I woke to some loving kisses. This time Kathy had maneuvered herself between Juanita and me to wake me up.
When I opened my eyes she said, "See, I'm worth keeping. I'm an early riser like you. I think I need to fix your rising problem though."
I gave her a good kiss and said, "We need to roll this morning. There's lots to do and a short time to do it."
As we got out of bed, Juanita rolled out with us and gave Sue and Mercy a kiss and a shake to have them begin waking up. The two girls and I showered and dressed. Kathy put a few things in a small bag that Juanita got out for her, saying that's all she'll need for a few days. Juanita also packed a small bag and we all went to the kitchen.
Glenda was already waiting on us, saying that she would have been our alarm if we had not gotten up yet. She knew we had a busy day.
Sue came out holding her gently swelling belly saying, "These two are really moving around. I wonder if they're dancing in there or what."
Mercy came out saying about the same, except she mentioned that if she hugged Sue's back then her little ones were not as active.
Sue said, "Hmm, you have a point. When I'm hugging Steve's back, these guys aren't nearly as active."
Mercy said, "You keep saying these guys, do you think they are boys?"
"Don't know, Mercy, you tell me. Are they boys or just cantankerous girls?"
"We'll find out soon, Sue. I'll think about it and let you know though. I know mine are two girls and a boy, but I haven't felt what yours are. I'll bet Steve knows though."
Sue looked at me and I just shook my head. "Let's wait."
The phone rang and Sue answered it. She began laughing and said, "It's a good thing. Steve has double booked ustoday already. Thanks, Dad, we see you tomorrow."
When she hung up the phone she said, "We forgot about the probate hearing. The judge called to reschedule it for tomorrow at nine, so we're not going to have to do any contortions this morning."
I could only exclaim, "Whew!"
We all ate, then Kathy took her four older kids with Sue and they headed first to Gaither High School down the road. I wasn't sure where the middle school for Carl, Ben, and Barb would be.
As soon as they left, I used the telephone number Kevin had given me for the car transporter. We worked a deal that he would pick up the cars Thursday morning. If that was too early, we could rent a car.
Ruth called to say she had the movers scheduled for tomorrow morning and had a Century 21 rep coming by with an appraiser then as well. I called the air charter girl and asked what plane they would have for me. She acted almost shocked that I would get something other than the Lear. I called information up there to find out where the nearest U-Haul store to the house was. Once I found the number, I negotiated with the manager of the company owned store to deliver fifty packing boxes to the house by three this afternoon. He kept saying delivery is special and costs more. He took my credit card number and promised the delivery. I used the house PC and filed a flight plan, then visited with Glenda until the family showed back up at nine fifty.
Bessie said, "I called Cindy and told her we would have lunch next week or she could even come out this next weekend for a visit. I want to get up there and get packing."
Glenda had some sandwiches and a couple of thermoses ready. She asked Sue once again whether she was going with me. When Sue said no again, Glenda said, "In that case, I'm riding shotgun with this jet jockey. Come on, Steve, I've been dying to ride up front with you."
Kathy had a hard time leaving Greg but she knew the kid would be loved up continuously while she was gone. He also had kids his own age to play with which was new to him.
We made the flight in just over two hours and fifteen minutes. The limo Ruth had ordered was there ready to take Carl, Bessie, Kathy, Juanita, Maggie, and Susan to the house for the move. Glenda and I said goodbye and reminded them that they needed to keep me posted on their progress.
I got Kathy off to the side and gave her a bunch of hundreds telling her to use it for whatever, in order to make the move easier. If she needed more help, hire it, and if they needed to rent a hotel room for a night to do it, but to call us and we would pay for it through the company. We kissed, promising each other more intimate time together soon.
The fuel truck was finished filling us up, so I did our preflight stuff, initiated the return flight plan, and beat feet. Once we were climbing, Glenda asked if the plane flew like the jets in movies. She said that the little planes would flip over, spin, dive, and look like they were having fun. I told her that if we were to dive, the air traffic people would have a fit. But we could roll while we were climbing without causing any grief. I kicked it over and we stayed inverted for a few seconds, then righted the plane and continued our climb.
"Oh, Steve, maybe we shouldn't do that. That really messes with the stomach. I'm too old to be doing that sort of thing. I'm glad we did it, but no more."
"Okay, Glenda, no more, I promise. If you feel sick you can lay down on the long side seat behind you."
"I'll be fine. I'm already feeling better. That kind of scared me. I didn't realize it was so fast. I thought it would be a gentle turn not one second we're right side up and the next upside down."
The rest of the flight was smooth and gentle. No windshear, no turbulence, no head wind, just smooth flying with few clouds other than some thin cirrostratus at around twenty-eight thousand.
We were home, having coffee on the patio by five, in time to have a beer with the guys. I figured I would lay off the booze in case the packers called and said to come get them.
Greg was fine with the other kids and when it was time to go to bed, Sue rocked him on her lap a while until he was sound asleep. She tucked him in with a kiss then convinced Mercy and me to go to bed early. Our time was used well, and I was able to thoroughly love my two ladies before I went to sleep.
Sue and I met Ben at his office at eight. We had coffee with him, then walked over to the courthouse for the nine o'clock hearing. The hearing was held in the judge's office with the clerk and court reporter set up in chairs next to us.
The judge read the will again, summarized what transactions had been made during probate, then announced that unless anyone had a problem with the proceedings, the probate was closed and settled. Ben had me sign a couple of checks for the hearing, the federal taxes and a check to the county on some property taxes that were due. He said he would file all of the deeds to the unsold property with the county clerk and that was all there was too it.
Sue said, "You know, we need to do something special with their money. I think that we should work on improving the sports park, then set up an endowment for the upkeep. We can also add a slide to each of the pools and put Nelda's name on them. We need to do something else in Ernie's name for the city or county, but I don't know what yet. Everything that was theirs is in a separate account so we should be able to keep it separate."
We hugged thinking of our old friends. Somehow, we felt they knew we wanted to do good with their gift to us.
Back home, we were just finishing lunch when Kathy called. "We're going to be completely done by five. We worked most of last night and the movers came this morning with eight people. I mean this place is stripped. Mom and Dad have sent Goodwill a huge truck load of furniture, clothes the kids have all outgrown, and old broken toys. The front curb has a stack of trash that will take a couple of loads to haul away. Dad gave all of his yard stuff to the guy next door as he was always borrowing it anyway. Steve, come and get us. We should be out at the airport no later than six. Do you think you can put up with a bunch of stinky, sweaty, people?"
"I'll be there at five, so just pace yourselves. Did the auto transport get there already?"
Kathy answered, "Yep, he's been and gone said he'll be in Florida day after tomorrow. The real estate lady said she would have you the appraisals by Friday and she felt she could sell the house easily, especially if you were going to have her fix it up. It's in good shape, but some paint won't hurt. Leaving the appliances will help too. She doesn't even want us to clean out the fridge. She said she was told to take care of everything."
"That's what they're paid for, Kathy. It's good you guys are going to let them take care of everything. Make sure you call to cancel the phone and to have the electric and water transferred to the real estate company. I forgot about that, but it should only be a couple of calls. Have the real estate lady do it."
"Mom and Dad can't believe this is so fast," Kathy said. "I can't either, but then Jake and I moved several times and it was always fast. Oh yeah, J.J. has all of his motorcycles and gear packed in the van already. He's really excited to able to ride down there. Thank you for taking an interest in that with him."
"Hey, I need some excitement too, you know. He can't have all of the fun. I wonder who will break something first?"
"You better not break anything, Buster. You have too many people depending on you. There are four ladies and a bunch of kids that look up to you."
"Not to worry, Kathy, I'll be fine. I was just joking."
"Yeah, right, just come get us, okay?"
I assured her, "I'll call to get the plane ready right now and be on my way in a few minutes."
"Goody, I don't like being away from you guys. Last night I slept with Juanita and Susan and it was very nice, but I miss my new family. How's Greg, has he been okay?"
"He's been fine, Kathy," I said. "Sue rocked him to sleep last night and he's been too busy playing all day with the other kids to be lonely."
"Good, this is the first time I've been away from him. Tell him I'm on my way home. Let me get those utility calls made and I need to call the limo service. I'll see you in a couple of hours. I love you, Steve, thanks for everything."
"See you soon, Kathy."
I had to give Sue and Mercy the content of the conversation that they didn't hear, then went to wash my face and change into jeans and boots to be more comfortable flying up there. I went through the house asking who wanted to ride along with me and no one wanted to go, so I took the keys to the Expedition and headed to the airport.
John and DeDe were in the charter office when I went in to get the log book. They both asked if I had anyone going with me and I told them no. They looked at each other and laughed. DeDe said, "We both would love to fly with you but we both have lessons this afternoon. I should call Star, I'll bet she would go."
"I'll be fine. It's not a long flight. I'll have plenty to keep me busy and will take the time to play with the navigation system a little more."
I was off the ground in another forty minutes and parked at the private terminal at four fifty. I made arrangements for fuel then called Kathy's house number. No answer, so that meant they were on their way to the airport. I went inside the terminal to buy a bunch of sandwiches, fruit, sodas, and bottled water that I was putting it in the cabin cooler when the limo pulled up. They had some extra luggage that I put away for them, then loaded them up.
"Kathy, either you, J.J. or Carl, ride up front with me. Kathy and Carl looked at each other and motioned for J.J. to go up with me. After everyone was settled, I told them about the sandwiches and drinks, but told them to wait till we were at altitude so they wouldn't be falling or spilling things."
J.J. was so excited he was about to wet himself. This probably wasn't that good of an idea because now the other kids would want to ride in the right seat too. Perhaps a ride in the 172 would take care of it. That would be easier.
Our ride home was effortless. The plane is kept perfect and flew that way. J.J. got a kick out of setting up the landing instruments then following the glide slope indicator. He said it didn't look that difficult, and I assured him it wasn't but was all in the touch and in experience.
We were home, parking in front of the hangar, by seven forty-five. One of the night mechanics came out to help me unload everything and clean out the trash, then he used the tow motor to push the plane inside. After putting the log books in the office, we drove home.
Sue, Mercy, and all of the crew, including Kathy's kids, had decorated the patio with stringers of crepe paper and signs. There was a giant "Welcome home, Kathy and kids, with all their names underneath" and another that said "Welcome home, Carl and Bessie."
That was the perfect touch. Any misgivings they might have had was settled right then. We had some snacks and drinks to celebrate the homecoming.
Before bed, Kathy took a shower and flopped on the bed saying, "Glad that's done. We really pushed. I can't believe we got it all done in twenty-four hours. Now for some rest."
Juanita was sitting next to Kathy, "Oh no you don't, someone has to take care of the master and I'm too old to handle him first. It's your job to take the edge off him, then I'll get my chance."
Kathy raised her head frowning, "What do you mean too old. I saw the way you gave him some Latin loving night before last or whenever that was. You threw him every which way but loose. He's was crying uncle, not you."
Juanita reached over and gave one of Kathy large nipples a hard pinch.
"Ow!" Kathy exclaimed.
"That'll teach you to back talk me, young lady. I'm the oldest of us ladies and I get to dictate some things. Now get that thing between your legs working and take care of the master."
Kathy probably did the wrong thing as she whipped a pillow from behind her right into Juanita. That did it. Sue, Mercy, and Juanita all joined into a pillow fight that ended with all of them laying on their back laughing.
"Okay, children, you're not setting a good example for the kids. Thank goodness they didn't see that."
Kathy was grinning and pointed behind me. Barb's face was peaking around the doorframe. When she knew she was caught, she said, "You guys were making too much noise for me to sleep. I just wanted to ask you to be quieter."
I walked over and kissed Barb's forehead and sent her back to bed. I turned and looked at the four ladies to see that all of them were near nude, because their gowns had just about completely come off.
I stripped, turned off the lights, and slid in the middle between Mercy and Kathy. After some kisses and groping, Kathy asked, "Can I have a raincheck on some loving for in the morning?"
We all agreed and I was instantly asleep with Mercy hugging my back and Sue hugging Mercy's.
Carl and Bessie were able to move into their new place on Thursday, the same day the moving van arrived. Tiny's dad, Charlie, had the shed people put in a large pad and shed next to the trailer. We temporarily stored J.J.'s motorcycles in it and all of his gear. The problem was though that there was a lot of other things in the shed because the house had come pretty full of furniture, and now Carl and Bessie had to go through and figure out which items to keep and which items to give away or try to sell.
Kathy was integrating into the family and patio crew well. She was recognized as the senior mother among all of them, but even she deferred to Beth, Susan, Glenda, and Maggie.
Kathy's kids had re-established their friendships with the kids they had left a few years ago and now had a rather large group on the patio in the early afternoons, having ice tea or Kool-Aid and cookies nearly every day. Mercy said, "I'm having a lot of fun trying to keep up with Kathy's kids and all of ours. The real big ones seem to all run together. The older little ones all play well together too. It's like Greg has been their buddy all his life. Carson is still the oldest, but Steve and Greg seem to lead them. Then there is our precious Sean, Liz, and Mike. They are growing so fast and learning to talk now too. Beth and Susan have them saying whole sentences. Kathy was in there with all of them this morning. She says this is what Greg needs to really shine."
Friday morning, Mercy asked, "Can we take all the kids out on the sailboat this weekend. We could leave this afternoon and come back Sunday. There isn't a big party tonight, so you could miss it. I want to go out while I still can. Last week on the bikes told me I was done with motorcycles for a while, but I still want to go sailing. Can we take everyone out?"
"Which boat should we take?" I asked, thinking that we might need the big one for all the people.
"Let's take the Magellan; there are enough rooms if the kids double up like they should. We have a small room with the cribs for our two or even three if Charlie and Shawna want to come."
I walked over to Shawna and asked, "Do you want to go sailing with us this morning through Sunday afternoon? Mercy suggested that you and Charlie could come along if you wanted."
Charlie was sitting next to Shawna and screwed his mouth up, "I could probably get off without a hassle, can you, Honey?"
"No problem for me, the boss asked me. But Hanna, Jim, Debbie, and Hank would probably like to come too."
Mercy said, "Let's ask them. If they do and there's too many, we'll take the Mercy Mercy instead of the Have Mercy. I need to ask if Kate and Jim want to come along. Kate loves to sail."
By seven thirty on Friday morning, there were at least a hundred people getting ready to go sailing. That's not true, but it seemed like that many. We were going to need more life jackets.
We were going to be a large group. There would be Carl and Bessie, Kathy and her five, Sue, Mercy, Juanita, Beth, Maggie, our three kids, Shawna and Charlie and their two, Debbie and Hank with Tia, Hannah and Jim with Rob, and Kate and Jim with Carson. With me that's thirty. Then Glenda said that she and Martin would like to come, so it became thirty-two.
I told Mercy to make sure the big boat was ready as we would need the space for thirty-two of us. I went for some extra shorts, deck shoes and T-shirts. I contemplated not bringing any of the aluminum cases, but decided better to be safe so I brought all of them with the intention of just keeping them in the master stateroom just in case.
At nine thirty, we were at the yacht club in Dunedin, getting everyone settled. The first thing we did was to get life jackets to fit all of the little ones. Stevie was so used to wearing a jacket that he could just about get it on by himself. The other kids, seeing Carson and Stevie not having a problem with wearing the jackets, put theirs on right away.
The girls came last after stopping at the Publix for loads of food and beer. When everyone and everything was on board, I suggested we put kids in the lounge while I was getting out of the yacht basin.
When everyone was where I knew they were safe, we fired the engines, tested the electronics, then the sails. Juanita and Kate did the lines and jumped back on board as I eased away from the dock, moving the big boat out.
As we got out into the gulf, I began raising sails until we were blossomed out under full sail. Mercy was standing with me, wearing a contented smile.
Where to Ma'am, did you have a destination in mind?
Mercy said, "Let's sail out into the Gulf and head up to the Panama area. I remember a bunch of islands up there that we could stop at tonight. We can fish a little and just party. What do you think?"
"Sounds good, plot a course, Mate," I said jokingly.
Mercy bent over the big GPS display, found where she wanted to go, punched in the numbers, and received a display of the estimated time to target.
Everyone had a great time. The older kids were up front sunbathing when Sue said that it was custom for all sunbathing out on the water to be nude. All the kids had a problem with the nude thing, but most of the women were soon lying up front in the nude, getting some warm sun on them. Beth and Bessie were inside the lounge with the little guys, but Shawna brought CJ out in a life jacket and Hanna and Debbie brought Robby and Tia. Sue already had Greg and Stevie on deck. Kathy and Barb thought the nude sunbathing was great, but J.J. was embarrassed. Ben and Carl didn't think too much about it and enjoyed being out in the sun.
Big Carl came up to me and asked, "Is this normal? Do the ladies get naked out on deck often?"
"Take a look, Carl, do you see Maggie and Glenda up there? Do they look uncomfortable without clothes? Maggie will tell you. It's a problem with sailboats or boats in general. Get a woman out on the water and the clothes come off. Just look at little Barb. She's at the age she should be really self conscious but she's lying back, stark naked, enjoying the sun."
Carl said, "I should go in and help with the little ones so Bessie can get some sun. I'll bet she would like to."
Martin and Carl went inside the lounge and soon, Beth and Bessie were lying in the sun, just as naked as the rest. I had J.J. take the wheel and told him to just keep it from spinning, as the auto pilot was on. I took the camera and went to the front to take twenty to thirty pictures of the nudie cuties sunning themselves. This would be great as something to remember.
Around six, we took down sail and started the engines and slowly made our way toward the small islands dotted around the area. I had one eye on the depth gauge and the other on the close-in radar to make sure of where we were. The GPS was showing a channel, but there were no buoys for us to use as navigation points.
Since it was low tide, we drifted up close to one of the islands then put out two anchors to keep us in the same spot. Some wanted to go swimming and swim the fifty feet or so to the island and others were content to stay on board. I told Charlie that we could let the dingy down so those that didn't want to swim could use it to go back and forth.
Soon, most everyone was on the beach of the small island, searching for shells. Some of the kids found some dried up starfish while Stevie's age group were using sand pails and shovels to dig to China.
While we were playing on the beach, a Coast Guard patrol came slowly up to our boat. Mercy and I took the dingy out to the boat to we could assist them if they needed to come aboard. We threw out bumpers/fenders then caught a line thrown to us by a Coast Guard crewman. As they drifted up to the boat, the Petty Officer in charge said, "You're in pretty close to that island, aren't you afraid you'll beach yourself?"
I answered, "We anchored in good on both ends and it is low tide. We should be fine. We're planning on spending the night here."
The Petty Officer asked, "You have a lot of passengers, do you have enough life jackets?"
Mercy smiled at the man, "Steve would never go out without everyone having one. He had to rent some for the little kids as we didn't have enough of the child jackets. We even have two fifteen foot inflatables if it came to that."
"Well, you folks take care, enjoy yourselves, but be safe. I think I know this boat from Dunedin. Do you dock there?"
I nodded, "Yes sir, that's where we keep all of our boats."
"Are you part of S&S? Dumb question with it written all over your boat. Is this the boat that just went to Europe and back?"
Mercy beamed, "It sure is, we made both crossings without a hitch. The storms we experienced were not much at all."
The Petty Officer looked at me and asked, "I'm almost embarrassed to ask, but do you have at least two licensed captains?"
Mercy stood up straight with her hands on her hips and said, "We have four qualified captains with us today. As a matter of fact, all four were on the trip to Europe and back, so are all experienced."
"Just asking Ma'am, it's my job. Well I should check that you at least have two, do you have licenses available to check?"
Mercy asked me, "Is your wallet below in the stateroom? I'll get yours as my purse is there."
Mercy went below and was back up in a minute with my wallet and her purse. We showed them our licenses and some other picture ID, then invited the Petty Officer aboard to check life jackets. I told him that all of the little kids on the beach were ferried there in the dingy so their life jackets were over there. While we were still talking to the man, Dennis, J.J., and Tina all swam out to the boat and came up from the platform. "Do you need help, Uncle Steve?"
"We're fine, Dennis, but thanks for asking. Load the grill in the dingy and we'll take our food over there to cook. We can have a luau right on the beach."
The Coast Guard people still had some kind of problem, so I invited them to stay. "Look, tie up to us on both ends and join us on the beach for supper. You're not going to find many boaters out till later tonight, so relax for a little and enjoy. We have plenty of iced tea and soft drinks for your crew. So call in and grab your portable so you can stay in contact."
The whole crew looked at the Petty Officer, trying to mentally get him to join us. He finally said, "Good idea. If you have enough food, we'd love to join you. Come on, men, put on some shorts and let's hit the beach. Smith, get the big dingy out, I don't think you guys want to swim in. We can haul some coolers of drinks with us."
Dennis went below to the storage locker and came up with two coolers. He filled them with a variety of soft drinks and ice in one and beer and ice in the other. The Coast Guardsmen couldn't believe we even had a good sized icemaker at the bar in the upper lounge.
Soon our thirty-two and the eight from the Coast Guard were on the beach. Several Frisbees appeared, along with some beach balls. Charlie and I got the grille going and we were soon cooking hotdogs and hamburgers. We had some macaroni and cheese along with some potato salad the girls had gotten at the store. Dennis and J.J. made a few trips back to the boat to bring back the four folding tables and a bunch of folding chairs. It became a real party.
About eight, the Coast Guardsmen said they had to go back and get out on patrol to watch the weekend traffic. I offered to let them use our showers, but they said they had a shower on board. There wasn't any sense in rubbing it in, so I let them enjoy their tiny two by two shower, probably with no hot water. Their bunks were nothing more than six foot by three foot by three foot shelves where they slid in to sleep. Ah, the life of the military.
It took us a dozen trips to get all of our stuff back on the boat. Mercy was squirting off the tables and chairs before they were stored in the on-deck locker. She said the salty sand played havoc with the metal on the tables.
We were soon all enjoying some drinks in the big lounge on the upper deck while all the kids were below, watching a movie. The girls were bathing the little ones, getting them into pajamas and ready for bed. The others, a couple at a time, went below to shower off the lotion and salt.
By eleven, we were all tired and somehow, everyone found a bed of some form. The lounge sofas all converted into beds, so we were able to get everyone comfortable. I closed the helm on deck and set up the perimeter alarm hoping dolphins didn't come into shore often.
In bed, Mercy said, "This is what boating and sailing is all about. Today was wonderful. All of us enjoyed ourselves, not a care in the world. I loved it."
Kathy asked, "Is this what it was like sailing to Europe? You didn't stop at night did you?"
Sue told her, "We took turns or rather shifts at the helm. Most nights we used the inside helm, but Steve would check out on deck during the night. We usually did three hours on and nine hours down, so it wasn't real tough."
"Do you think I could learn to help crew on the boat?" Kathy asked and continued, "I would really like to and I know the kids are having a great time. They are going to want to learn as much as possible."
Juanita told Kathy, "All of us took the training so we could help Steve. Mercy was the instigator to get a big sailboat, but I don't think any of us thought we would end up with something like this one. The big white sailboat is our favorite, but it is smaller and couldn't handle all of these people. We'll have to go out on it soon, with just our family. You'll see, the boat is just beautiful. We'll talk to John about teaching you after you have some more time sailing. We can pilot the big fishing boats too, but I don't think any of us have even been on the new hundred and fifty foot motor yacht. So far, since Tiny bought it, it's been continuously rented out to rich people."
I snuggled behind Sue, who was behind Mercy, who was next to Kathy, with Juanita on the other side. Kathy said, "I like this bed, it's even bigger than the one at home. So much has changed since I left, it's like I'm coming back home, but to a totally remodeled home and a totally remodeled Steve."
Kathy yawned, "Being out on the water makes me sleepy, does it do that to you?"
No one answered, we were all almost asleep. Kathy pulled the sheet and light blanket up over us and drifted off.
Saturday morning, we were all up with the women fixing a big breakfast in the galley. Today we thought we might sail over to see if the man we bought the Magellan from was there.
When we were out under full sail, Sue used her cell phone to call the man who got us into big sailboats. He answered, but said he was just leaving the yacht club, heading out with a bunch of passengers. Sue made arrangements for us to meet in the Gulf, and then reset the GPS for the coordinates.
As we approached the meeting place, we could see our old boat sailing toward us. His sail began coming down, then we drifted near each other and exchanged lines and put out bumpers/fenders to tie up to each other.
There was a lot of hugging and back slapping, then Mercy and Sue took him on a quick tour of our big boat. They gave him the story of our trip to Costa Rica and buying this boat, then our trip to Europe. When he came back on deck he said, "You folks convinced me to retire from that rat race and now I take passengers out for day cruises and overnights sometimes. I need to get back to sailing, as that's what the folks on board paid for. You know, I owe you guys my life. I was slowly dwindling away to nothing, and now I have a life. I live on board and enjoy the Gulf almost every day. I pay for my hobby and lifestyle by being a tour guide. Nothing could be better."
After more hugs and handshakes, he was gone. We watched as he hoisted his sail, watched as the sails filled with wind, then sailed out of sight. We decided that we would sail more southwest and sailed that way. I called to Tiny on the radio, because I knew he would be out on the Hatteras today. He answered, so I asked him for numbers out our way so we could do some fishing. He told me to call him on his sat phone.
"How come the satellite phone, Tiny?"
"Man, you don't want to broadcast good numbers on the air. You would have so much company you would be banging into other boats. Write these down, they are in a group out there, where a bunch of trawlers sank about fifteen years ago in a big storm. You have to fish deep, but the area is lousy with grouper. Eat what you catch so you don't screw up with the fish and game people. Oh yeah, and be careful out there, there are a lot of sharks. The only ones you have to worry about are the hammerheads as they get pretty big. None of the rest get as big. They'll bite, so no swimming out there unless it's you diving."
"I don't have any gear, so I'll be sure not to let anyone swim. Maybe we'll catch some junk fish and chum a little so the folks can see some sharks. That ought to be interesting."
"Just don't fall in when you're chumming, those bigger sharks just start chomping. They don't care what it is. They get into a frenzy and just tear everything apart, including each other."
"Got it and thanks, Tiny, I think these folks are all enjoying themselves."
"You've got more people on board than we usually book for. Are you using the crews quarters too?"
"Hadn't thought of the crew's quarters, Tiny, we're using the pull outs in the lounges and it's enough."
Tiny said, "We'll have to rethink the size of the parties we rent to. If we were to rent to thirty people, that would bring in an extra buck or two."
"Thanks, Tiny, see you later, we don't want to gab on these things too long, too expensive."
"You're right, Steve, they ain't cell phones. Call me if you need me, I'm only going to be about thirty miles from those numbers."
"See ya," I said, and terminated the call.
I gave Sue the numbers that Tiny gave us and she punched in the nearest set.
When we came up to the first set of numbers there were three boats there already, so we went around and headed for numbers the farthest away. Once there, we dropped our anchor so we would be right around the numbers and got out the fishing tackle. Several poles and reels had been added on the boat, along with a variety of other gear.
Dennis came up and asked if we had a cast net because a bunch of bait fish were getting near our platform. Dennis had learned to throw a cast net and pulled in so many bait fish, he couldn't lift it onto the platform. We took a bunch of buckets down to the platform and filled them with bait and let the rest go.
Martin, Charlie, the two Jims, and Hank had the rods out and were baiting the hooks as soon as the bait fish were brought up. They had some heavy sinkers so they could drop the lines down the hundred feet to where the fish would be. Charlie didn't even get to begin letting line out before a spotted sea trout took his bait. Martin had the same luck but with a redfish.
Soon, every one of the kids had a chance to catch a fish. Our big live well was teeming with various sizes and types of fish, but no grouper. None of the lines were ever deep enough.
The strikes dwindled off after a while, so Charlie and Martin were able to get their lines down to near the bottom. It didn't take them but a couple of minutes before they both had some pretty good sized grouper hooked. Glenda said that it would probably take about forty to fifty pounds of fish to feed everyone after they were cleaned, so the guys continued to pull up fish until we had about sixty pounds of big keeper grouper. I went down to the platform and began cleaning and filleting the fish. I saved all of the offal to chum with later, but soon had our supper cleaned, ready to cook.
I cut up some trash fish to go with the other chum and we released all of the other fish in the live well. I began throwing out chunks at a time. Everyone was at the rail to see if any big hammerheads would come near the boat. Even after all the chum was out in the water and the bucket was rinsed, the only sharks we saw were some pretty good sized black tips and a couple of nurse sharks.
We used fresh water and cleaned up the fishing gear and washed the buckets and live well. No since letting the salt water corrode our gear.
It was agreed we would just spend the night where we were anchored and perhaps fish some more in the morning. We had kept some bait fish.
That night, the girls and I did some heavy exploring. Sue and Mercy were made love to by me and the other two ladies, then it was their turn. We had an enjoyable but fairly loud encounter. With the portholes open, we knew the sound of our coupling would carry to other open portholes.
Sunday morning was a repeat of Saturday. This time, I think there were more people hungrier for breakfast. Being out in the boat did help the appetite. The plan for today was to raise sail and go back into Dunedin. It was going to be about a four to five hour sail, so we got under way early. Storm clouds were in the west coming up on us fairly fast, so I had everyone go below and make sure all of the portholes were closed then made sure everyone out on deck had a life jacket on.
The seas began picking up as we neared Dunedin. We were getting six to eight foot swells, but not enough to cause any grief. The boat was so big that Stevie and Carson couldn't show Greg or the other kids how they could roll around on the floor depending on how the boat leaned. Stevie and Carson had done that as a diversion during the one big storm we had encountered on our trip to Europe.
Once we were tied up at the dock with the help of one of our charter crews, we began hauling our stuff off and cleaning the boat. We were barely started when the charter crew leader said, "Go home, we have it. We need to earn our keep this weekend. We have a cruise tomorrow for a week, but we've been sitting on our thumbs for a week. Go home, it will help us know the boat is ready."
By four in the afternoon, we were all home, unloaded, and sitting around enjoying a beer. Carl said, "I can only imagine how much fun you guys had sailing to Europe. If you do it again, Bessie and I want to go along. We heard about your trip through the Panama Canal and would love to do that too. Sailing is really different. It's so peaceful and smooth. No motor noise, just the sound of the waves against the bow. It really is the way to travel."
Tiny came in with several buckets of fish that were already cleaned, hollering that dinner was ready to be cooked. It was instantly agreed that we would have a fish fry. Martin got out the big gas deep fryer that we set up in the yard. The ladies brought out the fish already coated with batter and their special crumb coating.
We all ate heartily, not leaving a crumb on the plates where the fish had been. Ice cream was a welcome dessert, then it was time to get the kids cleaned up and to get us adults cleaned up as well.