Sue and I had coffee while watching the radar. The blip became more apparent as we came closer. I told Sue that we would be passing whatever it was on the port side and had her get on top of the salon with the binoculars to watch for it.
Almost as soon as she climbed up she hollered at me, "It's a boat but it looks like it's upside down." I pushed the M button then started lowering the sails while turning to circle the boat.
Dewey arrived topside and I told him what Sue had said. We finished taking down the sails and turned on the fans to start the engines. We moved closer to the boat until Sue yelled again, "There's someone holding onto the side of the boat."
Dewey cut the power and we lowered the dinghy. I put on a life jacket and climbed down to the dinghy, then started the motor. The sea was about two feet, gentle swells but large for the small dinghy. As I got closer to the overturned boat a hand waved at me. I eased up to the person then grabbed them and pulled them into the dinghy.
"My wife is under the boat. I made her get under the boat in case those men came back. She won't know you are here. You have to go under to get her."
I took the man back to the boat and asked Sue to put on a life jacket to come with me on the return trip. I told her what I needed to do and that she needed to keep the dinghy, nose first, up against the overturned boat.
Guessing that the air pocket would be at the rear of the boat, I dove overboard with a plastic flashlight hoping the seawater wouldn't short it out instantly. I came up under the boat in the anticipated air pocket and turned the light on, saying I'm here to help. Hands immediately grabbed me. The woman told me she was so tired and that she was having trouble staying conscious. She had a life jacket on so she would have continued to float but would have probably been banged around by the boat if she had been unable to hold on to the thwarts.
I asked her if she were ready to get dry and she said yes. We dove from under the boat and came up next to the dinghy. I pushed, and Sue pulled the lady on board. I pulled myself into the dinghy and caught a rope that was attached to the bow of the overturned boat. We towed it back to the schooner and helped the lady up the ladder. I tied off the dinghy's towline and the line to the overturned boat, then climbed on deck.
Dewey said that he expected company. He had radioed the Coast Guard and they were on their way, but were at least forty minutes out. He had spotted another boat, coming fast from the direction of the shore. The man kept saying, "they're coming back, they're coming back, you need to run!"
Dewey told the agitated man to go into the salon with his wife and sit tight for now. Sheila got them blankets and coffee. Dewey and I went to the salon and armed ourselves with rifles from his stash, along with several magazines each. Dewey had real M-16s that used the 5.56 mm ammo. I loaded the magazine and put a round in the chamber. I sent Sue for our pistols and had her get Dewey's while she was down there. I pulled another M-16 out and loaded it for Sue. If nothing else she could spray rounds at them.
When she came back up, I told her to lie down on the top of the salon so she would have cover and, if she were needed, to point and shoot, just spray some rounds in their direction. See if you can hit a fuel tank, their motor, or them if you can, but just use up a magazine then put another in. I handed her five magazines and helped her up on the salon roof.
The boat was coming fast and looked to be about a twenty-five footer. I hoped it was some land guy that was curious about the overturned boat, but I somehow knew better. Dewey called the Coast Guard back and explained that we might be under siege soon. They said they were full speed already and had dispatched a rescue chopper that should be overhead within ten minutes.
Dewey was the captain, but combat was my area of expertise. I had Dewey first turn off everything but our running lights, then had him sit on the deck with the steel railing between him and the approaching boat. I told him to level his rifle barrel on the railing but to keep his head down as much as possible. If anyone made a hostile move, shoot, don't think about it, just shoot.
I stood between Dewey and the salon, near the helm. I made sure I was in a shadow and kept my rifle down to my side so it wasn't visible.
The boat cut power and turned to drift sideways toward the boarding platform. The overturned boat was between them and the platform so we had some protection.
I could see a guy standing on the bow and two more in the cockpit area. I couldn't see any of their hands. I told Sue and Dewey in a low voice, "Watch their hands."
The guy on the bow hollered, "Hello the boat."
I yelled back, "I'm right here, what do you want?"
"I came to help with the overturned boat. I heard you talking to the Coast Guard."
"We're fine, we don't need help, the Coast Guard will be here any time."
"Not in time to save your asses, give it up and we'll board you, or we'll scuttle your boat with you on it."
It was strange, none of them were making a move. Something was up for them to make those kind of threats. I whispered for Dewey to watch the area where the boarding ladder was then told Sue to watch the opposite side of the boat to make sure no one tried to climb aboard that way.
I raised my rifle and said, "Back away now or I'll sink you where you are and make sure you're chum by the time you hit the water."
That did it; the guy on the bow brought his hand from behind his back. He was fatally slow; I put a bullet in his chest before the gun cleared his belt. I turned my rifle toward the two in the cockpit and fired four rounds at them, knowing I hit them twice each. I heard a round go off from the top of the salon and turned to see a guy trying to climb over the rail. I fired twice hitting his face and facemask with both rounds. He fell back into the water. Dewey was holding his gun on a guy with his hands up that had come up the boarding ladder.
I yelled for Sue to keep watch; there could be more of them. I circled around the boat, my rifle pointed over the side, making sure there weren't any more attempting to board us.
I hollered at Dewey that I was going to board the pirate boat and secure it for the Coast Guard. I put the rifle down, but pulled the 9 MM and climbed down the boarding ladder. I stepped on the overturned hull and into the back of the boat.
The two guys in the cockpit were a mess. An M-16 can make a mess with civilian rounds. The rounds are softer and tumble faster. Both guys were dead, so I pushed them to the back of the boat then idled the engine back and shut it off. I went forward to check the guy there but he was done for. I picked up his pistol, grabbed the bowline and jumped back onto the overturned hull, grabbing our boarding ladder. I tied the boat there and climbed up the ladder.
I could hear a helicopter, so I went to the helm and took out the flare pistol, dropped a shell in it and fired straight up. Dewey and Sue both had the guy that had come up the boarding ladder covered, so I went over him for weapons. He had a pistol and a knife. The gun was an ancient .38 that might or might not work, but I unloaded it anyway and had the pirate lay on the deck face up. I told Dewey to make sure he shot the guy in the head or the chest if he moved so he wouldn't scratch up his teak deck. I sent Sue to put coffee on for the Coast Guard guys. I put my pistol against the guy's head and told Dewey to call the Coast Guard and advise them that the boarders had four casualties and we had taken one prisoner.
The chopper turned on his spotlight and began searching around our boats. You could see that he was being thorough; he was checking in a slow controlled sweep. He stopped over one area and kept getting lower and lower. The P.A. on the helicopter announced, "Remain still in the water. We will drop a rescue bascket for you. If you make a threatening move, we will respond."
The helicopter was about ten feet from the water when a rescue swimmer jumped into the water. A basket was lowered and the would-be pirate was put into the basket. He was lifted into the helicopter, then they dropped the basket for the crewman.
Dewey told the boarding officer that there should be a body somewhere near our port bow, as we had repelled a boarder at that point. They swept the area and then settled on a spot. The crewman jumped in the water again and loaded the body into the basket and had it hauled up, then he caught a ladder and climbed up in the chopper.
I asked the guy lying on the deck, "That's six of you, it that all of you or is there more."
He answered, "No, that's all."
I had Dewey radio that the captive said the attackers had been a group of six, so all were accounted for.
The helicopter hovered over the attackers' boat, shining the light on the bodies. They radioed back to us that the cutter was nearing and they were going to take their captive and the corpse they'd recovered back to base.
Fifteen minutes later the cutter came along side. Dewey threw over bumpers and tied them to us. They came aboard and immediately cuffed the bad guy. They interviewed the couple in the salon and had them board the cutter. One of the crewmen had been inspecting the attackers' boat and came back to report it was one that had been recently stolen. Apparently these guys had been attacking boats for the cash people had. If they were not given enough, they would flip the boat and leave the people to die. So far no one had died, because this area had a lot of boat traffic.
The officer on the cutter asked if I could tow the overturned hull south a few miles as they needed to get the couple to land as soon as possible. They had been in the water for over twelve hours and should be looked at by a doctor. I asked him what he wanted to do with the attacker's boat.
He snorted and said, "Sink it." He then laughed and said, "Belay that. I'll detail a crewman to bring it in."
He designated a man for the gruesome duty who said he wasn't getting on that bloody boat without a cup of coffee. One of the other crewmen disappeared, then came back on deck with a tall Styrofoam cup of steaming coffee. The man deftly climbed down the boarding ladder with one hand and calmly stepped across the overturned hull into the bloody boat.
He used a flashlight until he found all the lights. The inboard fan came on, then the gas motor started. I climbed down and released the line so the Coast Guardsman could put the boat in gear and move away.
Dewey called down to me to push the dinghy around so we could get it up on the hoist. We pulled it out of the water and secured it, then I doubled the rope to the overturned boat. We would have to tow it slowly, so it was going to take a while to get there.
The Coast Guard officer gave us the coordinates to put into the GPS, then left to take the survivors to the hospital and the captured guy to some kind of jail.
Dewey started the engine and set the course into the autopilot, then advanced the throttle about ten percent. We watched how the boat reacted to being towed upside down and decided we could go a little faster. We were able to move along at about twenty percent power without the towed boat surging back and forth.
"I still have two hours for some sleep. Sheila and I are going below and sleep. Wake me up at four."
Sue came up to me and asked, "Can I put this rifle away now. You're going to have to teach me how to shoot one of these things. When I shot at that guy, I missed him a mile. If I had used the pistol, I would have put one between his eyes. It really scared me that I missed by so much."
I gave her a hug and said, "You did good. Hearing you shoot made me turn to see the guy coming over the rail. You did exactly right. Go put all the rifles on the couch in there and we'll clean them before we stow them. Don't put the clips away. I want to refill them first."
Sue went below and came back with coffee for me. She said, "Let's let them sleep. I'm too wound up right now to even think about sleep. We'll take a long nap in the morning."
She paused then asked, "Are you hungry? How about I fix us some bacon and egg sandwiches?"
"Sounds great."
Sue fixed the sandwiches and served them with orange juice and more coffee. She had juice and milk along with one of her pills. We slowly made our way toward the Coast Guard station. As we came nearer the station, the boat traffic on the radar picked up. When we came to a buoy that had a "restricted area, do not enter" sign, I shut down the engine and tied us up to the buoy to keep from drifting into the base.
A skiff came roaring out to find out what we were doing. I pointed at the overturned hull and they turned around and roared back to the base. A larger boat, something like a small trawler, came out and took over our tow. The petty officer on the boat said that some people were coming out to talk to us and we should remain where we were. I shut down the engines and went downstairs to wake up Dewey.
He groggily opened his eyes then checked his wristwatch. "How come you didn't wake me?"
"Not to worry. There was no sense in making you get up. Sue and I were wide-awake. You should get up now, though. The Coast Guard is coming out with some civilians to talk to us. You might want to shave and shower real quick so you're fresh for them. Make a good impression ... we don't want to look like pirates ourselves."
I went back up to the salon and looked for a rifle cleaning kit. Once I found it, I field-stripped and cleaned the three rifles and put them back together. I found the box of rounds and refilled the magazines, then stowed them in their usual place under the salon cushions.
I had Sue take our pistols down to our cabin. I made another pot of coffee and waited for Dewey and the Coast Guard. Dewey was first with a cup in his hand. I told him about them taking the hull and telling us to remain where we were. Just about the time Sheila and Sue came up, the Coast Guard came roaring out in a small cabin cruiser. They had a local sheriff's deputy and an FBI agent on board.
The deputy was a good old boy and said it was too bad I didn't just finish all of them out there. Now he was going to have to house them until their trial, whenever that might be.
The FBI guy was a little pissy, asking to see our weapons, and asking why we would fire on someone so quickly.
"Get real, buddy," I said. "The three on the boat had guns, and the one coming over the rail had what looked like some kind of machine pistol. We were about fifteen miles out and that's international waters, so we are allowed to defend ourselves anyway we need to."
The Coast Guard officer told the FBI agent, "This man's absolutely correct. This was piracy on the high seas. It's every man for himself out there. They were lucky they were prepared."
He turned back to us and said, "The couple wants to thank you guys for stopping for them. They were surprised you even saw them at night. They are both going to be fine, but would have been in bad shape from exposure if they had not been picked up."
"I hope their boat is salvageable," I said. "A boat like that is a lot of money."
The sheriff's deputy said he needed to take statements. He asked the FBI agent if he could use his or would he prefer to take statements and he use theirs. He insisted that they both take statements so they could compare them for accuracy.
Sheila went for more coffee, giving some to everyone except the FBI guy. He frowned and she said, "Courtesy can be rewarded," then went below to the laughter of the Coast Guard officer and the deputy.
It took another hour and a half to finish with the various authorities. The FBI guy was being an ass and was talking about holding us as material witnesses. The Coast Guard officer reminded the FBI guy that the offense took place out of his jurisdiction. He said that no one had real jurisdiction because it occurred on the high seas. It would have been Dewey's decision whether we should hang them or shoot them. The FBI guy gasped, saying that law was barbaric.
They finally left, and we cranked up and slowly made it back out to sea. Once there, we raised sail and set our course south again. Sue and I were bushed, so we went off to shower and go to bed for a few hours. They should wake us about one or two, and then they could nap if they wanted.
Sue and I were asleep in seconds after lying down.
Sheila woke us about two, saying that she had soup and sandwiches. Sue said she was starved and quickly hopped out of bed to dress. It was noticeably warmer on deck. Sheila told Sue they should get some all over tan after lunch while they had a chance. Dewey and I agreed, telling them we would take turns oiling them up.
The wind was up, helping us make between eleven and twelve knots. I ran the calculations in my mind; each knot or nautical mile per hour is more than a land mile per hour. A knot is 1.125 miles per hour. So if you were doing eleven knots you were really doing over twelve miles an hour.
The girls sunbathed, and Dewey taught me more about sailing as we traveled south. The coastal traffic we were seeing was all small craft, mostly private pleasure and fishing boats. A little closer inland, we were being passed by a large yacht that was probably doing over twenty knots. The big boat was a pleasure palace on the water. I checked out a guy on the aft deck in fancy clothes, complete with one of the hats like ship captains wear in the movies. I guess if you have a bunch of bucks you need to show it off, even out on the water.
Dewey had a spot where he guaranteed that we would be alone. He said the charts were wrong on this place, since he had gone in several times and noted the depth was a lot deeper than the charts indicated.
We took down the sails and eased through a natural gateway into a large lagoon surrounded by lush pine forests on steep hillsides. We set out anchors in waters that were surprisingly deep, then assembled rods and reels to use off the aft deck. We experimented with different bait till Dewey went down into the galley and brought up a can of Spam. He said this stuff was always his fail-safe, because fish were nuts about Spam.
Using a fairly large hook he put a chunk of Spam on it and let it sink deep into the water. A minute later he was fighting something big. I got a large net, because whatever it was, it was going to be too large to just hoist on deck.
When the fish finally tired and came to the surface you could identify it as a giant sea bass. I netted it and hauled it on deck. Dewey said that the fish was probably forty pounds, much too large for our supper, so he said we should put it back and try for something smaller.
Sue tied on and baited a smaller hook, but cast it toward shore. She didn't let it sink right away but reeled it back toward the boat letting the bait get deeper as it came in. Strike! Sue pulled the rod tip up, setting the hook, and began reeling in the fish. Dewey grabbed the net and went down the boarding ladder to net another sea bass, but this time only about ten pounds.
He had flipped down the boarding platform, so he asked for a fillet knife and said he would clean the fish down there. Sheila brought the knife and a large plastic bowl, while Sue and I washed the reels with fresh water and stowed them in the deck lockers.
An hour later we were enjoying baked sea bass that had been soaked in Italian dressing and covered with corn flakes for baking. Some dirty rice with peas and corn made a nice meal.
Dewey was surprising me. We didn't even have wine or a beer with the meal, or later. Sue had made up a large pitcher of iced tea that we enjoyed, along with coffee, while sitting out on deck enjoying the milder weather.
We watched a few deer grazing along a grassy area near the shore. We also watched what could have been a wolf watching the deer for a while, but it turned away and left. A little while later a rabbit hopped from where the deer had been, going in a different direction from where the wolf had left. That answered the question of what the wolf was after.
When we went to bed with our portholes open, we enjoyed a long energetic lovemaking session that was going to require changing the sheets. Sounds of Dewey and Sheila enjoying each other carried in the night air making us giggle; we had been equally noisy.
When I woke in the morning, I quickly made coffee and went up on deck to enjoy the fresh morning air. Once again there were deer in the meadow on shore, but this time there was a large buck near the tree line. He raised his head and stared at me for a while, but went back to enjoying the grass.
Sue joined me with a large glass of orange juice. She said this was a part of our vacation that she would remember as it was so serene and quiet.
Dewey and Sheila came up on deck with their coffee and announced that breakfast would be ready soon. We went down to the galley to wonderful smells of something good baking.
Sheila pulled a baking sheet from the oven with some of the crust-wrapped omelets like the ones that had been served by Helen, Dewey's housekeeper, or boat keeper? When I took the first bite, I found the taste of onion, cheese, eggs, and fish. Dewey and Sheila had put chopped up pieces of the leftover fish into the omelet. With orange juice, milk, and coffee, we had a great breakfast.
The girls cleaned up the galley while Dewey and I started the engine, raised the anchors, and slowly made our way out of the narrow channel. Once we hit the open sea, we were surprised to find it heavy with swells well over six feet, with the wind blowing at least twenty miles an hour from the southwest. Dewey's wind gauge was showing gusts up over thirty mph, so he opted to leave the sails down and had me lash them to the beams.
We turned on the marine weather radio. There were storm warnings caused by a front moving in. Dewey said we needed to head farther out to sea or turn back to get into the little lagoon for the day. I told him he was the captain, so he decided he would operate the boat from the bad weather helm inside the salon and continue south.
Dewey had both the standard and the long range radar operating. He turned on a different color display that showed the heavy cloud cover and rain that was closing in on us. He asked me to make a quick trip around the deck to double-check all of the hatches, lockers, and lashings before the real bad weather hit. The only thing that needed to be done was to tighten up the lines holding the dinghy. I went below and checked all the portholes and locked them in place, noticing the girls changing sheets and doing house/boat keeping. I brought a couple of cups of fresh coffee up and sat down beside Dewey.
He said his boat would ride almost any storm. He said if the seas got really big then he would head into them so the waves would break over the bow instead of hitting the boat broadside. It never became that bad. We rocked and rolled for nearly five hours, being buffeted by the wind and waves, until the seas calmed leaving the rain beating down.
Dewey had Sheila take the helm and had me come out on deck to help. While the rain was beating down on us, Dewey and I brushed the fresh rain water around on the deck, washing the salt water residue away. We were using what God gave us instead of having to wash it with a hose. Dewey showed me that the large rainwater collector was nearly full and that was what he would normally use to wash the deck. He said that it might be a little salty from the wind and spray, but it was mostly fresh water and was even potable.
As we finished swabbing the deck, the rain lessened and the sun began to peek out of the afternoon clouds. Dewey and I dropped our soggy clothes on the deck and went below for a quick shower and fresh clothes. I had another pair of deck shoes that Dewey had encouraged me to buy before we left Friday Harbor, so we were back on deck with a moderate breeze in just a short time.
We raised sail, then checked our position with the GPS. We were nearly thirty miles offshore, but closer to San Francisco. We figured to arrive sometime early tomorrow afternoon. Dewey showed me a yacht club on the chart and said that we should head there to moor for the night. The radar showed increasing traffic on the long range, but nothing close enough to worry about.
We were headed southeast, so we had full sails. The boat glided through the water, feeling as if it were lifted to the crest of the waves, hardly any roll at all. Dewey told me that this was the first time that he had traveled with a few people where no one got sick. He also said it was the first time he had ever traveled this far with passengers. "Another first, Steve, this is the first time I've enjoyed having people with me since I was in college. I've been a loner too long. I think I'm going to ask Sheila if she will be a more permanent part of my life. She fits me perfectly."
Dewey and I covered a myriad of topics, including prenuptial agreements, how to tell a woman you want to marry that you have more money than you know what to do with, how to explain why you were a hermit, and whether you might want kids. He felt like he and Sheila might be getting too old for kids, but he thought he would leave that up to her. He said the down side to kids would be that he would probably have to live on one of his shore homes. He said he had not spent a night in either of them in years; the only places he ever stayed were on the boat or at hotels.
Sue must have been having the same discussion with Sheila. She told me later that night that Sheila had said that she thought she was willing to trust Dewey in a more permanent relationship. They had discussed prenuptial agreements among many topics involving how to deal with eccentric men with money.
As we neared land, Dewey started the engines and checked them over while I took down the sails and lashed them down. Dewey was talking to the marina on the radio, following their directions toward the fueling dock. The dump station was just past the fuel dock so we would go there first, then back to the fuel dock for fuel and water. We really didn't need fuel or water, but it's always better to be topped off.
We went out to the mooring buoys we were assigned and tied up fore and aft, using the dinghy to get tied up properly. We decided to go take a look at the club and the shops before we decided what we would do about supper.
It's funny when you get off a sailing vessel after a few days, as we all four walked up the dock staggering as if we drunk. An attendant commented that it looked like we were having difficulty finding our land legs.
This was a friendly port. Everyone greeted us as we passed. The girls went through the shops but didn't buy anything, while Dewey and I looked at some of the electronic gear the in the "Ship's Store." Dewey's schooner was the largest boat at the marina. The next largest was a sailboat about forty-five feet and the nearest motor yacht was about the same size. Dewey called it a good old boy yacht club where the guys could tell better fish stories than anywhere.
The restaurant and bar was a casual place, so we decided to eat right then, rather than clean up and come back later. They had a variety of seafood as well as a prime rib special that evening. We all ended up having the prime rib. Sheila, Dewey, and I all had large Beefeaters on the rocks with our salads, then beer with our meal. Sue decided a Miller Lite wouldn't hurt her, so she had one with her meal.
Back on the boat, we decided to shower then see if we could catch some national news. Dewey maneuvered the satellite dish so we were able to pick up the news channels. Florida made the news, as some analysts were discussing the new helmet law that Governor Jeb Bush had just signed. It required helmets for riders and passengers under twenty-one, but none if the motorcycle owner had personal injury insurance.
Sue asked me how I felt about it, and my reply was that helmets were probably needed in heavy traffic, but for most riding, if you got hit by a car you would be dead anyway. Sue commented that when we had hit the police car that time, her helmet hit the back of my head hard enough that she had worried about it.
Dewey's writer's curiosity took over. First Sue told the entire saga of us driving up on the stopped car and the deputy being shot, then my riding into the guy to keep him from killing the deputy. She built it up to more than it was to me, but it was obviously an event to her.
Once that had been discussed till I was tired of the subject, Sue began telling the saga of Jeff Barlow and his family.
I said "enough!", but Dewey wanted to hear more. Sue told about the thieves, that there was a gun battle with them, and that I had saved the presidents of two bike clubs from an assassination. She then talked about the crooked deputy with the dope and money, and then she mentioned that I had saved Ben from a mafia hit, and finally, she was trying to get out what had happened just before we had left for vacation, about the drug running executives.
"Wow, you had an exciting time down in Florida, Steve. Then you come up to Alaska and get into it up in the mountains, then out on the open sea. Man, you're a trouble magnet. I guess you're also a people and business magnet, but all of those incidents are almost too much to believe."
"Then don't; we don't need to dwell on those events," I scoffed.
Sue wanted the last word, "Well, some of those early events made you so attractive to me that I had to have you. You know how excited I was to get close to you. Yes, you are a magnet to both people and trouble, but you are my magnet."
You will have to give me all the gory details one of these evenings," Dewey said, holding a hand up to quell my anxiousness. "It's fascinating to hear true life adventures. Makes my outdoor writing dull in comparison."
Even Sheila had to get a word in, "Sue, you really do have a warrior hero. Aren't you scared meeting all these bad people?"
Sue smiled and hugged my arm, "Not with Steve around, I'm not. I know he'll protect me."
Seeing that I was not happy to talk about all that nasty stuff, Sue and Dewey left it alone. We went to bed where Sue wanted to make it up to me by removing her dentures for my pleasure.