{Seven Mile Island – June 1985}
Early the next morning, Grandpa received a telephone call from the contractor, Max Thomas. He advised Dylan that he couldn’t make it to the house that day to inspect the damaged bulkhead.
“I’m really sorry, Dylan, but my team is still performing emergency work on the Stone Harbor Bridge. We discovered another issue that is taking longer than expected to fix. Once the work on the bridge is completed, I’ll call you.”
Although a little disappointed that the needed repairs to his bulkhead would be delayed, Grandpa responded, “Max, I fully understand that the safety of the island bridges takes priority over any needed repairs to my bulkhead. Be safe, and I’ll wait for your call.”
After breakfast, the boys headed out to the lagoon with their snorkel gear. They sat on the dock and slid their bare feet into the foot pockets of their swim fins. Then Wayne and Johnny made a big production of spitting onto the glass lenses of their masks and rinsing them with water.
Grandma Masters was watching and asked, “Why did you spit into your masks?”
Johnny responded, “Sometimes the masks can fog up while in the water. When that happens, it’s really hard to see. Last year, our swim coach told us that if we spit on the lenses of our swim goggles, they won’t fog up. He also said that we should do the same thing when we use scuba masks!”
With a big smile, Wayne looked up at his grandmother, and with great bravado in his voice, he added, “Since then, we spit!”
Grandma broke out laughing as she thought Wayne’s comment was hilarious, even if true. Before Grandma walked back to the house, she said, “Have fun, boys.”
The boys entered the warm lagoon water and snorkeled toward the broken bulkhead. As they approached, they could see that the bay water was slowly entering the cavity located beyond the damaged bulkhead boards. After lifting their heads above the surface and removing their snorkels, they used their flashlights to look inside.
Wayne said, “I still can’t see much, Johnny. Everything’s just wet and dark. I think we’ve misjudged the tide ’cause the water’s still way too deep.”
The boys decided to wait a couple of hours for the tide to go down before trying again. Johnny proposed, “I really think we should try using the crowbar to widen the entrance.”
As the boys swam back to the main dock, they optimistically plotted their next visit to what they now referred to as “the Pirate Cave”!
With their exploration plans on hold, the boys decided to go crabbing again. After talking to their grandfather, they agreed to head to the same place as their first outing, but this time, they would follow the channel deeper into the marsh to an area that Grandpa called the V-Pond.
Once on the bay, the dinghy headed northeast a short distance before turning into a small meandering channel. The boys followed it through the high marsh grass before reaching an open body of water that was shaped like the letter V. Although the saltwater pond measured only a couple hundred square feet, it was perfect for crabbing. There were plenty of dark, shallow areas where the boys effectively used their secret bait, along with their other crabbing gear, to catch thirty-two crabs in a little more than two hours!
“Awesome!” said Wayne as he admired their large catch. “That will give us $9.60 if Old Man Sharp likes our crabs. Quick, put the wet towel over the bucket! We have to get out of here before the tide gets too low and we get stuck.”
The boys powered up the trolling motor and navigated the small craft out of the pond, through the channel, and toward the open bay. As they approached the channel’s last bend before reaching the expansive bay waters, their motor sputtered, made a whining noise, and suddenly stopped! Johnny responded by quickly switching off the power to the motor. He then adjusted the small motor so that the propeller lifted above the shallow, muddy water. Looking over the rear stern of the small craft, he noticed that the propeller was entangled with a green fishing line.
The boys agreed that they needed to exit the boat and push it out of the channel toward the open bay. Johnny commented, “This really stinks. I wish fishermen would stop discarding their used fishing lines into the water. It causes so much damage. Not only to boats but also to the fish, turtles, and even the birds.”
After entering the knee-deep muddy water, the boys easily pushed the boat around the bend of the canal and out of the marshland. They then guided the dinghy onto a sandbar that was exactly where the bay waters met the marsh.
Fortunately, Johnny had recently studied the instruction booklet that was included with the purchase of the trolling motor, and he fully understood how it worked. Turning to his brother, Johnny said, “No worries, Wayne. We have all the tools necessary to fix this mess right here in our gearbox.”
After disconnecting the lightweight motor from the battery, they cut the visible fishing line with their utility knife and removed the line from the exterior of the propeller. Next, they loosened the prop nut with their wrench and removed the nut, washer, and propeller. Because there was no visible damage to the motor’s shaft, the boys efficiently reassembled the motor in a short time.
After performing the emergency service, the boys placed the used fishing line into their trash bag and then decided to get wet. Together, they dove into the water that enveloped the small sandbar. Johnny rejoiced, “This is awesome!” Besides cooling off, the boys felt relieved to rinse off some of the sticky bug spray they had applied to their bodies before entering the marsh.
“I’m sure glad that Mom told us to pack the spray in the first aid kit. If not, we would have been eaten alive by those giant greenhead flies,” said a relieved Wayne.
Once Wayne and Johnny were back at the house, Liz and Lisa agreed to take the boys directly to Sharp’s market. After delivering their bucket of freshly caught crabs, Mr. Sharp said, “Boys, you are becoming two of the best crabbers on Seven Mile Island.” He then complimented them on the large number of high quality crabs before adding with a big grin, “My customers really love eating crabs, so be sure to catch a lot more this summer!”
After thanking Mr. Sharp, the boys were even more elated when their mother treated them to delicious snow cones. They sat together at Sharp’s large picnic table next to the barn and enjoyed the cold, thirst-quenching treat and the scenic views of the adjacent wetlands. Over the next few minutes, the kids told their mom about all of the exciting things that they were doing at the shore. Lisa described how much fun she was having at work and how she loved riding her new bike with her friends. Johnny then added that he was having a blast playing volleyball, riding waves at the beach, and swimming in the bay. Then, with grape syrup dripping all over his face, Wayne added, “I agree with you, Johnny. And we’ve also had a blast searching for buried pirate treasure.”
Shaking her head in response to her son’s imaginative comment about a treasure, Liz turned to her messy boys and said, “OK, my little treasure hunters, wipe your faces, and let’s get going!”
As the family began moving toward their Jeep, Lisa noticed that Mr. Sharp was seemingly eavesdropping. Even so, she couldn’t understand why he would want to listen to their small talk about snow cone flavors and how much she liked her new job.
When they returned back to the house at five o’clock, the boys went straight to their father and gave him the money that they earned that day.
“That’s great, boys. Your debt is now reduced to $14.90. I’m really very proud of you two.”
At that moment, Grandpa interjected by shouting, “Who wants to play water polo? Last one in the lagoon forfeits two goals.”
In the following seconds, the entire family rushed to change into their bathing suits and ran out to the lagoon for a fun family game of water polo. One team consisted of Liz, Wayne, and Johnny, and the other team was made up of Dylan, Mark, and Lisa. Grandma assumed her regular role as the family’s water polo referee. Wearing her favorite white hat and Polarized sunglasses, Grandma moved to her referee’s chair located at the center of the dock. Gently swinging her official’s whistle back and forth, she was happy to see her family so excited to play.
Dylan’s team wore white water polo caps, and Liz’s team wore blue caps. From the dock, Grandma shouted out, “All of you look more like sea turtles than athletes,” referring to the cap’s plastic protective ear covers. Everyone laughed at her joke, understanding that they did look kind of funny while swimming in the lagoon. Regardless, they had a wonderful time playing one of their favorite sports.
Liz and her sons really wanted revenge after losing so many times the previous summer. The boys were especially determined to play like Olympic champions, and they did. With Liz commanding, “Go long, Wayne” or “Pass it to Johnny,” the team communicated well and played with perfection.
The men and Lisa simply could not keep up with the fierce aquatic speed of the boys. Dylan shockingly yelled, “Hey, Wayne, when did you learn to swim so fast and shoot so hard?”
After it was over, Grandma made the announcement. “The final score is 18 to 4, in favor of Liz and the boys. Way to go, Blue Team!”
After shaking hands, the family decided to celebrate on the back deck.
As he lounged on his favorite deck chair with a glass of cold lemonade, Grandpa looked out over the expansive bay and said, “This certainly is a wonderful way to celebrate.” Then, turning to the others, he held his glass up in the air and toasted. “I really love all of you. Here’s to a wonderful family and to Seven Mile Island!” to which Grandma added, “Hear, hear, Dylan.”
That night, Grandpa ordered pizza from one of the island’s favorite eateries, Circle Pizza. The family feasted on three large, thin-crusted pies covered with deliciously seasoned tomato sauce and mounds of mozzarella cheese.
In between mouthfuls of the tasty pizza, Wayne said, “Thanks, Grandpa. This is an awesome dinner. Mmm-Mmm Mighty Good!”
When the pizza was finished, and the dishes were cleared, the family gathered in the large family room to play a board game. Despite the normal debate concerning which game to select, everyone eventually agreed to try Scrabble.
The night belonged to Grandma and Grandpa, who won just about every round. Afterward, Dylan and Christine admitted that the game was stacked in their favor.
Dylan said, “Check it out,” as he pointed up to a large trophy on top of a corner cabinet. It was engraved “1984 Avalon Yacht Club Scrabble Champions – Christine and Dylan Masters.”
The kids definitely thought that the trophy was very cool, and they congratulated their grandparents on their accomplishment. Even so, Lisa also politely suggested, “If it’s OK with you, maybe we should play a different game the next time.”
Just before falling asleep that night, Wayne and Johnny agreed to continue their exploration of the Pirate Cave in the morning.