Rough Seas
Before ducking below, Kelsey said to Cooper, who was at the rudder, “Tea?”
“Sure thing,” replied Cooper.
Kelsey stretched to look forward. “Hey, Trace!”
“What’s up, mate?” Trace said.
“Cuppa?”
“Make it strong, if ya don’t mind,” Trace said.
Kelsey grinned. “I’ll be makin’ some billy tea.”
“I like the sound of it, already,” Trace said.
Kelsey made the tea and brought two cups for Trace and Cooper.
“When you go back for your cup, give us a reading from the barometer,” Trace said.
Kelsey went below and returned with his tea. “It looks like twenty-nine seventy-three.”
“Are you sure?” Trace said.
“It’s definitely below twenty-nine seventy-five,” Kelsey said.
Trace stood and looked to the northwest horizon.
“What does it mean?” Kelsey asked.
“It means a storm,” Cooper said.
“I’m going to flip on the radio,” Trace said. Then he said to Kelsey, “It’s supposed to be at twenty-nine eighty. It’s been falling fast. It means a storm is coming in.”
Trace reached inside the cabin and switched on the radio. He sat on the bench next to the companionway. The report was 20 to 25 knot winds with rain and 10 to 12 foot seas.
“That’s not good, is it?” Kelsey said.
Trace didn’t answer.
“Cooper,” Trace said, “have you ever had The Tineytanic in those types of seas?”
“No,” Cooper said.
Trace stood on top of the roof of the cabin and held on to the mast. He looked northwest again.
“There’s something out there. That’s for sure,” Trace said. “Let’s get our vests on and prepare for rough seas.”
“What about you? Have you sailed in the type of storm that’s coming our way?” Kelsey asked.
“Plenty of times,” Trace said. “I can handle the boat, but that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. Unexpected things can happen and probably will. We all have to keep our heads and not do anything stupid.”
Dark gray clouds rolled from the northwest horizon like smoke from the rampage of a charging Army of stallions. They picked up, and the sails flapped like the sound of a whip.
“Stay at the rudder with Cooper,” Trace said to Kelsey. “I’m reefing the sails.”
Trace said to Cooper, “Second reef and I’m taking in the Genoa.”
“You’re going to have to be at the rudder,” Cooper said.
Trace dropped the Genoa and reefed the mainsail.
The winds picked up, as did the seas.
Cooper looked across the cockpit at Kelsey’s worried face.
“This is a sturdy boat,” Cooper assured him. “You’ll find none her equal.”
Kelsey stared.
“I bought this a few years back from the guy who built it,” Cooper said. “He was going to sail it all over the world. He built it to withstand tougher seas than what’s coming our way.”
Kelsey bobbed his head affirmatively. Those words calmed him.
Overhead, a solid gray sky blanketed the sea. The stallion of black clouds rolled closer. The wind picked up and carried small droplets of rain. The waters swished and jumped.
Cooper opened a bench and drug out a rolled canvas.
“I haven’t used this in years,” Cooper said and said to Kelsey, “Give me a hand.”
They snapped it to the dodger. Poles were slid into holes on both sides of the cockpit, and bamboo rods arched from one side to the other. They stretched the canvas over the rods, giving the cockpit protection from the rain.
“That ought to help some,” Cooper said, inspecting the canvas.
Cooper dug into the bench and tossed slickers to Trace and Kelsey. After climbing into them, they sat under the canvas canopy. The rain stopped. They looked at each other as if almost disappointed that it didn’t rain.
Cooper joked, “It’s like getting your car washed is the sure way to make it rain.”
Trace tossed his head forward. Cooper and Kelsey looked.
A solid gray veil of darting rain swept across agitated waters with crashing darts like a million explosions against the surface. Before it could all be mentally processed, they were immersed beneath a crashing waterfall of rain. Moments later, The Tineytanic bucked and rolled like a rodeo bronc.
“You can hardly hear yourself think,” Kelsey said, trying to sway with the tossing waves.
“In weather like this, it’s better to piss your pants than stand,” Cooper said.
Trace said nothing. Every muscle and thought lay on the boat, the waves, and wind.
A wave pushed The Tineytanic into a wave that crashed starboard. It lifted the boat high and seemed as if the floor was swept from beneath them. The boat smacked against the water.
Kelsey’s eyes widened.
“Don’t worry, mate,” Cooper said. “I said she was well-made. It will take more than that for her to break apart.”
“That’s nothing more than a big fat kiss,” Trace grinned through a stern face.
The wind and rain lasted for two more hours. At times, they held tight to whatever they could to prevent being struck to the deck or dashed into the sea.
Trace lifted the main sail and set the Genoa. The Tinytanic dashed and wiggled its way through crests and mounds of sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment