Chapter 56

The day of our departure was bright and sunny. We tested all of the electronics one last time before we disconnected shore power. We started the engines turning on the power converter and the generator. The desalination machine was going to be left off until we had depleted at least a quarter of our water.

We had one last hug and handshake from all our friends on the dock before we began untying the lines and coiling them where they would remain for two or three weeks. As we pulled out, Carson and Stevie were on deck, wearing their life jackets, waving at the people as we left.

We sailed straight through the channels between the Keys during the first night and headed past some small islands and out to sea. The first morning at sea was awesome. The sun rose from the water, giving stages of color and light. It was actually exciting to sail into the sun.

Out on the open ocean, we had the radar out to the fifty-mile range and picked up very few targets. We were sailing at a healthy 12 knot average. Sometimes the GPS would calculate a 13 knot average, and that was about two to three knots higher than the average I had forecast.

The three girls and I took turns at the wheel. The norm was going to be three hours on and nine hours off. The difference was going to be that I would probably always do a double shift at night so the girls would not have to be on alone at night. Sometimes, whoever was on watch would use the inside weather bridge, but usually we stayed outside at the wheel. We did sort of cheat as we set up the autopilot and let it keep us on course. We would check it and the GPS location against our charts, but everything was working the way it was supposed too.

When I would lie down to sleep, I would almost always have Kate as company, along with one other. Kate was fairly insistent that she be with me at least once a day. I began to think of it as our breeding nap.

Missy and Maggie would raise an eyebrow when we would disappear, but neither said anything as Kate had been very explicit about wanting another baby, and that she was going to have my daughter or son this coming year.

On the sixth day out, we knew a front was coming from the south that would make the seas rough for a day or two. According to the weather information broadcast over shortwave, we could expect seas of up to twelve feet with winds gusting to over thirty-five.

We made a decision that when the wind began picking up to thirty knots, we would take down most or all of the sail so it wouldn't tear or break the two masts. We would use the engines and go at our best speed. We also agreed that we would cover the helm area and use the inside weather cockpit.

We could see the storm coming from fifty miles out on the radar. We tracked it and when we were within twenty minutes of the rough weather, we dropped all the sails just to be safe and fired up the engines. Once the weather began to hit, I turned off the autopilot and kept the boat in the proper direction, but I watched the waves to make sure I could swing around and head into the wind if necessary.

The seas were rough, and I did see a little panic in Sue's eyes for a few minutes as waves much higher than our boat rolled toward us, but Maggie came and got her and had her help make some hot chocolate in the galley. It must have been a good trick to keep a pot on the stove to warm up the milk as the boat was rolling pretty good. It was in weather like this that you appreciated a cup holder on the bridge. Kate and Maggie helped Missy, Sue and Mercy get over their fears telling them that I was piloting the boat correctly.

The bad weather stayed with us through the night and till noon the next day. It was a relief to have the sun out and the sea level off, but it wasn't fun that most all of the wind died. Instead of raising the sail in a four knot breeze, I let the engines take us toward our destination at a healthy ten knots. We had enough fuel to motor the entire way, so I wasn't concerned about usage, but I did watch the fuel level closely. I had spent the entire time at the helm with the company of at least one of the girls all the time. Now that the storm was past, I took a long nap.

The quieter weather gave us a chance to have a good meal and for the ladies to wash some clothes and hang them on deck. They had made a makeshift clothesline for sheets as they said the sheets would feel so much better. When I looked at the deck, I thought that now would be a good time to have one of those cisterns like Dewey had. We could scrub down the deck to get the salt off. Around nine that night, the wind began picking up so we hoisted the sails and shut down the engines. According to the charts, we were more than a third of the way, almost halfway.

Watching the sunrise and the sunset from the deck of a sailboat is almost a religious experience. In the morning, light begins to illuminate the horizon slowly, a round aura appears. It grows, with the area closest to the sea getting brighter and brighter, until streaks of light flash into your eyes. The sun slowly rises from the sea to bathe you in its morning warmth.

At night, we watch as the sun gets lower and lower, and if there are no clouds, it almost looks as if the sea swallows the big orange ball. When clouds are present, the sun reflects from the bottom of them and you have a light show of a thousand colors as the sun lowers.

Then there is the moon. As the moon's stage becomes full, we are blessed with a huge ball of white in the sky lighting up the sea. As the full moon rises from the sea it's different from the sun, as there isn't the light aura, but a small bit of rounded white that gradually rises up until it looks like the moon is half the sky. Then, as the full moon gets higher in the sky, it appears as if it's getting farther and farther away.

All of us would stand on deck together to watch the sunrise and the sunset. Many times, the moon would entice us into the privacy of the stateroom to share the excitement of what we had witnessed.

When we called in that day, the patio crew agreed with us that we were more than a third, almost halfway. We told them about the storm and that we couldn't call because of it. We had weathered our first big sea storm and had learned that we could handle it.

The next day, Maggie, Missy, and Kate were out on deck with the big broom, brushes, and buckets of some mixture they said was a deck wash. They scrubbed from one end of the boat to the other. It took them all day to do the job, but as they went, they used the pressure hose to rinse the deck off and brush the water off the sides. Maggie and Kate said that cleaning the salt from the decks had always been their job while they grew up, so they knew how to do it. Mercy and Sue alternated with them so one girl was always with the kids.

Our next bit of bad weather wasn't much, but it did get cold. We had been in constant sixty-five to seventy degree weather, but it was now down to around forty to forty-five. The wind made it feel colder. No problem though, as we had clothes and coats to fit the weather. If someone's watch became too cold, they closed the main helm and took up duty at the inside weather cockpit.

Maggie and Kate showed Missy, Mercy, and Sue another daily chore to work on. They showed them how to polish the brass and chrome fittings that were exposed to the weather. All four of the women seemed to always back off and smile at the job they had just done. I thought to myself that they were good quality workers doing perfect work. I did all the polishing around the helm. I made sure everything sparkled. Keeping the electronics clean was important and I did make sure that they stayed dry.

Missy was special with the kids. She spent a lot of time playing with them and talking to Steve and Carson. Steve's vocabulary was growing fast and it was because of Beth's past efforts and Missy taking up where Beth had left off. Missy was the consummate grandmother, always having one of the kids in her lap. Carson really enjoyed having another grandmother. He enjoyed the cuddling and love.

Everyone seemed to be getting along well. We were on schedule at sixteen days when the Straight of Gibraltar came into sight. It was very dramatic to sail near the bluff that where the British defended the area during World War II. I remembered a movie about how a commando unit had attacked and taken the defensive positions from the Germans. The movie made it seem like the movie was about Gibraltar it wasn't. The prevailing winds were perfect and we swept past to the landmark to head for Greece.

Our fifty mile radar was busy from fifty miles from Tarifa, Spain all the way to Greece. We almost stopped at Sicily, but we kept to our plan and navigated to the eastern seaport of Athina or Athens.

We learned something quickly about the Europeans. Even though they are suspicious of Americans, they are respectful of American businesses. When a Grecian Naval vessel came to greet us (check us out), they were very nice. We threw fenders out, inviting them aboard, but they stayed just to our port side and spoke good English to us.

We followed them to the port and were directed to the exclusive yacht club we had made reservations for. First things first though, as I asked to clean our holding tanks and fill the fuel tank. When they offered water, we told them we had a desalination system. Once we had the basics taken care of, we let the attendants pull us around to our slip. They even asked if we wanted to be in bow first or stern first. I chose stern first so it would be easier to leave.

I checked my cell phone and discovered that it did indeed get a signal. I'm sure the roaming we had set up was expensive, but it was probably cheaper than the sat phone.

"Hey, Tiny, what's happening. I know you are almost ready to go home but I wanted to tell you we were docked in Greece. You might ask Phil to call our distributor and have him come to the yacht club to see us. Give him my cell number so we can make arrangements." Tiny reminded me that I still had to call the patio this evening and hung up.

A policeman, or some form of military member, came to the boat and asked to inspect our passports and the boat. I invited him and his two men on board. While the officer checked the passports, his two men made a cursory search of the boat then came back topside. The officer filled out a form with all of our names on it and handed it to me, requesting that I call the circled number if any of us were going to stay longer than a month. He gave me some maps of the city and some English literature of sites to see, shook my hand, and left.

"Okay ladies, what say we gather the kids and see if we can find some grass for them to play on? While the ladies were getting the kids ready and gathering the necessary supplies to go exploring, a representative of the yacht club came out to visit with us. He kept asking what movies the girls were in and other nonsensical questions. I finally got it across to him that we were just regular people with a big boat. He said, "Regular people okay. But you have very expensive big boat and lots of influence to get to come in here. I welcome you and hope you remember us to your Hollywood friends."

He did direct me to a large grassy park that was between the main building and the high fence between the club and the city. There was even a children's playground area with slides and swings.

I almost burst a gut laughing after he finally left. When I told the girls about it, Mercy pointed to the very large motor yacht next to us. "That is Sean Connery's yacht. I'm sure there may be even more stars that are here or that are due here."

Once again we were all staggering around trying to get adjusted to a surface that wasn't moving. When we made it to the grass, Carson and Steve took off running all out. They ran all the way to the fence and straight back to us, turned, and did it again. After running wild for several minutes the two found the slide and proceeded to go up and down that for a while.

The girls took Mike and Liz to the swings for a ride, and I put them on the slide and let them go three or four feet down into the arms of a mom. While we were having a great time, my cell phone rang.

Our Greek distributor said his office was very near and wished to come to get us so he could show off his plant. I told him that I had four women and three children with me, and he said he would bring a big car so we could all come at once. I told Sue and she shrugged her shoulders and said, "Let's take a look."

Ten minutes later the owner breezed through the guarded gate of the yacht club and stopped to greet us. The man looked familiar and I asked, "Didn't you come to see our shop in Florida?"

"Yes, yes. Almost nine months ago I came, or is that went, to the United States to see S&S. Your company helped me set up my distributorship similar to the way you have yours in the U.S. We even went to the new place in the middle. Aaaa, St. Louis, yes? When we come home, we know what to do to sell and we make it like yours in America. You are right. We sell many of your equipment, and we even fix old equipment now. Soon we will be working on what you call big lifts for all of this part of Europe. Come, get in and I will show you my business. Tonight you will be my guest at the yacht club. We will dine there so you can meet my family and friends like you did for us when we came to Florida to what you call it, the trailer park. It won't be a big party like you had that night, but it will be a good one."

I needed to call Tiny and Phil to find out whether we were making it a habit to bring our customers out to the park on Friday nights.

When we reached the big building that was the shop in Athina, it was a large stone structure that was fitted with a steel roof and a modern back. It looked like the only thing original was the front.

Inside was a shock. The showroom was laid out similar to our main shop, with several products suspended from the roof. They had a few of Onan's products prominently displayed too.

The man took us into his shop and we were even more surprised. He had it painted completely white, including the polished floor. In the middle of the floor was his logo, done in the fashion that mine was. I noticed writing on the walls, but I couldn't read Greek.

The man saw me looking at the writing and he said, "It says 'We do Perfect Work, ' and over the doors it asks, 'Is it Perfect?' just like your store. I came back here and worked with every one of my people, just like you do, and now we do perfect work.

Mercy pointed out several small S&S logos in various places. When I asked the owner about them he said, "When I think that group is performing their best, I reward them by having an S&S logo painted in their area. We wish to be as good as your shop."

"I'm flattered, Sir. You really honor us. May I take pictures of your shop to show my people?"

"Please do, Steve Sharp. I'm proud that you wish to show your people our place of business."

We went through the entire place. They were keeping it clean just like we did. The man must have really paid attention, as his rebuild area looked just like Abe's, but with only six work stations.

When we went down a hall to his office, all of us had to stop and look at all of the huge pictures he had displayed along the walls. They were pictures of our main location. It was enough to make you homesick.

After being introduced to probably fifty or so people who we couldn't converse with, he took us back to the yacht club. When we were all out of his vehicle, he came to me and said, "Tonight we will eat wonderful Greek food and tomorrow my family and I will accompany you to many of the favorite sights to see here. We will have a wonderful time. I need to ask you to do something for me. Tomorrow in front of my family, do not call me Mr. Orkos. You must call me Tony, please. I've told my family so much about you and your wonderful company, they think we are very close friends. So you must call me Tony."

I introduced each of the girls again to him and told them that he should call them by their first names as well. When he said, "My wife may not wish me to associate with a man with so many women. She may think I will want the same, even though I do not."

"Don't worry Tony, my ladies are very respectful. They are not all my wives, but they are all my family. Why don't you just introduce them as my family?"

The girls said they needed to get the kids bedded down for a nap. I think all of us could use a little peaceful time as well. The weather was very nice, about seventy degrees and warm in the sun.

When we got back to the boat, the girls noticed several ladies lying out on the decks of their boats. There wasn't a suit to be seen. All bare tops and bottoms. Maggie said, "I'll put the kids down so you girls can get some sun. Enjoy yourself, but don't stay out too long and burn."

Minutes later there were five naked ladies sunning themselves. Missy was built pretty well. Of course, any naked lady looks pretty good when you view her just as a woman, instead of appraising her parts. I kept some shorts on and sat in the sun with them while having a big glass of lemonade on ice. I lay down in the middle of them on my belly for about fifteen minutes, then said, "I've had enough sun. I'm going to make our evening call to the house before it gets too late."

Glenda answered the phone and said, "Hold on second while I turn this thing on." There was a click then I could here the people on the patio. Glenda's voice came through amplified. She was on some kind of speakerphone. "We're all here, Steve. Tell us about Greece." There were several voices in the background saying, "Yeah, tell us, Steve."

I gave them the details of our time so far to explain why I had been so late calling them. They said they understood, but said for me to call them earlier tomorrow as it was getting really late there. I hung up then and was met by Kate who took my hand and led me below to the big bed. "You need to make sure I have my baby, Steve. I didn't tell you before but Jim has had a vasectomy so we wouldn't have any more kids. I was against it, but he insisted. But it now doesn't make a difference. I'm going to have a baby with you, Sue, Mercy, and Juanita. You are the one with the special serum I need though, so give me an injection please."

Kate had been tickling me in my shorts while she was telling me this. Since she was already naked, it didn't take but a second for me to drop my shorts and she immediately had me saddled in her warm and very wet center. This time, she did take her time and slowly slid me in and out as she rocked her hips.