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 Sun and Sea 16 A James Gang Story by Mike C



   So, this episode is six months in the making, my apologies, let me know
what you think of it.  Reality has a nasty way of cutting into 'James'.

   I hope life can settle down so I can get more writing done.  It's really
frustrating when some idea hits me while I'm waiting for the lights to
change; or standing in line at the shop, then realize that it's not usable
in the current story-line and, by the time I get there, circumstances may
no longer warrant it, or worse, I'm so sick of thinking about this great
concept I no longer feel a desire to write about it!

   I've done minimal proofing on this - so I'd appreciate help there as
well. Address: mikec (at) nspace.net

   July, 2009



   = = = = =

   In the clearing behind her house Eva and Mrs Bentel were working on
lunch; they waved to us as Hazel went over to join them.

   Colin and the Andersons were having drinks and talking with Donnie
around his plastic drum, now sitting on its side over a brace.  Donnie
looked over, "Ah, and Zack is here with the last pieces."

   Zack had followed us in with two pieces of heavy plastic which Donnie
took and eased into the drum though long flaps cut into the front face.

   Colin and I exchanged greetings, "Donnie is just showing us this
fascinating device."

   "We were discussing it this morning and..." I looked over the plastic
water drum, where Zack and Donnie were fastening the last of the screws in
the back.

   I peered into one of the cut openings.  Donnie had bolted Zack's plastic
lengthwise to provide the barrel with a small reservoir in the back. 
Narrow gaps along the top allowed the water vapour 'steam' to travel around
the baffles to condense in there as fresh water.  "That's very clever,
Zack; making the barrier from two pieces and re-attaching them inside the
barrel through the front cut-outs - you get the 'V' to channel the water
run-off and limit the cutting you have to do!"

   He grinned at my compliment, "Not me, Donnie give me drawing, I cut, no
huhu."

   I turn to Donnie, "Just attach the solar panels and electricals, do some
painting, and you're good to go!" I shook my head, "And you've even made
space for another ultrasonic mist-maker!  Wow, what incredible work!  So
fast and accurate!"

   "Now that we have drawings of all the pieces, making another will be
easier and quicker." Donnie answered, nodding modestly, "I think if this
one works, we have to be ready to make many more!"

   "And how are we doing with the Tarpon fishing?" Mandie interrupted him.

   "Ah, right... If you will excuse me, I will show Miz Amanda the fishing
preparations!" They disappeared towards the rocks below the point.

   "Donnie started explaining how it makes fresh water, which is always in
short supply..." Robb prompted.

   "Briefly, we use solar power to run an ultrasonic machine to 'shake' sea
water into tiny droplets.  This increases the surface area per given volume
so that the drops can absorb heat and evaporate faster.  The vapor gets
drawn through these gaps into the shaded, cooler parts of the tank to
condense as pure, drinkable water."

   "Yes... I think I see..." Robb nodded, "Donnie also mentioned an
interesting by-product..."

   "Right, when the sea water evaporates, salt is left behind as a very
fine tree-like crystal.  Eva says it's like the French 'Fleur de Sel', so
she's going to try cooking with it."

   "That would be something we call 'flor d'sal' back home," added Fran,
"Very, very expensive, especially if it's endorsed by a name-brand cook or
restaurant."

   "Yes, so Eva informs us as well" Bren nodded, "We'd like to try and
develop a market for that.  As long as the supply is stable, we should have
no trouble getting a share of the market."

   We turned as Amanda led Donnie back with a big smile.  "Donnie lets this
net down, with chicken bits for flavor, and in ten minutes, we get a dozen
blue crabs!  Is this heaven or what?" Amanda grinned at us.

   "Where are they now?" I asked, gesturing at the empty net.

   "We let them go, 'cos we don't need bait until we're actually going
fishing..." She hugged me, "You and me, sweetie, at daybreak tomorrow!"

   "Daybreak?  You're not kidding me?" I asked.

   "Nope, tarpons are night feeders - and they follow the crabs inshore in
the morning.  So..."

   "I'm glad there's just gear for the two of you!" Sherri grinned, then
said to Brenda "We can stay in bed and work on our beauty sleep, or
whatever else we can think of!"

   "Hmm, yeah, but I want another chart of the tide..." I mulled it over,
"Peak high will be about 30 minutes later than today, which'll make it
five... And sunrise is 7:00 - so that gives us time, if barely."

   "I will tell you secret," Donnie laughed, "Fish live here, not going
anywhere - do what you need first, then fish later!"

   "Still, they're not going to catch themselves - they NEED us!" Amanda
insisted.

   "Ah, well, since you put it that way..." Donnie said, "I will leave the
net here, you can use it whenever... whenever the tarpon... needs to be
caught..." He turned away as his face cracked open in a grin, which widened
even further when he saw Eva coming towards us.  "Let me help you, love!"
He hurried to relieve her of the trays of food.

   I helped Mrs.  Bentel and Hazel with their load and we set up the food
on one of the long tables.

   "For our taste test," Eva announced, "We've prepared separate dishes of
fried chicken and goat curry with each of three salts.  I won't tell you
which one is which but I'd like you to put down your impressions on a piece
of paper." She paused then looked at me with a smile, "And for those of us
who prefer an alternate menu, I also have patties and goat stew."

   I helped with the taste-testing after getting my fill of the delicious
patties, and, while tallying the scores, Eva revealed that she had made the
meal with regular salt, our 'Turtle Cay' Salt, as well as kosher sea salt.

   "The kosher salt was all they had in the town, but it was rated very
high in tests that had been published online." She informed us.

   The resulting votes clearly showed that regular salt was inferior, while
our product edged out kosher salt for texture and 'freshness', which was
what we called the unmistakable taste of the sea.

   "So, according to the views of this impeccable panel of experts, 'Turtle
Salt' is the new taste wonder!" she exclaimed, and we heartily added our
endorsement.

   "Ahh," Robb cleared his throat, "I'd like to place an order of about
twenty of the barrels for our house - strictly for the water.  I will pay
for the installation and a maintenance fee for the removal of the, er,
sediments..." he smiled.

   "You will need a space facing south, near the house..." Donnie mulled,
"I think that if we clear the area behind your pool, it should be all
right... But you know we are still beginning our tests..."

   "I'm sure you'll get it working in no time!  And, the area next to the
pool?  That's just perfect!" He looked at us, "That's the primary reason I
need the system.  Fresh water is one of the major items in the upkeep of
the house, and the hot tub, of course..."

   "Whoa, pool and hot tub?" Amanda asked, bright-eyed.

   "Ah, yes, you've never been over..." Robb looked over at his wife, "How
'bout we invite the folks for a little get-together tomorrow?  Say, 2-ish
in the afternoon?"

   "Oh, tomorrow?  We have our diving lesson with Hazel..." Mandie again.

   "About tomorrow - I was going to suggest that we take the day off,"
Hazel said, "I will probably be quite busy with the new guests."

   "Talking about guests, I should look in on Miriam's lunch crowd, and get
ready for the arrival of the ferry!" Eva stood to go.

   "Before you run," Robb stopped her, "I have a second request... Are you
interested in another investor?"

   "We all know James invented it, and with Brenda's expertise in business
matter, I am leaving all financial decisions to them - whatever they decide
will be fine with me!" She smiled and nodded courteously to all of us,
before turning and making her way up to the Main House.

   "I will certainly work with everyone on this," Brenda smiled, "let me do
some thinking first, so I can come up with a proposal."

   "Good then," Robb nodded, "we also need to make our own way home so we
can prepare for tomorrow's get-together!"

   "Problem with these out-of-the-way places," Fran stood and took Robb's
proffered arm, "is that there are no large stores around.  Our best chance
is to go to Treasure Cay - and they only have a handful of stores there."

   "We don't want to put you to so much trouble!" Brenda said.

   "No, it'll be our pleasure, besides it's not a long trip, just to the
other side of the flats where you were, er, fishing.  Besides, we want to
see how far our notoriety has spread since YOUR run in with the
tourists..." Fran grinned.

   "Next time, we'll fly you there," Amanda offered.

   "It's not that we don't appreciate the offer, but it's really not worth
the bother," Fran said, "The airport there charges $60 for privileges, and
the cab ride into town is another $25, each way!"

   "Wow, they really soak you!"

   "You'll find the less-than-essential services quite outrageous out here,
so we have to make do wherever." Robb said.  "We shall be heading out then,
until tomorrow!"

   "We'll see you off," Colin offered, "these young people have things they
want to do."

   "Just a moment, Colin," his wife interrupted, "I have a favor to ask
Sherri." She looked at her, "I would really love for you to play the Bach
Toccata for me."

   "Much as I am aghast at Anne's imposition on you," Colin continued with
a smile, "I, too, would love to hear that piece... We are strong supporters
of the local talents, but we have such little chance to hear the classic
Masters performed live!"

   "In which case, I'd be honored!" Sherri said, "Let me talk with Donnie a
bit and arrange something!"

   "You will have our most sincere thanks!" Anne smiled, "We'll be
expecting you for supper at 6:30.  'Till then!" They turned to go, followed
soon by Amanda and Zack to continue installation of the larger Century
engine in the 25' Carver boat.

   "Donnie," I said as we were cleaning up the lunch, "how many barrels can
you use here and on Robb's island?"

   "I think twenty is all I need.  It takes time to see what results are."

   "It probably won't work out that way," Brenda said, "I suspect you will
be making changes and improvements continuously." She looked at me, "The
principles and theories are sound?  And there are no obvious changes you
need to make to the basics, right?"

   "Everything looks good in the tests." I affirmed.

   "So, this is what we will do, you get the drums and we'll order parts
for 50 units, that way you know you have spares in case you want to try
something different..." Brenda waited for Donnie's nod, "but you MUST
document each major change and have the drawings updated.  In fact, it
would be a good idea for you to number each barrel you make personally. 
That way, we can monitor their effectiveness, and start refining the design
that way."

   "Make sure you autograph them and the 'Original Donnie Barrels' will
become collector's items!" I laughed.

   "Don't joke about it!" Brenda said, "Even great ideas can fail unless
properly documented." She looked at me, "Remember the Underwater Remote?"

   "Er, if you recall, I was told to get working on the Tri-lobe design
first!"

   "And you should!  But if you'd put your idea down on paper first, I
could have someone look at it!"

   "And somebody did!"

   "Only because Amanda remembered you talking about it; and the acronym
you guys invented."

   "Not me," I protested, "I was happy to call it 'the thing you drag
behind the boat,' but Amanda insisted on the name of 'Towed Underwater
Remote Device.' "

   "'TURD!' That's rich," Sherri laughed, "how come I never heard of it?"

   "They had a full plate already, and you know how easily they get
distracted!" Brenda said, "so I sent it to Julie-Ann at Intercoastal.  We
basically told them it was an aquatic adaptation of the solid lifting body
you designed for the Bi-flex project and let them go from there."

   "Sherri invented an airplane wing called a Bi-flex form," I explained to
Donnie and Hazel, "it lets you adjust the lift and performance when it is
needed - like when you're carrying extra cargo, and because the adjustments
can be different for the left and right wings, even down to localized
areas, it lets the plane perform much, much better as well.  And we
minimize the power needed to just overcoming friction, of the air.  We've
started testing it for our hull shapes now too."

   "So I'm hoping for some outside input on what we've done so far," Brenda
continued, "And JulieAnns' people at InterCoastal built a couple of
prototypes, including one for the ship that's taking Todd and his ladies
around the Islands." Brenda got a faraway look in her eyes, "I hope they're
having a lovely time..."

   "Bren has a thing for a certain someone on board..." Sherri explained,
"who I'm sure has been providing her with detailed reports!"

   "Not so much, just that they're SO happy..." Brenda sighed, then gave
herself a mental shake, "so my long meandering point is that we need to
have documentation for all significant developments.  Not only does it
REMIND some people of their brilliance, but also allows it to be farmed
out, if and when..." She turned to Donnie, "so make it a basic stipulation
of our venture... solid documentation that is understandable even if you
let someone else work on it!"

   "Yes ma'am, I do good work!  Lots of document-ification, you'll see!"
Donnie grinned.

   "And you and I have much more work to do too!" Sherri said, "Enough of
this fooling around, we have to plan our music!"

   Donnie bowed to us, "Please excuse me, urgent business with Missy Sherri
here!" as he allowed himself to be ushered into his house.

   "I better get back to the store," Hazel consulted her watch, "Lunch is
over, so they'll need me there."

   "We'll walk back with you," Brenda said, "Will we still meet later?"

   "Oh yes, we'll have to move back tomorrow's lesson, but today's lesson
is still at three, unless you want to cancel it..."

   "No, in fact I want the full lesson." Brenda insisted.

   "Good, we'll meet back here then," Hazel turned to the few guests
waiting for her and led them inside.

   "C'mon," I tugged Brenda, "We've come all this distance and we haven't
even had a chance to take a walk on the beach!"

   We skirted around the side of Hazel's long building and out to the
stretch of sandy beach facing into the Atlantic Ocean.

   "Oh wow!" We kicked our shoes off, dug our toes in, then reached down
and grabbed handfuls of the finest, softest sand we had ever touched,
uniquely colored by the red coral they evolved from.  With the tide out,
the 3-mile expanse of sand glimmered pinkly in the noon-day sun.

   "We have to get everyone out here..." Brenda stood and hugged me close,
"What a paradise..." She leaned her head on me, "and thank you for
reminding me about the beautiful things in life."

   "Baby, you've earned it," I turned to look in her eyes, "You've worked
so hard to make things good for us... My only worry is you're gonna burn
yourself out..."

   She smiled and gave me a soft kiss, "We all work hard in our own way...
Think of it this way - we are all doing things we love, for the people we
love.  Can there be any better motivation than that?"

   "I definitely feel motivated when you're soft and squirmy like this..."

   "And I like it when you're HARD and squirmy!" She giggled, then, "Let's
keep walking before I lose control and attack you!" She took my hand and we
went along the water's edge.

   "I wonder if we can get enough sand to make a beach like this on the
back bay..." I pointed back toward the strip of land we had leased from the
Bentels.  "On a smaller scale, of course."

   "You mean without buying it every year from the government?  No way we
can do the entire bay," Brenda mulled, "The frustrating thing is that the
current only does enough to silt things up, and not enough to make it a
real beach."

   "So, ideally, we'd want to keep the southern half clear, and move the
sand over to just the northern part." I said, "I'll check that again
tomorrow and see if there's some way without impacting Lulu's home, and the
Moray Eel..."

   We turned at the sound of Hazel calling us from the small bar built into
one end of her warehouse-size building.

   "Amanda is looking for you," she said when we went up, "and here,
drink!" She handed us bottled water, "a bottle an hour, more if you're
under the sun!" She waited until we had a few big gulps, before directing
us to the marina building.

   Amanda waved to us from the two Carver boats sitting on slings inside
Zack's cavernous wet dock.  Their aft end had been laid open to expose
their engine compartments.  "We got the Ford motor out of the 25-footer -
Zack thinks he can use it with the 3kW generator once he's cleaned them up.
But look at the 28!  We hooked up the hoist and the engine just popped out
from the ribs!"

   The larger Carver had had so much abuse that the fiberglass liner in the
engine bay had flaked away until even the base wooden frame laid exposed to
the elements.

   "No way we can reuse the 28.  We probably have to fumigate the hold
areas before we cart it to be dumped." Amanda complained, then she
brightened, "Good thing the 25 is in much better shape and also uses the
Bravo transmission, so that's the power train, most of the hydraulics and
the main cooling all done in one sweep."

   Brenda helped Zack reroute the electricals and coolant lines to conform
to the new engine as Amanda and I took the 454 cu-in engine to the work
bench for a general cleanup.

   "It's basically the Type-IV 'Rat' motor," Explained Amanda, as we
removed the manifold, "One of GM's best.  Through six or seven iterations,
they retained the solid timing and electrical delivery, the short fuel and
power transfer systems, without compromising its superior cooling
capabilities."

   I cranked the engine over by hand and she peered into each of the eight
huge cylinders and checked the tolerances of the overhead cams and valves.
"We don't have the equipment for anything involved, so it's good there're
no wear and no obvious problems with the pistons or the cylinders.  Even
the rings are clean."

   We did a quick titration test of the oil in the sump reserve and, when
it turned out clear, she gave the engine a pat and a smile, "Maybe new
filters and plugs, but it's still a good, solid, big block that GM put into
everything from small trucks to Corvettes.  Swap in direct-injection, Crown
pistons and the new Moraine bearings and you won't be able to tell whether
it came from a late-model Escalade!"

   Brenda came over, "The 25 is still solid, but it's potentially going the
route of the 28.  The epoxy they were using is just not good enough to
survive 40 years of blistering heat and salt corrosion." She shook her
head, "The bulkheads are solid, so there's no breach yet, but they'll not
last more than 10 years."

   Amanda went to talk with Zack and to check the connections, then
returned to help us reassemble the huge 800-lb motor.  "OK, we're done here
for now - we have to get ready for Hazel's lesson," She waved her hands
about, grinning, "I'm heading up to shower and you two are invited to come
and put your filthy hands all over my body!"

   = = = = =

   (C) Copyright 2001-2009.  MikeC. All Rights Reserved. All Reproduction
for fee or profit forbidden. Copies of this and other stories can be
downloaded from: <http://www.asstr.org/files/Authors/MikeC/JAMES/Sun&Sea/>