Chapter 4

Morning arrived with my pregnant wife feeling a little off. This was her first time to show any morning sickness. She blamed it on the growth in her tummy being male, saying, "You guys always make me nervous with all of your daring. This little guy's just getting an early start."

At breakfast, Sue asked for some crackers and Diet Coke. Beth said she never had been sick with Sue. Sue promptly reminded her Mom that she had a boy in her, not a girl. Beth just rolled her eyes.

When I asked Sue if she was going to be comfortable on a boat, she said she would be fine as long as they had plenty of Diet Coke and water on board. She said she would probably soon be starved anyway.

The hotel fishing boat was a sleek forty-five foot fishing cruiser. It had beautiful lines, from the flat forward deck to the wide-beamed low fishing deck aft. There were two pedestal-mounted fighting chairs for people to be strapped into for big game fishing. Four outriggers had been set up, ready to be rigged for trolling.

The captain gave a speech, telling us that we must pay attention to what he or his crew would tell us. If the weather acted up, he would have us wear lifejackets, but it didn't look like we would need them. He said the seas would probably get up in the late afternoon but that we should be fine all day.

We powered out about twenty miles to a site that he said had a couple of sunken ships and was usually lousy with fish. The crew baited our lines with chunks of cut shad and we dropped them overboard. Sue immediately hooked up with a fish that she was able to crank up. She pulled up a nice sized grouper. Phil was next, catching another smaller grouper that we let go. Abe caught and released a four foot shark, and Alice caught an ugly dogfish.

The captain said that one of the hands had spotted some sailfish and wanted to go troll for them. He set Phil and Ben up in chairs and put their lines on outriggers. We had just made one pass through the area where the sailfish had been spotted when Ben's line broke off the outrigger. It might have pulled him out of the boat if he had not been strapped into the chair with the rod anchored in the built-in socket. One of the deck hands showed Ben how to handle the line and rod, how to pump the rod and then lay the line from side to side on the spool to prevent buildup as he recovered line. Ben had been deep sea fishing several times and had some trophies in his office to show off, so he was able to do a good job, finally getting the giant fish alongside the boat. Ben told the captain that unless he wanted the fish he was willing to release it, so they hauled the fish out of the water and had Ben stand beside it for a photo before gently lowering the exhausted fish back into the water.

Abe got a hookup and landed a nice sailfish, next Phil got his first opportunity to ever handle a large game fish. He had it almost to the boat when it got loose from the hook and took off.

The fish quit biting almost as fast as they started. The captain said he had another place he wanted to try, so we motored about forty-five minutes to a spot that he said was usually full of fish. The crew made lunch for us while we were in route to the new location.

We were about to drop some baited hooks when I spotted a diver's float. I hollered at the captain and pointed at it. He said that was unusual, as there is usually a boat around within visual when you find a float.

I climbed up on the spotter's platform and searched the area as best I could. We were about two hundred yards from an inlet of a small island. Using the binoculars that were up on the spotter's platform, I scanned three hundred and sixty degrees, looking for any sign of a diver. Sometimes, if they are not too deep, there are bubbles that rise to the surface.

While scanning the shore of the small island, I saw something floating up near some rocks. I asked the deck hand that was on the platform with me to look at it. He said we needed to get out the inflatable and go see what it could be. The captain idled toward the shore, paying attention to the depth finder to make sure he wasn't going to hit a submerged rock. Another deckhand had pulled out the inflatable launch with a small motor. He and I put on lifejackets and motored over to what we could now tell was a diver without his tanks.

He was dead, but had not been dead long, probably since this morning. We looked around for his tanks and regulator but couldn't see anything. We rolled him into the little launch and we were about to go back to the big boat when we both saw another boat inside the rocky inlet. We decided to go investigate the boat first, so we motored over to the small twenty-five foot diving boat. Lying on the floor of the boat were the tanks and regulator that were missing from the diver. Also lying on the floor of the boat were several small metallic looking boxes covered in barnacles. We lifted the dead diver into his boat, and using the dive boat bowline, towed the boat back to our big boat.

The captain had been in contact with the Coast Guard and had been told to hold our position until they arrived. He let the big boat drift back out to his original position, and we began fishing there. We caught a couple of more nice groupers and a big dolphin fish, or mahi-mahi, to those who think a dolphin fish is Flipper. It isn't.

The Coast Guard came roaring up and tied up to us. They checked out the dead diver, and went over his boat. They said no one had reported him missing, so they agreed with my estimated time of death. They used their small launch to go back into the inlet to look around, but didn't find anything.

They had divers on board, so they tanked up and went over the side where the dive buoy was. They were down for less than five minutes when they surfaced. They reported that there was an ancient sailing ship down about a hundred feet. They said they didn't want to stay down long, as then they would have to take too long to decompress. They were using the new military GPS system and double-checked it with our captain's co-ordinates so they could come back to the exact spot.

The Coast Guard wished us a good day and towed the dive boat behind them as they left. The deck hands and I pulled in the little launch, deflated it, and stowed the small motor for another time.

"You've been on a boat before," the captain said.

I shook my head no but said, "Not much, but I spent a few years working off oil platforms. I did some underwater welding and learned a little about boats."

"Well, you did good to spot that guy, and I'm glad you were handy to help with the diver. Not many men are willing to handle a guy like that."

"I've seen men down before. Desert Storm."

The captain looked at me and nodded, leaving it alone after that.

The party fishing mood was broken, so we motored back to the hotel dock and migrated to our new favorite place, the lobby bar.

News travels fast. Several of the hotel employees asked us about finding the dead diver. Did we know who he was, what was he doing, how did he die, etc, etc, etc.? When they saw that none of us had any answers, they left us alone to suck up some booze.

The captain came into the bar and we treated him and his crew to a few rounds. He had brought the fish we had caught and the kitchen staff was going to prepare them for our supper. He assured us that we would love the baked grouper, and especially the mahi-mahi. That lifted the mood of all of us.

Dewey and Sheila were having an intense conversation. Sue was dying of curiosity, but let them be until she could corner Sheila. Whatever it was it wasn't bad, since both of them were smiling.

We decided to clean up for supper and left the bar for our rooms. We had not been in our room but a minute before there was a knock on the door. It was Sheila. She took Sue out on the balcony for a while then came back through, kissed me on the cheek, and the two of them were out the door.

Sue came back laughing. Apparently, Dewey had asked Sheila if she might want to come and stay on his boat a while. He promised her it wasn't that primitive, and that he had running water and electricity on board even though he wasn't docked. Sue said Sheila thought she might do it and was moving into Dewey's room right then.

Sue had asked her about what she would do about her job. Sheila told Sue that she had been divorced about a year and her job had just been downsized. She had decided to take a vacation because she had not taken one in years and years. Sheila thought it was neat that Dewey lived on a sailboat. She said that she enjoyed a simple life and could enjoy being a bit of a hermit for a while. Sheila really liked Dewey, but she said that she wasn't very lucky with men. She often chose the wrong one. Sue said she still didn't think Sheila had any idea how wealthy Dewey was.

At supper, Dewey wasn't pounding the booze as hard as he usually did. He was spacing out his drinks and was drinking Dewars and water instead of straight scotch on ice. I wondered whether he had decided having a companion might be more important than booze. Time would tell.

The next three days went by rapidly. We were getting people ready to leave without making any reservations for ourselves. Dewey noted that we didn't seem to be leaving yet, and I told him I needed to bring a couple of more people on a short vacation. I also made him promise that he wouldn't try to pick up any more of the tab. Sue and I were pretty well fixed, and besides, I wanted this to be paid by S&S. The folks that I still wanted to bring were Tiny, Ruth, Shawna, and Charlie.

I called the shop on a Friday and talked first to Tiny, then to Shawna and Charlie together. Tiny asked if he could take a rain check. He had been helping his dad with the park and didn't want to leave right now. Shawna thanked us for thinking of them, but said she thought that she and Charlie would enjoy coming more if he were healed from the accident.

That only left one more couple that I wanted to do something for right then. I called our house phone to see if Glenda was there. She was, so I asked her if she and Martin would like to come to Hawaii for a week. She got choked up and began crying. When she finally settled down, she explained that she was terrified of flying. She knew that Martin would want to go, but she just couldn't bring herself to fly. I told her not to worry; we would find another way to reward them for helping us so much.

Sue and I looked at each other and we both shrugged our shoulders. Oh well, we would have to make do by ourselves. Sue immediately suggested another day of surfing, and we had promised to stop back at Friday Harbor on our way home.

Saturday morning, we sent off the three couples who had enjoyed a whirlwind Hawaiian vacation. I knew they would remember and talk about this trip for years. Next time they came, they would have to just laze around a little and not push to do so many things. Some people like vacations like that. I'm not a very good example, but for me this vacation had been pretty laid back so far.

Sunday morning Sue and I woke a little late and straggled into the restaurant around nine. I figured that Dewey and Sheila had already been and gone, but just about the time the waitress brought me coffee and Sue orange juice, our companions showed up.

Dewey looked as if he were ten years younger. He actually looked so much better that it looked like he had been to a plastic surgeon. Instead of ordering Bloody Marys, he ordered coffee and Sheila ordered orange juice, the same as Sue. Dewey recommended that we have a light snack, and later go to brunch at the luau up the road. He said the Sunday brunch was famous. When Sue agreed, Dewey went off to make reservations.

The luau brunch was wonderful. They had native porridge along with lots of fruit and several types of fish. We drank some kind of non-alcoholic drink that was supposed to invigorate a person. It was primarily coconut, but had other spices and fruit juices in it. The same group as before served the brunch, but we were not entertained with dancers this time. The unusual part was that all of the wait-staff, as well as the kitchen staff, came out and ate with the guests. I liked it. This was the friendly Hawaii that I thought of, not the commercial, glitzy, Hawaii that sells T-shirts.

When we got back to the hotel, Dewey suggested that the girls go shopping or go out and get some sun. He wanted to show me something and talk to me.

Dewey had a hotel limo take us out to the airport. We were at the private plane area, and Dewey walked straight to a pretty big airplane. Dewey walked up the stairs, waving me to come too. The plane was really fancy. It looked like it could hold quite a few people, probably fifteen or sixteen. The crew's area was large, complete with two bunks. There was a large galley area, all neat and clean in satin finished stainless steel.

"What are you showing me, Dewey?"

"This is one of my airplanes. This is a Gulfstream IV and has a range of over four thousand miles. I like to use this one when I travel overseas. I have a smaller plane that I use inside the States when it's just me going somewhere. I brought you out here to show you the plane and to ask you a couple of questions."

I was confused, so I asked, "Dewey, you told me that you flew commercial to Hawaii. You had Sheila fly first class with you. How come the plane is here?"

"I couldn't just try to pick her up and put her on a strange airplane, could I? Sheila was a very attractive package that I wanted to get to know better. Besides, she was going to Hawaii, so we might as well go together. I just bought a couple of first class seats and enjoyed the ride here getting to know her. I had the crew bring the plane here so I would have a way home."

Dewey was really strange. He was so crude sometimes, but then he was also very gentle and caring about those around him. He definitely surprised me at every turn.

I knew the plane wasn't a show off thing with Dewey. He wasn't that type of guy. We got off the plane and walked back to the operations building. They had a lounge, so we went in and ordered a beer.

Dewey thought for a few minutes and began. "I really like Sheila. She has even agreed to come stay with me on my boat for a while. She may not like it, or we may get tired of each other real quick, but I would really like to keep her around. I'm afraid that if I show her everything I have, she is going to act or be someone I won't like. I'd like for you and Sue to take this back to Washington for me and wait till we arrive on a commercial flight. I'll get us regular passenger seats, not first class, so we can talk and get to know each other even more. She says she wants to stay out on the boat for a few weeks to a month before she goes back to her home to close it up and move completely. Would you help me with this?"

"Sure, we would be glad to help you. But I have another idea."

I must have paused too long, as Dewey prodded me. "Well, what is it?"

"It would be a shame to waste the space on this plane, so since it's Sue's and my plane, how about if we were to ask you guys if you wanted to ride back to the main land with us?"

Dewey began thinking about it.

I added, "The trip would be long, but relaxed. You two would have a ton of quiet time to get to know each other better. I saw all that various high tech communication equipment. Sue and I could do some work while you two have a gabfest all by yourselves. You'll have to let your crew in on it and give me some instructions as to how I relate to them. Other than that, it doesn't seem like a big deal to me."

Dewey was smiling his crooked smile, "You know, that's going to work. Why don't you ask us to fly back with you guys tomorrow? We'll go surfing this afternoon for a little while and fly back tomorrow. I'll have the guy who flies me into Friday Harbor use his big plane so we can all fly into there together. When you and Sue leave, he'll come and get you and take you back to the Seattle airport. I think we have a plan, and I think we can pull it off. Damn, I hope this works out. I really do enjoy having Sheila around."

We were back at the hotel in plenty of time to call surfin' Steve and have him take us out to surf. The waves were pretty big, but he thought it was still safe for us. We put on the life jackets and were paddling out to line up for waves in just a few minutes. Dewey talked Sheila into going to the far side and riding the smaller swells into the beach. He said he was not very good at surfing.

Sue took a large swell and did a great job all the way in. It was going to be my turn on the next big wave, so I was ready when I saw a big hump coming. I didn't make it all the way into the curl, and wiped out under tons of water rolling me around twenty feet deep. Even that is fun, when you think that you've cheated drowning each time you wipe out.

On my way back out to the waiting surfers, I saw Sue take a wave much bigger than a swell. She rode the swell until it broke sliding down into the curl, and thank goodness, seconds later I saw her shoot out the far side. I begged to get the next wave in so I could get her out of there. We had too much at stake for her to do much more surfing.

Sue didn't want to leave, but I finally talked her into it, telling her that her son was probably enjoying the ride, but we shouldn't take a chance of hurting her or him.

Chapter 5 »