Chapter 10

Bikini as in ‘itsy bitsy teeny weenie’, or much less! Tie-side, string, and thong bottoms; sheer, see-through, crochet, fishnet, and micro. I got away with moderate shorts, absolutely NO speedos for me. Board shorts and moderate shorts were what I wore.

The ship was awesome, the crew had just got the sails up and we were moving swiftly across the ocean. I was watching Lisa as she was at the helm for her shift and smiling answered all my questions. Granted I only asked a few, like how fast we were going, what some of the monitors were for, and how hard it was to learn.

The girls were shown the sun deck where they could tan in the nude. My job was to lather on sunscreen and I did my very best but six girls, yes, Nancy and Iris were required to assist the girls and be available at all times.

CPT Frank was on duty after lunch and asked me to talk with him. The girls were flipping like a steak to tan their fronts as they had already done the back. Holly was handing out special eye protection that only covered the eye so there would be no tan line from regular glasses. She also was checking for sunburn.

CPT Frank (call me Frank, please) said that this was a private yacht rental and I was allowed to call all the crew by their first name unless I wanted the executive treatment and all the crew would be instructed to call all of my group by ‘sir’ and ‘ma’am’.

I told him the first person to call me ‘sir’ would get thrown overboard.

Frank laughed and said he would pass the instructions on to the entire crew.

I said I would inform my group too.

Then Frank asked what my deal was, quickly adding that the owners were worse, as one had 5 or 6 women/wives (not sure, maybe just a harem); the other had like 10 or something. Then making a thumb gesture toward the girls asked if I was planning to steal Nancy and Iris or just play with them.

I shrugged my shoulders and said my girls make those decisions I just nod my head and say “Yes, loves”.

Frank started laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair. DOC Carl came over to check if everything was ok because he was laughing so hard. When Frank was finally able to explain, Carl walked away, laughing. Frank began explaining to me just what being on the watch required.

I was really enjoying everything about it and Frank said he could start me on my Captain’s License if I wanted to pursue it. I thought about it for 2 or 3 seconds then agreed.

During dinner, the collision alarm went off. Carl had the watch and yelled that something was in the water in front of us but he couldn’t see anything. Frank and Lisa took off to the top deck, Dennis went to the bow, while John went below to the engines. Nancy and Iris got everyone into lifejackets just in case.

After grabbing a life vest, I hurried to the command deck just in time to hear Dennis call over the radio. Cargo containers; a shit load of them.

Lisa was calling over the radio to Coast Guard letting them know what we had encountered.

Frank called back angrily for a number even an estimated number; not a shit load”! Also, which direction they were, to avoid hitting them.

Dennis called back “over 20, maybe more than two dozen,” and that we couldn’t sail around them.

“ALL STOP! ALL STOP!” Frank called.

I asked what I could do. Lisa and Frank both said at the same time “Pray”!

The Coast Guard called at that moment to report that they had just received a report from a cargo ship; that it had an explosion and all systems were down, probably for several hours, while they did repairs. Their back-up system failed also and their back-up radio now had a limited range due to low power. Over fifty containers went overboard; most would sink due to their higher density. Someone added that some were mostly empty and might float for a while until they filled with enough water.

I said, “Cargo containers are supposed to be watertight; right?”

WEUSALL thought: ‘objects in the water are a danger to this vessel. I can remove them all.’

“No!” I exclaimed mentally. “Just ensure they don’t hit or impact our vessel. If they suddenly disappeared it would be unexplainable. That could put WEUSALL at risk; that includes those whom WEUSALL has joined with.

‘WEUSALL understands and will ensure that none contact our vessel’.

“Let one or two scrape the side, to make it look lucky that the vessel was not damaged.”

‘WEUSALL will allow minimal damage to convey the seriousness of the situation, but nothing that would create a problem or put the vessel and all on board at risk.’

The next several hours were nerve-racking and everyone was really scared. I had to play like I was seriously concerned even though I knew we were safe.

The distress call came over the radio. A small yacht had been hit by a container and was going down fast. There were nine on board and all were going into the water as there was no time to launch a life-raft or dingy. They had all managed to get lifejackets on, but the water would kill them due to hyperthermia in less than an hour. We were the closest vessel.