Chapter 5

Five weeks had passed since I first met Ellie DuPont and then her friends. Now on Saturday morning, as I performed my daily cleanup chores I was wondering if I would be able to snag an itinerant party for a day cruise when my cell phone rang.

I flipped it opened and said, "Hello. Captain Cooks Cruises. Captain Cook speaking."

"Hello, Tom. This is Ellie DuPont."

"Good morning, Ellie. It's nice to hear from you. How are you?"

"I'm great. I was wondering if you're available today?"

"Yes, I am. What can I do for you?"

"Well, the girls' husbands wanted to check out where we've been spending time on these cruises so... if you could take on the seven of us, we'd like some sort of cruise today. We'll settle on the course after we arrive, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am, that would be fine. What time do you think you'll arrive?"

"I don't know but probably about one or two o'clock."

"I'll be waiting."

It was not without apprehension that I waited though. I thought through all kinds of scenarios from the husbands accused me of screwing their wives all the way to facing guns held by the three men. It wouldn't be too difficult to be shark bait before nightfall.

However when they did arrive about 1:30, I was introduced to David Gettys, John Davis and Marcus Rockefeller who seemed to be very cordial... at least for the moment. They were a little surprised that my little boat was so well outfitted. It wasn't the staterooms that impressed them but the size of the galley and the well equipped bar in the main salon.

They finally agreed on a triangle with the first leg southeast about three hours, then west for two hours and north to harbor for another four hours. The men seemed to prefer using the salon and settled in, helping themselves to the bar while I set up our cruise on the computer. Ellie, Trudi and Martha all picked out spots on the aft deck and watched me work the boat out of the harbor.

I had to admit to being nervous with four lovers onboard at the same time and three of them with their husbands. I guess my nervousness must have shown because a couple of times, one of the ladies whispered, "Don't worry. Everything will be all right." I finally was able to settle down.

The men convinced the women to join them in a card game in the salon, requesting a platter of sandwiches from me, plus beer and soft drinks. To my chagrin they fired up ugly old stogies that soon filled the salon with cigar smoke and a really bad smell. However these were men used to having their own way.

I spent most of my time at the pilot station but popped into the salon every 15 minutes or so to see if they needed anything. The men changed to harder drinks by late afternoon but at least they didn't get drunk. The ladies gradually, one by one, dropped out of the game and usually came up to the sun deck to get some fresh air.

Early in the evening, everyone agreed to my suggestion that I grill them some steaks and have baked potatoes and salad for dinner. They didn't know that the potatoes were actually pressure cooked but tasted baked. The steaks were grilled on an electric grill inside the galley but with crafty seasoning, tasted as if they had been cooked over charcoal. Almost everyone complimented me on the dinner.

When the sunlight began to change on the homeward leg, the women insisted that their husbands spend the remaining time on deck with them watching the natural light show and taking in fresh air. I secretly got a kick out of watching the men squirm with impatience.

We motored back into the harbor and docked right at 10 P.M. with the last of the sunlight fading fast. The ladies gathered their things and scrambled up the gangway but the men turned to me at the last minute. John handed me an envelope and said "Here you are, Captain. The women said this should cover the cruise fee."

I flipped quickly through the bills and replied, "Yes, sir, this is fine."

Marcus took a step toward me and, lowering his voice, said, "Listen, Captain, this sea breeze and sunset stuff is not my thing but my wife seems to love it. I know she's already booked your ship for one day a week through the season. That's great because she had been much easier to live with since she's been going on these cruises. Keep up the good work and if you need anything to keep her happy, give me a call and I'll see that you get it... within reason, of course. Understand?"