Chapter 72

That one took pictures and a few movies ... I had three sim-cards full ... from first sight to raising the mast and first sail. I never did rebuild the flying bridge.

Daddy is using my boat as a hedge against his sister and her three kids. When she gets to being the Grand Matriarch ... he takes his and sometimes hers, they need to get away too ... and they sleep on my boat. Cynthia Mae McWilliams can be insufferable.

He told me he was planning on putting in a portal ... just in case. Billy and Dad no longer go Chaos together ... Billy has his own Caretaker.

A portal on my boat means Zoe and the kids can wait the fifteen minutes in solitude. Hasn’t put it in yet ... waiting on parts ... and a glass cutter who can cut what he wants. Fiji homes don’t have a lot of glass. Windows ... yes ... glass ... no. And shutters ... lots and lots of really good shutters ... Cyclones. Cyclones make glass a hazard.

Murray has been conspicuous by his absence ... Murray is somewhere north of age Ten ... the old man does not like a traveling cage ... he especially does not like traveling in one from Fiji to Austin.

He was not allowed off the plane at Wake Island ... however ... his used sand was ... and new sand was provided.

Wake Island...

When we, Alice and I, were scheduled to fly out ... we had a choice, Express ... or local. Local sounded like fun. Wake was not on the list ... Wake was the emergency. What emergency I don’t know ... but many people were very busy around the port engine for several hours.

Oh ... we ... Alice and I ... could not just disappear from Fiji ... we had to FLY out ... commercial. We came in commercial ... we HAD to leave commercial.

Corporal Mali watched us leave. I think I saw a sigh of relief from the good corp when we waved ‘goodbye’ to Dad and Zoe. A long and boring flight included stops at several islands. Murray saw to it that we didn’t get to get off.

Should have flown Express.

The combining when all of us we’s were together was as disgusting as Seven discombobulating into her constituent parts.

The boat was taking much longer than I planned. Of a Saturday, I was sawing out strips when Murray scratched my ankle. That made a squiggle in the wood. I shut down. Murray leapt. I had an arm full of huge Bengal. “Got over your mad?”

PURRRRR ... and loud. Head butts and cheek rubs.

I thought it was a law that only dogs washed people’s faces.

I think I’ve been forgiven ... I don’t know what Murray thinks.

Why am I still working on my cedar strip kayak?

A reason or two and a pile of excuses. Bud was lax in his delivery of the saw ... he had to teach me how to use my new used bandsaw.

The bigger the table ... the more a saw costs. Little tables suck.

The DELTA 16 Bud has was built in 1947... 74 years old ... looked lightly used. He bought it at an auction for twenty-five dollars 20 years ago. We dickered... 200.00 bucks. Delivered. I paid for running the power under ground from his shop to my hangar ... the TRENCH alone was 2000$. But ... I got all his custom blades ... and every spare bandsaw part in his little shop.

I had to buy a table extension and some roller stands. All in all ... I got a deal. Clay cast iron parts ... very smooth. I took it apart ... Alice videoed the teardown. I painted it British Racing Green. We were in school a month before I was able to reassemble it ... correctly.

Alice had an ongoing fuck buddy ‘romance’ with the river rat. I successfully avoided his octopus buddy ... I’m not ready ... yet. It’s coming ... I can tell.