Chapter 11

Christmas came on a Thursday that year, and on Christmas morning, we all sat around the tree in our living room. We opened packages and showed our gifts to one another. Most of my presents were clothes, including some items from the store where Mom worked. My brother also received new underwear, getting boxers instead of the white briefs he normally wore. After all of the gifts under the tree were opened, my dad got up and left the room.

Dad returned carrying a box, placed it on the floor between my brother and me, and sat back down next to our mom. I read the tag as my brother began to open the package.

"To Jenny and Eddie, we hope to have hours of fun, Mom and Dad." I read out loud.

My brother opened the box and pulled out two bright orange Mae West life preservers. We looked at the items and tried to figure out what they were for. After a couple minutes, my brother jumped up and began bouncing up and down.

"You're going to buy a boat!" Eddie shouted.

"No," Mom said with a smirk.

"Then what are these things for?" I asked.

"We already bought a boat," Dad said.

"What kind of boat?" I asked.

"Is it a fishing boat?" Eddie said.

"Where is it? Are you going to keep it in the yard like the Fredrick's do?" I asked.

The Fredrick family lived down the road from us and had a boat on a trailer in their back yard. I didn't really know too much about boats, other than the ones I saw around and the one we fished on when my cousin was here.

"Look in the bottom of the box," Dad said, trying to control his laughter.

I pulled the box over to me as my brother reached inside. We bumped our heads in our excitement, but managed to pull a small wrapped package out of the box. Eddie ripped the paper and found a book. He opened it, and said, "Holy shit!"

"Don't use that kind of language young man," Mom said.

"Sorry, Mom. I guess I got carried away."

My brother and I looked at the pictures of the boat in the book. Eddie started rattling off questions and my parents tried to answer him.

Finally Dad told him to be quiet and told us about the boat. The boat was two years old and a trade in for a custom boat the owner had built where my dad worked. Dad was able to get a real good deal on the boat and he and Mom decided to buy it.

"When do we get to see it?" I finally asked.

"Just as soon as you two are dressed and ready to go," Mom said. "Your father and I have to get dressed too, but it won't take long."

My brother and I ran for our rooms to get ready to go. I flipped my door, but it didn't close all the way. After pulling my nightshirt over my head, I turned and saw my brother watching me from his room. I blushed, turned around and moved away from my open door. I quickly dressed in shorts and a tee shirt and headed for the bathroom.

My brother was already in the bathroom brushing his teeth, but I didn't care. I went in, took my toothbrush from the holder and shared the sink with him. After brushing my teeth, I fixed my hair.

I had cut my hair very short for track the year before and just kept it that way. I liked how easy it was to take care of, requiring only a quick brushing. Once we were finished, Eddie and I went out to wait for our mom and dad.

On the way to the marina, my brother and I learned that our parents had been talking about a boat for some time. After they saw how much fun we had on the fishing trip, they decided to buy one. We also found out that my dad had taken a week of vacation and gone to school to learn how to operate the boat.

The marina was only about fifteen minutes from our house. Dad parked the van and led us along the pier to our slip. When Eddie and I saw a boat with a big bow tied to it, we knew it was ours and ran to it.

Mom and Dad caught up to my brother and me. They had their arms around each other and were smiling as Eddie and I stood staring at the boat.

"It's a forty-four foot Luhrs convertible," Dad said

"It's already rigged for fishing!" Eddie said. "It has outriggers and everything."

"Yes," Dad told us, "it's ready to go. I talked with the captain of the boat we fished on and he gave me a list of the things we needed to get started."

We all boarded the boat and went into the cabin to begin the tour.

"This is the salon," Dad said. "Over here is the galley."

The salon, I thought it was the living room, but I was getting a quick lesson in terminology, was beautiful. It had two couches, I later learned they were called settees, and one folded out into a double bed. The galley was nicer than some of the kitchens I had seen in houses complete with a refrigerator and freezer. My dad showed Eddie the fishing rod storage compartment in the ceiling, complete with seven rods and reels.

After looking around the salon, we went down to the bedrooms. My mom told us they were called staterooms and the bathroom was called a head. We looked in the master stateroom first and saw the large bed and the closets and drawers. The next thing we looked at was the head. It had a shower, a toilet and a sink. The head was almost a big as the bathroom my brother and I shared at the house.

"This is the other stateroom," Dad said as he opened a door across from the head.

The guest stateroom had two beds in it, one full sized and a small bunk above it.

"Who gets this bed, I mean stateroom," I asked.

"We haven't decided on the sleeping arrangements yet," Mom said. "We thought that we'd let you two figure that out. One of you can sleep in here and the other in the salon, or you two can share this room. You kids have to remember that on a boat, you have to adapt to the surroundings."

"I'll sleep in here," I announced, pointing to the larger bed. "Eddie can sleep in the salon."

"Why don't you sleep in the salon," my brother said.

"Because I'm a girl and I need my privacy," I replied.

"Privacy is something you sort of give up on a boat this size," Dad said. "We will try to respect each other's wishes, but it can be difficult in such close quarters."

"Besides," Mom said, "we have to think about when we have guests too."

Eddie and I let the discussion drop.

We went up to the flying bridge next and Dad started to explain all the instruments. He told us about the radar, the chart plotter, the fish finder and all the gauges. While he went over the controls, I looked around at the seats and other different things. From the flying bridge, you could see the big deck in front of the cabin.

"That will be nice for getting a tan," I told my mom as I pointed forward.

Mom nodded and told me to pay attention to my dad.

When Dad finished, he took us to the engine room and told my brother and me about all the switches and things there. We climbed out of the small engine room and stood in the cockpit. Dad went over the bait preparation station and the other things associated with it.

Our family spent two and a half hours going over all the different things on the boat. I tried to pay attention, but my mind wondered. Dad took us all back into the salon and told us to sit around the table.

"So what do you two think about the boat?" Dad asked.

"I think it's really neat, Dad," I said.

"It's great," Eddie said. "When can we take her out?"

"That's up to you two. When would you like to go for a ride?"

"Right now," Eddie said.

Mom chuckled and smiled at my dad. "Your father and I though that we might go tomorrow. We were planning on spending a few days on the boat and going down to the keys."

"Really?" I said. "We're going to take a trip on the boat? What do we have to do to get ready? What can Eddie and I do to help?"

I was almost bouncing on the seat as I rifled off the string of questions.

"We have to pack our clothes and buy some food for the trip," Mom said. "We have everything else we'll need on the boat already. Your father and I have been working on it for over a week."

My brother and I jumped up and asked if we could go and get started. My parents laughed at us, and our eagerness to go. We left the boat and headed for home. As we rode along, the car was a buzz with questions about our trip.

Once we arrived at the house, my bother and I went to work on getting the things we wanted to take packed. I took clean underwear for the days my mom said we'd be gone as well as my bikini and shorts. I asked if there was a closet on the boat and my dad told me that there were hanging lockers in both staterooms. I took some of the tops I kept on hangers and put them with the other things.