USA
Copyright© 2016 by Old Man with a Pen
Chapter 5
We were steering in circles searching for a breeze. We were never going to get to Amsterdam like this. Any direction is better than standing still.
"Wendy!"
"Yes dear?"
"Whistle us up a wind," I said.
"Why don't you do it?"
Ooo, she's a sly one. Along with a grape allergy, she knows I can't whistle.
"Wendy."
"Yes, sir," she started whistling. Wendy whistles like a good coin silver flute. The problem is what to do with her hands. So ... she started messing with the watch.
Now it's pitch black ... can't see your hand in front of your face dark, and drizzling rain and maybe a little sleet in the mix. The sea is rough as all get out and we still don't have a breeze.
"Wendy? What did you do?" I asked.
"I don't know," she complained.
She ran below and grabbed our rain gear.
I heard the kids.
"Mom? What did you do?" they both asked.
"Oh sure, blame me," she replied.
"Mom ... you're the one with the watch." Art said.
"Yeah, mom," Ink agreed.
She came back to the wheel and took over while I put on my wet gear. Not that it was wet ... it's to keep me from getting wet. Lookit ... don't blame me ... it's what sailors call it. Unless they call it foul weather gear.
So she's minding the helm when we hit something.
"Errk," I said.
The kids came running out on deck in their wet gear. "Daddy ... the keel hit something."
"I know that," I said. "What is another question entirely."
What ever it was we were scraping it ... still.
Finally ... it stopped.
Wendy and the kids went below to check the bilges...
"No leaks! The bilge pump hasn't run in days."
"Maybe it's plugged?"
While we were contemplating that possibility, off the starboard side there was a racket of doors slamming and whooshes like fast moving air. There was running on metal decks and yelling in German. A huge diesel started running and there was the clunk of gears and propeller noises. What ever it was ... was mad. Then a searchlight flicked on and wobbled a bit. All too soon they had our sail illuminated and the light found the cabin and helm.
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