Chapter 7

I woke to the sound of the newspaper boat. This must be the way papers are delivered at yacht clubs. I ran up on deck and caught the guy's attention as he passed. I slipped him a dollar and he handed me a paper.

I went back downstairs to put on clothes and make coffee. With a fresh cup, I went up to the deck salon and enjoyed my coffee with the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

Dewey came up with a cup and helped me read the paper until Sheila and Sue came up to protest we had left them to get cold in bed. We apologized, kissed, and made up, but encouraged our two ladies to dress so we could go get breakfast.

We all dressed to go ashore and took the dinghy to the dock. Everyone just tied up wherever they could find a space, not in an individually marked area like the other yacht club. Breakfast was good and hearty. They had a buffet for breakfast that included biscuits and gravy, as well as all varieties of breakfast meats and eggs. Dewey and I ate heartily, while the girls were a little more discriminating. Sue ate well too, as she was quick to point out that she was eating for two.

Back on the boat, Dewey started the engines while I untied us from the aft mooring buoy and put a slipknot on the forward one. When we were ready to leave, I pulled the line loose and coiled it on deck as Dewey guided the boat from the small harbor area.

We only went out about eight miles this morning, as we were not going that far before we would sail into San Francisco Bay. We began to turn east about eleven and were in sight of the Golden Gate Bridge by one-thirty. We had reserved a berth at a yacht club east of the bridge and close to the city. Dewey had promised us a grand tour of San Francisco and our destination was the best place to begin.

Dewey had to use the radio often to make sure we were on track and would be able to motor through. We took down all the sails, lashed, and covered them as we neared the yacht basin. They actually had lights on the empty large slips. All were showing red lights at the end except one near the middle that had a green light. That was our berth. The girls and I tossed fenders out on both sides as Dewey eased the big schooner between the dock walkways. The front of the berth had several tires lashed there in case the boat drifted too far forward.

I jumped onto the dock and caught the forward line. I snubbed it around the bollard, letting friction bring the idling boat to a halt. I tied off the bowline, and went back to secured the aft line, bringing the boat up to the walkway. The dock was a floater so it would follow the tide, as well as the boat that was tied to it.

While I was finishing, two attendants came running up, apologizing for not being there to tie us up when we docked. I told them that there was no harm done as we had managed successfully. They said they had been helping a hapless captain tie up a fifty footer that he couldn't control.

Dewey said that he and I needed to go into the Coast Guard office since he felt I was entitled to something. When we went into the Coast guard office Dewey got out his captain's license, along with another plastic card. The guardsman on duty pulled out a form and Dewey handed it to me and told me to fill out the full name and address information, along with contact numbers, etc.

I did, but didn't understand what was going on. When it was done, Dewey took it and filled out a bunch of information, signed it, and handed the form to the guardsman who said to wait a couple of minutes.

The guardsman typed information into a computer terminal before asking me to stand in front of a camera where he took my picture. When it was done, he pushed some keyboard buttons, and pushed a button on a printer.

Out popped a card that he came over and handed to me. "Congratulations captain, I'm glad you decided to learn from an experienced instructor. Not enough people are willing to take a lengthy cruise to learn how to captain a boat over a hundred feet. You're now rated up to and including one thousand tons. You can get an endorsement for more if you were to work a large ship for a couple of days. If you want a harbor pilot's license you will have to take some additional classroom courses."

I looked at the card and it said, "Commercial Captain up to and including two hundred and fifty feet."

Dewey waved me outside the office. I told him, "I shouldn't have this. I didn't do anything that should qualify me for this."

"Everyday we were out, I drilled you on onboard information, how to sail, how to motor, how to dock. You have docked, moored, and sailed. You are more qualified to captain your own vessel than ninety percent of the people out there that have licenses. You may never use it, but you never know. You and Sue may decide to get a big boat and come visit me. Just haul ass through the Panama Canal and straight up the coast. It would be a blast for you two to do that. You could bring some of the executives along from your company if you wanted, but the way you two are, you'll probably have a bunch of kids on board."

I just shook my head, knowing I would take more instruction if I was ever able to have a big boat like he had.

We had left the girls to look through the shops at the yacht club, so we gathered them up to walk around the marina. Just to the north of the yacht club was a huge fish market. There were literally hundreds of vendors and customers. Men were cleaning fish, others were wrapping fish in newspapers for a sale, a guy from one stall hollered to another guy, and a fish was tossed fifteen feet to be caught and shown to a prospective buyer. The place was a madhouse of movement and noise. We were fascinated with the non-stop activity.

We broke away to walk up a street that seemed to have us migrating into another land. In just a couple of blocks, we were now walking on a fairly narrow street, with shops on each side and with people of obvious oriental heritage surrounding us. They were walking, riding bicycles, and driving small pickups overflowing with merchandise. There were banners hanging across the street with what I assumed were Chinese characters, probably advertising a restaurant or nightclub. Who knows, maybe it was an advertisement for a law firm.

There was a street vendor with a small cart. An older, small, oriental man asked us, "You want egg roll?" We were all startled by the loudness of the question, but reacted in time to smile at the man and decline the offer. As we passed, he handed each of the girls a wrapped fortune cookie. He looked at Dewey and me and gave us the quick eyebrow raise, and flicked the ashes from a pretend cigar imitating what Groucho Marx used to do on TV when he saw a good looking lady. Dewey and I broke up over the imitation and applauded the mini show.

We turned back to the yacht club to clean up and dress for dinner. Dewey made some calls to arrange for reservations and transportation.

I didn't have any fancy clothes with me, just a nice shirt and a decent pair of slacks that I planned to wear on the flight home. Dewey brought out a sport coat that matched my pants and shirt. We took a taxi to downtown San Francisco and were let out of the cab on a carpeted sidewalk by a uniformed doorman. As soon as we were out of the taxi, another man opened the door for us. A guy in a tux met us, who instantly inquired what name our reservations were under. He took us through what looked like small pods of privacy booths. Each booth had a curtain surrounding it. You could hear noises that you would associate with a restaurant, but you couldn't see any customers, just the pods, with a waiter occasionally walking past.

We were shown to a larger pod where the Maitre D drew back the curtain for us to enter. The booth was a large leather circular booth. He had the ladies sit on the inside and the men to the outside before asking us what type of music we would wish.

Dewey requested gentle jazz and the Maitre D tapped a code into a keypad by the entrance and soft jazz surrounded us. He advised that our waiter would be with us in a moment and for us to enjoy our evening.

I asked Dewey if he had been there before and he said he had not. He said he had heard so much about the place, he thought it would be a neat place for us to go.

A man came through the curtain with four glasses of water and introduced himself and asked for drink orders. We ordered two Beefeater martinis for Dewey and me, along with mimosas for the girls. Sue ordered hers without liquor. Now the surprise, the waiter chatted just a couple of seconds with us, then reached back with his hand, only to reappear with a tray holding our drinks.

That was unique. He then reached back and brought his hand back with four menus. Perhaps this was a semi-magician show. Our waiter bowed and left with a flurry of curtain. The restaurant was obviously expensive, as there were no prices on the menu. I'm pretty backwoods, so this was the first time I had ever encountered a menu with no prices.

We talked about some of the dishes they had on the menu. I asked Dewey what Abalone steak was. He said it was a shell fish that was harvested by deep sea divers, the kind in suits with the big round hats. He said that properly prepared, it was delicious, but if it wasn't prepared correctly, it was tough and unpalatable. I really wanted to try different foods, so I wanted to order that. Sue thought that the abalone might be good as well, so we both decided to order that.

Dewey and Sheila both had a taste for the crab and lobster dinner tonight. Just about the time we had made up our minds, the waiter reappeared, suggesting that our choice of abalone was a good choice tonight as they were fresh, as well as properly prepared, so they would be tender and delicious. He turned to Dewey and Sheila, suggesting that they separate the tail from the body instead of bringing the entire lobster to the table. He said he would bring the claws for their enjoyment though. He asked if they would prefer to have the crab legs opened or would they wish to do that themselves. Both of them said opened would be wonderful.

The waiter said he would return with our Caesar salads and another round of drinks. I guess he only had to step out to the aisle as he was instantly back with our salads and fresh drinks.

We all agreed they must have a video camera, as well as a listening device in order to know who was going to order what. It was a unique approach for a restaurant, different from any place we had ever been.

We ate our salads at a slow pace, enjoying the tasty dressing and commenting that it was very good. Just as Sue had put her fork down, the curtain swished aside, and the waiter gathered our salad plates and took up our drinks.

As soon as he turned out with the glasses, he turned back with the lobster and crab platters for Dewey and Sheila. He turned back and brought Sue's and my plates to place in front of us. He then placed a large platter of various cooked vegetables in the center of the table. Each type of vegetable had a sauce with it.

He then placed wine glasses in front of each of us. First he poured a little wine for Dewey to smell and taste. When Dewey nodded, he poured wine for Dewey and Sheila. Next, he poured from a different bottle for me to smell and taste. I copied Dewey by nodding approval and poured wine just for me. He then surprised us by pouring a small amount in Sue's glass and had me smell and taste it. He said it was Ariel non-alcoholic wine. It tasted good to me so I nodded again and he poured Sue a glass.

The abalone was delicious. It tasted like a cross between a good steak and a fish. The piece was so big, I couldn't eat it all. Sue couldn't either and we were almost embarrassed to waste such good food. Dewey and Sheila were sitting back holding their stomachs, as they also had filled themselves to maximum capacity. When the last fork was put down, our waiter magically appeared, gathered plates and asked us if we would prefer a fruit treat, a chocolate treat, or a combination. Knowing women loved chocolate, we opted for a combination for all of us.

The waiter reached back and brought a large platter with sliced sweet fruits smothered with rich chocolate syrup. He reached back again and his hand reappeared with four dishes for us to ladle out the dessert.

He then set four more glasses on the table, poured us a half glass each, then vanished. I suspected the new wine was the non-alcoholic wine as he didn't use a different bottle for Sue.

We dug into the dessert, even with our full bellies. It was so good we were going to make ourselves ill from overeating.

As we put down the last fork and spoon, the waiter appeared and handed a bill wallet to Dewey. The surprise was Dewey's American Express card was stuck out the top. Dewey looked at the card and pulled his wallet out to find his card was not there. Dewey looked at the waiter strangely.

The waiter then said, "I have not been a very good representative of Merlin's tonight." With that, he held his hands over the dessert platter and raised it into his hands. He put it behind him turning back with gloves on his hands. He made a gesture toward Sheila and two red roses appeared in his hand. He handed them to Sheila then made the same gesture toward Sue. Two white roses appeared in his hands.

"How did you know I love white roses?" Sue asked.

"Merlin knows many things," he said, and he then laid his hand out with my cell phone in it. I had left it on the boat. How did he get it? "You have a call from someone in Florida. You should call them."

He smiled at all of us and said, if you wish to be entertained by more of Merlin's magic, please close your eyes so I may transport you upstairs. We all closed our eyes and we felt movement, but kept our eyes closed.

A new voice said, "Welcome to Merlin's living room. Let us entertain you."

I excused myself, walked out to a smoking balcony, and called back to the number for the missed call. Tiny answered. "Steve, you're not going to believe this, but your company has just sold an order for over five hundred million dollars. It's unbelievable. Phil proposed a group of Saudi U.S. citizens equipment for their construction company a couple of months ago. They had consummated that order, but when they found out we dealt in the super lifts for shipyards, Phil had me work with him so we could make a good deal for the customer and keep some profit for ourselves. I thought we were giving away most of the profit to get such a big order, but somewhere along the line, I got the dollar conversions mixed up and we are making an unheard-of percentage. But the best part is that the customer feels like they are getting a great deal. Such a good deal, they are picking the equipment up right here in Tampa and will deliver the equipment to their ports themselves. Steve, it's unbelievable. Phil got back, immediately called these people back, and we have been dealing with them almost non-stop since. You need to go on more vacations."