the fortieth parallel.
I took the mainsails and rigging up to the deck and set the sails. The light breeze moved the Pacifica-Two easily forward. I brought up the sails and rigging for the foresails and set them. Once the sails were set and we were underway, I brought up the solar panel and began recharging the batteries. When I turned on my GPS, I was not certain if we were still on course or not. It appeared we had drifted about fifty miles too far to the east. I went down to the map and plotted the course. We had drifted way off course last night, so I went up and made a tack and reset the rudder.
When I checked on Becky, she was awake, but said, “I still do not feel good and it is not just sea sickness. I think I have a fever; maybe I caught the flu while at the marina.” I put my hand on her forehead and realized she was quite warm. I asked if I could get her anything and she said she was okay. I covered her up and filled her glass with water. She needed to remain in bed for a few hours until the fever broke. I took a few minutes and cleaned out the chamber pot. When I washed it in the sea, I realized how cold the water was. The storm had churned up the cold water from the depths of the Pacific.
I fixed some breakfast and took it up on deck with me. I wanted to keep a close eye on the sails and get all the speed out of the Pacifica-Two as I could to put us back on course. The storm would set us back almost a full day, not that we had any real deadlines to meet. Around lunchtime, Becky came up on deck. She looked pale, but sat down in a chair and talked to me about the storm for a few minutes. I asked if I could fix her anything to eat, she said, “My stomach has settled and I would like it to stay that way. I will fix some toast or something later, for now, some water and tea will do just fine.” She giggled and said, “I am going back to bed after I use the outdoor facilities.” She went down to the swim platform, fastened her safety line and did her business.
I had slept in the deck chair while the sun was warm, but once the sunset, the cold set in. I moved to the fold down seat in the stern hatch for the night. An hour later, I got cold and had to put on my first layer of fleece underwear. I leaned back against the hull and fell asleep. When I woke, I had to pee. I opened the hatch and stepped out on the deck. While I peed over the side, I realized how cold it was and how bright the stars were tonight. I had not seen the stars so close and bright in quite some time, or maybe I had just not paid enough attention.
The next time I woke, it was daylight. I made some coffee and went up on deck for a few minutes. The air was still cold, so I decided to fix some breakfast and then put on my warm clothing and return to the deck for the day. As I fixed some oatmeal and toast, Becky sat up on the edge of the bed and said, “I would take a piece of toast if you are making some.” I fixed breakfast for both of us and made her some tea to drink. I sat down on the edge of my bed, across from where Becky sat and started to eat. Something smelled terrible. I realized that the smell was not from Becky or me, it was the chamber pot. I chuckled, moved the pot under the hatch ladder and moved the clean chamber pot next to Becky’s bed. She laughed and said, “Sorry about that, but I did not want to go out onto the deck in the cold. Now that I feel better, I will not need the chamber pot any longer.” I smiled and said, “I would prefer you potty indoors until your legs are stable. You look like a newborn deer when you walk.” Becky giggled and said, “I will quickly recover now that the virus has run its course. I just hope you do not get this.”
On the twenty-first day after leaving the Beagle Canal, we ran into rain again. This rain turned out to be a perfectly timed thunderstorm. We filled the water jugs and stood out on deck in the rain. The day was warm and we decided to take a bath on the swim platform. I brought up two buckets and two bars of soap. As we washed, the heavy rain rinsed the soap off our bodies. When we were clean, we headed down into the cabin to dry off. The rain continued for two more days. Becky and I had seldom seen rain last this long out here on the Pacific Ocean, but we really did not mind.
Becky and I caught two fish for supper. They were small but very tasty. After we ate, I tried fishing again, hoping to catch some fish to put in the cool box to eat for the next couple of days. I tied the line onto a large plastic bobber and hung a heavy lead weight on a second line to get the bait down a few feet under the water. I allowed the silly looking rig to follow along behind the swim platform. I sat down and tried to be patient. About twenty minutes later, something jerked the line. I released the drag and allowed some line to pay out. When I put some pressure on the line, I felt the weight of the fish. It took me ten minutes or so to tire out the fish, but eventually I started making headway. When the fish was close to the swim platform, I realized what I had caught. It was a large Pacific Ocean Perch. Our fish book said they were good to eat, but said that the fish normally lived in very deep water. I had caught this one within twenty feet from the surface. The fish was a little over three feet long and would provide food for us for three days. Becky helped me fillet the fish and package the meat for storage in the cool box.
Chapter 40 – Easter Island – Moai Statues
I was sound asleep in my bed when I heard Becky yell, “Land ahoy.” I quickly got up and headed to the deck. When I stepped out into the sunshine, the air was warm and smelled really good. When I looked out the starboard side where Becky was pointing, I could see the island. Becky explained that it should be Easter Island. When I looked below us, I could see the bottom of the sea. It was very rocky and looked shallow so I went down and checked the depth gauge. The reading showed that we were in water over two hundred feet deep. When I returned to the deck, Becky was taking down the foresail. I helped her stow the sail and rigging in the cabin, and then hang the United States Flag on the stern. As we steered towards the northeast, we made a long slow sweep around the island.
We discovered that there were two sandy beaches on the north side of the island. One was Anakena Beach and the other was Ovahe Beach. We chose to anchor off the Ovahe Beach and spend the night. The seas remained calm and the weather forecast for the area called for light winds. When we found a place out of the way, we dropped both anchors. We knew the winds could turn to gale force within minutes. We also lowered the hull into the water to help keep the cabin temperature at an even temperature. The weather here around Easter Island ranged from horizontally blowing snowflakes to sunshine so hot it would cook an egg on the deck.
We kept the sails attached to the masts. We wrapped them around the mast and tied them securely with nylon rope. If the winds got to bad here along the coast, we could quickly set sail and move out into deeper water. We cooked our supper on the deck. We would wait until after dark to slip down to the swim platform and wash our bodies; we both needed some soap and water. We had a lot of vessels slow and gawk at the funny looking sailboat as they found places and docked in the harbor around us. It seemed everyone was interested in the Pacifica-Two.
After the sun set to our starboard side, we put on our robes and headed down to the swim platform. As we quietly bathed, we realized the man and woman in the next sailing vessel were also bathing. They were trying to be quiet and discrete just as we were, but the occasional giggles seemed to echo on the quiet beach. While we dried our hair on our deck, the man on the boat beside us said, “Sorry if we offended you. We needed bathes and tried to not be seen.” I laughed and said, “That is okay. We were also bathing and tried to not offend our neighbors.” The man said, “If we need bathes tomorrow night, we will let you know so we all get them over at the same time instead of hiding like children.”
When we woke in the morning, we packed our backpacks with water bottles, some prepackaged tuna meals, four apples and some raisins. I saw Becky slide her pistol and two ammunition clips into an inside pocket of her backpack. I slide my Buck-hunting knife into my backpack. I saw Becky watching what I packed. She walked over to the cabinet, retrieved her hunting knife and placed it into her backpack. I chuckled and said, “Are we contemplating stealing one of the Moai statues. We have a lot of weapons packed for this trip.” She giggled and said, “I somehow don’t feel safe in this part of the world. Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. I seldom feel apprehensive anywhere else we have traveled.”
We dropped the dinghy into the water and paddled to the shore. We flipped the dinghy upside down and drove a metal stake in the ground to keep it from blowing away in the wind. There were a dozen or more other dinghies there and no one else seemed concerned about someone stealing them.
We wanted to walk to the Anakena Beach since we had heard such wonderful things about it. The beach was just a short distance away. Once at the beach, we decided to walk a few miles and get some exercise. We decided to walk northwest and see as many Moai statues as we could before we needed to head back to the Pacifica-Two for the night. We talked to many people along the trails, sometimes we struggled with language issues, but everyone here was having a good time. We found out that the ceremonial platforms the Moai statues sat on went by the name, Ahu. I had seen the word in front of the statue locations on the map but had no idea why it was there. We knew that it was very disrespectful to walk on the Ahu; we had seen that warning on the Internet. We got some great pictures of the Moai statues; some toppled over, some in the quarry, some incomplete, some with topknots. There are 887 Moai statures on the island. I lost track of how many we took pictures of, but each one was different and forced my mind to wonder about the people that built and moved these incredible symbols of their Gods.
Today was Tuesday and tomorrow was supposed to be another beautiful day. We planned to slowly sail around the island and take pictures of the statues with the high-powered camera lens. Becky and I both were excited about being here on this island and wanted to take as many good pictures as possible of the trip. The visit to this island was one portion of our adventure that we could share with Charlie and Susanne when we got home. Some of the pictures we took were amazing.
During the night, the winds picked up and so did the wave action. Within another hour, the boats around us began motoring out of the shallow waters. When we had a clear path out, we followed suit. Once we moved out into deep water, we realized how bad the winds really were. The winds were coming out of the west so we motored towards the east and around to the leeward side of the island, hoping the island would protect us from the gale force winds. When we were out in water over three hundred feet deep, we decided to submerge. We closed the hatch and moved inside. I steered the vessel while Becky began filling the ballast tanks with seawater.
When we were down a hundred feet or so, the Pacifica-Two settled down a little, but the currents circling the island were very strong. We realized that the currents were moving us due south if we turned off the propulsion motors. Becky moved us closer to the surface and I sent the antenna up to the surface. Once I had a good GPS position, I reeled in the antenna and we settled the vessel back down to one hundred and fifty feet. The water was much calmer down here and I hoped Becky’s supper would remain in her belly. I got two Dramamine tablets from the cabinet and a glass of water. When I stepped up to where Becky was plotting our position on the map, she looked at what I had in my hands. She looked at me with a disgusted look and then said, “You are right. I should take the medicine while I still feel well. It does little good once I am puking the tablets back up before they enter my blood stream.”
Becky was using the readings from Grandfather’s compass and the speed of the vessel from the fish finder to keep a careful plot of our position. We did not want the current to push us into the island or shallow water. We had shut off the motors and only the currents were moving us along. Becky was working the calculations of our position every fifteen minutes, so I paid careful attention to her calculations. I picked up a pad of paper and began working the math on my own. I needed to insure my calculations jived with Becky’s every time. After the third time I did the calculations, I felt comfortable performing the task. Why I had never learned this task the first week out at sea, I had no answer. Becky had always performed the calculations and I let her. That mistake would never happen again. I would insure I did the math and plotted our position on the map ahead of Becky. Then she could insure my work was accurate every time.
We spent the night with the heavy currents pushing us towards the southern end of the island. When we knew it was daylight on the surface, we decided to blow the ballasts and slowly rise to the surface. We hoped the high winds had passed, but that was not the case. When we got to within fifty feet of the surface, we sent the antenna up and turned on the marine radio. It only took a few minutes to realize that the National Weather Service had issued gale warnings for the area. They predicted the winds would continue for another twenty hours.
We decided to turn towards the northeast, towards South America. Within a few hours time we should be able to locate the northerly flowing currents along the coast. It was obvious that we were going to have to run submerged for another day or so. We hated moving closer to the continent where we knew hundreds of pirate vessels roamed the seas, but we could not continue to travel south any longer.
Once we turned, we only traveled a few hours until the currents turned and began pushing us towards the north. The water remained deep so we did not have to worry about running into another vessel. We had the depth minimum and maximum alarms set to warn us if the water depth changed too drastically. These northerly flowing currents should hold until we got close to the equator.
We had taken turns with short naps, but around midnight, we decided to check out the weather on the surface. As the bow hatch broke the surface of the water, we realized that the high winds had passed. Since it was dark, we decided to raise the sails and push the Pacifica-Two out of these pirate-infested waters. Once we were under way, I turned on one of the generators to recharge the batteries; we both realized that we probably would need to run submerged again very soon. If we were harassed by a pirate vessel, we might have to submerge for a few hours until they gave up the pursuit.
When Becky came up on deck with me, she had her pistol strapped to her waist and her knife strapped on. I chuckled, but soon realized she had based her decision on good judgment. I decided to follow her lead.
After about an hour, the skies cleared and the stars shone brightly. The winds changed direction and became southerly. Becky looked at me and asked, “Shall we?” I chuckled and said, “You question gives me some options. I am guessing that you are asking about the spinnaker and not sex.” She giggled, kissed me and said, “The spinnaker would move us farther out to sea where we know it is safe in much less time.”
Once the spinnaker was set, we turned a little more northwest and set a course for the Galapagos Islands. The trip would take us around fourteen days if we pushed hard. Our water jugs were full and we had plenty of food. If the weather held, we would only stop long enough to bathe and fish. We could sail twenty-four hours a day. If the winds held in their current direction and speed, we could run the spinnaker continuously, allowing us to make 120 plus miles a day.
For some reason, we were putting a push on our return home. I think Becky and I both wanted to be home before Charlie’s Father died. At least we hoped for that to occur.
Chapter 41 – The Death of Charlie’s Father
On the fifteenth day after leaving Easter Island, we saw the Galapagos Islands off in the distance. We steered towards the island of Santa Cruz, which was located near the center of the archipelago. Our port of call would be the town of Puerto Ayora. We planned to anchor in the bay overnight and then do our shopping in the morning. We found the location of a store where we could purchase the food and supplies we needed on the Internet. We still had plenty of cash left aboard the Pacifica-Two, so we would not have to use our credit cards. Becky reminded me that we also had over 7000 pesos aboard that we could use to purchase our supplies.
When we entered the bay and dropped anchor, we soon discovered that the water around us was alive with fish. We decided to catch a couple of them for our supper tonight and lunch tomorrow. We planned to eat breakfast in one of the large hotel restaurants, being very careful not to drink the water or ice cubes, and to eat only freshly cooked foods. We did not know if there was a problem with stomach ailments after drinking the water or eating uncooked foods here on the Galapagos and we did not want to find out the hard way.
While we were cleaning the fish we caught, five or six other small sailing vessels anchored near us. They all had the same idea that safety was in numbers. Maybe the fact that we were both wearing our pistols gave the others some sense that we needed to remain close together during the night. As we cooked our meals, one of the crewmembers from a nearby vessel came over to visit us in their dinghy. They asked if we could tell them where they could purchase supplies and food on the island. I explained that we had found a place on the Internet and intended to visit the store in the morning around eight o’clock and they could join us if they wished. The man said they would be waiting in their dinghy a few minutes before eight o’clock.
While the man rowed his dinghy back towards his vessel, Becky asked why the man wanted to join us. I explained that I did not know why, but might have a better understanding after tomorrow. Becky giggled and said, “Maybe he just likes you.” I looked at her and said, “There is a lot of that going around.” As I turned away from her, I heard her giggling.
We cooked our supper on the deck. The fish we caught were delicious. We usually melted a little of the fish fat in the cast iron skillet and then placed the fillet in. Tonight, we splurged and coated the skillet with canola oil and then dipped the fillets in flour. They turned out quite nice. With a little salt and pepper, we had fish fit for a king. Becky cooked another of the brownie mixes she had purchased over the camp stove. Using the store bought mixes saved a lot of work. The recipe that Kathryn had given me was wonderful, but difficult to prepare and required a lot of baking supplies. While the brownies cooled, the aroma of chocolate drifted over the other vessels had anchored near us. I warned Becky to keep the brownies out of sight or she would have our neighbors paying us another visit, this time with guns drawn demanding we hand over the chocolate.
While I cleaned up the cooking utensils and returned the cooking equipment to the cabin, Becky turned on her laptop and checked our emails. In a couple minutes, she came up and joined me on the deck. She walked up to me, wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me. Then she laid her head on my shoulder and said, “I have news from home to pass along to you. I must tell you that Charlie’s Father died three days ago.” I pulled her into my arms and let her cry. When she settled her emotions, she stepped back and said, “I had hoped we would be home in time to be with Charlie and Susanne in this difficult time, but that just didn’t work out. Susanne said in her email that he died much quicker than the doctors thought he would. His cancer was much more advanced than they first suspected.”
I kissed Becky and said, “We should each write a note to Susanne and Charlie. I have a hundred things to tell them.” Becky said, “I will consider doing that, but right now I could not get the task done without crying a river of tears.” Becky sat down in a deck chair and listened to the sounds of the sea as it gently splashed against the hull of the vessels around us. The sound of laughing children from the nearby boats turned Becky’s thoughts to Charlie and the wonderful times she had spent with him.
As the sun dipped down over the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, only the lights of the boats and town light the night, Becky came down into the cabin to see what I was doing. When she stepped behind me as I wrote an email to Susanne and Charlie, I could hear her sniffling and wiping her eyes behind me. When I finished the message, I typed Becky’s and my names on the bottom. Becky leaned down and kissed my cheek. Then she said, “Thank you for including me in your note. Your words have touched my heart.” After I insured that the screens were securely in place over the hatch doors to keep the bugs out, I crawled under the covers. Becky walked over, kneeled down beside me and then kissed me goodnight. I pulled back the covers and saw her smile as she slid under the covers with me. She said, “I need to sleep close to you tonight. My thoughts keep returning to Charlie and Susanne. Maybe your love and warmth will allow me to get some sleep.”
When we woke in the morning, we quickly dressed and got ready for the day. We got the four backpacks out from the cabinet under my bed so we had ample capacity to carry the supplies we would purchase this morning. Becky also put the cloth shopping bags into the backpacks. They sometimes worked out well to carry bread or things that would crush in the tightly packed backpacks. The temperature was seventy-two degrees this morning and the sun was brightly shining. We realized that by late afternoon, the heat and high humidity would be suffocating.
When we walked out onto the deck, we saw three dinghies waiting for us. Three of the people in the dinghies were young children. We had no idea why these people needed our company, but we decided to talk to them and find out where they were from and where they intended to visit. As we rowed the dinghies towards shore, we talked to the people who had joined us. We soon learned that they all needed supplies, but were concerned for their safety around the islands. Becky assured them that they were perfectly safe walking the main streets as long as they stayed in groups. Becky went on to explain that they only needed to use the same common sense they would use in any city in the United States.
When Becky and I split up from them and entered the hotel to eat breakfast in the restaurant, we felt that our new friends seemed a little more relaxed. We still wondered about their excessive concern for their safety in the islands. Thousands of people visited the archipelago each day and managed just fine.
When we finished an incredible buffet style breakfast at the hotel restaurant, we followed our map a few blocks to a food market and soon filled our list. Then we walked to a small general store and purchased batteries. By the time we left the store, we had spent over 2000 pesos.
As we slowly walked back towards where we had tied up the dinghy, we realized that we had loaded the backpacks a little too heavy. Becky was breathing hard by the time we got the backpack off her shoulders and loaded. As we rowed the dinghy towards the Pacifica-Two, we realized that there were now a dozen or more small sailing vessels lined up in a row near where we had anchored. As we placed our backpacks on the swim platform and began carrying them up and down ladders to get them into the cabin, Becky said, “I wonder if it is us who should be more concerned for our safety. Everyone around us seems nervous and concerned over their own safety. Maybe we should also be concerned.” I opened the cabinet and handed Becky her pistol, holster and leg knife. She giggled but did put them on. I decided to follow her lead and buckled my pistol around my waist.
Once we had the food and supplies securely stowed in the cabin, we began hanging the sails. Once they were up, we tied them to the mast and raised the anchors. I used the motors to take us out into deep water and then we set the sails. We sailed out of the bay and then turned east. We intended to sail around the east side of the Galapagos archipelago and then turn northwest for a couple days before turning north towards San Francisco. As we worked the math, it appeared that the trip home would take us around thirty-five days, if we had good sailing weather. We had ample food and supplies if we conserved, and we had almost full water jugs. One heavy rain midway on the way home would provide us with ample water for the trip home.
Becky wanted to check her emails one last time before we lost cell phone service that would prevent our air card from giving us Internet access. When she came back up on deck, she spoke to me and said, “I have more news for you, however, this time the news is good. You have an email from Dawn. Stanley, you now have your first Grandchild.” The tears were again running down Becky’s cheeks, but with this cry, she was so excited she could hardly stand still as she talked to me. I hugged her and went down into the cabin to ready the email she had stored in my Dawn folder.
When I returned to the deck, I sat down in the chair beside Becky; she patted my knee and said, “Do you feel older now that you are a Grandfather?” I chuckled and said, “I just realized how much I miss having children around.” Becky looked at me and said, “We could fix that.” I looked at her and said, “You must remember that I had a vasectomy. If you get pregnant, I will be very disappointed and may feed you to the sharks you so dislike.” She punched me on the shoulder just hard enough to get my attention and said, “That is not what I meant. I was thinking about adopting a child. Not a baby, mind you, but an older child that needs some help making good decisions with their life.” I looked at Becky to discuss this revelation, but could not find words to speak. Her words had taken me by surprise. She let me think on the subject for a few moments and then said, “I will fix us some supper while you consider my words.”
As the sun set that evening, we decided to stand watch in four-hour shifts. As I tacked to starboard, I saw the full moon move out from behind the last remaining cloud in the sky. The moon was beautiful and reflected off the water out ahead of the Pacifica-Two. The waves were running around three feet high with a stiff southwest wind. With the spinnaker flying, we were making good time. I had made coffee before coming up on deck and had filled my Stanley thermos with coffee. I clipped my lanyard to an eyelet in front of the bow hatch and sat down in my deck chair. I tied a rope to the handle of the thermos in case it decided to roll off the deck and visit Davey Jones’ Locker.
As I sipped the hot coffee, I heard the sound of the first dolphin. Within minutes, the pod was swimming along with the Pacifica-Two. They jumped and played in the moonlight all around the hull. I could not see all of the dolphins, but the pod must have easily been five hundred to a thousand strong. I had never seen a super-pod before tonight, but it was sight to behold: if only they had visited us during the day when I could have gotten some video footage of them.
By the time Becky relieved me on deck, the pod had moved on. When she settled in and I was certain her lanyard was connected, I headed off to bed. I dreamed of dolphins jumping over the deck of the Pacifica-Two while I watched from the comfort of my deck chair.
When I woke, Becky was making coffee. I got myself up and began preparing for my shift. I stirred up some powered eggs and made toast. When I filled my plate, I headed up to the deck with food and my thermos in hand. When I sat down, I turned to my left and just about jumped out of my chair. I said, “Becky. BECKY, you need to join me on deck. You will not believe what has come to visit.” When she stuck her head up through the hatch and looked where I was pointing, I heard the air leave her lungs. There, swimming not over a football field away was the largest whale I had ever seen. It was simply huge. Its large eye was looking right at me; it was probably trying to decide if I was good to eat or not. Becky scurried back down into the cabin for the camera. When she returned, she began snapping pictures. Then she turned the camera to video and pressed the record button. Just then, the whale blew a few hundred gallons of water out its blowhole.
We watched the whale, and it watched us for over an hour. When it finally had seen enough, it slowly sank down until it was out of sight. I remember hoping it did not surface again and capsize us. It really was large enough to do that. I got out the fish book and determined that we had seen a sperm whale. The book explained that the whales would rest on the surface for a while before diving to depths that would crush a human.
Becky had only been in the cabin for a few minutes before she returned to the deck. She said, “Are you tapping your foot on the deck or banging something?” I had made no noises and asked her what she thought she had heard. She said, “Come down into the cabin and listen to this. Something is tapping on the hull.” When I got into the cabin, I sat down on the edge of my bed and listened. I heard the sound she was hearing. It was a clicking sound. I giggled and said, “I know the answer to your mystery. The sound is the clicking of the whale that was swimming with us. It is communicating with another whale.” Becky listened for a few minutes, giggled and then said, “Good night.” When I reached the deck, I shut the hatch door. The sun was shining into the cabin and would make it very difficult to sleep.
On the tenth day out from Easter Island, we ran into rain. The wind switched and became westerly as we crossed ten degrees north latitude. Shortly after we corrected for the change in wind direction, the rain began. It never rained hard, but it came down continuously for the next three days. The temperature was very warm and with the added humidity from the rain, the air seemed suffocating. We kept the cabin closed up as much as possible. The hull and water in the ballast tanks seemed to remain at sea water temperature and that helped keep the cabin cooler, if we kept the hatch doors closed.
On the fourteenth day out, the clouds finally cleared and the night air felt incredibly refreshing. We hoped the wind would shift around to a southerly direction, but that did not happen. We had to tack often to keep the sails from luffing, but we made good forward speed. Later that day, we turned and sailed northeast, hoping to get close enough to Guadalajara, Mexico to get cell phone service.
On the afternoon of the fifteenth day, we finally got two bars of signal on my cell phone. Becky took the opportunity to make contact again with the adoption agency that was located a hundred miles or so south of our beach house. Becky was up and down the ladder between the cabin and the deck a dozen times as she and the director of the adoption agency worked the final paperwork to begin the adoption process. The agency had a twelve-year-old girl that was living with a foster family and needed a permanent home. The director had sent Becky pictures and information about the girl and was now trying to set up a time when we could all meet.
Becky had given the woman our schedule and explained that we should be at our beach house in twenty days, weather permitting. The woman at the agency penciled in the tentative date on her calendar. Becky explained that we would make contact again by email as soon as we passed another large city where we could get cell phone service.
As we turned and headed northwest towards home, the wind shifted just enough to allow us to set the spinnaker once again. When we were under way, we began inventorying our supplies and food. We were certain our supplies would not last another twenty days, but an inventory would tell the story. I stood the watch while Becky made a list of the items that we simply would need to stop and pick up. She realized that even if we ate fish for every meal, we still needed vegetables and fruits. We were also out of bread, peanut butter, pancake mix and many of the things that kept our bodies healthy. We decided to spend more time with the shopping list, but another stop obviously needed to take place. Neither of us understood how we had miscalculated our supplies. We originally thought we could make it to San Francisco with what he had in the galley.
After an hour of research, we decided to stop at the city of Cabo San Lucas. It is located at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. The location of the marina we chose would allow us to drop anchor, get our supplies and get back out within one days time. It was only two-day’s travel to the marina, so we turned northeast and plotted our course on the maps. I put the destination coordinates for the harbor into my GPS so I could keep us on course.
As we sailed, we carefully watched for pirates and any vessels that showed any interest in us. As it turned out, the only vessel that showed any interest was a large fishing vessel that just wanted to check out the funny looking submersible sailing vessel.
As we sailed into the harbor at Cabo San Lucas, we dropped anchor and got the dinghy unpacked. Once we paddled to shore, we pulled the dinghy up on shore. A man was standing on the porch or a large home the length of a football field from the shore. He waved at us and we moved the dinghy up a little further onto the beach where the waves would not push it back out to the sea. We walked up to the house and talked the gentleman. The conversation was a little difficult since he spoke in broken Spanish and English. He soon understood that we needed food and supplies. We asked how to get to the nearest food store and he offered to take us to the store in his vehicle and bring us back for a small fee. We quickly agreed to the arrangement and loaded ourselves into his Mitsubishi SUV.
When we returned to the dinghy with our four full backpacks and four cloth bags of groceries, we loaded the dinghy and paddled back to the Pacifica-Two. Once we got the groceries and dinghy into the cabin, we untied the sails, raised the anchors and set the sails. The entire grocery shopping adventure had taken us a little over four hours.
When we were out of the harbor, we put our pistols back on and turned due west. We would continue on this course for two hours and then slowly swing around to the north. As soon as Becky had put away the groceries, she checked the emails that had piled up. Becky answered the most important ones from the adoption agency and one from Susanne about a bank statement that needed payment. Becky had no more than sent the reply email to Susanne when we lost cell phone service.
When Becky came up on the deck with me, she walked directly up to me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I hugged and said, “It is usually not good news when you come up from reading emails and then hug me this hard.” Becky looked into my eyes and said, “Take a deep breath and think good thoughts about being the Father of a thirteen year old girl.” I kissed her and said, “I truly hope that happens.” She said, “I have worked out the details and the foster mother and the child will come visit us within a day or two after our arrival at the beach house. The girl’s name is Sandra.”
Needless to say, I was excited about meeting this child. It would be incredible if things worked out and we were the ones who would become her permanent guardians. I could not imagine a thirteen-year-old girl living without her birth parents to love and support her.
***
Once we had the Pacifica-Two anchored in the canal of our boathouse, we used the dinghy to carry our luggage and computer cases to shore. Once we checked out the boathouse to make certain everything was okay, we headed for the house. When we were inside, Becky got her cell phone out of the laptop case and turned it on. Within five minutes, she was in a discussion with the woman at the adoption agency. When Becky hung up, she said, “I hope you don’t mind, but our weekend is now booked. If you want to make love to me, tonight is the only night this house will be empty. Around ten o’clock tomorrow morning, we will have guests staying with us.” I walked up to her, picked her up and carried her to my bedroom. I stripped her naked, washed her in the shower and made love to her on my bed. When she sat up on the edge of the bed, she giggled and said, “I guess I asked for that. I will learn to post start times in the future. It is not even four o’clock in the afternoon and we are both naked and sweaty; but I did love it, as you surely could tell.” We took a second shower and this time I was in no rush to get out from under the hot water.
After we fixed supper, we returned to the Pacifica-Two and removed the guns and cash that we had stored there. By the time we had moved our valuables into the boathouse safe, it was starting to get dark. We returned to the house and turned on the television to watch CNN news for a few minutes. It seemed strange to watch television after not having it for the last year. As we checked out the house, everything was dusted and perfectly clean. Everything was ready for our company except for the bedroom. Becky said she would make certain the housekeeper got a good bonus for taking care of the house during our absence.
We decided to have Sandra and her foster mother use one of the two guest bedrooms. Becky and I had already discussed the fact that if Sandra were to move in with us, we would move her into my bedroom, since it was much larger than the guest rooms.
As we sat down on the sofa in front of the television, Becky fell asleep with her head on my lap. After a few minutes, I woke her, carried her to her bedroom and sat her down on the edge of the bed. Once she had put on her pajamas, I tucked her in for the night. When I kissed her, she said, “You have never tucked me into bed like this. It is nice being home again. I love you.”
As I started to shut the door to her room she said, “Tomorrow night, could you sleep here in my room with me? I miss having you close at night. Besides, if Sandra should come to live with us, I intend to move you into this room with me so I can have you next to me every night, even if we need to put two beds in here.”
Chapter 43 – Sandra Marie McCarthy
The foster mother, who Sandra lived with, agreed to bring the thirteen -year-old girl to our home for the weekend. When Sandra arrived, she and her foster mother agreed to stay for two days. Once we had the girls settled in their bedroom and they had a tour of the house, we took the girls to the boathouse. We showed Sandra where we outfitted and prepared the beautiful sailing vessel anchored off shore for the yearlong adventure we had just completed. Sandra was born and raised in California and her foster parents tried to allow her to spend as much time surfboarding as they could. Sandra had been home schooled and her foster parents explained to Becky that we could also home school her if we chose to do so.
When Sandra’s foster mother said it was time to return to their home, Sandra did not want to leave. She cried in Becky’s arms before she climbed into the car. Becky took the foster mother into the house where they could talk privately and asked if she and I could adopt Sandra. The foster mother explained that she had hoped for that result when she brought Sandra here for a visit, but understood that that might not happen. Sandra loved being on the sea, she had fallen in love with the Pacifica-Two and fell in love with our way of life.
At the adoption, Sandra asks if she could keep her birth name, Sandra Marie McCarthy, explaining that the name was also her mother’s maiden name. Becky and I both agreed to allow the name to remain as it was and signed the paperwork.
When I drove into the driveway after the adoption with Sandra riding in the backseat, I realized that she was crying. When I stopped the car, she got out and leaned against the side of the car. I stepped up to her and said, “Are you alright, have you changed your mind about living with Becky and I?” Sandra wrapped her arms around my waist and said, “I cannot believe I am actually going to live here. This is the most incredible place. I love you and Becky more than you can imagine for adopting me.” When Becky walked up to us, she handed us each a tissue for our eyes. I realized at that moment how much I loved this child I now called, Daughter. I hugged Sandra and said, “You have got to stop making me cry. This is simply not very manly.” She giggled and just hugged harder.
Later that day, I moved out of my room and into Becky’s room. After the three of us cleaned the room and changed the sheets, I watch Sandra begin putting a few of her own possessions on the chest of drawers and nightstand. She had a picture of her mother and a picture of her two foster parents who she seemed to idolize.
When the room was perfect, I said, “How about if we eat supper at the new restaurant down the road. I would like to celebrate this union between the three of us.” Sandra smiled and began pulling out the clothes she had packed in her two suitcases. Shea had packed her clothing so tightly in the suitcases that everything inside had wrinkled. Sandra picked out what she wanted to wear to supper and asked if she could use an iron to press out the wrinkles. Becky laid the clothes on the bed and said, “We can quickly fix the wrinkles, let’s finish unpacking and then I will show you where the iron is stored and help you with the task.”
As the girls hung up the remaining clothing in the closet, I gave them some privacy so they could put Sandra’s girly clothing into the chest of drawers. As I was walking down the hallway, I heard Sandra tell Becky that she should hide the condoms so Stanley does not see them. I was instantly angry. I wanted to walk back into the room and lecture the child, but finally calmed myself and decided that conversation needed to take place between Becky and Sandra. Becky would deal with the issue calmly and firmly, I would only get angry and say things that I should not say to a thirteen-year-old girl. I struggled to remain calm.
While we ate supper, Sandra asked if there was anywhere in the house or boathouse where she was not welcome. Becky giggled and said, “You are now family and every inch of the house and boathouse are part of your home. There are two safes in the house and one in the boathouse. Those safes have guns in them and we will keep them locked. Other than the safes, you may explore anywhere you wish, use the pool, and snoop around in rooms you have not seen yet, look through our picture albums and do as you wish. We will also solve the phone and laptop computer issue. In this day and age, it is important that you have Internet access to research the things you love, things such as the sea, sailing and surfboards. Our home is now your home. I hope you learn to love it as much as we do.”
Sandra said, “I saw a lot of engineering manuals and books about sailing vessels and sea adventures. I would love to look at every one of them.” Becky said, “You may read and enjoy every book in the house and the boathouse. All we ask is that you return the books to the place you found them when you are done with them.” Sandra smiled and asked, “When can I get a laptop. Is that something we need to save money for or can I get one right away?” I giggled and said, “You will need the computer to keep up with your school studies while we travel and to research the fish and islands we will be visiting when we set sail on the Pacifica-Two, so the laptop can be purchased right away.” Becky looked at me and asked, “Can we also get Sandra a cell phone? She will need that when we begin traveling. I would not want to lose this child on some remote island with no way to contact here. She will also want to stay in touch with her foster parents and friends.”
As we drove back to the house, Becky and Sandra talked nonstop. It was good to see these two exploring their new relationship. Becky deliberately brought up the subject of boyfriends in front of me. I kept my mouth shut and let the conversation between the girls progress. I felt a hand on my shoulder as Sandra said, “Stanley, Father, I need to tell you something and I know you will be angry with me, but I need to say the words. I had a boyfriend up until a couple of months ago. I loved him a lot and I allowed him to make love to me, hoping that by doing so, he would never leave me. I soon found out that he told all of my friends what we had done and bragged about it. I hate him for breaking our oath of silence, but it matters little now. I will never speak to him again and I hope he drops over dead.”
Sandra sat back in the seat and did not say anything more. When I looked in the mirror at her, she was looking back at me. I finally decided to try to discuss this with her, as a Father should. I took a deep breath and asked the question that was haunting me, I asked “Is that why you have condoms with you?” Sandra struggled with her answer, but finally said, “Yes. I hoped to use them often to keep my boyfriend happy. I now understand, after some long talks with my foster mother and Becky that if he bragged about loving me, then he was not someone I need in my life. A real friend would have kept our secret and protected our love.”
When we arrived home, Becky and Sandra disappeared. I put on my bathing suit and took a swim in the pool. I had sat a bottle of beer on the edge of the pool when I first entered the poolroom. When Sandra and Becky entered, Becky spotted the bottle of beer and sat it in the refrigerator. I did not say anything, but I knew that there was a story there that Becky would tell me when the time was right. As the three of us enjoyed the pool, Sandra swam up to me and said, “I love to swim, but I cannot float on the top of the water like you do. Would you help me learn how?” I agreed and took her out into water that was waist deep to me. Every time I tried to lean her back and support her in the water, she panicked saying her head was going to go under. I finally stood her up and asked. “Are you afraid that I will let you sink and drown?” She turned to look at me and said, “One of my friends pulled my head under the water and I have been afraid to trust anyone ever since that day.” I pulled her into my arms and hugged her, then turned her around and said, “I am your father. I will not push your head under the water.” She looked me in the eyes and said, “Okay,” as if I had scolded her. I chuckled and said, “Sorry, I did not mean to sound angry at you.” She giggled and moved closer to me to try floating again. This time I talked to her and kept reassuring her until she relaxed in my arms and allowed her body to become one with the water. When she was floating, I moved my hands from under her body, but kept them close in case she panicked. Then I said, “You are now floating by yourself. I am not holding you. If you slowly move your feet and paddle with your hands, I will stay with you while you learn to use your new found swimming skills.”
At first, when she moved her feet, she would lose her concentration. After a couple attempts, when her head came up out of the water and she saw me move closer, she would relax and begin moving her feet again. Finally, she managed the task. Within a couple minutes time she moved away from me and was floating around the pool with confidence. When she came over to the edge of the pool where I was setting, I asked if she wanted to try floating face down. I explained that if she ever needed to save herself at sea, she would need to be able to float on her back and stomach to rest. She was a little hesitant, but by now seemed to trust me. I had her lean forward while looking at me so I could see her mouth and nose. With my hands under her, she relaxed and soon mastered the task. I was glad to see the girl willing to practice her swimming skills. Having confidence and keeping calm in the water was her best ally if she ever needed to save herself from drowning, especially in cold water. Being comfortable in the water would also make her a better surfboarder later on in her life.
The next morning, we had a meeting with the home school administrator at the high school in our neighborhood. We wanted Sandra to have access to a local teacher who could guide and help her when we were home and work with her over the Internet when we were out at sea. The administrator had told Becky over the phone that we could easily work out a functional program that would meet the State’s guidelines for homeschooling. When we arrived, I could tell Sandra was excited, maybe even a little nervous. It seemed the new kid in school is always the center of attention. Even though she felt out of place for the time being, she spoke to everyone around her and soon had a few girls giggling with her over some of the cute boys she had spotted.
When we met with the administrator and Sandra’s new teacher, we did the paperwork and paid for the books she would be using this year. When the teacher had spent some one-on-one time with Sandra, they stepped out to the waiting room to talk to us. Sandra said, “I would like to spend the afternoon attending the classes I am scheduled to take if you don’t mind. I would need a ride home today, but I think the bus can begin picking me up in the morning. I would like to get started with my classes so when we sail again, I will not end up behind and struggling.”
Becky said that we would pick Sandra up this afternoon and then they could talk to the bus driver and see what her schedule was. As we walked out of the school, Becky high fived me and said, “This girl is incredible. I know she will do well in this world. We will need to give her a lot of guidance, but she understands the way of the world and can easily manage if there is always someone nearby to support her when times do get tough. I intend to be that support every day of her life.”
When the weekend came, Susanne called and asked if she and Charlie could come for a visit. We quickly agreed and told Sandra about our company. Sandra listened carefully to our story about Charlie’s Father dying and then said, “I know how he must feel. My father died when I was eight.” I hugged Sandra and said, “What do you like to eat? I intend to cook on the grill this weekend. We need to go grocery shopping and you might just as well help us make a list of what we need. Some new ideas for meals would be splendid.” As we worked on a shopping list, I pressed the issue of Sandra’s parents. She seemed willing to discuss them, but seemed more comfortable with stories of her life with her foster parents.
As I took a sip of my beer, Sandra moved away from me a few feet. I looked at her and said, “I am sorry if the beer bothers you. I will not drink it if you are uncomfortable.” Sandra walked a little closer to me and said, “I am not afraid of you as much as I was my father. When he drank, he got mean and would beat me with a belt.” The can of vegetables I had in my hand slipped and spun around on the floor, finally rolling a few feet up against the refrigerator. I turned to Sandra and said, “I am sorry Sandra. I had no idea your life was so unpleasant. I will not drink beer around you again.” I walked over to her and started to hug her, but she shied away and stood in a corner between the refrigerator and the pantry. I sat down in a chair so she would relax and said, “I would never hit you, not for any reason, and I never drink enough to get drunk. I have never hit Becky or any woman and I will never hit you. I have no idea how to make you understand that I love you and would never hurt you.”
Just then, Becky came into the kitchen. Sandra looked at Becky and instantly began to cry. Becky walked over, hugged Sandra and looked at me with a million questions in her eyes. I finally said, “I was drinking a beer and Sandra is now afraid that I might beat her with a belt as her father did. I do not know how to make her understand that I would never hit her for any reason, under any circumstances.” Becky snuggled Sandra into her arms and said, “Sandra. You need to understand that most males would sacrifice their own lives to protect you from harm. They would fight to protect you from anyone who hurt you, including your father. Your father has beaten you and your boyfriend has seduced you and then bragged about it to your friends, but that does not make all males bad, only those two. Please try to remember that Stanley loves you and you will come to no harm when he is near you.” I stood up, poured the remaining beer into the sink and put the bottle in the recycling bin. Sandra and Becky walked out together, leaving me wondering how many other horrible events people had subjected this child to endure. I now feared that I would have a long wait before Sandra would trust me again, and I had done nothing wrong.
When Susanne and Charlie arrived, we began the introductions. We had not told Susanne or Charlie that we had adopted Sandra so they were very surprised. Charlie was now at the shy age around older girls. He talked to Sandra but we could tell he feared her presence. Sandra tried to make friends with Charlie and finally asked him to go for a walk on the beach with her. As they walked away, Becky said, “Charlie had grown up since we last saw him. He seems like a man now instead of the fun loving child we once knew.” Susanne said, “Losing his father took a lot out of him. He just has not accepted that his father is gone. I fear it will be awhile before he has adjusted to the reality.”
While I cooked chicken and baked potatoes on the grill, the girls set the table in the poolroom. It was extremely hot and muggy outside. It looked like it might rain in California. When the kids came back, they both were hot and sweaty so the air conditioning felt rather good. As we sat down at the table to eat, Becky and Sandra served water to everyone at the table except me. Sandra carried a bottle of beer and a glass to where I sat and placed them in front of me. She leaned down, kissed my cheek and said, “I am sorry for being such a child over you drinking a beer yesterday.” I looked up at her and said, “I will slowly prove that I am worthy of your trust.”
She sat down next to me and said, “I would like to say the blessing if I could.” I reached over and squeezed her hand while she said the words. When Sandra looked up after the prayer, I could tell she was about to explode with excitement. As we ate, we passed pictures of our trip to New York around the table. When we finished eating, Sandra looked at me and said, “Becky got a phone call before we sat down to eat. My laptop and cell phone are ready to be picked up.” Then I understood the excitement I had seen in her eyes while we ate. I said, “Maybe you, Charlie and I can go pick them up. We could ask Susanne and Becky to do the dishes and you and I could do them all day tomorrow to make up for it.” Sandra smiled and said, “My life is good.”
When we returned to the beach house with the laptop and cell phone, Sandra put the packages in her room and returned to the kitchen to play games with everyone else. When she sat down and joined in, Susanne said, “I figured you would be locked your room with you new computer and phone.” Sandra smiled and said, “I will have lots of time for that. Right now I feel the need to beat all of you at Monopoly.” Susanne giggled and said, “Your challenge is accepted.” Within an hour, Susanne said, “I give up. You have taken all my money. I surrender.” I watched Sandra stand up, put her hands over her head and dance around in a circle. When she sat back down, I said, “And what do you call that little victory dance?” Sandra said, “It is the Susanne shuffle.” I saw Susanne stand up and head towards Sandra. Sandra was out the back door in a flash. Susanne caught her near the boathouse and held her down on her back. While I watched, the two girls began to laugh and soon they were both lying on their backs.
After a few minutes, Sandra stood up and held out her hand for Susanne. When they were both back on their feet, they giggled and talked as they walked towards the house. When Susanne stepped into the kitchen she said, “Charlie, are you ready to head home?” Charlie said, “I guess. I wish I did not have to go to school tomorrow. I hate Mondays.”
As Susanne and Charlie drove out of the driveway, I saw Sandra wave at Charlie. I saw his arm reach out the window and wave back. When they were out of the driveway, I put my arm around Sandra and said, “Company is gone. Shall we tame the laptop monster and then the Droid?” Sandra smiled and took my hand, almost dragging me into the house. We were like two kids as we opened the boxes and connected charging cords and mice.
When Becky came into the room, she sat down and listened while we got the email accounts set up. When everything was running, Becky asked, “Do I need to set parental controls on the porn sites?” Sandra made a face and said, “Once you have done it, watching someone do it on the computer is disgusting.” The words had no more come out of her mouth when she realized what she had said. She looked at me and said, “Sorry for those words, Father. I know that information angers you.” I patted her hand and said, “I guess you have a right to speak the words in your heart in front of us. We are family and will be living in close company for the next few months while we sail the high seas. If I get angry every time my daughter talks about sex and boyfriends, I will find myself angry most of the time. Besides, I want you to say what you think and ask the questions you need to ask.”
As we loaded our belongings into the Pacifica-Two, we all began to get excited about the upcoming adventure. We had added a toilet in the cabin so we all had some privacy. The toilet used salt water to flush and had a pump so we could empty the tank when needed. When we were out at sea, we would flush to the sea, when in port we would use the sanitation systems provided to empty the tank.
When we were ready to sail, we completed our food-shopping list and headed off to the grocery store. When we returned, we worked as a team to pass the groceries up the swim platform ladder and down the cabin ladder. Within thirty minutes, everything was in it proper place and secured.
We had used some of the teak wood we had under the workbench to build another bed. We put it over the cabinet for the water storage jugs and put a curtain rod in front of the bed. Then we hung a lined curtain on a curtain rod so Sandra had a private place to sleep and read. I ran a pair of wires from the batteries to the bed and mounted a light and converter so she could charge her laptop, cell phone and Kindle E-reader. Since the bed was located against the round nose of the bow hull, Becky used this rounded area to build shelves so Sandra had a place to put her belongings, her watch and other things she wanted close at night.
Becky then build a desktop on hinges over the water jugs so that we could swing the desktop up in front of Sandra’s bed, hang it down over the water jugs, or secure it horizontally so it would function as a desk. Then Becky built a small chair that could be stored inside one of the floor cabinets when not in use. With these modifications, Sandra had a comfortable place to sleep and study, a place she could call her own. We had also purchased another diving setup so we had a rescue tank and regulator for Sandra. While we were at the marina, we purchased warm clothing and wet weather gear to keep her comfortable when she spent time outdoors or was standing watch with one of us. We decided to purchase a life jacket and a surfboard life vest for Sandra. We hoped to allow her to surfboard often when we were in a port that had boards to rent.
When we completed building the bed, Sandra quietly said to Becky, “Now I need some headphone for my laptop so I can listen to music when you and Stanley need some husband and wife time.” I heard Becky giggle and say, “I have a really good set of Bose headphones in my study. They are in the drawers on the right hand side of my desk. I will give them to you. I seldom every use them and you might just as well enjoy them.” Then I heard Becky quietly tell Sandra that if she needed alone time, all she had to do was speak up and she would insure that she and I remained on deck for a while. I heard Sandra giggle and tell Becky that she had quiet fingers. I know I blushed. I could feel the heat on my face over Becky and my daughter’s words. I took a deep breath and told myself that Sandra needed to be able to confide in Becky, no matter what the subject material was. I decided right then that I would openly discuss any issue Sandra and Becky wanted to discuss. My uneasiness over discussions about sex and women’s issues around Sandra needed to end now. They had no place on this vessel when the two women I loved most were here with me. The reason we had adopted Sandra, besides the fact that Becky and I fell in love with her, was to give her guidance and structure so she could face the tough world she lived in.
The following morning, we made certain that all of Sandra’s books and school supplies were on the Pacifica-Two. We did not want to get a hundred miles out to sea and discover we had forgotten something that we could not easily replace. We had filled a cabinet with pencils, markers, paper, notebooks and printer paper and cartridges for the printer. I also purchased eight numbered flash drives for Sandra to use so she could keep copies of her daily work and tests. I did not want any questions from the school administrators about incomplete work when we returned home. Becky and I had also purchased a large logbook where we intended to keep track of each day’s schoolwork and what material was covered. If we did careful documentation, we should have very little trouble with this home school program.
As I raised the anchors, Becky started the motors and moved us out of the canal into deep water. When we set the sails, the Pacifica-Two came to life. I watched Becky and Sandra walk up to the bow and wrap their arms around each other’s waist. I adjusted the rudder so the sails filled and felt the boat lean a little as the wind sent us towards the west, towards New Zealand and Australia. I was now about to begin a new sailing adventure with a wife I loved and a newly found Daughter. I loved this Daughter as much as I loved Dawn, the Daughter I held in my arms a minute or two after her birth. I have fulfilled the dreams I had as a child of sailing the high seas and raising a family. The life I live is a miracle, a gift from my God.