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 Sun and Sea 19 A James Gang Story by Mike C

   Feedback : mikec (at) nspace.net

   = = = = =

   "Hey, there's Hazel!"

   "Stop trying to cheer me up!" Groused Amanda, coiled up in the middle
seat of the dink, still wrapped in a blanket.  "I'm not in the mood!"

   "She's with Eva." I steered up to them, "Morning girls!"

   "Morning James!" They greeted me cheerily.

   "You seem to have a stowaway in your boat," Laughed Eva, "Good morning
Amanda!"

   "If it IS morning!" Said the owner of the bleary blue eye peering
through her wrap.  "And there's nothing good about it!" A bit more head
popped out, "See Hazel?  This is what I mean, he keeps us up till some
ungodly hour then just shanghais me and throws me in his miserable dink!" A
pair of arms reach out, "Please, please rescue me from his nefarious
clutches!"

   "Maybe I shouldn't ask this, but are you naked underneath?"

   Amanda lifted the blanket and showed us that she was, indeed, naked as
the proverbial jaybird.  Just as quickly the blanket was replace, "Geez,
why is it so cold here?  It's supposed to be the tropics!" A pause, "Stop
making me change the subject!  Listen, he's probably taking me someplace so
he could abuse me mercilessly!  You HAVE to save me!"

   "We want to help," Laughed Hazel, "But we're in kayaks.  There's only
room for one!"

   "How's the fishing," I ignored my surly companion.

   "Better, looks like the large ones are moving back in."

   "Did you catch any, Haze?"

   "No - I'm just checking to sure there are no more Lion fish..." Hazel
waved a bathascope, a 'bucket glass' made from a round pipe with a
transparent end which she was using to look under the water's surface.

   "Listen, come help me beat him up," Said my little savage, "Then we can
take him someplace and abuse HIM mercilessly!"

   "Babe," I said, "They have their own work to do - as do you.  We're on a
tight schedule if you want to get your tuna!"

   "Aye, aye, Cap'n." She saluted smartly, and nakedly, "Since the
sisterhood seemed to have abandoned my cause, I am forced to yield to your
demands.  Again.  But only if Hazel comes along to protect me!"

   I helped her fashion her blanket into a semi-serviceable poncho-toga,
and handed her the numbered plates, which she and Hazel, gliding alongside,
helped launch.

   "Haze, honey," Amanda said, "You should've stayed last night.  He--" She
tossed her head at me, "--made us all honorary virgins - just for spending
time with you..."

   "I'm not..."

   "Oh, even if you're not technically one, you're close enough to one as
no matter!" Amanda declared.  "But then, what he does with virgins..." She
sighed and hugged herself.  To Hazel she asked, "Just how much of an
UN-virgin are you?"

   "There was a boy at college..." Hazel began.

   "Yeah, I hear you.  Looks presentable, probably sounded sincere, talked
the talk but nothing else."

   The look on her face told us Amanda was close to the mark.

   "Can I ask YOU a question?"

   Amanda nodded, "Sure."

   "Are you trying to get James and me...  to...  to..."

   "To do the...  umm?" Smiled Amanda, "We want you to know that if YOU
want to have sex with James, we don't mind." She paused, "No, I said it
wrong - what I meant to say is that we would like you to let us show you
sharing and loving, and if it happens to involve sex with James...  that
will be lovely too." Amanda's eyes glowed.

   "How...  how does James feel about it?" Hazel cast a quick glance my
way.

   "James feels happy about it," I replied, "In matters like this, they
know me well." I looked at her, "You're smart, strong and lovely, both
inside and out.  And I'm a sucker for those qualities."

   "I-I guess I'll need to think about it..."

   "Take your time, there is no time limit." I took her hand, "Whichever
way you decide, or NOT decide, we'll respect your wishes."

   "T-thank you...  All of you..."

   By the time we finished tracking the plates, helped deliver food to Lulu
and Tobie, and had Hazel pronounce the area free of Lion fish, the sun was
already coming over the horizon.

   Sherri and Brenda were on the dock and helped us lift the dink out of
the water.

   "Some friends you are!  You let the sex maniac kidnap me this morning!"
Amanda yelled at them.

   "Obviously the sex maniac did not ask for clothing as part of your
ransom!" Sherri laughed, "Let's get you dressed before you start another
scandal!" She hustled Amanda into 'Jester's' cabin.

   "Zack found us some jerry cans that fit in the space under the engine
mount, and he's working on putting on the quick release." Brenda informed
me.

   They took the now bikini-clad, but no less evocative Amanda, with Hazel
in tow, to the seaplane for a confab.  I stayed to collapse the dink to fit
back inside the Jester.

   "Can I help?" Eva came over to lend a hand.

   "Yes...  Hold that side steady - I have to remove the seats first."

   Without the bench seats supporting it, the dink's kevlar shell folded
down into a panel 10 feet long, 20-inches wide and 4-inches thick, which
fit in a groove in the engine bay.  The seats followed in their allotted
space.  We stored the bulky 24-volt rechargeables last, which also had to
be connected to the boat's recharger.  A bracket on the stern allowed us to
'hang' the electric motor off the 'Jester' to act as a trolling motor.

   "Hazel tells me you had a long talk with her last night..." Eva started.

   "The girls want very much to be friends with her, which I agree heartily
with."

   "You know I feel somewhat protective towards Hazel, and this is kind of
sudden, don't you think?"

   "Perhaps, but we don't believe in playing games - even ones considered
polite or necessary by society.  We also feel protective about her, but to
set your mind more at ease, we've told her that the decision is hers alone.
There will be no pressure, nor do we expect her to reciprocate in any
manner." I looked at Eva, "We are good people, but with a healthy disdain
of the artificial mores that our culture want us to mindlessly emulate.  We
will not hurt Hazel, nor do anything that goes against her wants."

   "That is very good to know..." Eva smiled sadly, "Deep down, I believe
you, but I'm afraid I've been burned a few too many times.  Like they say,
'if it sounds too good to be true...' "

   "That's the thing, Eva, we take care only to promise what we can
deliver. But by the same token, we also spell out our expectations.  It
gets things done, and nobody needs to guess at our intentions."

   "As I said, I know I can trust you, but a person doesn't get a chance to
absorb one idea before you're talking about a dozen more!"

   "Who can slow down when there's Amanda and Sherri firing non-stop on all
barrels?" I stopped, "They've started up the seaplane." I took Eva's arm,
"C'mon, let's go find out what new ideas they've hatched while we were
putting the dink away!"

   An excited Sherri met us at the 'Gymbler', which now sported two
5-gallon plastic gas-cans, mounted upside-down between the struts holding
the engine.  "Zack modified some pressure release caps to fit the tanks.  A
yank on these cotter-pins from the cockpit and it's fish time!  Bren's
gonna do a test run with just water."

   Brenda finished her walk-around to talk to us, "I want to show James the
landing zone - any problem if I take him on board?"

   "Nah, no problem." Sherri nodded, "You're nowhere near max load."

   "We need another 200-pounds of chum to make up for his weight!" Amanda
snickered, "And his smell!"

   The girls unshipped our ties and we cruised slowly to the mouth of the
bay.  With our 30-feet wingspan, I realized just how constricted the
entrance to the small harbor was, but, in the still morning air and with
minimal waves at low tide, there was no real concern.

   "Once past the Mother and Child Rocks, head due West for 500 yards until
you have a clear passage heading South." Brenda suited her instructions
with action.  "That should take you to 26°46'33N by 77°20'47W, which I've
noted in the log.  The prevailing Trades at this latitude is from the
North, so cruise South to eyeball the takeoff track..." She passed control
over to me and I took the plane slowly to check for debris and other
hazards along the way.

   "Had a talk with Hazel just now," Brenda said, without taking her eyes
off the water, "Such a sweetie...  This morning she seems much more
comfortable with us."

   "That's good.  All we should aim for is for her to relax and be
herself...  I told her she can take as long as she wants to make up her
mind..."

   A klick down the track, I turned the plane around and poured on the
power.  In the calm, heavy air, the plane lifted off in 100 yards, and in
minutes we were back over the marina.  "We worked it out, at 50-feet, and
full flaps, the chum will land 20-30 feet behind us." Brenda said, "James!
No, no...  James...  too early!!"

   "Sorry, didn't mean to pull the pins so soon," I grinned as I stepped
off the plane, "Brenda must've bumped me...  Still, Zack would be pleased -
his engineering is perfect!"

   The girls glared at me, still drying off from their unexpected morning
shower.

   "Wait, Hazel has something to say to you..." Amanda ushered her forward.

   She came to stand in front of me, "I'm sorry, James..." And pushed me
off the dock.

   "James I'm really, really sorry!" Hazel repeated.

   "I know..." I sighed, "I just can't believe they could make you turn on
me so easily!"

   "Amanda said...  she told me...  If I didn't...  She...  she'd..."

   "Hazel volunteered, is all!" Amanda said, hair flying as she conned the
'Jester' to tuna grounds with uncommon speed and skill.  "In fact she
begged us to let her do the honors."

   "No...  It's not like that!  She...  she said if I didn't promise to do
it, she'd...  she'd tickle me!"

   "Ah, does that mean you're ticklish?"

   "Yes, very!"

   "So, if I did this..." I wriggled my fingers in her direction and she
cringed away before bursting out in laughter.

   "No...  no, stop...!" She gasped.

   "And if I did this?" I moved half an inch closer and she collapsed on
the deck, alternating between laughing and gurgling.

   Donnie and Sherri, who'd been knocking their heads together over music
for the corker, came back to investigate the sound of babies being
massacred.

   "Why is Hazel rolling on the deck?  Is she sick?"

   "No...  no..." She tried to explain and dissolved in another bout of the
giggles.

   "She was telling us about her first boyfriend..." Amanda supplied.

   Unprompted, Hazel started roaring until tears poured down her face.  She
ended up curled around my feet, panting and wheezing feebly.

   "You sure you okay?" Donnie asked.  Hazel nodded, too busy hiccupping to
talk.  "We'll be in the front if you need us." Hazel gave them a weak wave
from the ground.

   "That was very risky letting Amanda know about your, er, weakness." I
said, after handing her a towel to wipe her face and getting her back up on
the rear seat.

   "I know that now..." She wheezed a bit more.

   "Of course, now that I know about it..."

   "You'll use it to take advantage of me?  Too?"

   "Probably." I agreed.

   "Are you as cruel?"

   "If not worse..."

   "I'm in a lot of trouble now, right?"

   I nodded.  She sighed and leaned on my shoulder.

   After a while she pointed to port, "That's Greater Abaco, which is one
of the larger islands.  The road you see is the Bootle Highway and it runs
from the Western tip to the South.  And coming up on the right, is Spanish
Cay.  The tower is the airport." She pointed forward, "That spit of land is
where Little Abaco joins Greater Abaco, and behind that is Fox Town.  The
rocks there are tricky..." She took my hand, "Come, we need to talk to
Amanda."

   "The sea becomes very shallow to the left," Hazel pointed, "And is also
very rocky.  See that small island far out on the ocean side?  That's Crab
Cay, where Donnie rescued Eva.  Steer towards that and you will be fine. 
The water stays deep there."

   Donnie and Sherri came aft, obviously ready to give Amanda the same
warnings.

   "We're doing great time," Amanda grinned at us, "We should get there in
an hour.  We're averaging 38-knots and Sherri's ePilot is giving me two to
three minutes of advance course evaluation, and so far, it's been 100%!"

   The radio crackled and Brenda's voice came on, "Gymbler to Jester, come
in Jester."

   "We hear you, over."

   "The location is near an underwater structure, which would make it good
feeding ground, and it rises quite close to the surface.  There's an
archipelago-like series of islands just to the North.  Over."

   "Donnie says that's probably For-sale Cay.  It's one of the larger
groups of islands, but rocky and exposed.  It can be yours if you have
5-mil handy!  We're halfway to your location, any signs of bluefins? 
Over."

   "Not yet.  From what I can see, they have to come in from the deeper
waters to the North and West, linger to feed over the ledge before heading
East, through the reefs and out to the ocean.  Going to three-thousand for
a better look.  Hold one...

   "Gymbler back...  It looks like there MAY be a school heading this way -
lots of smaller shadows, about a mile Northwest.  Okay, am assuming they
are the target...  descending...  executing Operation Maguro...  Pass one
will be over the structure...  Now!

   "I'm turning back for a quick look...  No birds yet, but there may be
something happening...  Pass two commencing, to the East of pass one and
about 100 yards closer to your location...  Going, going...  Gone!"

   "Thank you sweetheart!  Lots of luck with YOUR fishing trip too! 
Kisses!"

   "Kisses.  Over and out!"

   We grinned at each other in excitement and I gave Hazel's hand a
squeeze, getting raised eyebrows from Donnie.

   "Take the con, James, we have to get the gear ready!" Amanda said, and
led everyone down into the cabin.  The land on our left had been dropping
away steadily and now the sea opened up until it was clear to the horizon.

   "This next part is a bit tricky.  Sea is shallow in middle," Donnie
said, pointing at the map ePilot presented, "Go right, it's longer, but
will not fill up with sand like on left." He nodded as I followed his
instructions.

   "There something I should know about you and Hazel?" He asked.

   "The girls, and I, have extended an invitation to her.  No commitments,
just be friends..." I looked at him, "You know Hazel - she is practical and
smart." He nodded, "We are not trying to take that from her.  But have you
ever heard Hazel LAUGH?  Like today?"

   "No, never, she always hard-working, sensible...  But," He shook his
head, "Not very happy."

   "Exactly.  Don't you think she looks amazing when she has a smile on her
face?"

   He nodded, "I fix Sherri's chair now," He turned, then stopped, "Thank
you for telling me."

   Hazel came back, alone.  She looked at Donnie, then me, "Is everything
okay?"

   "He says he has never heard you laugh like just now." I took her hand,
"Is he right?"

   "I don't let myself think about it..." She said wistfully, "I cannot
afford many dreams." She took a deep breath, "The Bentels are very kind,
and Eva and Donnie, they are family to me.  But nobody says to me, 'Hazel,
what are your goals?  What do you dream of at night?' " She sighed, "You,
and the girls, did something to make that part of me wake up." She leaned
her body against me, "When I am with you, I am not afraid to let my dreams
be free!  And...  maybe even brave enough to smile about it." She graced me
with a glowing display.

   "I told Donnie you look wonderful when you smile." I touched her face,
"And I mean it.  Promise me you will do that more often."

   "I will..." She nestled close and held my arm.

   Five minutes later, Hazel pointed left, "Remember what Donnie said?  See
how shallow that is now?  That small island is called the 'Don't Rock',
because you have to sail by there to get out of the shallows, and just
jumping on your boat will make it hit bottom!" She laughed, blushing a
little at my bemused look.  Then she pointed ahead, "The radar reflector on
horizon is For Sale Cay, aim for it..." She leaned down to yell at Amanda
and Sherri, "Get ready!  We're just ten minutes away!"

   The girls scrambled up, looking like half-naked biker-chicks in their
skimpy bikinis under very butch-looking BCD jackets, but dwarfed by the
heavy rods and heavier reels they carried.  "We've got 600 yards of
50-pound mono with 100-pound leaders on each - it should be enough!"

   "Look, dolphins!" Donnie cried, excitement in his voice, "They travel
with tuna, keep sharks away.  And birds ahead!"

   "How do you suggest we approach them?" I asked.

   "We trail hooks, then go through them."

   "Wait, we don't want to scatter the baitfish," Amanda said, "Can you
just skirt around the outside, so that they stay clumped up, but make sure
the bait goes through the feeding?"

   "Yep, no sweat.  Start dumping line now - I want at least 250 yards out
so I can make a gentle turn." I throttled back to let the lines play out.
Without the rod holders and 'tree' riggers commercial sport-fishermen use
to help extend their lines, we had to rely on our little anglers, now
secured at the aft-seat of the cruiser to control the movement of the
baited hooks in the water.  Small receptacles between their knees help
secure the rod-ends and help with the effort of holding the rods steady.

   The raucous calls of the feeding sea birds warned us we were drawing
close.  Ahead, I could see the frantic roiling action the predators used
when they attacked.  "Closing, fifty yards, turning to starboard!" I yelled
back - the girls could not see too much, locked facing aft as they were.

   "Action to port side, less than a hundred yards!" Along the boat, sleek
deadly shapes were charging in and out of the swarm.  Some internal
mechanism allowed them to maintain a cordon which kept the bait fish
tightly confined.  A few came close to colliding with the boat before
twisting sharply away.

   "Tuna, they're tuna!" Donnie called, grinning widely.

   Hazel, was jumping up and down, hanging on my arm, a glorious smile on
her face.  I leaned over and kissed it, "You're beautiful!" I told her. 
She blinked, and answered me with an even tighter hug.

   "I have a bite!" Amanda called out, then, "Fish on!" A moment later she
shook her head, "Too small...  Twenty pounds, tops.  Damn..." She was
frantically winding line in, hoping to land her fish so she can cast again.

   "Here, let me..." Donnie reached for her rod, and handed her a freshly
baited one.  He pointed to the frothing melee to port, "Just throw in there
so you don't tangle with me!" He ducked under Sherri's line to continue
reeling the fish in.

   The girls both got hits on their lines and their shouts of excitement
gave way to grunts of effort as the large fish, thirty-five pounds or more,
continued to pull away.  Hazel left my side to help them as Donnie boated a
nice looking Kingfish around fifteen pounds.

   With practiced ease, he drew his blade and gave it deep cuts; behind the
gills and just before the tail.  He threaded rope through the gills and
hung it over the side by the radar arch.  "Blood in them make bad taste. 
After blood go out, fish stay fresh." He opened the freezer chest and
pulled out more bags of chum, "Keep fish eating, maybe catch more!" He
cheerfully told me before emptying them in.

   Sherri's fish, a gorgeous bluefin tuna, was landed next, and Donnie
repeated his cuts to bleed the fish and prevent spoiling.

   Amanda's fish, another bluefin, packed our freezer to capacity, but by
then, the feeding circle had shrunk to a fraction its previous size.

   Sherri, meanwhile, was battling another strike, the largest of the day,
which she was determined to land, "We're gonna have this one for lunch!"
She declared as she struggled to keep it from breaking free.

   "Look!" Hazel pointed.  "Tiger!" An ominous looking grey-mottled fin had
been trailing the school and now, as we watched, changed course to
intercept Sherri's catch.

   "We have a tiger shark to your left." I told her, "Donnie, can you help
her?  I'm increasing speed to 12."

   Donnie grabbed the rod which Sherri was having difficulty keeping a grip
on.  "Just have to wind in as fast as I can," Donnie gasped, fighting now
the struggling fish, as well as the added drag of the boat's increased
speed.  "If the line break, at least fish can outswim the shark, maybe."

   A hundred feet from the boat, the tuna made a frantic lunge to the side
and into the path of the shark.  A heartbeat later, the head, plus about
ten inches of what was a four feet long tuna landed on the deck.

   "I don't feel like fishing any more." Sherri summed it up for all of us.

   = = = = =

   (C) Copyright 2001-2009.  MikeC. All Rights Reserved. All Reproduction
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