I knew it was time to get up but I was too comfortable with Sue hugging my back while I was hugging Mercy or Juanita to my front. My arm was around the body in front of me, so I hugged her to me a little more. As she wiggled into me, my hand encircled a breast, an unfamiliar breast. It was too small for Juanita, besides she is better padded in the bottom than this. It was also too small for Mercy right now, as her breasts were still pumped up from Mike and the hormones she was developing for her three new ones.
Opening my eyes to slits to see if I could see anything in the dark, it looked like mousy brownish hair. I closed my eyes thinking about this and realized that it was Kate. Shit. What was she doing coming to our bed in the middle of the night.
Looking toward the clock with the big numerals told me it was right at six, so I slowly slid out of bed, pulling the covers off everyone. As soon as I was out of bed, I put the covers over all the girls. I had to stare at four women in my bed. My wife, my other wife, my whatever she is, and now my whoever you are. What do you do with four women? I hope Glenda is right and she develops her own life.
As I showered, the door slid open and Sue came in. "I hope you're not mad, but Kate came to the door saying that Jim was being stupid last night, drinking and yelling at anyone who would listen. When one of his friends came over to the house, she said she picked up Carson and walked over here. She didn't even have shoes on. She was barefoot. I calmed her down, washed her feet and put her to bed next to you. I know she fell right to sleep because she was snoring quickly. She needed us, so I let her into our bed."
"Have we adopted another lady?" I asked, thinking that was what had happened.
"I don't know, if we do, we do. Mercy and Juanita both love her and Carson. Mercy and I are going to need help when the babies come, and Kate is experienced and knowledgeable."
As I lovingly washed my beautiful wife, I asked, "I thought you were going to use Kate to run the daycare over in the park?"
"If that's what she would prefer to do, that's where she'll be. If she wants to hang out with us and perhaps do some traveling, she might wish to come along instead."
With some trepidation in my voice, "If you're acquiring another bedmate, I don't think I can keep up. You, my love, my wife, are enough for me. You and Mercy can do me in easily and still want more. You, Mercy, and Juanita are enough to make a man question his masculinity. You added a fourth to the party the other night, and I was only able to keep up because we went to bed early, and I was so stimulated watching you three stimulate Kate. I don't think I could keep up that kind of schedule."
Sue snuggled into me, stroking my hard on, trying to lift herself up to slide down on me. As I picked her up and held her as she slid onto me, she said, "If it comes to that, we will just have to take turns. The only problem with bringing Kate into our family is that she wants at least one more baby. Jim didn't want another, so that's why they only have Carson."
"Considering all the trouble this could cause, be sure to caution Kate about saying anything to anyone and to definitely make sure she doesn't get pregnant by me. Do we still have condoms in the bedside drawer?"
"Don't worry, Baby, Kate will be fine. Don't even think about that right now. Just love me. Fill me up with yourself. Oh, yeah, do it to me, love me."
Sue groaned through our mutual orgasm, then I let her down and we cuddled under the warm water before getting out to start the day.
When I emerged from the bathroom to get dressed, the other three women were all sitting up in bed with the blanket only up to their waists, giving me a view of the delicious looking breasts available to play with. They knew what they were doing because all three had naughty smiles on their face.
I left Sue to get the girls moving, as the kids would be up and about soon. I greeted Glenda with a hug and a happy good Tuesday morning. As usual, the patio filled quickly with various folks getting ready for their day.
Missy came out early to have coffee with me and to help feed the kids breakfast. For whatever reason, Missy and Carson became great friends. Missy told Carson that she was Steve, Mike, and Liz's grandma, Carson asked, "Can you be my gamma too?"
When Missy said, "I'd love to be your grandmother too."
Kate almost mauled Missy saying, "None of the grandparents pay any attention to Carson. Steve has already shown Carson more attention than Jim had shown him since he was born."
When I looked at Kate, she said, "My mom and dad said that I was too young to get married and have a baby. They wanted me to get an abortion or give the baby up and not get married. Even if Jim and I don't stay together, I'm glad I had Carson, and I'm glad I stayed with his dad as long as I did. Carson will always know his dad, even if someone else takes his place."
Kate came over and hugged me, "Thank you for having such a wonderful family to take us in, to watch out for us, and to show us you care the way you do. This is the way a family is supposed to be."
Missy said, "They are a strange family, but yes, this is the way a family is supposed to be."
Glenda had a funny look on her face as she smirked at me and said, "Not another one huh?"
Kate had gone home for a while and had taken Juanita with her. They had only been gone a few minutes when they came back, driving fast in Juanita's cart. Juanita came in and said, "Steve, you should go over to Kate's place and help her get some clothes. She needs some help."
Mickey was off today and was sitting with us enjoying some after breakfast coffee. When she heard the caution is Juanita's voice, she said, "Come on Steve, sounds like a job for the two of us." I decided to take Sue's cart because it held the four of us better.
At Kate's and Jim's mobile home, the screen door was barely hanging on by one hinge. The main door was wide open. We went inside where we could see what looked like a mess. On the floor was a naked guy I didn't recognize. Mickey bent down and checked his pulse. She said, "He's alive. From the smell, I'd say near dead drunk though."
I went toward the back of the mobile home, where the bedrooms were, to find three naked guys on the big bed in the master bedroom. Jim was there, lying on another guy's back. I recognized him and the other guy as residents in the park. The place stank from the stale booze smell. Mickey and I checked the pulses of the three guys and threw a blanket over them to cover them up.
Mickey went for Kate, "Get what you want and want to keep. This place may not be habitable when these guys get through with it. We'll help you get packed. Steve, go get a bunch of boxes and baskets. I'll watch these guys. They won't cause anyone any trouble while you're gone.
I drove to the office and got a bunch of the U-Haul boxes we sold there. When I returned, the girls had rolled the guy in the living room over till he was out of the way. They had thrown a sheet over him too.
As they filled more and more boxes, I said I would go get my pickup and be right back. When I got to the house, Sue wanted to know what was going on and she wanted to come back with me. Missy said she was coming so she could help too.
The five women had all of Kate's and Carson's clothes packed and outside in forty-five minutes. Kate carefully packed all of her knick knacks and the personal things that she wanted, but left the linens and kitchen things, saying that if Jim abandoned them, she would come get them.
Back at our house, I parked near the living room outside door and began bringing the boxes in to store in one of the large bedrooms. The women unpacked all of the clothes and put them in closets and drawers. Sue took Carson's clothes to one of the little bedrooms between our bedroom and the big room we put Kate's clothes in, telling Kate that he could sleep in there or we would get another bed for the huge nursery. Kate just said, "We'll try this first and see how it works. From what you tell me, the nursery is going to be full soon. If you need to move Steve in with Carson, they seem to get along fine, so that would work."
My mind spun around what she was saying, and how she was saying it. It sounded like she was becoming more of a permanent houseguest than a temporary visitor.
I went back over to Jim's and Kate's mobile home about noon. The four guys were all up and dressed. Jim was screwing the screen door back onto the hinges as I drove up. He looked a little embarrassed, but waved me inside.
The place was clean and even smelled fresh. Jim said, "I take it you saw us earlier and covered us up."
"I did."
Jim asked, "Did Kate or anyone else see us?"
"She did, so did a few other women. You're lucky though, none of them have a big mouth."
"That's nice to hear." He motioned to the other guys, "these guys are all known gays so it doesn't matter. Charlie may not keep me if he knows I'm gay."
"The only reason Charlie would let you go is if you don't do your job or if you wreck your place. Shouldn't you be working today?"
"Charlie gave me the day off because I've worked the last two Saturdays and Sundays fixing up some trailers for older people that were not here during the week."
I motioned for Jim to follow me and walked outside, "Look Jim, you have a kid that is your responsibility. You need to work out some way to help take care of him. You also need to make sure Carson knows you're his dad and that you care for him. It looks to me like you've made a conscious decision to live as a gay, so you'll have to figure out a way to tell Carson when the time comes. Before that, you need to work out with Kate what you're going to do. She can stay with us a while, but she will probably want to be on her own as soon as she can."
"We don't have a lot of money as you know, but I'll figure out a way to get a divorce and to give child support. I might be able to have the one guy move in as a roommate. That would help out with the rent and utilities. Let me know what to do and I'll do it. I'm not ashamed to be gay, but I am embarrassed you had to see me and us like that."
"Listen, Jim, my father-in-law is an attorney. I'll get him to do something with you and Kate. If I ask him, he won't charge us, so your deal can get done quickly. You will have to pay child support though, and I want you to make sure you keep some kind of relationship with Carson."
Jim was looking down and raking the toe of his boot through the gravel. "Thanks Steve, I appreciate your candor. You tell me what to do and I'll do it."
As I got ready to leave, I said, "I hope this is what you really want. You probably can't turn back now. Here at least. Be careful too. You know how gay's get tangled up in some unsafe sex."
"I will, Steve, that's how I met these guys. We all were at the clinic for tests. We decided that if we kept it among ourselves after we all knew we were clean, we couldn't catch anything. It was surprising to find two of the three lived out here."
"I'll probably talk to you next week. I'll tell the girls to keep it to themselves."
I went home and rounded up the girls that had been at the trailer. I told them all that we should keep what we saw to ourselves. "When I went back, the place was cleaned up and aired out. Jim was working on the screen door. He's going to do right and will agree to pay child support without any hassle. He's also agreed to make sure he spends time with Carson. I hope you all haven't talked about this, as it should be kept quiet."
Sue asked, "Why wasn't he at work?"
"He has today off because Charlie's trading out today for some of the extra time he's been putting in on weekends."
Sue nodded, which was followed by the other girls nodding in agreement. Kate looked sad and lost. Mercy and Sue put their arms around her and said, "Don't worry, Kate, you just join us for a while. We will make you feel comfortable here and give you the love and support you need while you iron this out."
Sue added, "My Dad will take care of all this quickly. I'll call him for some direction. He'll take care of you."
Juanita took Kate's hand and said, "You and I need a Cuba Libre, maybe a couple. Perhaps Steve will join us."
We made up a bunch of rum and Cokes and toasted each other over frivolous things. The girls joined the other ladies figuring on the final list for the grocery store. So far we were having twelve large turkeys that were being baked at Publix and would be picked up Thursday morning. We were going to have everything that went with the meal, right down to a dozen pumpkin pies for dessert.
Later, I asked Sue and Mercy privately, "Have you two figured out how we're going to haul everyone in the Lear? We're going to be one person too many, unless one sits on the potty seat."
Sue said, "We're going to put two car seats in one airplane seat. Mike and Lizzy will sit together so there will be enough room for all of us without using the potty seat. Mercy and I went out to the Aero Park and already put two seats into one of the seats. They fit perfectly. It's legal because we have as many seats as passengers. The log book will be accurate."
I should have known they would figure a way to do what they figured they should do.
That night, Kate didn't sleep with us. She said she wanted to sleep in the bed with Carson, so he would be comfortable and not be scared in a new place. Carson said I had to tuck him and his mom in, so I did go in, pulled the covers up on them, gave both a kiss on the forehead, and said goodnight as I shut off their light.
The other three women said that I was sweet to have done that.
Thanksgiving morning was filled with excitement of the coming feast. The patio was filled early, with Phil and Tiny making Bloody Marys and some Irish coffees with some Jameson's Irish Whiskey. It was a good thing there was plenty to eat, or we would have had a bunch of drunks before nine.
The day progressed with as many people stopping in as we had on some Friday nights. Thank goodness the girls had overbought on all the food. By the time we began eating, every chair at the tables was taken, and all of the small tables were filled. When everyone was full, there were a dozen bone carcasses on trays. The turkeys had been stripped down to the bone. There was going to be sufficient turkey left for sandwiches for supper, but that was all.
Merlin and Missy had a great time playing with the little ones. Merlin being able to pull scarf after scarf from his hand fascinated Mike. Lizzy giggled every time Merlin bounced a ball at her. She surprisingly caught it almost every time. Missy was hopelessly lost being a grandmother to Mike, Lizzy, and Stevie. She had accepted us as a unit, a family. She even gathered Carson to her several times to give him warm loving hugs. Kate was ecstatic.
I think the day exemplified my feelings. I was truly thankful to have my friends and my family with me. The holiday became very personal to me as I was able to visit for a few minutes with each of my friends individually.
A special time was playing with all of the little ones. Stevie's group was rough and ready. Games of chase were constant. Being on the floor with the googling Lizzy, Mike, and Sean was so much fun that when they became tired and dropped off to sleep, I was the pillow and took a short nap with them.
When the day finally wound down, I think all of our friends felt the family tie between all of us. This had been a day to remember.
On Friday morning, we were up, showered, and dressed, ready to go by six thirty. We had some coffee and breakfast, waiting for John, the boat engineer, to get here. We arrived at the Aero Park at seven-fifteen to find the other John doing the preflight inspection on the 1900D. Sue had decided we needed to take Maggie, Kate, and Carson, so we needed the extra seating. I hurried to join him and quickly went back over what had been done. The attendant had stowed the luggage we were bringing, so John and I boarded and shut the door. The passengers were seated with expectant faces when John and I went up to the cockpit. Within just a couple of minutes we were watching gauges come to their expected positions before taxiing to take off.
We stopped in Key West for fuel, and to stretch our legs, before the long trip to Mexico. A couple of hours later, we refueled in Mexico then made the jump to Costa Rica. We were met at the airport by a small bus that took us directly to the docks to see the boat. John, the pilot, was going to walk our luggage through the customs inspectors and have the plane serviced for tomorrow.
When we got to the gated yacht club, we were amazed by the palatial buildings and grounds. All of us felt a little out of place with all of the people running around trying to help us. We were almost carried down to the boat we were to look at. It was a mistake to come, as all the girls were instantly drooling over the boat. It was gorgeous. John had the agent for the boat begin with a quick tour of the highlights of the boat, then we would have him give us a detailed look.
We noticed that there was a four-person permanent crew on board, so I had to ask, "Is this boat capable of being outfitted so one person could sail it?"
The agent grimaced, but John said, "It probably is already outfitted for that but you don't travel alone. You have three very capable crewmen in Sue, Mercy, and Juanita. You seem to be bringing up two more with Maggie and Kate. You may or may not need extra crew. This boat isn't outfitted as well as yours electronically, but it does have decent equipment. Better equipment would take less than a week to install. The CCTV you have will take the longest. The rest, good shipwrights should be able to do the install quickly."
"If we were to buy this, would they have trouble finding jobs?" I asked, indicating the crew, since I never liked to take a job from someone.
The agent answered, "They are all good sailors. Many people would love to have their expertise. It might be difficult to find a boat for them as a group, but they would all have jobs quickly."
"Okay, let's see how the boat operates. Have the crew assist us only. Let's see if my crew really can handle this thing. How big is it anyway? It looks huge."
John said, "It does look bigger than a hundred and fifty feet."
The agent said, "The description was mistyped. The boat is a hundred and seventy-five feet."
"That is really huge, John, I don't know whether we need something this big."
"Take it out, let the girls decide."
All I could think was 'Ah shit, ' the girls always want something bigger and better. This thing was huge.
The girls were wearing clothes to sail in and they all changed into deck shoes. Sue handed me a pair of mine and said, "Ready when you are, Captain."
I went through the startup procedures by the numbers just like I did a preflight. The head crewman thought I was funny with the way I sounded like I was going down a checklist. The girls had split up, with Juanita out on the dock, Sue was at the bow, and Mercy at the stern. Once the shore connections were free and the engines were running, I hollered for the girls to release the lines. Juanita untied the two lines then jumped onto the boat. I engaged the engine and slowly headed out of the yacht basin, navigating the channel to the open sea. I think the crew was surprised to see the girls immediately coil the ropes in the appropriate way at sea.
The boat was long, so I was going to have to get used to the extra space it required to turn. When I made that comment to the crewmen, one of them said, "You're already doing better than we do most of the time. It's hard to steer a boat this long in tight areas like this."
Sue and Mercy were both on the bow directing me past smaller boats. They had a bullhorn and were hollering at small craft that were persisting in crossing our path too closely. Another crewman said, "Why didn't we do that? With someone on the bow directing, it makes it a lot easier to get around in the channel."
Once we were heading to open water, the girls each began taking the covers from the sails and stowing them in the nearby lockers. Once we were in open water and could feel the wind, I began pushing buttons, hoisting sail in the numbered order of the plexi-glass enclosed directions next to the sail panel. Since this boat had two big masts, it took a lot of sail to make it go.
The boat did have decent radar, just not the modern type I was used to. The radios seemed accurate and they did have the latest available GPS. Once the sail was up, I shut down the engines and had the girls shut the covers, but not the vents over the engines. The boat didn't seem to lift to the top of the waves the way the other boat did, but it did sail and steer easily.
I took it through some maneuvers that I knew would give me a good feel, then tacked in a direct crosswind. This was a big boat with a broad beam. It hardly listed at all in a thirty-knot wind. Trying to get the women from the bow of the boat was difficult, but I finally got them to come back to me so I could talk to them.
I asked all of them, "What else do you want me to try while we are testing the boat?"
Sue said, "Tell me what course to take and let Mercy and me take the helm for a while. You go look below deck to check on the bilge to make sure there's no excessive water. Check the fuel and water tanks, along with the waste holding tank, to see what they look like. We'll take the cabins apart on the way back in."
The agent and one of the crew took John and me below to go through everything Sue suggested. John poked around everywhere, looking at the construction and general condition. The boat was really big. There were several places to look at to see everything. There was even an access door to the engine room where I found a small shop that was well equipped to maintain the engines. The place was spotless, so I knew the crew had cared well for the boat. The sight of that much engine did give me pause. Could I really handle a boat this big?
Once topside again, Sue said, "The boat does handle nice. Let John at the wheel a while and be sure to try out the weather helm inside."
John took the wheel while I went into the huge lounge on the deck. There was a raised helm area that had complete instrumentation and radar displays. I turned everything on and made sure it was working properly, and noticed an intercom. I pushed the H button and said, "Let me try the wheel in here. Come in and check this out, it's pretty fancy."
I took the wheel and John soon joined me. He said to me quietly, "This is one hell of a boat. I don't know what the deal is, but the price on this thing is about half of what it should be. I wonder if this is in some kind of divorce dispute. The other thing is, if they are trying to dump it, then we might be able to make a stupid offer and get this thing for about what you paid for the sixty-five footer."
I gasped, "No way, this thing is going to be millions and millions."
"Not really," scoffed John. "When these rich guys get in a bind over ditching a wife, they give away everything. I heard you got your Lear that way. Your pilot was telling me that the bird was involved in a divorce and the guy just dumped it."
Shaking my head in wonder, I said, "I don't know. I don't know the history of the planes we bought. I do know the Lear came from southern California though, land of the Hollywood types."
I knocked on the window to get Sue's and Mercy's attention and waved them inside. They came up the ladder to us and I asked them, "If you like this monstrosity, tell me so John can negotiate. He says it's a steal now and that he thought he might even do better. What do you think?"
Sue and Mercy looked at each other, grinning, then turned to me, "Buy it for us, Steve. This boat is really something. It's a palace on the water. The rooms are so big, the kids will get lost. We might have to remodel it, but I think our family would do nicely on it. What does it need, John?"
"We might want to clean the bottom and repaint it. This thing is so big we'll have to put it in dry dock to do that. I'll have to find out when the last time it was done before we decide what to do. The biggest thing is, do you feel comfortable with this big a boat?"
"Out at sea, it's no big deal. In close it is big and a little more difficult to handle. For the most part, I think we can handle it." I looked at Sue and Mercy, "What do Juanita, Maggie, and Kate think?"
Sue laughed, "Juanita and Maggie think this is the most beautiful boat they've ever seen. Kate said that if you bought this boat she was going to become a Mormon and be one of your wives."
I turned to John, "Go make a deal. I have no idea whether I can afford it, but we'll call Tiny and Ben to find out. Let's get this thing back to shore and see if I can back it into the slip."
Going back in was anti-climatic. We started the engines and took down the sail as we approached the harbor and yacht basin area. I idled to a stop, then slowly rotated the boat, using the individual dual gearing of the twin engines and props to slowly back into the slip. There was a very nice video camera on the stern with a display in the cockpit, so it was easy to guide the big boat. Once in, the girls did the lines, secured the boat, then reattached the shore services.
I told them to go through below decks meticulously while I called Tiny and Ben. John and the agent stayed in the huge lounge and began negotiating. I could see the agent immediately get on his cell phone, so I pulled mine out to find I had a signal.
I called Tiny's cell phone first. When I asked him if I had enough money to buy a big sailboat he laughed. "Just tell me how much, and if you don't have it, the company will cover it till you pay it back. You haven't spent much money for a long time, so you probably have more than enough personally to buy whatever you want. Have you forgotten that you are the owner of a very successful, very large company? At least you own most of it unless you've been giving more of it away."
"Thanks, Tiny. Sue and Mercy like this monster but I don't know, it may be too big for us."
"How big is it?"
"A hundred and seventy-five feet."
I heard him gasp, "Holy shit, that is big."
"I know. We just took it out and were able to sail it all right. We might want to have a little more experience on it but it doesn't seem any more difficult to man than our boat."
Tiny offered, "If you're getting a good deal on the boat, you can always flip it and make a profit."
Sue came up from below deck, smiling, "The master stateroom is huge. It has a shower almost as large as ours at home, plus a huge jacuzzi tub large enough for all of us." There are staterooms and cabins everywhere. There are even two lounges down there, one large and one small. There is a second small galley that is next to the small lounge. The crew said it was for them, so they didn't mingle with the owners and their passengers."
"What do you think of the galley?"
"It's not as homey as ours, but there is enough room to rebuild the counters the way we like. The big dining room is so big that we could make it smaller. We could have a bigger galley with a table for all of us, along with a big counter with stools and highchairs."
Mercy said, "There are enough staterooms down there for everyone we want to take along on the trip. We could even take several extra passengers if we wanted. Maybe we could take the crew?"
Juanita had joined us. She said, "I'd rather not take this boat on our trip if it meant we had to take strangers with us. I'd rather it be just us."
Sue smiled, "You're right, Juanita. We have new people with Maggie and Kate now that will take some time to blend in."
"Maggie and Kate have the little ones in the little lounge below watching a movie. Carson and Steve seem to like the boat okay."
John came to us and had me follow him outside. Once out on the deck he said, "The owner came off his number by twenty-five percent. If you don't take this deal, I'll have you committed. I can damn near double your money in thirty days and make one hell of a commission on it. Shit, I could retire on what I could get out of this thing. The bottom was just cleaned and repainted last month in preparation for selling it. This is part of a divorce and is a holdup between the two parties. What do you say, wanna buy a boat?"
"Finish the deal. Call Tiny and he'll transfer funds. Make sure the title and registration is kosher so we are really make the deal. I'll take this back to Dunedin with the girls or have the crew take it up. I'll ask. When you talk to Tiny, give him the name of the insurance company that has this now and make sure we take over the policies at the real value of the boat, not what we are paying for it."
John was smiling, "Aye, aye, Captain. We'll do the rest up in the yacht club hotel. That's where Sue has us booked for tonight. Your pilot should already be checked in, along with our baggage. It's getting late. I'm sure you need to feed your family."
I said good evening to the crew and told them I would see them in the morning. I also told them that I would make sure they were taken care of until they hooked up with another boat. They appreciated my guarantee.
We went to our rooms and ordered room service so we didn't have to haul the kids around any more than we had to. They all enjoyed being on the floor of the suite we were in. There were four bedrooms off of the center living room area. They did have a nice table and were able to come up with highchairs for our two littlest ones. Steve felt like a big guy because he didn't have to use a highchair. The girls spread towels out below all the kids to catch the flying food.
John ate with us and said the deal was concluding. The agent would have all of the registry papers, and we would finalize the deal at a bank. I asked John, "How about we invite the agent to come to the Florida with us to get the money directly from our bank. We could have him fly with us and have the boat brought to Dunedin so the transaction would be consummated in the U.S. He's from California, so he should understand our desire to finalize the deal there. If there's a problem with the registry, we'll know. Meanwhile, I'll call my friend in the Coast Guard, give him the boat information and see what he thinks.
I immediately went out onto the veranda and speed-dialed the Coast Guard Officer that we knew. He actually answered. I gave him all the information I had about the boat, including the U.S. registration numbers from California. He told me to hang on because he was in his office next to the computer at the time.
"Wow, you're hobnobbing with the fancy people. That's some boat. There is a notation that the boat is for sale in Costa Rica where you are. From what I see the agent for the boat is a good guy, so you should be safe to make a deal. Where are you going to dock it?"
I told him I was going to try to keep it in Dunedin. He said I might be able to get it in there, but it might be too big. I told him worst case would be Clearwater.
I said goodbye, then told John what I had found out. He said the agent thought my offer to fly him back was super and that he would have the crew get the boat on its way tonight. John called Dunedin to find out if they could dock a hundred seventy-five footer. They could, but it would not be in a slip. We would have to rent the outer dock area. John asked them to hold it for us.
This would give us eleven boats up there. If we left, they would look bare. I'm glad we had a good relationship with them, as they were nice to do business with.
While the girls were getting the kids put down, Juanita and I accompanied John and the agent down to the boat. I gave the crew the numbers for the yacht club. One of the crew knew the club well, saying he heard they had a hundred ten footer up there now. John smiled and pointed to me, "It's his. This one is supposed to take its place."
The guy said, "This is a nice boat, but the only thing this will have over the Magellan is the size. A Magellan is really a great boat."
They said that with good winds, they would take three days. I asked them about protection and they all smiled. "We have plenty, don't worry about us. We don't let anyone close to us out on the water. That's why we have the two radars."
I had not seen the second one so they showed me a short range radar that defined only about a klick out. It had alarms that sounded for any target that came within a thousand meters. It was linked to the collision avoidance system, but used as a defense intercept warning.
We said goodbye and good luck to the crew as they cast off. The agent said he was happy to quit paying for the slip rental at this club, as it was astronomical. He said that if they kept the boat there much longer they could just give it away and save money.
The two Johns had separate rooms, so I joined my enlarged crew in our suite for some coffee before bed. Juanita, Kate, and even Maggie, were having a drink. I decided that I shouldn't because I was flying in the morning. Soon Maggie went to bed leaving me with four women. Sue asked, "Kate asked if she could sleep with us. I told her we would enjoy having her, but it was up to you. The bed is as big as ours at home, so it's big enough. We may have to get a bigger bed though as five is kind of tight."
As I headed toward the shower, I said, "I'll meet you there in a couple of minutes. I need to get as clean as you guys are after this long day."
When I snuggled into bed, I selected an outer area and had Sue snuggle against me. We were all asleep in short order.