Cooper Lusk's bored wife left him nine years ago and fled to Sydney, where she probably became a waitress, petrol station cashier, prostitute or whatever.
That's when Cooper handed back his rental home, sold his building maintenance business and drifted south, eager to feel like a free man. A month later he was engaged as one of the three regular skippers of the two 40-max passenger ferries running between Port Ross and the holiday resort of Temple Island.
He lived in an old fishing shack that he'd made more inhabitable and occasionally had a female in for a night or two for a bit of slap and tickle, or as Cooper tended to think, to ensure his pipes remained in good working order.
Usually the females came to him when they were bored at home, between boyfriends or when their husband or 'live-in' guy was away.
Cooper was 35, lean and fit and quite good looking to boot. To top that off, the cheerful guy was always ready with a laugh and a story and, as a bonus, was good to go multiple times a night.
That suggested good marital material but, alas, he only seemed to attract married women or females who found themselves horny when their man was away, for instance visiting his mother way up north or out on an extended period on a commercial fishing boat or away on military manoeuvres.
Still, Cooper was optimistic that that a woman still young enough to have a couple of children and love him, would find him one day (or more likely one night).
He worked from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm with a 2-hour break between 1.00 and 3.00. A relief skipper sailed his ferry each Monday and Tuesday and the other regular skipper used the same relief skipper each Thursday and Friday.
Being rather an innovative chap, Cooper developed an interesting past-time for the slack period between 10 am and noon when the few passengers aboard sat outside fore and aft or on the lower deck. The wheelhouse, where the vessel was steered by a big wheel, was an enclosure at the front of the upper deck. He selected female passengers travelling alone as a target when one would come up to the coffee machine beside the open sliding door of the wheelhouse.
He would asked cheerfully, "Oh, you're making coffee?"
Usually the woman, even if a regular and had heard the same line previously, would answer, "Yes, would you like one?"
Such a response would stroke his sexuality and he'd answer, "Yes, I suppose so."
The woman would reply, "Is that a yes or a no" or just ignore him or perhaps pour him a blend of her choice and take it into the wheelhouse.
Coffee-bearing women entering the wheelhouse, she would be considered potential prey.
"Hi, why don't you join me?"
The woman might already have her coffee in the other hand or would say she would fetch her drink or say shyly (yes there are still shy women around) no thanks. He had one experience when symbolically she went for the jugular and snarled, "Back off you creep."
Cooper didn't like being ignored, and was happy with any answer even if it meant the game was over before it started or perhaps given time it might be progressing to Stage 2.
"Hi, call me Cooper."
The replies would vary and include, "Hi, I'm Joss" for example, or a stalling, "Hi, I'm not sure I should be here" or perhaps a distant "I'm Mrs Shute, mother of five". The latter response was disappointing as she should not have added that unnecessary family stuff and instead taken a chance and played the game.
Very occasionally, perhaps once every couple of months, the woman would lick her top lip and smile, and coo, "Are you coming on to me" and he would reply with a wolfish grin, "Yes, press my button."
* * *
As on any sailing, the game had to start fairly early in the trip as it was 40 minutes between the deckhand casting off and tying up the berthing lines at the other end of the journey.
Women who relaxed about having coffee with the skipper in the wheelhouse, would usually look around and say something like "Nice view", "It's very pleasant here" or perhaps if a potential serious game player, she might ask pointedly, "What's next.?"
By then, Cooper would have completed his appraisal and had decided he'd like to fuck this passenger or think he never wished to touch her. Some could be worth cultivating to hit on firmly on the return voyage.
