Chapter 9

Their honeymoon cruise was on a luxury private yacht and for a week they were scheduled to cruise the waters of the Bahamas, stopping at Nassau and Freeport, then a few days on Nici Arcadia, a wonderful private island where they could sail and splash on private beaches to their heart’s content. The island was owned by a fellow that Maria knew quite well; he owned an air transport company, and his wife was a judge that Maria also knew.

They pulled into the Vero Beach Yacht Club and two men in white polo shirts and shorts with blue piping helped them with their luggage as a Korean woman dress similarly said, “I am Sunny Carlson, your first mate. Thank you for choosing to sail with us, we will get underway as soon as your baggage is aboard.” She looked from Maria to Steve and back. “Wedding cruise?”

“Nah, honeymoon. We finally got that wedding out of the way.”

Maria sunk an elbow into Steve’s ribs. “Yes, we just got married earlier this morning.” She noticed the way Sunny was looking at her and Steve and said, “Do you have any questions?”

“We will talk later, I’m thinking of trading for a newer model,” said Sunny as her husband Stan carried the luggage past them. “I could use a few hints,” and she gave Stan a swat on the butt. She continued to talk with Steve and Maria. “You are very lucky, we are affiliated with Mister Atherton’s resort of Nici Arcadia, and his schedule cleared up, you’ll practically have the island to yourselves, and you have the whole yacht to yourselves. Even the owners of this boat rarely get that luxury, we’re very popular. We also plan to make stops at...”

“We may or may not make those Bahama stops,” said Steve. “It has been an incredibly busy month; would it be ok if we just enjoy the ride? Neither of us have been on a yacht this ... huge.”

“That is actually perfect. This boat is like a luxury hotel and our chef Travis, and his wife Angie have been wanting to do some deep sea fishing which is always entertaining to watch.” She led them aboard the yacht and said, “This is the cockpit, this is where the fishing is done, when we’re under way this is the best place to lay out and tan. Do you swim?”

“We do,” said Steve before Maria could ‘correct’ him.

“Look at this,” She led them to the stern of the boat and showed them a platform that was on the back of the boat. It stuck out about three feet from the stern and was as wide as the yacht. “That’s a swimming platform, we can lower it down into the water to make it easy to get in and out of the water. We have a small Zodiac style dingy that can be used for a lifeguard, or you can just float around on it, it’s a lot of fun to drive.”

“That’s amazing,” said Steve as he watched the swim platform lower into the water, then raise back up out of the water. He and Maria looked at each other and he asked her if she wanted to try it.

“I don’t...” She looked again and said, “I can just soak my feet, right?”

“You can do whatever you want,” said Sunny with a huge smile. “I want to mention the dress code, however. There is none. You can wear as much as you want or as little ... or none once we get out to sea.”

Just then, the motors started up with a purr and Travis and a young woman with short brown hair began casting off. Travis was on the dock, Angie was on the deck running back and forth, storing the line and stowing the fenders. Way above them was Stan on the flybridge calling out orders. Finally, Travis hopped on the yacht. He helped Angie with stowing the rope and fenders, then they came up to Steve and Marie. “Hi, I’m Travis Yetto, and this is my wife Angie, we are both executive chefs and we love working on yachts.”

“Can I see the kitchen?” asked Marie.

“Sure, come on,” and he led them up the five-step staircase to the alfresco dining area and next to that was the kitchen. “This is what we call the mezzanine, and I have no idea why, some crazy Australian idea I suppose.”

“Bloody hell!” cried Angie, and she gave Travis an elbow in the ribs.

“Would you be Australian” asked Marie as she shook Angie’s hand.

“Too roit mate!” she laughed as they shook hands.

Angie showed Mary how everything in the galley was tied down. There were even some brackets on the stove to keep the pots from sliding off in rough seas. Stove, oven, microwave, dishwasher, trash compactor, multiple refrigerators, freezers, ice makers and everything a full size kitchen could want and more, in an area that is so close that Travis and Angie were constantly bumping into each other. “How do you cook in that environment?”

“Division of labor,” said Travis. “One of us will usually be prepping and the other will be doing the cooking. We try to grill as much as we can, there’s an electric grill down in the cockpit.”

Sunny then showed them the spacious Saloon which Steve insisted on calling the living room. It was a huge open space with couches and tables and a perfect place to have a formal party. Forward of that and down a few steps were the cabins. Steve and Maria had the main cabin with a queen size bed, private toilet and shower facilities, a side table for eating or working and a large TV connected to the yacht’s entertainment server with a vast library of movies and shows to watch.

“This cabin sits low in the hull so do not be shocked to see a wave come over the porthole in rough seas,” said Sunny. “We also have a gyroscopic stabilizing system which smooths out the ride in rough seas. Travis and Angie are in the forward cabin if you need anything, and Stan and I will be on the flying bridge.”

“I don’t do stairs very well,” said Maria.

“If you need us there is an intercom on the boat,” she showed Maria how to use the intercom system on the boat.

The yacht was big and beautiful, and they had the boat all to themselves. The captain, Stan, and his Korean wife Sunny were great guides, and the cook was a new fellow they hired. Travis kept them entertained with stories and teaching them to fish out on the open ocean. “Our usual chef is our daughter Yi, but she moved to Buffalo,” said Sunny, who had a Korean accent. “It too warm down here for her!”

As they traveled across the beautiful blue ocean toward Nici Arcadia, Travis and Angie broke out the poles and did some deep sea fishing. “Is that something you would like to do?” asked Maria. She and Steve were on the mezzanine watching Travis and Andi fish, and they looked like they were having a ball.

“No, personally I like a quiet lake, a rowboat, and a good book,” said Steve. “Fish and I have an agreement. They don’t bother me, and I don’t bother them.

“You don’t like fishing?” she asked.

“I love fishing, but I love the quiet of sitting on shore and listening to the radio too. So if I don’t catch anything, I don’t consider it a loss.”

“Feesh on!” shouted Angie. “Cor blimey, he’s a big one!” she said as she fought the fish. “Bloody hell! He like to rip me arms off!” she laughed as she fought the fish.

“Do you have a shark?” asked Travis as he got ready with a gaff and a net.

“Nah, I can’t feel the head shakin’ of a shaak.” She continued to fight the fish and her vowels. Soon she, with a lot of help from Travis, pulled aboard something that looked like a barracuda. A forty pound Wahoo. After a quick discussion with Stan on the intercom, they kept the predator and Angie opened a panel, revealing a large cleaning station, and Steve went down to watch. She deftly decapitated the Wahoo with a cleaver and began to process the body. “Mind yer fingers mate, ‘es still looking for something to bite,” she warned.

Travis scooped up the still snapping jawed head and tossed it overboard.

Steve went back up to the mezzanine and sat down next to Maria, and gave her a quick kiss. “Don’t you want to try that?” she asked.

“I am here to be with you. Not them. I’ll...” he was facing Maria and had his back to the cockpit, which meant he was looking at the galley. He noticed a beer tap right behind Maria. He got up and looked at it. Behind it was a rack of pint glasses. He poured a beer, and it was ice cold. “Would you like a beer honey?” he asked, more out of habit than anything.

“Yes please.”

He placed the beer in front of Maria and poured another pint for himself. He sat with her, and they tapped glasses. “To us,” he toasted.

“To us,” said Maria, and she took a sip.

“I didn’t know you drank beer,” said Steve.

“I didn’t know you did either,” said Maria as she took a long sip.

“I normally don’t drink beer. Bruce and I will get together and shoot pool at the VFW and have a beer, but that’s gotten so rare. But an ice cold draught beer is something I can’t deny.”

“Oh, did I get between you and Bruce?”

“No, the Vero Beach PD did. Something about gang activity in the area. He’s been working nights and I’ve been working days. When did you start drinking beer?” Steve asked.

“Before you were born my dear husband. Brooklyn used to be a borough of neighborhood pubs. Everyone went to the bar, Guiseppe and I were drinking beer and shooting pool before we got married.”

“That’s so cool. I wish I could have met Guiseppe. He sounds like a cool guy.”

“He was. He was my...” she almost said it, and if she had Steve wouldn’t have figured it out, but Stan Carlson would have, and he was right behind her.

“Captain!” said Steve, as he rose to greet Stan.

“I hear you were actually a captain,” said Stan as they shook hands. “I retired a Senior Master Sergeant.”

“I was on that track, then they threw a commission at me, and I was blinded by the promises of all that money,” said Steve.

“I want you two to know that Travis and Angie are both certified lifeguards, so if you want to go swimming we’ll be there for you,” said Stan.

“I have to feel the ground under my feet,” said Maria. “We’ll have to get closer to shore.”

“Feel free to take advantage of any of our amenities, and anything either of you want, just let us know and we’ll take care of it.”

“Ummm...” said Maria, and she raised her hand like she was in class. “We are all down here, talking, drinking, or cutting up fish ... who’s driving the boat?”

“I am,” said Stan. He showed her the iPad he was holding. “This has everything we need: throttle settings, rudder inputs, and radar feedback. Right now, we’re in station keeping mode. The boat is actively working to not move anywhere.”

“Why?” asked Steve.

“So we can have dinner together.

Soon, Travis came back up to the galley and gathered his equipment. “We’ll be having grilled wahoo steaks with tomato, olive, and garlic chutney and we’ll have that with grilled marinated asparagus.”

“Can I help?” asked Maria. She got to her feet and got her crutches under her and moved to the galley entrance.

“Ma’am, you’re a guest.”

“Travis, believe me, what this woman can do with a tomato...” sighed Steve. “It’s like the best sex you ever had, served on a plate.”

Travis chuckled and turned to Maria, who was wagging her dark black eyebrows at him. “Ok, Maria, you get to chop up the tomatoes and olives and I’ll need some garlic ready,” and he gave her a cutting board, several fresh tomatoes, a jar of green and a jar of black olives, and a head of garlic. Meanwhile, he made a marinade out of rice vinegar, orange and orange zest, and some garlic, stirred it good and briskly and poured it over some fresh asparagus. When he was done, he carried the container holding the asparagus down to Angie, who was heating the grill and wrapping the extra wahoo steaks in butcher paper and put them in the fridge.