Chapter 547

Ching Lee was waiting in the helicopter when we stepped in the opened door. Two things hit me; first, Ching Lee was big, in the week at East Water Cay she had grown a lot and it looked like the baby had dropped. If I was betting, she was going to deliver first.

The next thing was the helicopter; it was better than I expected. Lorrie had said it was four years old with low hours. You would not have known it sitting on the leather seats. The interior was as immaculate as the exterior, but that was not the only surprise.

As we were coming in to land at the tarmac by the dirt strip, I was surprised by grass on the tarmac with a large white H painted on it as the spot for the helicopter to land on. Ching Lee answered my question.

“It’s commercial grade AstroTurf that they use on the golf courses here,” Ching Lee said.

“Just how in the heck did they anchor it down so the rotor wash does not lift it up?” I asked.

“The maintenance men dug in a wooden framework made out of big beams then filled it level with gravel. Under the X are solid beams. Then they poured some kind of super sticky tar over it to stick it all together. After that, they rolled the turf on it and finished it off by nailing it to the framework with big roofing nails,” Ching Lee said.

“There is a lot of stuff in the warehouse leftover from when they were building all of this and for repairing storm damage. The only thing they had to buy was the AstroTurf,” Ching Lee added.

“The maintenance group here is talented and they know people on the island to find what they need. All that equipment we bought with this place that looked bad actually works; the continuous exposure to the salt air just plays havoc on the appearance,” she said.

I watched out the window as the gear touched the green; nothing fluttered or moved. I gave Ching lee a pat on the back and Marcy and Lorrie for the helicopter purchase. It was a nice one and would satisfy the needs of the operation here. I knew it was a much more enjoyable ride than going across Grand Isle in the van.

The first order of business after stowing our gear in the guest house we were using was to talk with the guests who had been here all week looking for happy customers. Actually, they all were happy!

There were some that were disappointed; they were the four models we had sent from the office. Mary Ann, Kathy, Andrea and Wendy called us off to the side; they wanted to stay until we went back on Sunday evening. They and their men even volunteered to sleep on cots if necessary.

Ching Lee was able to find two rooms; they were going to have to double bunk.

At 1200 we were on the beach with a picnic basket of food and a cooler of drinks. There was a steady warm ocean breeze that compared very well to the cold winds of home.

We spent time on the lounge and blankets, walking the beach and of course building sand castles with the boys and swimming. We had to watch the boys all the time.

Last time we were here they were afraid of the water and barely got their feet wet. Now they were losing the fear of the water and wanted to play in the gentle surf; at times they were up to their waist.

All of us girls were working on our no tan line tans. We were jealous of Ching Lee; apparently she had spent every day on the beach. Even her back was dark tanned. I wondered how she did that. I knew there was no way she could lay on her stomach.