Chapter 44

Saturday morning was busy. Mickey was having breakfast when I came out at six. Samantha was sleepily sitting with Mickey, saying she was going back to bed as soon as Mickey left for work. A bunch of people were working today to meet some deadlines for equipment at the shop and in the park. It was more like a weekday than a Saturday.

Dewey, Sheila, Mercy, Sue, and Juanita wanted to go see the boat, and as soon as Tiny and Phil heard them talking, they wanted to go too, which meant Ruth and Judy were going to come along. Ryan said he and Michelle would like to come and Glenda asked if she and Martin could come along.

Sue and Mercy got their heads together and had Maggie come over, along with Beth and a nurse practitioner that did babysitting. Looking after seven little ones is a big job.

It took three cars to get us all over to the Dunedin yacht club. We walked down to the boat to find six techs screwing things back together. The lead man asked if any of us was Steve Sharp. When I indicated it was me, he stood quickly and shook my hand.

"Thank you for the big order. You've made this boat into a show piece now. The original owner didn't know much about sailboats, but you obviously know what to have to make one safe and great to travel in. We are done, how about a shakedown cruise? Want to take it out?"

Everyone in my party was yelling, "Yes, yes, come on, let's go."

The man said, "Let me make one quick tour of the boat with you to make sure we've made all of the modifications you wanted, and that everything is screwed into place, then we'll cast off."

Sue and Mercy accompanied us as we went over the modifications. The other staterooms now had accompanying heads with another head easily reached from the galley. I was amazed that they had relocated walls, installed and connected all of the plumbing and wiring so easily.

When our inspection was complete, I told Sue and Mercy to help me take the covers off the sails and to test the motors with me. We quickly did that, then I went forward to check the new generator hold and opened the vents. I flipped on the fans and went back to open the engine vents and turn on the fans there. I told Tiny to check in the lounge to see how many life jackets were in there and count heads to make sure we were legal. I asked Ruth to go below to the galley to see if there was any beer there or in the lounge fridge.

I sent Ryan and Phil out to the liquor store across the street from the yacht club for booze, beer, ice and plastic cups. I hollered clear to the men below and cranked the engines and double-checked all of the fluids. Fuel was full and water was full.

The six men came up on deck with their tools then took them to their trucks and came back. Tiny came back and said we were going to be two jackets short. I told him to look into the new dinghy on the stern davits and he came back to tell me there were four jackets in the dinghy so we were legal and safe.

Ryan and Phil came back with a store employee pushing three carts full of goodies. The booze was instantly put into the cabinets made for it in the lounge and the beer stowed in the fridge there and in the galley. The ice went into the ice container as the water desalination equipment and ice-maker were not turned on yet.

I asked Juanita, Sue, and Mercy if they were ready. Sue went forward and Mercy went aft. Juanita pulled lines in and coiled them. They all yelled so I engaged the transmission and began easing out backward, sounding the horn and bell. The boat is so long that it takes forever to clear the dock. As soon as we were clear of all the other boats and docks, I shifted to the forward gear and gently swung the bow around to head out to the channel into the gulf.

Once we were about a half-mile out, I began raising sail. Mercy shut down the engines while I made sure each of the big sails were up securely and filled with wind. The big boat wasn't as nimble as Dewey's, but it seemed a little faster. Mercy and I had turned on all of the electronics and were watching both radars and the depth indicator to make sure we were staying in the open water. I did a radio check to the Coast Guard on the emergency radios, and turned on the CCTV screen that showed the galley, the staterooms, the dining room, and the lounge below deck. Everything was working the way I wanted. We would test the anti-personnel radar later. Sue and Juanita reported that the satellite TV was working great, as was the satellite phone.

The lead Magellan tech came to the helm and said, "It's a pleasure to go out with someone who knows how to sail. You have every square inch of sail out that you can have, including both jibs. This baby is flying. I can't wait to tell Mack that someone who knows how to sail has this boat. This is the biggest he's built. His biggest before this was ninety feet. When this one was picked up by a paid crew that really didn't care what kind of boat they were on, every craftsman in the company was disappointed. If you come down around Miami, you have to come to our dock and show off the boat as you have it now. I'll bet you'll do more as far as the interior. You've already added a bunch of line, extra bumpers, and a big dinghy on davits in the back. We should have included that on the original plan. I like the way you mounted extra tie down areas for the dinghy to keep it from swinging. Most people just go with an inflatable dinghy and hire a sea-taxi when at anchor. This way you're more independent."

I mentioned that the boat didn't seem quite as nimble or as responsive as Dewey's hundred and five footer. Dewey said it felt like the rudder was a little sluggish or out of alignment with the centerboard. The tech said he would tell the engineer to see if there was something they could do that would help the response to the helm.

Almost all of the passengers were up on the bow, enjoying the wind in their faces and the motion of the boat as it sliced through the swells. The motion was so smooth there was hardly any side to side motion with the wind.

We had been going full tilt with the wind and began to make a giant turn. I took down a bunch of sail since we would have to tack back. We slowed a few knots, but were still going at least eight knots almost against the wind. The big boat hardly heeled over in the wind at all. This thing was really heavy.

Once back in the channel, we dropped all the sails and restarted the engines. When we neared the dock, the girls put bumpers out and I swung the boat around to back into the docking area so we would be headed out when we next left. Once the boat was parallel with the dock, Juanita jumped onto the dock and tied the bow line tossed by Sue, then walked back to where Mercy threw out the aft line for her to tie. I did the tidying up at the helm and began shutting down everything. By the time I had the engines shut down and the vents closed, the girls had the shore connections done and the generator off line and shut down. We put the covers on the sails and put the cover over the helm.

The tech said, "You four make one hell of a crew. You all are very experienced. I'm proud to have worked on your boat. I'll make sure the engineers talk to you. We're going to leave now, so let me walk you through everything one more time, and we'll get."

We went over the entire list of modifications and additions that I had made. He showed me the new plans for the boat to show where the wiring ran for all of the electronics. We checked the satellite Internet connection to see how it worked, as we had not tested that yet. Everything was good, everything worked.

After the techs left, everyone was sitting in the lounge enjoying a beverage. They were all in awe of the giant boat and the ability of the four of us to be able to handle it. Sue said, "You know the way Steve has it set up, he could sail this thing by himself. That's why he has it this way. Our friend, Dewey here, has sailed his boat by himself from Alaska to San Diego. That's a hell of long way, and he's done it more than once. It's easy if you have the right equipment and you know what you're doing."

Dewey said, "You really have a good boat. This is something. I can't believe the way you got it, but knowing the way you are, I guess that's normal for you."

We closed up the boat, put the new cover over the lounge, locked up, and went home. On the way home, Juanita, Mercy, and Sue were making lists of what they wanted to do to decorate. They had two full pages of things to do and stuff to buy and install.

The girls were happy to find the babies all in a good mood. The hired baby sitting help was worth it as we watched the older kids hug the nurse before she left. Sue talked to the nurse and told her to come by the administration offices at her park facility. She said she was looking for someone to have in-house to take care of her employees when they needed medical assistance at work.

Beth was probably the catalyst to the kids' good mood as she seemed to dote on all of our little ones. Even though she was obviously enamored with little Liz, Mike, and busy Stevie, she gave all of them a lot of attention.

Bear and Hap asked if we wanted to go for a ride. I looked at the girls and they said they would have to check with the women to see if they minded taking care of the kids.

After supper, I put Dewey and Sheila on the shovelhead and we gathered a herd of people and bikes then rode to the clubhouse, then made a bar swing, including the St. Pete club bar. By the time we made it up to New Port Richey to visit with Bear's people, it was getting late so we made haste to get home. My two ladies didn't want to go to the hot tub tonight as they said they wanted showers and bed. They were tired.

We had a four-person bed full as Juanita stayed. Surprisingly we didn't do any heavy groping our fooling around. We cuddled and slept soundly.

Looking at the clock, it was nearing seven, so I slid from bed, used the bathroom, changed both little ones, and brought them to their mothers for a breakfast snack. It's funny to watch the two moms acknowledge that the babies are nursing and fall right back asleep.

As soon as I went into the shower, Juanita joined me, giving me a warm loving hug. We didn't do any fooling around, but did enjoy a couple of nice hugs and a kiss. Once out and dressed, we took the babies and burped them and put them in their roll around area in the living room. While I greeted Glenda and Ruth, Juanita went to get Stevie, who would now be ready for the world and breakfast.

Glenda and I started breakfast and Juanita began getting Stevie something to eat.

Dewey came out, saying Sheila and little Dewey were still sound asleep. Missy came out pretty soon, but Merlin remained asleep. As breakfast progressed, the patio filled up, and Mercy and Sue came out with Mike and Liz. Merlin finally joined us and Dewey had woken up Sheila and little Dewey.

After breakfast, Dewey said they were going back home this afternoon as Merlin and Missy needed to get back to the restaurant, and he had some business to take care of tomorrow. He had come to see our new boat and was excited at the prospect of our future adventures. I mentioned that I was considering going through the Panama Canal then sailing up to see him. Dewey was very excited and said he was looking forward to it. Perhaps we might sail together to some far off port like Hawaii or somewhere.

After a hardy breakfast, our short-term visitors packed up and got kisses and hugs before leaving to travel back west. Missy would have stayed, but Merlin needed her at home.

Once they left, Mercy came and sat on my lap while holding Lizzy. "When Mom leaves I miss her instantly, but I don't want to go with them. This is where I belong. This is where Mike and I belong. I do miss being around Mom and Dad, but I don't want to be away from you, Stevie, Lizzy, Sue, and now Juanita. We are getting to be one crazy family, aren't we?"

Our Sunday became a very laid back day of rest for those that weren't out on a boat. Sue and Juanita went out to the Aero Park to go for a plane ride out over the gulf to see if they could identify the Dunedin yacht club from the air and to see our new boat. Mercy and I enjoyed playing with all of the kids. We had Debbie, Shawna, and Hanna with us too, so we had a great time.

Star was sitting inside with us and I asked where DeDe was. "She has four lessons today. She should be done in time for supper. Julie, Pete Santos' niece is running the office today. We take turns on weekends. It's amazing isn't it, Steve, one week I'm dancing at the Mons Venus and shortly after that, I'm an office manager for a charter air carrier and airplane rental company, with employees. DeDe and I are an example to every girl that still works there. You can use the money you make there to give you a life afterward. Thanks to you, Steve, we've both realized a dream."

Shawna teased Star, "I'll bet you've already put the make on some of those hunky pilots Steve has working out there."

"They're all older, Shawna, but he does have a couple of new mechanics that are pretty interesting. We'll see though. Being around Sue, Mercy, and Steve, my selection process has changed a bit. I'm a little pickier." Star said this while smiling at me.

I took the four older little ones outside to play with them in the yard. Hanna and Debbie came with me. They rolled in the grass and ran into each other in a toddler game of tag without knowing the rules. Little Tia may have been the smallest, but she wasn't the slowest, or the meekest. She would run into the boys knocking them over. Sometimes, the boys wouldn't even be back on their feet before she would knock them down again.

After over an hour, we brought them inside to clean up and have a snack before naptime.

The rest of the day was really peaceful and restful. That night under the covers, Mercy said, "Can we plan on a cruise? I would really like to go somewhere on the new boat. What do you think?"

"Mercy, honey, Sue and I will look at our schedules and see if we can take some time to go on a trip. You might make up some lists of things to get done, and things we need to take with us, in order to go on a long trip."

That must have what she wanted to hear, as we all went to sleep without another sound.

Monday morning brought out all of the usual excitement, Dennis and Tammy going to school, Mickey getting ready for roll call, Hap and Bear getting ready for a day of watching the park.

Ryan and Phil had a busy week planned working on the new distributorship. Tiny was working on some kind of deal for the comedy and supper clubs. When everyone had left for work, I went to the park businesses and stuck my nose into all the doors and work areas. It's neat to see all of the projects in progress. The school was busy with all of the classes full of prospective tradesmen. Sue's new buildings were bustling with people moving about, conducting business, and carrying designs from one area to the next. The entire park was busy.

When I got back to the house, Glenda gave me a message to call the tech from Magellan that had been down last week. When I did, he switched me to one of their engineers. "Mr. Sharp, I understand you feel the boat is not handling as well as it could. It was commented that you felt as if the rudder may not be aligned with the centerboard correctly. Considering the boat is still under warranty, I would like to have the opportunity to see how it handles and if necessary to pull it out of the water and check it. How do you feel about bringing it down here so we can do that?"

"Can you give me your dock's coordinates so I can find you? I should be able to have it down there by tomorrow evening. My family wants to take it on a cruise, so I'll bring it down to get this taken care of."

After lunch, the gym and some sun, Mercy and I planned on taking the boat down in the morning. We would probably be gone for three days, so Mercy put some clothes in the duffle bag and was ready to leave the next day.

Tuesday morning, Mercy and I drove to Dunedin at six and stored the duffel bag and a gun case in the lounge, then prepared the boat to go out. We had brought just a few supplies for sandwiches, but knew we could always use up some of the canned goods on board if we needed too.

We were able to set the lines for quick release then got the engines started ready to leave. Mercy pulled the lines and I began slowly moving out into the gulf. Once a mile out, we raised sail and began picking up speed till we were gliding over the water feeling the rush that you get as the wind pushes you.

Our plan was to take the channel between the keys under the drawbridges so we could reach Miami in just a day. The sun was really cooking today, so we put the helm cover up to shade us. A little before seven, we were motoring up to the Magellan docks. Surprisingly, the tech that had worked on our boat met us with the engineer I had spoken to on the phone.

The tech asked, "Would you mind going right back out so we can feel what you are talking about?"

"Not at all. If you'll pull the bow line, Mercy will pull the aft. Come here," I waved to the engineer. "What's your name, you take the wheel while we're backing out and coming about so you can feel a little of what I feel."

"My name is Frank Howard. Thanks for trusting me with your boat."

The man knew what he was doing as he handled the boat easily. I saw him frown as he brought the bow around then when he corrected to head out he frowned again. Once out from shore, I began to raise sail. The wind was up, so I raised everything we could to get up to speed.

Once we were planing nicely, I told him to correct fifteen degrees either way. As the boat began coming around he had to jerk the wheel a couple of times. You should never have to do that with a sailboat. The wheel isn't all that sensitive, but you could feel a drag.

When I asked him if he wanted to circle and go back in, he nodded saying, "I feel everything you said. This thing isn't very nimble, as you call it, and something is misaligned on the rudder. Let's get it back and up on the lift."

We brought the boat about and headed in. We dropped the sails and motored up to a dock where a giant pair of davits on rails was, along with two slings. The engineer measured from the bow and made a chalk mark, then did the same from the stern. The tech maneuvered the davit with the slings to bring it under the boat from the front and then from the stern. A couple of more men came out of the building and had Mercy and I get off the boat before they lifted it from the water.

We watched the powerful lifts bring the hundred and ten ton boat out of the water as if it were a small skiff. Once it was above dock height, the davits were motored back to where the boat was over the dock.

The two men, the tech, and the engineer were all exclaiming and pointing to something towards the rear of the boat.

Mercy and I went over to see what looked like a large box attached to the rear hull of the boat. The two workers brought out a portable scaffold so the engineer and tech could get up to look at the box. It was about four foot deep, six feet wide and ten feet long. They messed with it for a few minutes then a side opened, and shortly afterward the bottom dropped down. They called for the ground guys to bring a bunch of tools and a stand.

The workers maneuvered the stand under the box to hold up the weight of the box then began to work up inside of it. They stopped suddenly then got down. The engineer went inside and came back out with a camera and three older men. They all three climbed up to look at the box and how it was attached to the hull. After taking probably a hundred pictures, they got back down and had the tech and the two other men finish detaching the box from the hull.

Once the box was removed, the two men went up with some welding equipment. I asked what they were going to do and the guy said he was going to try to fill the holes. I asked if I could take a look and perhaps I would do the work myself. I asked the engineer what kind of steel the hull was made of then asked if there was anything behind the steel that would be affected by the heat. He said it was a double hull so nothing should be damaged by filling the screw holes. I asked for piece of steel matching the hull and one of the men went for it. I used the gas rig they had to test what it was going to take to make the metal flow, then climbed up the scaffold. First, I attached the piece of metal to the hull and heated both the hull and the other steel. Using a rod, I coaxed some metal to flow into the little holes. I had to do the same to six areas where large screw holes had been drilled into the hull. Once that was done, I asked for some files and sandpaper. They brought out a couple of portable drills with grinding rounds on them. I smoothed out where the metal had been bonded then sanded all around until you couldn't tell where the holes had been.

Once done, a tech went up and began laying down the first coat of primer. Another man went up and began blow drying the primer.

One of the three guys that had come out of the building with the engineer introduced the three of them as the Magellan brothers. I congratulated them on the fine boat they built. They said that they needed to call someone to report the box, but didn't know who. I suggested they call the DEA agent that was out on Key West. They shrugged their shoulders so I used my cell phone to call the Coast Guard officer I knew. He answered right away and said he was on duty off the coast of Miami. I asked him to come to the Magellan dock and he said he would be here within fifteen minutes.

When the Coast Guard cutter pulled up, I took the lines a crewmen threw and tied the bow. Mercy had gone back to their stern and tied the line there. I directed the officer over to the box and explained how it had been attached to the boat. He called the DEA agent he worked with who said that he would come down to look at the box and interview the staff at the boat yard.

The Magellan brothers were very embarrassed that something like this could have occurred at their yard. The engineer went to get the production log so he could see what steps were taken last before the boat was put into the water.

There were two crews that had worked the evening and night shifts when the boat was put into the water. The log indicated the boat was settled at 2 AM on the morning before it was to be out on trial. Since there wasn't a great deal of interior work done to the boat, it was delivered the next day to a crew that was to ferry the boat north.

The Magellan brothers said it would take most of the night to finish painting the spots on the hull and sealing it. They said they would put us up in a hotel or they would put us up on the boat. Mercy said to get us a ladder and we would stay with the boat. We did say that we needed to go find a restaurant for some supper.

We took a taxi to a restaurant and had a good seafood dinner. While we ate, we called Sue to let know what was going on. We told her we would stay on the boat for the night and would call her in the morning.

Once up on the boat, we checked the generator to make sure it was working properly then went into the lounge to relax. I had just opened a beer when the DEA guy called my cell phone and asked me to come back down so he could have another agent interview me.

I brought the boat's papers with me, along with the transaction that had netted us the boat. After about two hours of questioning, they let me go back up and go to bed.

Mercy and I woke about six-thirty. We showered and dressed quickly, went out on deck, then climbed down the ladder. The scaffold was still in place, but it looked like the painting was complete. We went inside to find most of the workers in a break room having coffee. One of the men said the paint and glaze should be dry by around eight then we could get the boat back in the water.

We asked if there was a small restaurant close by that we could get breakfast and they directed us to a diner that was just around the block. We had a leisurely breakfast and went back to the boat facility. A foreman, or leader of some kind, gave us a tour of the boats in progress. Some had metal hulls that were in the beginning stages, and some that looked to be almost complete. Over half of the building was taken up with a boat that was about a hundred and fifty-foot long. That thing must be worth a king's ransom.

Around eight the three Magellan brothers were back and outside supervising putting the boat back into the water. After it was settled, they asked if they could look at the modifications we had ordered and how we had equipped the boat. Mercy said the only rooms that had been decorated so far were the master stateroom and the upper lounge. She said we had been waiting until the work was done before we finished. The brothers asked if we wanted to take them out for a trial to see whether the removal of the box took care of the handling.

We told them we were ready so we opened the engine vents and turned on the fans. While I started the engines and turned on the electronics, Mercy made coffee and served everyone big mugs. Some dock hands untied us and threw the lines to the boat, which Mercy immediately coiled as I eased the boat out of the mooring. Once out into the harbor, I swung the boat about and headed out to the Atlantic. About a mile out, I raised sail, while the brothers watched Mercy and me do the small things sailors do in preparing to sail.

The wind was nice and brisk but from the southeast, so we had to tack hard to pick up the wind. If nothing else, this would give the opportunity of any steering difficulty to show up immediately. The wheel felt totally different, I even over corrected a couple of times as the handling was so accurate. My smile gave the brothers and the engineer their answer. I invited them to handle the boat and the engineer jumped at the chance.

After all three brothers had maneuvered the boat around a little, we turned and headed back in. Once in close we lowered sail and restarted the engines, taking us back into the small harbor and the company's dock.

After we were tied up again, I asked that they bill me through the company. The brothers all held their hands up saying their company was at fault as someone at the yard had to have been the one to install the container. They said that the Coast Guard and the DEA said that we needed to be alert for anyone overly interested in the boat, as it had obviously been prepared to become a drug runner. They suggested we name the boat and have the name painted large enough that it might throw off the people looking for it.

Remembering Dewey's boat, I asked about a ladder in the stern area with a small folding platform to get on and off from a dinghy or sea taxi. The brothers all said, "Ah" at once then one of them went off to come back with four guys carrying a bunch of tools and equipment. An hour later we had a gate on the deck railing and a ladder with a large fold up platform. I told them that it was perfect for cleaning fish on too. They told me not to throw the chum in until I was ready to get off the platform, as sometimes big sharks come up to the boat and could knock me off the platform.

One of the brothers said he had a good idea to change the look of the boat. He went inside and came back with a half dozen men all carrying what looked like sailcloth except it was a light blue. The brother asked if I liked blue. I nodded, because the accents on the paint were all a dark blue around the top of the hull.

It took them about an hour to completely change all of the sails. They said the light blue wouldn't hold the heat like a dark color would, but would be slightly warmer than white. They asked that if we wanted to remodel the craft that we do it with them, as they enjoyed having their creations maintained by their yard. Mercy and I agreed, saying perhaps one day we could get an even bigger boat.

We untied and backed out of the slip and headed toward the passage between the keys, keeping in the narrow channel. Once past the drawbridges, we were able to trim out all the sails and take advantage of the strong wind. The boat was handling great now and actually felt like we had even more speed. According to the GPS, we were hitting almost a thirteen knot average for the last hour.

I called Sue on my cell, as we still had a good signal, and told her we were on the way. I told her that she needed to fly out and buzz us, as she wasn't going to believe what she would see. When she asked how she would recognize us, I said, "How many hundred foot plus sailboats are out in the gulf at one time heading your way?"

Sue said, with a little attitude, "There are a lot of big boats around here that compare to ours. But you're probably right. Not many on a day in the middle of the week."

About two hours later, a 172 came down on the deck near us. As it flew by, we could see Sue in the left seat and Susan's face behind her. She went around then came back where we could see Nancy's face in the right seat, with Juanita in the rear seat. They buzzed us a few more times then my cell phone rang.

When I answered it I heard, "I like the blue sail. Now we need to put a big S&S logo right in the middle of the main. That and get the name painted on it."

I told Sue, "You're a little under a thousand feet there, Miss Lindbergh."

She retorted, "I'm offshore and there are no lower limits when you're offshore."

"Well, don't get too close to the water, you don't have any pontoons."

Sue said with a smile in her voice, "I guess I'll have to order a set then, won't I. I'm already rated."

Me and my big mouth.

Mercy took the phone and told Sue, "The boat is handling really great and is ready for a trip now. Let's plan it."

Sue must have said the right thing, as she handed the phone back to me with a smile. When I said that we would meet them late this evening, "Sue said she would pick us up when we got in. We should call when we are about an hour out."

The plane went back, heading north toward home. Mercy and I relaxed, enjoying the wind and sun.

As we neared the Tampa Bay entrance, the wind had picked up and the seas were now near six feet, making the big boat roll a little. Some heavy clouds were coming with what looked like rain on the radar. I called Sue and told her we were less than an hour out, but may be a little late as some weather was coming in.

To be safe, we headed out to the gulf about ten miles then as the line came toward us we let down the sails and started the engines. Mercy and I both put on life jackets and a rain slicker with a hat. As the seas got up over ten feet and the rain hit, I turned the bow into the waves and wind using the engines to maneuver. We were still headed north but were being pushed toward shore gradually. Mercy said she thought she recognized the Dunedin harbor so I let us drift closer to shore while keeping the bow into the waves.

As we neared land, we saw it was definitely Dunedin and just about then, the wind calmed and the rain became lighter. I swung the bow around and headed into the yacht basin. Mercy threw out the bumpers and hollered for me to back in slowly so she could get the lines out to the dock. I could see several people standing in the rain, waiting for us.

Since the wind had calmed quite a bit, the swells were not bad in close to shore. I was able to let the big boat settle between the two long docks without rattling between them. A yacht club attendant helped Sue tie us up quickly. We had to leave more slack in the line as we were experiencing a pretty high tide. But with lines tied on both sides, the boat was secure.

Once secure, the attendant asked about the open Gulf. He said the Coast Guard was out looking for a couple of boats that had been in trouble. We said that we had not seen anything, and had not heard anything on the radio asking us to look. Just about that time, the radio began squawking to ships at sea about some heavy seas. That was a little late.

We left the covers off the sail as we would need to air them out when the rain stopped. We would also need to wash the salt off the deck from the heavy seas. The girls said they would do that tomorrow.

We locked the boat up and headed home. Tiny, Hap, and Margie had come with Sue to pick us up, as they thought she might need some help in the bad weather. As we drove home, the rain quit and the wind died down to almost calm. Typical Florida weather, the changes were fast and furious.

Once home, we all changed into dry clothes. Mercy and I grabbed a quick shower to get the salt off our faces and out of our hair. The folks had saved us some supper, so we ate while telling about the experiences of the trip.

Mercy told Sue, "If you have thought about whether to be afraid of heavy seas or bad weather, don't be. Steve handled the boat easily in seas that were higher than the boat. He must have done everything right as we stayed with the bow into the wind and waves. Steve even let the boat drift toward land guiding us backwards until we came into the harbor. You saw us, we actually backed into the yacht basin."

Sue said, "I guess we do need some more experience in heavy weather. The only way to learn is to be in it."

While stuffing my face, I swallowed what was in my mouth and said, "I just did what Dewey taught me. The boat is designed to be in heavy seas and is designed to sail through heavy seas. I just preferred to use the engines and keep the bow into the wind."

Drew was there having a drink with us. As I finished he said, "Come out and look at a new cart I designed. I think this may have some value with law enforcement.

I went outside and looked at a funny looking three wheeled cart that looked to be a cross between a motorcycle and golf cart. It had an open seat like a cart and could hold two men side by side but the back only had an area that looked like a suitcase.

Drew pointed at the back and said, "I want to make that area into storage place for books or pads of paper. It could hold a radar gun or other equipment."

The front had dual wheels and the back a single drive wheel. Drew said, "I want to mold a shell with a windshield around the driver to keep him dry in the rain but for him to be able to easily get in and out. I've worked on the design and it can go sixty miles an hour and is comfortable and stable at that speed. There will be enough storage to carry equipment and raingear for an officer. This can be used for a patrol vehicle, especially in an urban area."

I asked, "When will Jeff have your shell built so you can show a completed model?"

"He's started now that Shawna, Sandy, and Mandy have finished building the mechanics. They have front rack and pinion steering along with disk brakes on the front and back. Right now we're using a Harley style motor but Abe is working on a water-cooled motor that we should be able to build ourselves. He wants to use some kind of special transmission that will be automatic instead of having to be shifted. He also says the engine needs to be water-cooled as it will spend too much time at low speeds and idling. This is still a work in progress, but what do you think?"

"Drew, this is a good idea. As soon as you have a completed prototype with the engine Abe is making, I'll let some policemen take a look at it and they can give us an appraisal. We may have to make a few and let the Tampa Police test it."

Drew said, "I thought that might be the way we would go. If we can get their approval and get some units in the field, we can sell these things all over the country."

Back inside the patio area, I fixed myself a drink, then held Lizzy a minute before she went to bed. Her little "Dadadadada" is so sweet that I just want to kiss her till she's sloppy with my kisses. As Sue took Liz, she handed me Mike, who now did the same as Stevie did, by putting his hands on both sides of my face and giving me a big kiss. Mercy took Mike and handed me Stevie.

Stevie laid his head on my shoulder and asked, "Daddy go sail?"

I answered, "Yes, Steve, I went sailing to get the boat fixed."

Steve held his head back and looked at me, "Boat broke?"

"Just a little, Son, a man had to fix it."

Steve put his head back on my chest and asked, "Put me to bed now? I tired."

As I carried him back to his bed, I was having a fit. I just had a conversation with my son. We actually talked to each other and he understood what he was asking. When did this start?

I laid him down, gave him a kiss, and pulled the covers up over him. He smiled and closed his eyes.

When I came out of the room, I asked the two girls, "When did Steve learn to talk? When did this start?"

Mercy said, "Between Susan and Beth, they have been teaching him every day. They not only teach Steve, but all of the kids. You're not going to believe what you hear from them as they are learning fast."

"I can't believe how much he said," I said in amazement. "We just had a conversation. We talked and I think he understood what I was saying."

Susan heard what I was saying and commented, "Stevie is learning really fast. He understands the most of all the kids, but they're learning fast too. You should hear them actually beginning to say things between each other. Beth and I are having a ball teaching them. She's been out almost every day, teaching and playing with all of them. She gets them to all sit around her and she will say a word to each one and they will answer. I don't know how she does it, but she keeps their interest."

"I'm just amazed that all of a sudden my kid is talking. Hey Charlie, how are you handling CJ talking to you?"

Charlie smiled and said, "His favorite words are, 'gimme milk.'"

Shawna was holding a sleeping Sean. I gave the little girl a kiss as Shawna and Charlie were heading home with their sleepy kids.

There was some discussion started by Mercy about when we might take off on a voyage, but nothing definite. The way Sue, Mercy, and Juanita were acting, it was going to be sooner rather than later.

Sleep came easily after a welcome home from my original wife. While Sue and I made love, we had an audience of Mercy and Juanita. It looked like Juanita was becoming an almost permanent fixture around the house. I had a smile on my face as we went to sleep. This was another classic case of fooling around with the babysitter.