Chapter Two
After a few seconds hesitation, Karl took a deep breath and moved to follow his new-found companion, ruefully admitting to himself that he did find her to be quite appealing.
"Watch your head, low draw bridge." She pushed aside a tarp and ducked under a huge branch that poked across the space where the side of her boat's cabin had been.
Karl followed and found himself standing under a tarp stretched from what was left of the cabin, over branches and tree trunks then down to the ground. The boat appeared to have broken in two just aft of the cabin and they were standing on bare ground. The foam padding from a bunk and several blankets made up a bed, while a former panel was propped up to serve as a table. On it sat a gas stove, a skillet, a badly bent pot, and two or three plates along with some cutlery. A towel hung from a short branch. Everything looked ship-shape considering it was all done from salvage of the wreckage. Karl was impressed.
There were tears in her eyes as she looked around, while her hand sought and squeezed his tightly.
"You know what you've got on your boat." She whispered softly. "Is there anything here that we need to take with us?"
"Everything." Karl smiled at her.
"What?" She stared at him. "What do you mean? Haven't you got anything?"
"Linda, I've got lots of things, everything I need, probably even most of the things you need," Karl smiled even wider. "But these are your things. There's lots of space on the 'Skolka' to store things, and even if we don't use any of this right away we may need something in the future, or we may be able to trade something to someone else one day for something we do need. With the earthquake and the tsunami having destroyed so much of the man-made things around us, I think anything at all may have a value for a while."
She was still staring at him, but after a second she broke into the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen.
"You're right you know." She smiled. "But we can't possibly carry all of this with us right now. We'll have to make at least two or three trips. What do you suggest we take first?"
"That's your decision, but I'd suggest your personal articles and as much food and clothing as you've got, even if we have to make two trips to the boat this afternoon."
"With that pack you're carrying, you won't be able to handle much more right now will you?"
"Oh, I think I could handle twenty or thirty pounds." He grinned at her. "I'm not as old and frail as I look."
"You don't look either old or frail right now." She smiled. "You're huge and you look strong as an ox. I just don't want to tire you unnecessarily. I agree on the food although I don't really have much, maybe ten pounds or so. And I need some of my things but I lost a lot in the wreck. As to clothes, I think I've got enough of those to fill a trunk. So all I'm going to take for tonight is what we can pack easily and clothes that I can wear in almost any situation. I'll forget the fancy stuff for now."
"You pick. I'll pack." Karl grinned, opening his pack. "See, my pack is only half full and I've got ties on the outside for a rolled up sleeping bag or blankets and such."
He began by folding the blankets into a long narrow bundle that he could roll up. Meanwhile she went back into the wreck of the boat, emerging with a few containers and some cans of food.
"Let's set this stuff out first, and make up our minds what goes and what doesn't." She said quietly.
Karl stayed quiet, rolling and tying the blankets as she went back inside. She returned in a few moments with an athletic bag in her hand and grinned at him.
"I got side tracked. This is all my 'female' stuff, like you said, it is important to me."
"Fine." He smiled. "Is the bag packed tight, no room in it for anything else?"
"I stuffed it. Most of it is underclothes and personal things."
"Okay, we can carry it the way it is then. Do you have anything more in the way of food?"
"Not much, a lot of what I had was strewn around and ruined in the wreck. I've got a tiny bit of spices and things but they hardly seem worth the effort of packing."
"Linda, we're going to want to take everything eventually. I've even been thinking of how to pack this tarp and your ropes."
"The tarp is torn and the ropes are all old. They can wait until tomorrow, so can the stove and things like that." She looked around. "None of this stuff is important to me. I can pack most of my clothes in two big bags and I thought I could carry them, if you can carry the food and that bag of my special things?"
"Bring out the rest of your food and spices, no matter how small. I'll cram as much of it as possible in my pack then I'll tie your blankets in a roll on the outside of the pack and carry your bag, but if possible I'd like to have one hand free."
It took at least another half hour for them to pack everything to Karl's satisfaction, leaving hardly anything behind that wasn't damaged. He knew that crossing the downhill slope was going to be hard work, especially loaded down the way they were going to be, but he also knew that the circumstances today might not be as good another day and he wanted to make the best of a bad lot.
He made sure he had the bottle of water easily accessible at the top of his pack and Linda dug out the last of her water supply. Assured that all she would need was a supply to get out to the boat, she insisted they both drink before leaving. They both drank heartily, then she took a bottle of water in her pack as well.
Loaded as if they were on a seven-day hike, they set out for the shoreline.
Linda had one huge bag tied to her shoulders, pack fashion, and carried another large bag in her hands, while Karl had her overnight bag in one hand and his pack on his back. They were able to move quite freely, but in several cases, had to put down their burdens and help each other over or under obstacles.
Once as they had to climb over the trunk of a huge tree, Karl had to put his hand on her body to help her. His hand was pressed on one cheek of her soft but firm buttocks when she turned her head to look down at him.
"Don't bruise the merchandise." She grinned.
Karl hadn't really realised where his hand was and was astounded to find he was blushing while not knowing what to say. He couldn't move his hand or she might have slipped but he was astounded because he felt like a young boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Linda just chuckled and clambered the rest of the way over the obstacle, then turned to reach her hands over top of it to help him over as well. Once both of them were over the fallen tree, she had leaned back against it, slid her bundles to the ground, and grinned at him. Both of them were breathing heavily.
"Let's take a break." She suggested. "I think we'd better have a talk."
Karl looked at her askance. His eyes held low.
"Okay." He sighed softly, not knowing what to expect.
"Look at me, Karl." She insisted quietly.
He raised his eyes, staring into her face. She reached out her hand and took his.
"I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot." She said quietly.
"Maybe." He said quietly, then had to smile. " Well actually, I guess your teasing does get to me a bit."
"Okay." She grinned. "Well, I'm a woman and you're a man. I know you like the way my body looks or at least you certainly seem to look at it almost wistfully at times and I'll be honest, I like sex and I admit I tease sometimes." She was speaking quietly, almost intently. "We're in a hell of a situation and I don't know what's going to happen, but we're going to have to help each other with things that we each need and to be honest, for the next while I know I'm going to need some reassurance, it's just the way I am. I'm being honest about the fact that I find sex reassuring and in some ways I'm more like a man than a woman, so I may actually hit on you."
She paused for a second and her hand stole out to grasp his again.
"Actually, I like being touched and I am liable to tease you about it if I notice you regarding me sexually in some way, especially if I haven't been the one who started it. I can't help that. I just do it automatically. I don't mean to upset you, so please don't take it wrong. Okay?"
She was smiling softly, her eyes staring deep into his. Somehow he knew what to do. He leaned forward and kissed her lips gently then pulled back as she tensed.
"Okay. I can live with that I guess" He smiled.
"Oh." She giggled and he could feel her body relax. "I guess I'm not the only tease around here."
"Nope." He grinned again.
Her face seemed to change, becoming sultry somehow. Her eyes seemed to change the most. They seemed to grow bigger. He felt his eyes being drawn deep into their gaze. Her breathing was deep and he could feel her almost melt against his chest. Her head dropped to rest on his shoulder. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He just held her tightly for a moment.
"The tide waits for no man." He finally said quietly, pressing away from her.
"Huh?" She asked, lifting her face to stare at him.
He caught her hands in his and lifted them upward, staring directly into her beautiful eyes.
"Time is passing, fast and we're only part way down this damn hill. Look at the sun, it's going to be setting soon enough and I want to be on the boat when it sets. I'm getting hungry and tired but we have to carry on even if I feel like I just took a ten-mile hike. I think we should have a drink of water and share an energy bar since I've got one in my pack, but we've got to get moving again."
She sighed softly and smiled at him.
"You've got a chocolate bar in your pack, and you didn't tell me?" She teased.
He grinned and swung the pack between them, pulling out the water bottle first and then finding something called an energy bar in his emergency pack.
"It's not exactly a chocolate bar. It's more like a granola bar." He apologized, snapping it in half and handing her the largest share.
"I get the largest piece?" She grinned at him as she sat on a large branch of the tree they had just climbed over.
"Unh huh." He grinned back, finding a seat so he was facing her. "For three reasons, number one, I've probably been eating better than you have lately. Number two, you're younger and probably healthier than I am and I'm sort of depending on you to do the things I only wish I could do. And finally, you get the biggest piece because I feel like giving it to you."
"Trying to bribe me?" She teased around a mouthful of chewy bar. "Looking for a favour for later?"
"Maybe." He teased back, reaching a hand out to touch her leg just above her knee.
She looked down at his hand then her eyes lifted to his.
"Checking for padding?" She grinned.
"Nope." He laughed. "Checking pulse rate and temperature."
"Oh sure." She giggled.
They teased back and forth for several minutes, then when he began to pack up the water bottle in his pack, she quietly shouldered her own load. Without a word being spoken, they set out again.
Even with the two of them helping each other through the tough spots and the fact that they were moving downhill, it took almost as long to reach the tongue of rock where Karl's dinghy lay waiting as it had for Karl to climb all the way up the hill and across it's face to where she had been marooned.
Both of them were tired, but they loaded their burdens into the dinghy and pushed it into the water. It was a small dinghy and with both of them, as well as their packs and packages, it was loaded to the gunnels. On top of that, the row out to the 'Skolka' was a lot more difficult than the trip in toward shore had been. There seemed to be even more debris than there had been before, perhaps it had drifted their way with the breeze. Linda sat in the bow of the dinghy, pushing what she could away from them and Karl only had to detour around two or three larger objects, but the sun was well down in the sky by the time they did get to the 'Skolka'.
"It's big." Linda said in a quiet voice, looking up at the side of the 'Skolka' as they approached closer.
"She's forty-eight feet on the water line, fifty-two feet on deck." Karl felt the pride in his voice. "She has a double planked hull and I've rigged her up with a triple pass scotch boiler, a triple expansion steam engine, along with a keel cooler for water recovery and a steam powered still for water make-up. I keep a hundred gallons of fresh water in the main tank and about ten more in the hot water tank. I have tanks for four hundred gallons of fuel so I can steam her for a long time without going ashore if I'm careful. On top of that she can burn wood in a pinch if I run out of oil. She's got a head, a shower, two smaller cabins, my larger cabin, and a full galley as well as a work room in the stern, behind the engine room."
"Okay, you're proud of her." She smiled. "I just got the standard spiel you give to every tourist that passes by and asks, didn't I?"
"Yeah, I guess so." He answered with a grin. "She's a good boat and I am proud of her. Now if you climb aboard, I'll hand you our gear."
"Okay." Linda said quietly, reaching for a grip on the hull of the bigger boat.
She scrambled up the boarding ladder he'd left hanging over the side with a line in one hand and tied the dinghy to the stern cleats as Karl held it steady. He passed up their load and then climbed aboard himself.
"With all this junk in the water I think we'd better get the dinghy up in its davits." He said quietly."Then we'll get your stuff inside and I'll see if we can find something to eat."
"As soon as we get everything under cover, I want to wash." Linda laughed. "You've been bragging about this shower of yours. I want to try it out."
Karl laughed with her and agreed that if that would make her feel better she could certainly wash up before they ate. They both worked to rig the dinghy in its sling and winch it up out of the water, then they carried Linda's bags below, working with few words spoken. In the galley Karl bent over to check on the cat, smiling as he explained to Linda how he had rescued it. He could see from her face that she didn't really appear to be a cat lover.
Leaving the cat, he led her to one of the two empty cabins and they put her bags there then Karl pointed out both the head and the shower. While she cleaned up, Karl warmed up some stew and brewed some tea. He was surprised to hear her humming softly in the shower, then grinned to himself as he realised that if she was humming she was comfortable and for some reason he found that to be very comforting himself. He poured himself a cup of tea and waited patiently for her to come into the galley, quietly reaching down to gently caress the back of the old cat as it lay quietly. The cat didn't even move, making no response to his efforts.
When Linda felt she was clean then had dressed and come into the galley, she drank tea and waited patiently as he used the shower and cleaned up. Later they ate the stew up in the wheelhouse and later still, they went outside and were watching the sunset as they sat on the gunnel of the boat drinking a cup of fresh coffee.
"What a difference, I feel clean and relaxed." Linda sighed. "I need to say thank you again for rescuing me."
"Oh forget it." Karl smiled. "I need your company as much as you need mine. It's a pleasure to have you here. I was very lonely and scared silly when I found you. I thought I'd be alone for a long time. I was being so careful not to hurt myself since there was absolutely no one to help if I'd gotten into trouble. I was damn worried."
"I know just what you mean." She grinned. "We've both grown up around people and although I think both of us are rather independent, both of us have the intelligence to realise that sometimes everyone needs help. I was so frightened, I think I was going nuts."
"Oh my look at that." She raised her hand and pointed to the west.
The sun was setting and the whole western sky seemed to gradually turn into a gaudy display of reds, oranges, yellows, and shocking violet tints
"All the dust thrown up by the earthquake. I guess." Karl said quietly as he stared in wonder.
"It must be more than that." She whispered.
"Maybe a volcano blew too? "
"Wouldn't we see the smoke and the ashes?"
"Maybe, it depends on how far away it was. We've got volcanos all the way up and down the west coast, one could have blown in the States or up north and we'd never know. I wish the radio was working."
"It isn't working at all?"
"All I get is static and garbled sound. I didn't try too long though, although I listened to several channels."
"Let's try it again." She said standing up.
Karl sat still and looked up at her.
"Umm." He mumbled hesitantly. "I'd rather we didn't do that tonight."
"Why not?" She frowned lightly.
"It's just that . . ." He hesitated again for an instant. "Well, everything looks pretty good right now and I don't want to take the chance of trying to get to sleep with my mind cluttered with bad news."
She stared at him for a moment then smiled softly.
"I understand." She said quietly. "Speaking of sleep, lets wash up our dishes and then I'd like to go to bed. I'm bushed."
"No hot water." Karl laughed shortly. "We used it all showering and the boiler is shut down. I'm not going to waste battery power or fire up the boiler, just to reheat more right now. The dishes can wait. I'll rinse them in cold water, then leave them in the sink for tomorrow morning. You get to your bunk, that's Captain's orders. You look exhausted."
She smiled at him.
"Okay Captain, I am tired but first . . ."
She stepped close and brushed her lips lightly against his, then hugged him tightly.
"Thank you." She sighed, then she hurried off leaving her coffee cup behind.
Karl stared after her. He had expected the kiss, but somehow had expected her to try for more. It was sweet of her and yet it left him feeling unsatisfied. He drained his coffee cup and took it below with hers, putting hers in the sink with the few dishes they had dirtied and poured himself another cup of coffee. He glanced down at the cat again and was astounded to see that it was watching him.
"Well, hello, are you feeling better?" He asked as he slowly squatted down and reached out a hand to gently stroke the cats back.
A hesitant purr greeted his soft strokes and the cat's eyes slowly closed. Some of the water was gone from the saucer and the cat was definitely breathing easier. It was laying on its belly now, curled in a tight ball, not on its side like it had been earlier.
"I think you're going to make it old timer." Karl whispered softly as he stood again.
There was still some water in the saucer and although the bowl looked untouched, he added a bit more to the saucer.
"Maybe tomorrow we'll try you with some fish." He said quietly before he turned and headed back out on deck with his coffee in hand.
He glanced out and around the boat. The whole bay seemed awash with debris and setting his coffee down, Karl walked forward first to check the anchor line, then astern to check that line as well. He studied the drifting debris for a few moments, then decided he would feel safer if the boat could shift into the wind if a stiff breeze came up.
He struggled with the stern line for a few moments, but found he couldn't raise the anchor. He went forward and let out another fifty feet or so of anchor line so the boat had a longer swing. Then back astern and after a few minutes struggle, using the hand crank on the winch, he managed to raise the stern anchor and he stowed it out of the way. Out of habit, he picked up his coffee cup and headed into the pilot house to snap on his anchor light, walking back out on deck to glance up, making sure it was alight, then he sat down and waited for full darkness to fall.
He was tired, but he wasn't sleepy. His legs and back ached even though he'd taken both an analgesic and a muscle relaxant. He felt extremely uneasy being surrounded by this field of debris and being at anchor, if a wind arose, they could be in trouble. Habit almost made him rise to turn on the radio so he could check for the weather forecast, then the realisation came that the radio hadn't worked right for several days and resolutely, he slid back into his seat. The water was glassy smooth, not a whisper of a breeze. A glance at the sky showed him that the earlier cloud bank had drifted off, all that was left of it were a few tiny drifting clouds, that were hardly moving, as well as the evening star. A haze of mist was rising from the water.
"Damn, there'll be fog again tomorrow morning." He sighed.
Even that quiet statement seemed loud. He held his breath momentarily, listening intently. He heard almost no sounds, a trickle of water somewhere far away, the rubbing of an object against the hull, and surprisingly a creak from the bunk where Linda lay below. She must have shifted in her sleep. Karl smiled to himself, he was glad he had found her, not only was she smart as well as beautiful, but she was good company, and he needed company badly right now. He had been holding his apprehensions in check for days. He leaned back and relaxed, letting his mind wander over what he'd been through in the last week.
Karl leaned back and relaxed, letting his mind wander. He was more relaxed than he had been in days and knew he was almost dozing off. He thought about going to his bunk, then just didn't bother. He was comfortable. He closed his eyes and thought back to the harbour where he had been only days before.
His memory came flooding back like the intervening days hadn't happened.
He was headed out of the tiny harbour, waving back over the stern at his friends as they stood on the shoreline. He grinned to himself. Kate and Charlie were good people. He was sorry that they were leaving their little house on the bay and moving up into the interior where he wouldn't be able to see them as often. He was going to miss his trips up to visit them, even though it was a long trip for him to take on his own. But since he now had the time for longer trips on the 'Skolka', he'd made the trip twice every summer, once in the spring and again in the late summer, carefully selecting times when the chance of heavy storms wasn't too strong. The boat would have handled any storm easily, after all it had been originally built to fish in stormy waters, but it wouldn't have been enjoyable for him and since he made the trips for enjoyment, he couldn't see the point in fighting the weather.
He was going to really miss taking his two friends and their family out on short cruises. Kate was an old friend from his school days and he'd been a friend of Charlie's for almost as long. Hell, he'd stood up as best man at their wedding. They were some of the kindest people he knew and he would do anything for them, as it was though, he felt he was in their debt.
He glanced down at his stern deck and laughed to himself. There were two forty-five-gallon drums of diesel tied to the stanchions that held up his dingy. The 'Skolka's tanks were full to brimming and those two drums held extra fuel, all of which had been in the heating oil tank of Charlie and Kate's house. They had sold the house and since the new owner was going to demolish it to build a new and larger house, the fuel tank had to be emptied. Charlie had over estimated how much fuel Karl could take, but he'd insisted Karl take it all, declaring the fuel to be a part payment for the many cruises that they had made together over the years. They had found two clean drums and had filled and lashed them temporarily where they were to hold the extra.
Kate had done almost the same thing in his galley with supplies that she didn't want to pack in their move. While he and Charlie had been out golfing one day, she and her daughter had crammed every available space. He had enough food on board to eat well for at least two or three months. Then to top it all off, while Kate had kept him busy one afternoon, Charlie and his son-in-law had put a brand-new GPS in Karl's pilot house.
Karl shook his head and looked back misty eyed at his friends as the 'Skolka' churned almost silently out of the harbour. He could see them both, standing side by side, arms raised in farewell. He reached over, grasping the whistle lanyard and pulled it down. Blowing one long blast and then a pair of short hoots, he saluted them as he turned the bow of the 'Skolka' to head out through the narrow passage that was the entrance to the harbour. They would know that he couldn't afford to look back now. His attention was on the screen of the depth sounder and his own position in the water.
The tide was high and he had lots of room, but he still had to pay attention, it was easy to drift off course here and if you did, you could run onto a rock. With the 'Skolka' so heavily ballasted with water, fuel, and supplies, she was riding deep in the water and Karl was edgy until he passed 'the Spike', a sharp rock that rose well out of the water on his port bow and marked the entrance to the channel into the harbour. He sighed to himself in relief as he passed it safely, and picked up his coffee cup. A sip was all he wanted, but he found the coffee had gotten cold. Well, it was wet and in a few minutes he could get a refill, he chuckled to himself, grimacing at the taste of cold coffee.
He steered out into open water, The weather was clear and only a light breeze was blowing off his stern. A quick glance showed him that the steam pressure in his boiler was holding well, down just a bit, but he'd just blown the whistle, so that would account for that. Water level was fine and the stack temperature was okay. Well, a touch high perhaps. He spent a moment adjusting fuel flow until he was satisfied, then he set the wheel and moved out on deck to check everything for the trip ahead, pulling the bumpers aboard from overside and stowing them, then coiling and stowing the mooring lines that he'd tossed to the deck as he pulled away from the wharf.
A few moments work and he was back at his seat in the pilot house with a hot cup of coffee. He pulled out a chart and studied where he was heading with a smile. Three or four days and he could be home - if the weather cooperated. He glanced back, the shoreline was already disappearing into the summer haze, but the mountains above were clear. His gaze swung forward, he had twenty miles of open water in front of him, but a summer haze cut his view to only a few miles. Almost automatically he checked his course again, corrected slightly, and grinned at the screen of the GPS.
Charlie had been upset that they couldn't tie it in with the autopilot, but Karl hadn't been surprised. His old 'Automatic Helmsman' was twenty years old and the GPS was brand-new. There was a technological conflict, and as David, Charlie's son-in-law had said, there was no way they could "shake hands." David was some sort of computer expert and he should know, if it had been possible, he would have been the person to accomplish the task of making them work together.
Karl was just as happy that they hadn't worked together. He liked to be in control of things like that and if they had been tied together, he was leery that his control level would have been reduced. Karl loved machines, but only the ones he could understand, all this computer stuff was still slightly beyond him. He wasn't sure he even trusted the GPS. For now he was using it and checking it against everything he knew, just to see if it was right.
"Well, it seems to be okay." He said quietly to himself and then chuckled.
He was happy, he was cruising again and everything seemed just fine. He swept his eyes in a semicircle of the horizon, noticing a huge freighter well forward and off to port. Picking up his glasses, he tried to make out what direction it seemed to be moving, but was distracted by the chattering call of a dolphin just ahead of his boat.
Setting down his glasses, he hurried forward. There were two or three of them at least, maybe a fourth, but he couldn't be sure.
"Hi Guys." He called with a grin.
He chuckled at his own pleasure at seeing them as they dove in and out of the pressure wave off the 'Skolka's bow. He knew in his head that they were just being playful, but in his heart he almost believed the old adage that "Dolphins off of your bow brings good luck." He watched their antics for several minutes, then felt almost disappointed when they sheered off and disappeared.
Back in the cabin, he picked up the binoculars to hunt for the freighter again. He found it almost hidden by the haze that seemed to be thickening, limiting his gaze to a couple of miles. In a few moments the freighter had disappeared from sight altogether and he was alone in the circle of sea that was bounded by the haze. He listened to the soft sounds of his steam engine and smiled sadly to himself. This was when he would have loved to have had company. He thought about turning on the radio, then shook his head. Even though he should have at least been monitoring the emergency channel, he needed the soft sounds of the sea more than the disturbance of voices. Even two weeks on shore with good company seemed a long time now. He felt good to be back on the water. Karl grinned at himself, realising that he loved the sea when he was on a good boat, but knew that he was one of the most cautious of mariners.
The noises of his steam engine made a steady rhythm that blended so well into the wash of water along his hull and the slight slapping sounds of the waves. Although he could have used some company, this was when he was most contented, when he was out and travelling in open water. He relaxed and let the muted melody wash over him. He was at peace with the world and in his own small microcosm, aware of his surroundings, but at one with them, almost in a Zen state of conscience.
The sharp burp as the safety valve on his boiler released extra pressure, snapped him back to where he was and what he was doing. He sat up rapidly, feeling a twinge of arthritic pain in his back, but ignoring it as he moved to correct the fuel flow to the burner of his boiler.
The rest of his trip that day was spent in adjusting his burner and boiler feeds to perfection, correcting, adjusting and then watching, so he could adjust again, until he reached a point of being satisfied with the way everything seemed to be working. Late in the day he reestablished the automatic controls that he had built into his engine and boiler system.
He'd had to shut down for a brief period to remove a water feed line that had somehow become restricted. Clearing it hadn't taken long, but it had worried him to be adrift with no power for even a short time. He'd found the problem, a clogged water filter was restricting the flow of his boiler supply, and was slightly annoyed with himself for not checking it earlier. As soon as the filter was cleaned, everything had returned to normal, but then he'd had to readjust to his former settings.
That night he anchored in a small bay off of an isolated island in an isolated harbour that he often used as a way point in his travels. After preparing a simple meal and eating it in the wheelhouse, he wandered over the boat, checking everything as he always did after a day's steaming. Then, satisfied that everything seemed shipshape, he had a shower and went to bed. He had a hard time sleeping that night, his back bothering him somewhat. He supposed it was from the sudden twist when he'd jumped up to adjust his boiler, but he did sleep for a while and was awake early the next morning. After a quick breakfast, he was soon on his way again.
The haze of day before was back, even heavier than before and he was relying on his instruments for his headings. He had one more long stretch of open water to cover and he kept an eye on his radar, looking for anything on the water. He was watching mostly for big freighters and didn't see any, so he was astounded to run into heavy swells about an hour after getting under way. There was no wind and he was in deep water, yet the swells were quite violent. What had alerted him to them originally had been a strange sensation of being buffeted by something, as though the boat had ridden a large wave, yet there had been no visible wave and he could see no sign of anything when he checked the radar. Another strange thing was that first the swells seemed to come from off his port bow, but later they swung to come from ahead and then from off the starboard bow. He checked his compass and his new GPS carefully, thinking that he might have swung direction, but he seemed to be right on course.
He'd never seen swells just like these either. They seemed to be sharper than he would have expected, more violent and they kept coming for such a long time. They were almost like storm breakers but had a strange chop to them he couldn't recognise. He couldn't place them as a type of wave he knew, although they were almost like the reflected waves you got from traffic in a harbour and since he was unfamiliar with them, it left him uneasy. When they had passed, the sea settled slowly into a glassy surface again. In an hour it seemed totally calm, that effect of poorly poured glass, slightly rippled but not disturbed by real waves other than those of his own wake.
Because he was on edge, he noticed one short period when a swell of some sort seemed to pass under him from the stern. Since he was in relatively deep water, it couldn't have been a tidal surge but that was almost what it felt like. Checking his tide charts left him even more confused, if anything he should have been bucking a slight tidal current, not have one catch him from astern. By the afternoon, he was feeling decidedly unsettled.
Throughout the afternoon the haze deepened and he felt he had to ease back on his throttle to run with the help of his radar and the GPS. He was happy to pull into another isolated harbour that night but was astounded at the amount of debris in the tidal wash around him. The fog was so heavy that he could hardly see for more than fifty feet and he anchored with the help of his radar and his depth sounder although he was uneasy doing it. He went to bed feeling unsafe about his anchorage and didn't sleep well at all. He was woken often that night by thumps and scratches as debris brushed against his hull and actually got up twice to check that the boat wasn't being damaged.
The heavy fog didn't lift the next day and he stayed at his anchorage. When he tried to get a weather forecast on his radio, it didn't appear to be working, almost all the other bands seemed to be either full of static or too many voices who seemed to be hysterically overriding one another but interspersed with bands that were totally clear of any sound at all. He assumed that this was one of those places where radio reception was extremely bad and snapped off the main switch in exasperation.
He did get one quick glance at the cliffs of the bay where he was moored, but surprisingly, he had only that one glance during the whole day and at that he just happened to be looking up as the fog cleared back momentarily. Using that glance as a guide, he did his best to check his position on his chart. He decided he was exactly where the GPS placed him, which made him feel a lot calmer. Karl was anxious to be on his way, and he made up his mind that no matter if there was fog or not, he was going to try to travel the next day. Not having radio reception and because of that, not having a reliable weather forecast really troubled him though.
He spent a lot of the day going over all of his equipment, checking and double checking to make sure everything was in top shape. Since he didn't like having those two barrels of fuel exposed on the stern deck, he transferred as much fuel as he could to his fuel tanks. After that, he found he could move the partially filled drum fairly easily and managed to get it stored below in the stern workroom. Then he used a long hose, siphoned that first drum full from the drum on deck and moved the drum that was on deck forward to lash it to the back of the pilot house. He felt better with the weight shifted to a more central position and thought the boat would ride better and safer without that extra weight directly at the stern. On a fifty-foot boat, eight hundred pounds in the wrong place made a noticeable difference to the trim of the vessel.
By the time late evening had come, he felt he was as ready as he could possibly be and had convinced himself that he could safely tackle travelling in the fog. He checked his charts and decided that if he was very careful to stay off of certain headings, he could navigate quite a distance safely, even though he'd have to be damn careful and attentive to his radar. He realised that he would have to trust the GPS though and he went to bed feeling wary of his decision, so he didn't sleep extremely well.
When he awakened in the morning, the sun appeared to be shining above the fog and by the time he had eaten breakfast, he could easily make out the general outline of the shoreline, even though he couldn't see details. The fog appeared to be lifting and he told himself that it would probably clear even more out on the water even though he knew that might not be true. He readied everything for travel and waited patiently for almost an hour. A tiny breeze came up and he could see perhaps two hundred yards. He decided that was good enough. In a snap decision that he later regretted, and before he could change his mind again, he pulled his anchor and at slow throttle, he crept out of his safe harbour. In deference to the fog, he switched on his fog horn so that it sounded automatically at timed intervals. Although he found its noise annoying, it was better than being run into in the fog.
He'd forgotten to check for the tidal current that ran in the channel past his temporary moorage and he'd hardly cleared the headland of the bay when he realised that he was travelling far faster than he would have liked with the conditions as they were. He had to increase his throttle setting to maintain steerage and two hundred yards visibility wasn't really enough for the speed he was travelling. There was no way that he could go back however. The current was too strong for that. This was a case where, having committed himself, he would just have to live with his decision.
The current swept between two islands and he had to trust the instruments for direction. His hackles rose once as the depth sounder screamed for a second or two, he'd passed too close for comfort to a submerged rock and he held his breath as he steered to safety. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw what appeared to be the whole roof of a house, caught on the rocks, but by the time he had turned his head to look, he had been swept past it and it faded into the mist.
"A roof? Out here in the channel? That doesn't make sense at all." He mumbled to himself. "What the hell is going on?"
He returned his attention to his steering and after another half hour of tension, he felt his pace slacken as the current he'd been in flowed into the main strait, he was out of the channel between the two islands. A glance at radar made him frown. He should have been in open water again and should have had miles of clearance, but his radar screen was cluttered with objects. He stared at in consternation, this didn't make sense, it was too foggy for anyone to be out fishing and all the objects appeared to just be drifting with the tide. A lot of things weren't making sense this morning.
He slowed his speed even more, and stared at the first thing that he approached through the fog. It was a tree. Not a log, a whole damn tree, branches, leaves and all. It hadn't been in the water all that long, the leaves were still green. He shook his head, the only time when you found this much debris with whole damn trees this far out from shore was if there had been a flood but it hadn't rained much lately. The only way there could have been a flood like this was if a dam had burst and he thought he would have heard about that, then realised that his radio wasn't working right either, so he might not have heard anything.
"I suppose there could have been a flood." He murmured to himself. "But, my God, it must have been huge to make all this debris."
He didn't make good time that day, what with the fog and the rubbish in the water. That night he anchored well offshore in at least a hundred feet of water, luckily finding an underwater reef that held his anchor. Leaving his anchor lights on and the fog horn on automatic, he made himself a meal, quickly checked the boat for any problems, and then collapsed into his bunk, dog tired from the tension of the day's happenings. He was surprised to be unable to sleep at first, his body simply refusing to allow him to rest until he'd taken another pill to ease his tense muscles.
He awoke sore and tired, having slept uneasily, wakening often during the night. His arthritis was kicking up a bit, so his first thought was to take a pain killer before he even showered. When he got on deck, he found that the fog was as thick as ever, even though the air felt quite warm and a mild breeze was blowing. He spent a long time that morning, as he serviced his engine and boiler, wondering if he should find a harbour close by to moor in.
Around noon, he finally decided he wanted to be closer to home that night. He set off again, gaining more faith in his GPS unit all the time. Every time he checked it against his reckonings from the radar, the depth sounder and his charts, it matched. He'd have to thank Charlie again, he knew he would have had a good chance of getting himself into trouble without it.
The day passed uneventfully, but he was getting spooked. He hadn't seen one boat or one ship. He hadn't even seen a ferry, and this was a well-travelled section of water. Something was definitely haywire. He anchored out, off the point of an island that night, having tried to enter one harbour and turning back when his radar had shown it to be almost completely clogged with debris. He didn't want to get caught in that mess if a wind came up.
Late that night he woke up to the rocking of his boat. He could hear the wind and was glad he'd decided to moor out and away from all that debris in the bay, but he hoped his moorage wasn't too exposed to the wind. Dressing quickly, he hurried up to the cabin. Luckily he was moored in the lee of the island for this storm. The rain was pelting down and the wind was whipping by, but the waves weren't too bad. He didn't dare go to sleep though. He made himself a coffee and stayed awake, just in case. He wasn't in a safe moorage and right then, as tired as he was, he would have given almost anything to have had someone else aboard. At least they could have given each other company and they could have spelled each other on watch.
The storm lasted all night and most of the next day and even after the winds had dropped to a stiff breeze, the rain pelted down and the waves made the boat ride against his anchor line. He was worried that it might shift or let go and had checked several times to make sure the anchor rode wasn't chaffing the line. In the pelting rain, he couldn't see any further than he'd been able to see in the fog. He checked his charts and found that the island off his bow had another small cove that showed good depth and yet was well sheltered from most storms. In case the wind shifted and the storm came back from another direction, leaving him expose, he decided to try to moor there. Mooring would depend on whether it was cluttered with debris though, he could only try and hope.
In a half hour, he was underway through the pelting rain and the remaining storm swells. He crept forward, slowly making his way, cursing the heavy rain, totally dependent on instruments, and feeling extremely vulnerable. Once in the small cove, he double anchored, one anchor off of both bow and stern so he was faced directly out to sea, that way in any weather he was definitely safer than he had been. Although the darkness was falling, he checked everything about the boat one more time and finally, feeling totally exhausted, he headed for his bunk.
Several hours later he awakened to the howling of the wind and the rocking of his boat. He pulled on his pants and went above deck. The boat was actually riding quite well, and although the storm was back, it had switched direction, now it was coming off an aft quarter, it's force broken by the mass of the island behind him. The rain was falling in sheets and even with the help of his spotlight, he couldn't see far, but he was able to check that he wasn't moored too close to anything. Pulling on a rain coat and stepping out into the storm, he spent a few moments checking his lines and resetting the anti-chafing gear on his bow and stern lines, then he went back inside the cabin and forced himself to relax. In a wind like this, there was nothing he could do, he'd just have to ride it out and hope that he'd picked the right spot to anchor. He was definitely better off in the shelter of the island than he would have been out on the water, but he still felt uneasy and unsure of his anchorage.
He forced himself to go below and lay down again. He slept fitfully through the rest of the night, awakening at last, feeling groggy and unrested. The winds still howled, the rain still pelted, and when he stared forward through the rain, he could see high seas running outside the cove. There was no way he was going to be able to move anywhere that day. Even if the winds dropped, without a good weather forecast to back him up, he wasn't going to risk leaving the shelter he had. He ate and dozed, as well as trying to read a book through the day, forcing himself to relax. For a short time, he tried the radio again. Now to his amazement he was able to receive almost nothing but a general hash of sound with occasional clear phrases breaking through. After several minutes of pure frustration, he gave up and returned to his book.
All through the day, he watched the weather. Late in the afternoon, he realised that the winds were dropping and the boat was riding easier, even the rain seemed to be easing up. Maybe the storm had blown itself out. He fell asleep easily that night and slept like a log, awakening to a light rain and a heavy mist, but hardly any wind.
As he ate breakfast, he checked the radio again, trying only the weather channel, but only heard static and gave up after only a few moments, deciding that he must be having radio trouble with his own set. As soon as he'd eaten, he went outside and checked that all the connections to his antenna were all right, then checked the connections in the wheelhouse. He even opened the radio and peered at its innards but felt he didn't feel he had either the tools or the schematics to try repairing it, so finally gave up in disgust.
The weather had cleared around nine in the morning, the fog was still there, but by now he had gained confidence in using his new GPS. He had set off tentatively, wanting to be nearer home if he could.
That day had been fine, except for the light rain in the morning and the heavy fog all day, He'd been close enough to home that he'd run with instruments all day, hoping against hope that he could make it back to somewhere that he could feel safe. He'd had to moor out again that night, less than ten miles from the marina where his friend Tom ran a marine ways and boat works. Tomorrow he could be with friends again.
When he'd awakened this morning in heavy fog and had decided to travel anyway, he'd known these waters so well and had barely taken time for breakfast before he was on his way.
He woke from his doze with a start. It was getting dark and although Linda was standing at his side, her hand on his shoulder, he could barely see her features in the dim light. He stared at her in surprise, taking a few seconds to realise who she was. She was smiling somewhat ruefully.
"If you're trying to keep a watch for troubles, you aren't doing much of a job of it. " She chuckled. "I think you're going to need some sleep actually lying down if you want to do anything tomorrow. As tired as you are, you aren't going to be able to do much otherwise. You need some rest."
"Hmm, oh. I wasn't really asleep." He mumbled. "I was just dozing and thinking."
"If you snore like that when you're dozing, what do you sound like when you're asleep?" She chuckled.
"Sorry." He said struggling to his feet. "My ex-wife used to say that I snored a lot if I was very tired, and to be honest, I'm bushed."
Linda grasped his arm, helping him to his feet. "Well, I don't really mind at all. I've missed someone's snoring since my last lover. I've often woken up listening for her snores, even though when she was there, I used to try my best to get her to stop."
She grinned as he tried to stretch. "You need to lie down and sleep, not try to doze in a chair. Come on, I'll help you to your bunk, you look so stiff, you're making me feel sore."
Karl felt her arm slip around his back, under his arm and her body was suddenly tight against his side. He could feel her warmth and smell the shampoo she had used in her hair. He turned his head and looked into her face. She grinned back at him.
"Come on, I'll help you to get below." She led him to the galley steps.
Neither the wheelhouse steps nor the passageways were meant for two people to move side by side, so although he wasn't sure whether having her at his side was a help or a hindrance, he wasn't about to argue with her. He was delighted with her touch and her smell, finding both of them extremely erotic. Her body pressed tightly or shifted softly, tantalisingly touching him as she moved at his side. She didn't say anything, but her touch alone quickly had him fully aroused.
The door to his cabin was closed and she was the one who opened it and stepped through first, before turning to face him. There was a small light on overhead and she smiled at him, then she seemed only to shrug her shoulders and her robe slipped to the floor, leaving her nude. Before he really got a good look at her delightful body, she snapped off the light and stepped toward him. Her hands slid around his waist and she lifted her face up toward his.
"I was having trouble getting to sleep myself, but I think I know how to put both of us to sleep." She whispered in a low seductive voice.
Suddenly she was pressed tightly against his chest, her face lifting toward his. He pulled her toward him and their lips met. His hands slid over her soft skin as their lips and tongues explored.
One of her hands slipped between their bodies as they kissed and began unbuttoning the buttons of his shirt, soon it was joined by the other hand as she slipped the shirt back and down over his shoulders. Her hands were gentle and almost erotic as they softly passed over his skin. The only time his hands left off exploring the feel of her delightful body was when he had to slip the shirt from his arms as he let her undress him. She pulled the shirt free of his pants and tossed it aside, then both of her hands were at his belt and zipper. She slid his pants and shorts downward. He slid off his shoes and kicked his pants free of his legs.
Once he was nude, he lifted her gently and placed her on the bunk, slipped to her side, then togther they explored the delights that they could bring each other. He forced himself to go slowly, resolving to treat her gently, to make her as happy as he possibly could. He delighted in her sighs, her whimpers, her soft moans. As he teased and tantalised, her touch changed, she became more demanding. When her moans reached a fever pitch and her hands almost clawed at his body, he finally covered her body with his, fitting his hips between her thighs.
She arched to meet him, squealed in delight at his initial penetration, and in seconds they were involved in a frenzy of raw desire, pure lustful copulation. Her hands clawed his back as he wrapped his about her body to anchor his demanding thrusts. Her legs spread wider, lifted higher, attempting to help him drive further, to thrust even deeper inside her, while his body pistoned in heaving, thrusting motion.
When their bodies had finally reached a peak of satisfaction and slid rapidly into exhaustion, they lay in a panting pile of exhaustion. He slid to the side, still gently exploring her delightful curves with his hands as he made himself comfortable at her side. They lay for several minutes, the only sound their ragged breathing as they gradually relaxed.
She snuggled against him, resting her head on one of his arms, her hands gently touching his chest and his hip as his free hand cupped one of her softly rounded breasts.
"Wow." He sighed. "Thank you."
"I was going to thank you." She chuckled softly. "That was perfect."
"Not quite." He grinned. "You were perfect, but I was too tired to do justice to your efforts."
"Oh, bullshit." She laughed in delight. "You played my body like a concert violinist plays his fiddle. It was wonderful."
"I'm glad, you liked it." He sighed. "But I'm worn out."
"Sorry Lover, you go to sleep." She whispered, her lips brushing his gently.
"Goodnight Linda." He sighed softly.
"Night Karl." She whispered.
He seemed to fall asleep instantly.